W

C367 Nasty

A sea of buildings with different styles filled Khan's vision. He could easily recognize the tall and modern structures belonging to humankind and the various purple areas marking the presence of Nele.

The same went for the buildings belonging to the Orlats. They weren't too tall, but their bright banners and flashing signboards made them easy to spot even in a city crowded with structures. Someone would even describe them as vulgar.

Khan wasn't too familiar with the Fuveall's architecture, but spotting structures that suited what he knew about that species wasn't too hard.

The Fuveall claimed to have achieved a perfect balance between technology and mana, and many flashy structures carried those features. Those buildings shared part of the human style, but they added long and bright tubes over their surface. Azure mana flowed inside those channels and created a glowing spectacle that was hard to miss.

Khan had to rely on his instincts and general knowledge to link other styles to the remaining species. The city still carried two more very different types of structures, and he actually had to use the absence of striking features to reach his conclusions.

Some of the buildings were plain, to say the least. They appeared relatively modern and shared a few details with the smooth and dark human architecture, but they lacked the usual large windows.

Their metal also felt odd. Khan wasn't an expert in that field, and the distance from the city could trick his senses. Still, something in the alloy's slightly clearer color or seeming frailty made those plain buildings appear out of context in such diverse scenery.

Khan could only blame the results of his training with Jenna for those sensations. He couldn't pinpoint the exact reason behind his thoughts, but he believed that they came from the influence those buildings had on the synthetic mana in the area.

The Tors were the only species suitable for that style. Those aliens were famous for their jealousy toward their arts, so it made sense for their architecture to lack any detail that could reveal their customs, at least in that diverse environment.

The last style involved large pale-red buildings with yellowish tiles coming out of their surface to mark the end of their floors. Those structures looked quite poor compared to their clearly modern peers, but Khan knew that appearances alone weren't enough to evaluate their qualities.

Khan didn't see any flashy signboards or large banners on those red buildings. It almost seemed that they didn't want to attract people who didn't know what they meant. That allowed Khan to connect them to the Bise due to their xenophobic nature.

The diverse and wonderful scenery couldn't stop Khan from thinking about the odd sensation that had welcomed him as soon as he arrived on the fourth asteroid. He didn't know what to do with it, and everything about it was so unclear that he couldn't find anything to study.

The elevator eventually landed on Lower Level 1. Khan and Jenna exited the machine and found themselves on a vast sidewalk that provided good examples of what they could expect from the city. Jenna obviously didn't need those reminders, but Khan greatly appreciated them, and some curiosity even made its way through his thoughts because of them.

The streets in that area weren't crowded. Jenna and Khan had descended on the city's outskirts in the end. Yet, the two could still see a few groups hanging out in corners or in front of shops.

Surprisingly enough, those groups didn't stick to a single species. Khan didn't see any Nele, but he noticed humans, Fuveall, and Orlats walking or exchanging casual talks as they stood in lines or simply sat on partially hidden areas of the sidewalks.

Everyone there was also quite young. Those groups weren't doing anything special. They were only enjoying their time without letting the differences among their species get in the way of their friendship.

Khan wanted to let that surprising sight overwhelm him with amazement and curiosity. Still, he felt unable to drop his guard due to the odd sensation that continued to assault his perception. His paranoia didn't make things better either and forced him to fall into a battle-ready mindset.

"[Did the sensation change after arriving here]?" Jenna asked.

"[No]," Khan revealed. "[It's basically identical, which only makes it stranger]."

Jenna didn't add anything. She inspected Khan before moving her attention to her surroundings only to bring her eyes back on Khan again. She wanted to find something that could help him, but her senses turned out to be useless in that situation.

"Imminent chaos," Khan repeated the words that Jenna had said during their first encounter.

Jenna didn't want to add worries to Khan's mind, but she couldn't lie to him either. She performed a slight nod before reaffirming her position. "[I can't know for sure. My prediction could be wrong too]."

"[What about alternative causes]?" Khan wondered.

"[There might be many of them]," Jenna exclaimed, "[But most lead back to your element. This asteroid sees many strange materials and items. There is a high chance that one or more of them caused a reaction in your mana]."

Khan knew that Jenna's hypothesis made sense, but that wasn't enough to disperse his paranoia. Still, he didn't have solutions either, so he could only hope to grow used to the new sensation before it started affecting his behavior.

"[All of this might be a good thing]," Jenna eventually declared before showing her sweet smile when she saw Khan's frown.

"[If something really happens, at least I'll be with you]," Jenna explained. "[We'll also be among my species later on. I can't imagine a better situation where to face that problem]."

The frown on Khan's face instantly melted, and he stretched his arm to reach Jenna's hand. The gesture didn't go unnoticed, and most bystanders ended up focusing on them, but Khan ignored everyone as he led Jenna through the sidewalk.

Luke had provided Khan and Jenna with precise instructions. The dock was right under the city and expanded until the bottom of the asteroid, but its entrances were rather secretive.

Moreover, the six species had control over specific paths, and Khan had to use those handled by humans. Jenna could have asked the Nele to take care of that, but Khan had already decided to keep that official part on Luke and humankind.

Finding a cab was never a problem on Milia 222, and the fourth asteroid wasn't an exception. Jenna and Khan soon entered a car with a Nele driver and waited in silence for the vehicle to reach its destination.

The city on Lower Level 1 had sections dedicated to the various species, but the shared areas made up most of it. Khan could get a good grasp of that diversity from the window, and his appreciation for the fourth asteroid only increased because of it.

Khan even managed to get a good look at the Bise during the slow parts of the travel. Those aliens were humanoid, generally taller than two meters, but their faces made them unique from Khan's perspective.

The Bise had horse-like heads covered in short fur and with tiny horns growing right above their usually dark eyes. A pair of long, pointy ears lay at the side of their faces, but their earing had no problems.

The Global Army didn't know much about the Bise, but Khan had still managed to learn important information regarding their overall power. Their physique was firm and burly, which made them stronger than humans before the evolution. Their nails and teeth were also natural weapons, which they often added to their martial arts or techniques.

The Bise's peculiar's appearance obviously added fuel to Khan's curiosity, but he knew that getting close to that species would be hard. The situation was even worse with the Tors, but he hoped that the dock would give him a chance.

The cab dropped Jenna and Khan in front of a casino equally shared by humans and Orlats. The building had a bright sign that hid the pale-blue light of the dome and filled the street with orange shades, and two long lines stretched from its guarded large entrance.

The addition of a purple shade to the scenery attracted the attention of the bored customers in the lines. Jenna had to wear her bright clip in that situation, and she even had to endure the many gazes that followed her and Khan as they turned the closest isolated corner to get some privacy.

Khan could only wear his most sympathetic expression while he watched Jenna covering herself with the spray that suppressed her pheromones. They were going into neutral territory, so that process was inevitable, but she still expressed how pissed she was with glares.

The two soon left the corner and went back to the casino. Luke couldn't come up with special authorizations, and standing out wasn't ideal, so Khan and Jenna put themselves in the line and waited for their turn to arrive.

The wait was uneventful, mostly due to Khan and Jenna's wary behavior. Khan stood in line with a hand placed on his sheath while Jenna directly drew a sharp root from a hidden pocket of her dress.

That behavior was normal for a Nele, and Khan was with Jenna, so no one in the line complained. The various bystanders simply kept themselves outside of the range of the purple light to avoid causing problems.

A whole hour had to pass before Jenna and Khan could interact with one of the human soldiers guarding the entrance. Filling the simple form on the device that the man carried got them inside, and the flashy spectacle of the casino finally ended up in their vision.

Various noises, lights, and occasional shouts created a messy but tidy environment. Slots machines filled with people glued to their screens occupied the whole right side of the main hall, while different attractions stretched on the left.

A red carpet filled every corner of Khan's vision, and the yellow walls, paired with relatively dim illumination, created an environment completely different from the outside world. Jenna and Khan felt to have landed on a new planet, but those sensations were normal on Milia 222.

A waitress wearing revealing clothes tried to approach the two as soon as they entered, but Khan promptly waved his hand to send her away. His attention was on the two paths at the end of the hall. One led deeper into the first floor, while the other was a fancy staircase.

Luke's instructions had been pretty clear, so Khan and Jenna didn't hesitate to move toward the staircase. Elevators appeared on their left before they could reach the second floor, and the two directly entered one of them.

'The scanner is above the buttons,' Khan repeated in his mind as he picked up his phone.

The doors closed, and the elevator began to move since someone else had called it. However, everything stopped when Khan showed the 222 passage to a spot right above the buttons.

Mechanical noises came out of the elevator before a faint light shot out of the metal to fall on Khan's phone. The scanner studied the image on the screen for a few seconds before the machine changed direction and started to dive at high speed.

Jenna wielded her sharp root again. The instructions ended there, so nothing was certain anymore. Her species also occupied the dock, but she had to go through the human channels first, which were far from safe for her.

The elevator stopped after a while and opened in front of a long corridor filled with bright white light. Khan and Jenna couldn't see anything else from their position, and their senses also failed to go past the bluish surfaces.

The secrecy of the location felt normal, and the two couldn't back down now. Khan and Jenna stepped forward and crossed the long corridor until they reached a turn that led to a metal door.

"[Do you still feel it]?" Jenna asked while Khan took out his phone and prepared the 222 passage.

"[I do]," Khan sighed as he showed the screen to the door. "[That makes it even stranger, right]?"

"[It only means that the synthetic mana here carries the same nature that triggers that sensation]," Jenna tried to reassure, but it was clear that she didn't believe that statement.

The exit opened to reveal a small room that featured a counter and two doors at its sides. A middle-aged man stood behind the desk, and he didn't hide his surprise when he saw Jenna.

"I need to see your permit," The man muttered while his eyes remained glued on Jenna.

Jenna showed nothing but coldness while Khan approached the counter and lifted his phone so that the man could see it. The latter left his chair and inspected the screen through a transparent device with black metal edges.

The man murmured inaudible words while he rolled and inclined the device to inspect the screen from different angles. The process went on for entire minutes, and Khan had to suppress his curiosity to avoid asking questions.

It sounded odd to put the same image through so many scanners, but Khan couldn't complain. The dock probably was one of the most secretive locations on Milia 222, so it made sense for forgeries to exist, especially with the Fuveall on those asteroids.

The man took his time, but he eventually put down his device and gave one long look to Khan and Jenna before pressing a button under the counter.

The door on the right opened and showed another long corridor. However, that path had a series of devices and even more scanners that wanted to go through Khan and Jenna's items.

The two followed the instructions until the corridor ended and finally opened into a vast area that resembled a hangar. Half-dismantled ships, large boxes covered in plastic materials, and various desks filled the place. Still, Khan and Jenna's attention inevitably fell on the many humans standing next to those items.

The man behind the counter had only been a first-level warrior, and his appearance had also hinted at the fact that a long time had passed since his last battle. Yet, the people in the hangar had a far different atmosphere around them.

'Are they all ex-soldiers?' Khan wondered while performing a cautious nod.

The hangar contained eleven men and women. Most of them appeared over forty, but none had traces of naivety or kindness. Their faces were cold, and their expressions carried pure distrust and wariness.

'Three second-level warriors, eight first-level,' Khan counted in his mind as his wariness intensified since no one replied to his polite gesture.

"Do I need to show my authorization to anyone?" Khan eventually asked in the hope of dispersing that tense atmosphere.

"Oh!" One of the second-level warriors, a woman, exclaimed. "You are already inside the dock. You don't need general authorizations anymore."

The answer didn't make Jenna and Khan relax. The woman had worn a smile, but her expression was firm, clearly forced. She wasn't used to lying, and the two could see right through her, especially since they could sense the faint stench that her presence added to the synthetic mana around her.

Khan was honestly unclear about the reason behind that tension. He could accept that the presence of a stranger could cause a similar situation, but its intensity was a bit off. There had to be more to it.

The answer became evident after Khan witnessed casual and sporadic glances toward Jenna. The men and women in the hangar were doing their best to hide that gesture, but it happened so many times that Khan easily connected the dots.

"We aren't here to cause problems," Khan announced. "We just want to fit in."

"Fit in?" Another second-level warrior, a man, repeated. "Where exactly?"

'Is this a trick question?' Khan wondered.

Truth be told, Khan was utterly in the dark at that point. Luke had granted him access to the dock, but he was on his own now. He didn't even know what kind of underground society the humans had established there.

Mentioning the Cobsend family would do no good. Khan had to keep Luke outside of that mission. Still, he didn't expect things to get so hard right away.

"What do you want to let us pass?" Khan questioned while opting for a partially submissive approach. He couldn't get cocky or risk someone's anger while Jenna lacked any kind of support from her species.

"Pass?" The man repeated before wearing a fake smile. "We aren't guards or anything like that. You are free to go where you like."

The man didn't sound convincing at all, and Khan started to look around to evaluate the amount of wealth contained in the area. Life was cheap on Milia 222, but those goods weren't. Fighting in that space could probably lead to a real mess.

"Right!" The third second-level warrior, another man, suddenly exclaimed. "They have warned us about your arrival. Welcome, welcome. Why don't you follow us to the next room?"

That was a blatant lie. Jenna and Khan knew that Luke didn't contact anyone inside the dock. He simply couldn't achieve something like that in such a little time and without involving the higher-ups of his family.

Various hypothetical situations ran through Khan's mind as he tried to figure out what those people wanted. He had seen similar behaviors in the Slums. There was a high chance that those men and women were simply hoping to rip off some newbie, but Khan couldn't exclude nastier options.

The lack of answers and options forced Khan to wear a fake smile and nod. He took Jenna's hand while the third second-level warrior pointed his hand toward the end of the hangar, but the reactions of the people there didn't match what he had seen everywhere else.

The gesture surprised the men and women in the hangar, but Khan also saw glimpses of interest and excitement. The nastier options grew more probable in his mind as the group basically surrounded him and Jenna to escort them outside the area, but he was ready for the worst.

The new area turned out to be similar to the first. It was another vast hangar without multiple items on its floor. A few large boxes stood in the corner, and the silhouette of a small vehicle stood out from under a black blanket placed on another side, but the place was mostly empty.

"I don't want to know anything," The first second-level warrior, the woman, announced while spreading her arms and walking toward a door at the end of the hangar.

"Come on, Goldie," The third second-level warrior called. "The last time, you didn't mind that she was a woman."

"It's different with a Nele," Goldie responded. "That shit is too hot."

"Hot indeed," The second second-level warrior laughed while inspecting Jenna from head to toe.

"Well," The third second-level warrior uttered while approaching Khan's free side and placing a hand on his right shoulder. "We can't waste this gift. Good job, kiddo. What's your-? No, wait. Did you at least prepare an alibi?"

"Alibi?" Khan asked, pretending not to know where that conversation was going.

"Oh, my," The third second-level warrior gasped as he squeezed Khan's shoulder. "Don't tell me that you came here unprepared."

"Sir, I'm afraid I'm not following you," Khan responded in a firm tone.

"Go ahead, Joel," The third second-level warrior mocked. "Make him able to follow."

"Kiddo, how many know that you are here?" Joel, the second second-level warrior, questioned. "How many would know where to search for you?"

Khan opened his mouth to answer, but the second-level warrior at his side raised his hand to interrupt him. He even used his head to point at Joel.

"All of that doesn't matter either," Joel continued. "You are here, alone. None of us will testify against each other. You just have to hope that we find something decent from your background check once we are done with your friend. Your very life will depend on it."

"You wouldn't care even if I were the descendant of a wealthy family?" Khan asked, trying to hint at the fact that he had a good background.

"Wealthy kids usually come down here with a full platoon," The third second-level warrior scoffed. "You came without any leverage. Actually, you decided to bring a surprisingly good reward. Aren't you too reckless?"

"Leave him be, Jonathan," Joel smirked. "He is just a kid. How do you expect him to understand this stuff?"

"You noticed that I'm with a Nele," Khan stated in a calm tone. "Aren't you afraid that you might ruin some important political meeting? You risk declaring war on two species."

"Who is risking anything?" Jonathan asked while pulling Khan's shoulder to bring him closer to his face. "I didn't see anyone coming from the casino's entrance today. Did you see anyone?"

"Boring work as always, sir," Joel joked, and the rest of the crew laughed.

"See?" Jonathan asked. "You have never left that elevator."

That blatant lie wouldn't work in most places, but Milia 222 and its illegal dock on the fourth asteroid were an exception. No one kept tabs on those going and flying away there. Someone's word had to be enough in the absence of proof.

Luke could testify in Khan's case, but the casino probably had no way to prove whether he and Jenna had actually gone to the dock or had lost themselves gambling.

"Out of curiosity," Khan muttered in a tone that struggled to hide his real feelings. "What kind of protection do you have? Are you the leader of this crew?"

Goldie burst into a loud laugh, and many of her coworkers imitated her, but Jonathan took that mockery well. He only shook his shoulders while remaining silent.

"We have a boss, obviously," One of the first-level warriors declared.

"Shut up, you idiot," Jonathan snapped. "Do you want to take the kiddo's place?"

"I'm sorry, Jonathan," The woman said before lowering her head.

The attention quickly went back to Khan and Jenna. She was suppressing her pheromones, but the group still appeared able to eat her alive. The scene would fill anyone with immense discomfort, but she was used to it.

"Where were we?" Jonathan questioned after things calmed down.

"Which way is the actual dock?" Khan asked. "This place can't just be debris, broken ships, and vast halls."

"It's on that side," Jonathan declared while pointing at the wall at his right. "Why? Do you want us to drive you there? I knew there was something decent in you."

Khan revealed his fake smile again, but his mana was behaving in ways that only Jenna could sense. She knew what was about to happen, and she couldn't be happier.

The many hypotheses Khan had come up with during the conversation had vanished when he understood what was happening. That group wanted to hurt Jenna, so his many options shrunk to a single one.

"Now," Jonathan called while stepping in front of Khan to approach Jenna. "Why don't we get to know each other?"

Jenna remained still. Jonathan's smirking face grew bigger in her vision, but that expression suddenly froze. Everything slowed down in her eyes. She saw the exact moment when Jonathan understood that something was off.

Khan placed a hand on Jonathan's waist and unleashed the Wave spell. A burst of purple-red mana came out of his palm and shattered the man's clothes instantly before moving to his skin.

Jonathan's reactions were quite insane. He kicked the floor while releasing a significant amount of mana that made him shoot in the air and crash on the tall ceiling before falling near the wall.

The others retreated at the sight of the destructive spell. They saw the wave of mana digging a long and deep hole on the floor, and they had no intention of ending in its range.

"Who the fuc-?!" Jonathan tried to curse, but blood suddenly filled his mouth and prevented him from finishing his sentence.

The event forced Jonathan to assess his condition. His eyes widened in terror when he glanced at his left side. A large patch of his skin had disappeared. He could even see some of his ribs among all the blood that flowed from there.

The realization stopped the flow of adrenaline. Jonathan's legs lost strength, and his knees hit the floor. A violent cough took control of his breathing, and his condition only worsened because of that.

Khan couldn't help but be surprised by Jonathan's quick reaction. It was rare for a second-level warrior to survive the Wave spell from such a short range, but that had to be expected from people who had lived in a dangerous environment for a good part of their lives.

Still, flaws in the group's behavior became impossible to miss during that critical moment. None of them appeared able to perform essential teamwork or make a joint decision. Half of them were stuck trying to understand what to do with Jonathan, while the others were preparing to fight Khan.

Khan could feel his darkness trying to take over his mind. Those people had threatened Jenna. The sole idea of what could have happened to her filled him with cold bloodlust. He wanted to kill Jonathan and the others, but that would probably mark the end of his mission in the dock.

Jenna didn't share Khan's restraints. She saw Joel pointing a hand toward Khan, so she threw her sharp root toward him. The man was too focused on Khan to notice the weapon in time to dodge it entirely, but he still managed to half-crouch on his right and end up with a long but shallow cut on his left forearm.

Joel moved his attention to Jenna now, but his eyes widened in terror when he saw that his left arm wouldn't move. Flowing mana through it only triggered a wave of pain that made black blood come out of the injury.

Goldie was keeping herself out of the fight, but the first-level warriors wanted to help. However, a tremor ran through the synthetic mana around them and disrupted their balance. Some had to disperse their attacks to prevent them from backfiring, while others directly fell on the floor.

Khan only needed one second to realize that he could press on. His target was clear, and he could pursue it now that Jenna had taken control of the situation.

Jonathan managed to raise his head only to see a foot filling his vision. The attack flung him away from the floor and slammed his back on the wall.

Khan reached Jonathan before his feet could go back on the floor to launch a precise kick on his crotch. Jonathan voiced a suppressed scream as he slid through the wall until he sat powerlessly in front of Khan.

Purple-red light filled Jonathan's vision. He felt weak, but he could see Khan's right hand glowing and taking the shape of a short sword.

Jonathan wanted to dodge and scream, but his body didn't answer him. He could only watch as the glowing short sword grew closer to his forehead before his courage gave in and closed his eyes.

A loud explosion resounded right next to Jonathan's left ear. Pain immediately spread from that spot and made him lie to his right. His confused and teary eyes opened to check on what had happened, and he almost stopped trusting them when he saw the huge hole that had appeared on the wall.

Khan didn't hesitate to stab his hand into the wall again, and the firm metal shattered as if it was glass. The hole enlarged until a fully-grown man could comfortably pass through it.

Loud noises came out of the hole, but Khan didn't check them. He turned only to smile when Jenna was running toward him. In a matter of seconds, she was holding his hand and jumping past the wall with him.

To be continued