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C374 Season

Khan continued to look in the direction where the Tors had disappeared even after that hooded figure left his vision. He honestly didn't know how to feel about the previous events, but his curiosity remained strong and made him notice a few details.

The Tors had dismissed Khan as soon as the container was full. He could see that behavior as a complete lack of interest toward him, but he could also find alternative explanations that sort of made sense.

The oily synthetic mana and the overall modifications applied to the environment hinted at the presence of experiments. Khan didn't know if he could see that through a human mindset, but it could explain the lack of interest. The Tors might be too captivated by their projects to care about him.

That hypothesis only intensified Khan's curiosity, especially now that he had found some leverage. He could use his element to build a relationship with the Tors, but he couldn't be hasty. He didn't know enough about that species to develop a tactic.

'I need to talk with Jenna,' Khan quickly concluded.

Jenna wouldn't only add insights to the Tors. She could probably spot eventual details that would explain those aliens' interest in the chaos element. Khan needed her knowledge and perspective, which moved his thoughts on different problems.

Khan left the alley and looked in the opposite direction of the Tors' district. He could spot one of the markers mentioned by Nessa in the distance, but he remained in unknown territory. Moreover, he didn't know if the bounty hunters were still around.

The second-grade knife was still in Khan's left hand, and he tightened his grasp on it as he checked his right arm. His limb had yet to get rid of its stiffness, and faint pain spread from his right palm. He also felt slightly tired, but he could fight as long as he avoided an encirclement.

Nevertheless, his ignorance remained a problem. The bounty hunters could use the dock's layout to their advantage and encircle Khan before his senses could warn him.

Khan didn't have many options. He could only leave now that the Tors were done with him. He simply had to decide how fast he had to run, but his poor knowledge of the environment made that choice for him.

'I can't risk getting lost,' Khan sighed in his mind.

Advancing slowly would give the bounty hunters the time to set a proper trap, but Khan didn't want to end up in another dangerous district. He wouldn't have it as easy if he bothered the Bise. He could only hope that his chaos spear would open a path through any encirclement his enemies tried to pull off.

Khan kept his senses on the symphony of mana as he walked through the streets. He paid attention to any ripple that disturbed the flow of synthetic energy around him while remaining ready to unleash his best attacks.

The dock sounded mostly peaceful. Milia 222 didn't place much difference in day and night, especially in that environment, but there seemed to be fewer crews at work.

Khan obviously didn't have enough data to be sure. Nessa didn't have the time to tell him everything about the dock, but he sensed fewer ripples than before. Nothing seemed to move in his direction either, but he didn't drop his guard.

The slow walk allowed Khan to recover even more. He stretched and flexed his right arm from time to time to disperse the stiffness caused by the [Blood Shield]. A good sleep seemed necessary to fix that issue, but he still did his best to regain as much mobility as possible.

The dock was mostly deserted. Khan spotted a few crews working in landing areas below him, but the streets didn't have any bystanders. Flashing banners marked the presence of clubs and hotels, and most night activities seemed to happen inside them.

The Tors had left Khan in an area quite distant from his hotel, and a single marker seen from far away couldn't give proper directions. Khan advanced slowly, but he couldn't avoid ending on paths that made his trip longer.

The lack of apparent threats was the only consolation to Khan's unfamiliarity with the place. The symphony of mana sounded calm, but not in a strange way. Spaceships came and went, energy flowed inside buildings and streets, and nothing altered the picture they created.

It took a while, but Khan's hotel eventually appeared in his vision. Its sight tried to relax his tense mind, but nothing could make his battle-ready mindset waver.

The Orlats had managed to learn about bounties issued on Lower Level 2 in less than a day. It would make perfect sense for them to know where Khan stayed, so he approached the area slowly and even devised plans to deal with anything waiting inside. He didn't know enough to trust Nessa's judgment blindly.

The hotel ended up reserving surprises, but not bad ones. A familiar presence joined the symphony of mana when Khan got close enough, and he only needed to look at the building's entrance to find Nessa and Branok waiting for him.

"[Is Jenna okay]?" Khan promptly asked when those two pairs of beautiful eyes fell on him.

Nessa and Branok didn't hide their surprise. Khan had spotted them before the opposite could happen. Their sensitivity to mana had turned out to be inferior to a human, but the worry that Khan showed made them put the issue aside.

"[She is fine]," Nessa reassured while suppressing the approval she felt toward that honest worry. "[We are here to pick you up and bring you to her]."

"[Did the Nele get involved]?" Khan wondered while Nessa and Branok left the hotel's entrance to move toward the Nele's district. "[That wasn't my intention]."

"[Your intentions have nothing to do with how we choose to live]," Nessa said in an aloof tone without bothering to turn.

Khan understood that the time for words was over, so he followed Nessa and Branok in silence. The second-grade knife was still in his hand, but he relaxed a bit now that the Nele were with him. He figured the bounty hunters wouldn't risk getting on their bad side.

The guess turned out to be on point. No one approached the trio during the walk toward the Nele's district. Khan actually didn't see anyone on the streets.

Nessa and Branok crossed the street with the purple lamp without saying anything, so Khan followed them inside. Faint tension filled the symphony of mana as small groups of Nele stationed at various intersections became visible. Khan even spotted some Nele running in the distance. The district was far more alive than before.

Khan soon found himself in the spotlight. Every Nele who noticed him followed his movements. Even those busy running slowed down to inspect him, but he didn't see the complete coldness from before. Some interest had appeared in them, but they made sure to hide most of it.

The stares finally made Khan store his knife. His group reached the square where he met Piran and crossed it without exchanging words with the Nele stationed there. Nessa and Branok were leading Khan deep into the district.

After crossing a few more intersections, Nessa and Branok took a turn to the right to reach a short building. Its walls hindered Khan's senses, but a series of presences joined the symphony when its large doors opened.

The dock's iconic light illuminated the building and revealed the entirety of its insides. The entrance was big enough to display most of the structure, allowing Khan to see the small platoon of Nele standing there.

The Nele weren't alone. Khan spotted a few figures chained to the building's sides and a single one in the back. Only the latter was still alive, but Khan found himself focusing on a different feature. He recognized all of them.

'So much for letting me win,' Khan thought as he followed Nessa and Branok inside.

The entrance closed behind Khan's back while he inspected the prisoners. They were all Orlats, and they all belonged to his crew. The Nele had caught five of them and were still interrogating the last one.

"[Khan]!" Jenna's voice resounded from among the Nele, and Khan could soon see her figure jumping toward him.

Khan had to suppress a laugh when he saw Nessa and Branok hurrying to get out of Jenna's way, but he soon had to do the same for a grunt. Jenna wrapped her arms around his torso and squeezed it, triggering some of the bruises and discomfort caused by the fight.

"[Easy]," Khan chuckled while caressing Jenna's hair. "[I told you that I'd be back]."

"[The paybacks start now]," Jenna complained without leaving Khan's chest.

"[I thought you wouldn't involve the Nele]," Khan almost scolded as the entire platoon inspected that intimate gesture.

"[I never said that]," Jenna replied, finally lifting her head. "[I let you fight alone, didn't I]?"

Jenna revealed her usual beautiful smile, but Khan recognized her playfulness behind it. He didn't need more explanations after that. He knew that Jenna had made sure to tilt the situation in his favor.

"[You are hurt]," Jenna followed as her smile vanished and her embrace softened.

Jenna moved her hands across Khan's back until she reached the edge of his jumper. She didn't hesitate to dive under it to touch Khan's skin directly, and her careful fingers allowed her to spot every bruise.

"[Your shoulder]," Jenna eventually said before lifting the jumper and helping Khan take it off.

Khan played along, uncaring of the gazes on him. Denying Jenna's whims had always been impossible, and the situation was even worse now that concern fueled her behavior.

The azure scar appeared in the open and became the center of the attention, but Khan kept his eyes on Jenna. She immediately went on his right arm and softly flexed it while using her fingers to study its performance.

Jenna directly stopped when she reached Khan's right hand. Her fingers moved along tendons and joints, and she didn't like what she found.

"[Branok, get something from the medical bay]," Jenna ordered while keeping her attention on Khan's hand.

Branok was a first-level warrior, but Jenna had no authority over him, not in Lower Level 3. He diverted his attention from the azure scar to look at the platoon, but a sharp change in the synthetic mana forced him to bring his eyes to Jenna.

"[Branok]," Jenna called while turning to glare at her companion, "[Now]."

Tension built up, and the symphony grew stiff. Jenna's stance added traces of killing intent to the synthetic mana, and her reaction worried her companions.

Khan knew that he was the reason for Jenna's extreme behavior, but he had an easy fix. He grabbed her waist and pulled until her back landed on his chest. Jenna wanted to complain, but her coldness melted when she felt his teeth on her neck.

"[Calm down]," Khan whispered when he lifted his head and made their foreheads touch.

"[I did like it]," Jenna giggled as her fingers went for Khan's lips.

"[I knew you would]," Khan teased.

The tension vanished, and the symphony grew warmer than ever. No trace of the previous change remained in the synthetic mana, but the platoon had to watch as Jenna's new mood fueled her boldness.

Someone among the platoon eventually cleared his throat and stepped forward. Piran revealed himself and claimed the couple's attention through a few words. "[The Orlats is still alive]."

The tension returned, but all the Nele added to it now. Even Khan did his part by focusing on the chained Orlats. The alien had roots stabbed in both knees and ankles, but only a few drops of blood had fallen on the dark-grey floor.

"[Branok, go to the medical bay]," Piran ordered, and Branok didn't hesitate to execute the order at that time.

Khan and Jenna neared the chained Orlats while the entrance opened and closed behind them. The lack of blood and the location of the wounds hinted at a procedure that could keep the prisoner alive for quite some time. There was proper skill and study behind that torture, which Khan didn't expect from the Nele.

"[Jenna got the first one on her own]," Piran explained as he approached the couple's right side. "[After learning what they tried to pull off, we went looking for the others]."

"[I didn't think you knew how to torture]," Khan admitted.

"[We didn't]," Piran stated. "[We learnt in slavery]."

"[We loathe torture]," Jenna added as she left Khan to crouch toward the chained Orlats. "[It taints the mana and forces us to see the pain we are inflicting. It's disgusting, but it's part of our legacy now]."

"[Please]," The Orlats said in a weak voice and through the Nele's language. "[I told you everything]."

Jenna kept her cold eyes on the Orlats as she straightened her position and returned to Khan's arms. Khan could almost feel the disgust inside her, but his affectionate gestures brought some comfort.

"[The crew came up with the ploy to get to Jenna]," Piran revealed. "[We are still tracing the source of the bounty, but they probably didn't want anything to do with us]."

"[Does this make you a target]?" Khan asked.

"[No one would think about that once we hang these corpses outside our districts]," Piran declared.

"[Please]!" The Orlats begged, but no one flinched.

"[You can kill him if you want]," Piran said, and the entire platoon turned toward Khan.

'Are they testing me?' Khan wondered, but he didn't care too much about that. That Orlats had long since ended in his bad side.

Khan let go of Jenna before performing a short acceleration. His right foot landed on the Orlats' head and squashed his face on the wall. The alien died in an instant.

The lack of hesitation seemed to please the Nele, but Khan inevitably compared it to similar situations experienced in the past. He recalled the events with the Kred and Rodney, which showed him how much he had changed.

"[I need to update Maban]," Piran declared while the Orlats' brains still slid through the wall. "[You can stay outside the building for the time being]."

Khan nodded before retrieving his jumper and leaving the building with Jenna and part of the platoon. Piran handled the cleaning operation without going out of his way to hide his orders from Khan, and the entrance opened and closed as Nele came to bring the corpses away.

Branok returned with a fuming bowl during that process, and Jenna seized it from him to hand it to Khan. A warm feeling enveloped Khan whenever he took a sip, and that sensation became proper hot when it reached his injuries.

The area grew calm while Khan bathed in Jenna's affection and the soup healing's properties. Hot spots enveloped his injuries and began to fix them. The stiffness on his right arm vanished quickly, and the same went for his hand.

Once the couple gained some privacy, Khan went on to explain what had happened after the separation, placing special importance on the Tors. He wanted Jenna to understand his curiosity and worries, and she didn't need him to repeat himself to voice her opinions.

"[I don't think it's connected with my prediction]," Jenna revealed after hearing everything. "[Your odd sensation was here before you gave your mana to the Tors. Also, it didn't intensify afterward, so the cause should be elsewhere]."

"[Do you think I can find a good deal then]?" Khan wondered.

"[That's hard to say]," Jenna sighed. "[Sadly, only the Orlats might know a bit more about them]."

"[The Orlats sure are resourceful]," Khan admitted. "[It's quite lucky that they are their worst enemy]."

"[I can't hate them too much]," Jenna teased while rubbing her head on Khan's left shoulder. "[They got me to try your bites. It was so exciting]."

"[You are turning yourself into an exhibitionist]," Khan chuckled.

"[I'm only discovering myself]," Jenna corrected. "[Besides, if I'm like that, you probably are the same]."

Khan rolled his eyes. Scenes with Liiza and Cora crossed his mind. He wasn't an exhibitionist, but he liked being a bit intimate in the open. He had to thank the Niqols for that habit.

The two continued to joke around while they waited for Piran to return. A few serious lines managed to slip past their teasing, but none of them stuck long enough to turn into a proper topic. Moreover, Jenna only wanted to be spoiled now, and Khan couldn't refuse her.

Piran returned after some time, but he appeared sterner than usual when he approached the couple. He even stood in silence for a few seconds while inspecting Khan and Jenna sitting on the floor.

"[I've spoken to Maban]," Piran eventually announced. "[He claims that two attacks on the same day require harsher repercussions]."

"[What did he do]?" Jenna asked.

"[He authorized a hunting season]," Piran revealed before looking at Khan. "[And he is free to join it]."

"[Hunting season]?" Khan questioned.

"[It's almost a tradition]," Jenna explained as her face grew cold. "[We resort to it after serious crimes or when we feel that the other species started to underestimate us]."

"[We know the place where the Orlats wanted you to work]," Piran exclaimed. "[It can't be allowed to exist any longer]."

To be continued