Chaos Heir

Chapter 1254 Spherical

Another three weeks passed in that miraculously peaceful, isolated environment. The forced cohabitation underwent some changes, especially on the crew's side, since they finally saw some hope of disembarking, but nothing significant happened inside or outside the cumbersome ship.

At that pace, the ship would take little over two weeks to reach Coravis and even less to enter Nott Station's area of influence. From there, Khan could benefit from his forces' protection, ensuring the safe arrival at his destination.

Of course, problems could still manifest themselves, but Garret and Gordon were running tight ships in those quadrants, so Khan believed he would manage to slip by unnoticed.

Even if outside forces noticed something, Khan's family would continue to have plausible deniability, which often was more than enough in those political fields.

Nevertheless, those plans were for after the ship entered those quadrants. In the meantime, Khan and Liiza could enjoy that simple daily life and gossip about its few changes.

One of those appeared before the married couple when they approached the bridge to start their shift behind the control desk. The entrance was still broken, so the voices inside reached their ears without meeting any obstruction.

"We should get rid of our clothes," Jenna softly suggested. "We should have gotten rid of them weeks ago."

"Nonsense!" Ilman shouted. "I can't allow you to compromise so much of your customs."

"I am following my customs," Jenna pointed out. "The Nele would understand us."

"I made it my life's mission to make you happy," Ilman declared, "But I wouldn't forgive myself if I let you betray your species' principles with me."

The married couple entered the bridge in time to see Jenna's perplexed face. She was sitting on Ilman, both occupying the pilot's seat, so her head peeked past the chair's back.

"Ilman," Jenna called, her tone more serious than before. "What do you think is the nature of our relationship?"

"I'm staying true to my promise, doing my best not to hurt you," Ilman explained, confused about that question. "While you are using me to quell your urges."

Jenna's face went blank, and the same applied to her mind. The two didn't go too far in those three weeks, and the reason for that finally became clear. Somehow, Ilman had yet to understand that they had become a couple.

"You are impossible," Jenna sighed, leaning down to curl up on Ilman. "But you are so very cozy, too. You should take me already."

Ilman laughed, not realizing what had happened but also not caring about it. Jenna was resting on him. In his mind, he was already a fulfilled man.

The two seemed about to slip into a romantic moment. The symphony around them said as much, and Khan and Liiza only exchanged a glance before deciding to interrupt it before it was too late.

Nevertheless, something else ended up interrupting the moment. The control desk emitted a beeping noise, and Khan rushed toward it to let the communication go through.

"Incoming fleet," A Nele on one of the ships around Khan's vessel warned. "We can't recognize the technology."

The communication didn't only carry words. The cumbersome ship's scanners were terrible, so Khan had let the surrounding vessels deal with that task to save fuel and obtain more reliable data.

The updates that reached the control desk proved Khan right, but he wasn't in the mood to feel happy about that decision. The holographic map that rose before his glowing eyes was concerning, and each refresh worsened it.

A fleet of thirty or so ships had locked on Khan's vessel and was heading at full speed toward him. The Nele also confirmed its target, and more details soon reached the control desk.

Khan sent the available pictures to the screens above the desk before frowning. The Nele had captured images of the incoming ships, but Khan had never seen anything similar.

The incoming ships were nothing more than large metal spheres flying at full speed through space, with bright blue enneagons shining in their front as their only distinguishing detail.

Khan sought answers in his vast knowledge, but they arrived from elsewhere. Tension invaded the area and his mind, coming from the mental connection. Khan might not recognize that technology, but the two Niqols did.

"The Kros," Liiza explained shortly, and Khan exchanged a single glance with her before getting back to work.

"Did you try to communicate with them?" Khan asked, talking with the surrounding ships. "Did you send the message we agreed upon?"

Khan had obviously prepared for the eventuality of random encounters, issuing a simple message that would try to make his fleet pass for nothing worth stopping or pursuing. Yet, the Nele immediately crushed his hopes.

"They refused to open channels with us," The Nele on the other ship said. "They only relayed one message."

The Nele didn't need Khan's orders to share the message. The recording soon reached his control desk, and he didn't hesitate to play it, making a robotic, emotionless human voice resound through the bridge.

"Our simulations place the likelihood of Prince Khan's presence at over ninety percent," The message relayed in an oddly manufactured human accent. "Halt your vessels, or we'll open fire. This is the first and last warning."

Khan diverted power to the shields while tinkering with the menus to attempt to establish a communication channel, but the Kros stayed true to their words. Only a few seconds had to pass before the enemy fleet fired mana bullets.

The cumbersome ship couldn't possibly perform decent evasive maneuvers. Its acceleration was also terrible, so it couldn't hope to outrun the incoming bullets.

The ships occupied by the Nele weren't as terrible, but the bullets didn't target them. The shots flew directly at the cumbersome vessel, slamming onto the mana barrier protecting its hull.

Violent tremors ran through the ship. Most of the crew panicked, but the people on the bridge remained calm and silent. They could see that the vessel had suffered no damage, but its mana barrier had little to do with it.

The spherical ships had merely fired warning shots to show their ability to take down Khan's vessel. Chances were the next rounds of attacks wouldn't be as harmless, but the first had already been one too many.

Shouts and cries seeped into the bridge from its broken entrance, but Khan's actions were far louder for the people surrounding him. He abandoned the control desk, quickly reaching Liiza to exchange a short kiss before crossing her, too.

"Ilman, the bridge is yours," Khan ordered, heading toward the broken exit without turning back.

"Khan!" Ilman stood up, lifting Jenna with him. He turned, catching a glimpse of Liiza's proud but chilling expression before focusing on Khan's back to ask a question. "What are you doing?"

"They fired at my pregnant wife," Khan said without turning, but each of his words sent new tremors through the ship. His next step forward also opened a crack in the floor, making additional explanations pointless.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!