Chapter 857: Regret



No one stopped Khan. No one even dared try. The news had spread like wildfire, informing everyone about the gravity of the situation. Moreover, Khan's chilling aura silenced words and thoughts, limiting the reactions to simple nods at most.

Khan flew to one of the new teleport areas, and guests and soldiers moved aside to let him into the oval platform. The scientists didn't even ask for the destination. They activated the machine, sending him to the space station orbiting the planet.

The space station was as crowded as the quadrant, but the teleport area went silent when Khan appeared. The scientists hesitated before the dangerous presence that spread through the room, but one look from Khan made them input new coordinates.

The teleport activated, sending Khan into a familiar environment. He recognized his surroundings, but his eyes never lingered on them. His legs moved, teleporting him past the entrance and outside, bringing him to Ylaco's training camp.

The scene would have usually triggered nostalgic memories, but Khan's brain barely reacted to his surroundings. He kept moving, setting off to fly to the nearest landing area. Only two ships rested there, encircled by a small team of soldiers.

"Out," Khan whispered as soon as his feet touched the metal floor, and his words transformed into blades that killed the soldiers' lungs.

The soldiers could only hold their breath and switch to autopilot, leaving the ships and clearing the area. Khan entered one and set off in the following seconds under that

dumbfounded and terrified audience.

The event had been so short the soldiers struggled to realize what had happened. Yet, the red cape and the alien attire pointed to an obvious conclusion. They had just met the famous Prince Khan, and their phones ended up in their hands to try to make some sense of the situation.

Khan's phone buzzed as he drove the ship past the training camp and toward the slums. The layout there changed often, but he knew exactly where to go. He also knew the information currently spreading throughout the network was genuine.

Bret didn't want any support or help, but Khan couldn't leave him on his own. Khan respected his decision and wouldn't interfere with his life, but that didn't mean complete detachment. The Slums existed outside the network's reach, and Khan knew Bret's time was short. Learning about his eventual death could take months, so Khan had planted a few soldiers to check up on him. They had orders to act if Bret went missing for too long, and the time had finally come.

Khan's destination had gathered an odd crowd for the Slums. Soldiers had established a perimeter around a brittle and decaying building, keeping away any bystanders. That wasn't a problem since the Slums' inhabitants usually minded their own business, but the scene explained how the information had reached parties outside the Nognes family.

Khan stopped the ship above the building before jumping from its side doors, teleporting to the dusty road. His arrival shocked the group of soldiers, who didn't get the chance to greet him.

"Disperse," Khan ordered, firmly striding forward.

The soldiers didn't even try to argue against that directive. Their very survival instincts told them not to, so they opened a path for Khan before diving into nearby blocks. They didn't leave the area but didn't try to stay close to the brittle building.

Khan approached the tainted door and reached for its handle, but screeching sounds suddenly reached his ears. The building screamed in pain before Khan's heavy aura, threatening to shatter and fall apart.

'I guess things were going too well,' Khan mocked himself. 'Who am I to think I could take a break and do something good?'

The bottle exploded in Khan's hand, spilling glass shards and its remaining booze everywhere. The simple tremor in Khan's aura had destroyed the container, sending some

debris on Bret.

Khan stood up, leaning forward to remove the glass shards from Bret's ragged clothes and messy hair. Still, as soon as his hand touched him, his senses sent a more realistic and undeniable update. Bret was truly dead. Khan's fingers were resting on a lifeless body.

'Old man,' Khan thought, sighing as he returned to his seat. 'You did exactly as you wanted, didn't you? You died where my mother died. I hope you were happy.'

Khan retracted his gaze, leaning on the chair's back and closing his eyes. He had suffered through too much death and loss to cry, but his mind was in disarray. Sadness, anger, and regret tried to overwhelm him while an all-devouring void spread from his chest.

'He was free,' Khan concluded. 'In the end, he was free.'

Khan reopened his eyes, forcing himself to look at Bret. He couldn't see much from his position, but his inspection didn't waver. Khan committed every detail he could find to memory while his mind continued its internal war.

'A selfish bastard,' Khan thought, 'But free.'

Khan placed his head into his palm, occasionally shaking it. He didn't know what to feel or

what to do. He only knew he was in no condition to be in public. Khan needed time to face and accept that loss before returning to his life, but the universe probably wouldn't grant him that

chance.

That realization fused with Khan's recent mood and the other conclusions reached while watching Bret. For all his power, Khan was far from free. Each step he climbed surrounded him with more annoying parties. Even the Nak had joined the fray, throwing him in the middle

of a universal threat only he knew about.

'You compromised less than me,' Khan thought, looking at his father again and smirking. 'So much for the chaos element. I guess pure freedom wasn't my path.'

Creaking noises echoed throughout the building. Khan was losing control, but his sad smile

remained on his father.

'Don't worry, Dad,' Khan said in his mind. 'I'll be fine. Everyone will be fine. Your ungrateful brat will save this dumb universe.'