Khan found it quite hard to appear scared. Two of the six Orlats were second-level warriors, while the others were first-level warriors. In theory, they were enough to inspire fear, but Khan was different.
The Orlats were one of the few species weaker than humans before and after the evolution. Moreover, the six aliens at the end of the passage didn't have the aspect of warriors.
The six were all overweight male Orlats wearing fancy suits. Three of them had fuming cigarettes in their mouths, and the piercings hanging from their eyebrows had pendants or jewels attached to them that hindered their vision.
The mana inside their bodies could appear scary for an ordinary soldier, but Khan had fought in wars. He could barely feel any threat there, and the relatively narrow passage also gave him an advantage due to his powerful spells.
"Don't be shy," The Orlats acting as the group's leader spoke again while throwing his cigarette on the ashtray placed at the table at his side. "Remaining silent won't help you here."
"I, I only wanted to purchase some merch," Khan replied while doing his best to stop his cold face from coming out.
"Why did you think that we would have what you are looking for?" The leader asked before raising his voice. "Who told you about this place?!"
Khan pretended to shake under the shout, and the Orlats appeared pleased by his reaction. He then muttered a few unclear words before mustering a weak voice. "I read about it in a report."
"[He is lying]," One of the Orlats snorted. "[No one outside Milia 222 knows these details]."
"[We have been too lenient on travelers lately]," The leader replied.
"[They can only spread rumors]," Another Orlats added. "[They shouldn't be enough to bring a kid here unless he is an idiot]."
"[Should we interrogate him properly]?" A third Orlats asked.
"What merch did you hope to find here?" The leader questioned in his rough voice.
"I wanted body armor," Khan responded.
"There are shops for that," The leader pointed out.
"But they have bad and overpriced stuff," Khan complained. "I thought you could offer a better deal."
"Why?" The Orlats continued.
"Because everyone knows that the Orlats are the most resourceful species in the universe," Khan said in his scared tone.
The faint praise seemed to please the six Orlats. Khan had studied the flaws in their character. They were weak against flattery since every other species insulted and underestimated them, but the leader didn't appear convinced.
"[Stop smiling like idiots]," The leader ordered as a proud expression appeared on his face. "[The kid has a good mouth, but the boss' orders area clear. We can't let someone speak so openly about our businesses]."
"[What if he is someone important]?" The weaker Orlats among the group asked.
"[Are you dumb]?" The leader cursed. "[Did you forget how much trouble we had to go through when the humans came to question us about the illegal skin? It's better to silence everyone right away]."
'Illegal skin?' Khan translated in his mind. 'Is that the material that Monica mentioned?'
The four first-level Orlats nodded and left their chairs to approach Khan. The corridor could only allow the passage of three of them at the same time, so one of the aliens walked in front of his companions.
"We'll go easy on you," The first Orlats said after stopping in front of Khan and cracking his knuckles. "Don't make it hard for us."
The Orlats pulled his arm back to prepare a punch, but his whole world suddenly began to spin. He couldn't see what had happened, and his senses stabilized when his back hit the short ceiling.
Khan took a step to his side, and the Orlats fell in his previous spot. He had gone easy on the alien, but the latter still shook and puked due to the heavy blow that had landed on his fat belly.
"[You mentioned an illegal skin]," Khan said in the best accent he could muster. "[I'd like to hear more about it]."
The sharp change in Khan's behavior left the Orlats speechless. One of the second-level warriors in the back was still smoking, but his cigarette fell as his mouth drooped open in surprise.
"[Take him]!" The leader shouted when he recovered from the surprise, but a body flew above his head when his line ended.
The waitress voiced a scared cry as she saw the fainted Orlats sliding on the wall to fall on the floor. Khan had kicked him toward the bottom of the passage, and the remaining two aliens before him didn't even notice his attack.
The Orlats' cowardly nature took over the remaining two first-level warriors before Khan. They turned to escape from his range, but they found a knife and a leg blocking their path.
"[Stay put while I speak with your boss]," Khan threatened.
The two weak Orlats felt as if their bodies had turned into blocks of ice. They didn't even see Khan jumping in front of them, and the same went for his knife. They noticed the sheath hidden under the cardigan only now that it was too late.
"[Afsar, kill him]," The leader coldly ordered, and the second-level warrior at his side raised his hand to point two fingers at Khan.
Khan sensed mana moving through the Orlats' body and gathering on his dark fingernails. A bright white light came out of them and suppressed the artificial illumination in the passage before shooting forward.
The attack moved quickly, and Khan's odd position prevented him from dodging it through a sprint. The advancing light also filled most of the passage, which blocked every escape path.
The leader didn't seem to care that his underlings were on the spell's path, and Khan also disregarded them as he raised his free hand. A wave of purple-red light expanded from his palm and clashed with the incoming white radiance, creating an explosion that filled the passage with violent gales.
The two first-level warriors still standing ended up losing their balance and falling due to the winds. The waitress voiced another terrified cry as she crouched under one of the two tables and hid her head between her arms.
Only Khan and the two second-level warriors remained focused on the scene, but the two Orlats didn't hide their surprise. They didn't expect Khan to defend so well against the attack, and the passage also stated that his spell had won the clash.
Khan couldn't possibly know that, but the group of Orlats used that location for its specific layout. The relatively narrow passage gave an advantage to the second-level warrior since his spell could cover most of it. The various surfaces were also mana resistant, so the team could take care of troublesome characters without holding back.
However, Khan's Wave spell had opened cracks on those dark walls. Some artificial lights had also fried under the effects of the chaos element, which created a dark area around him.
The scene that formed after the clash left the two Orlats significantly scared. Khan stood among the darkness, with their companions lying around him and cracks spreading from his position.
The knife in his left hand also added an ominous detail to his figure. Khan resembled a proper assassin, and his cold expression only intensified the fear that the two aliens experienced.
"[I want to know about the illegal skin]," Khan declared while dropping any form of pretense.
The leader fell from his chair and began to slam his fists on the wall behind him. Khan took a step forward, but the end of the passage suddenly opened and revealed a new team of Orlats.
The newcomers inspected the situation for a single second before launching an alarm in their language. Similar cries resounded from the new opening, revealing the presence of multiple aliens.
Khan didn't sense any menacing presence, but the retreat appeared mandatory when he saw that the Orlats left the new opening to approach him. They were far from scary, but the passage's structure made everything troublesome.
Khan didn't want to kill anyone, but remaining inside the passage would force his hand. The death of an Orlats would also put a permanent end to his investigation, so he turned to shoot toward the entrance of that secret corridor.
A kick slammed on the wall, but the entrance didn't budge. Khan could understand with a single attack that he wouldn't be able to get out through his martial art, so he made his mana flow toward his free hand.
"[Get him! Get him]!" The leader shouted from the back of the passage, but the reinforcements halted their steps when they saw that a purple-red short sword had grown out of Khan's fingers.
Khan didn't even look at his enemies. He stabbed his right hand in the wall, and cracks immediately opened around the hole he dug. Those fissures expanded as his spell remained active, and an explosion eventually resounded through the passage.
The people on the dancing floor didn't hear anything about the mess, and the loud music wasn't to blame. [The Loophole]'s walls blocked sound, senses, and scanners due to the illegal businesses that happened inside it, so the events inside the secret passage remained isolated.
Nevertheless, the people on the dancing floor couldn't ignore the explosion that resounded in the hidden corner of the area. The whole hall trembled slightly as metal debris shot forward and invaded that open area.
Some curious dancers peeked past the corner to see what was happening, but they only saw a shadow running past them. After their stupor vanished, they noticed the large hole that led to the secret passage and the many angry Orlats inside it.
The presence of a secret passage didn't surprise the dancers, and even the Orlats inside it weren't enough to cause a violent reaction. However, the aliens' angry behavior and rushed movements made someone panic, triggering an unexpected chain reaction.
Khan heard cries and screams while he shot toward the staircase. The crowd on the dancing floor tried to escape, which blocked the passage to the upper floor. Some even relied on martial arts to advance, which only intensified the panic.
When Khan reached the staircase, he jumped and began to step on heads and shoulders to advance. Curses flew in his direction, and someone even swung a punch filled with mana, but he was too fast to care about that.
Reaching the upper floor only showed Khan that the panic had already spread there. He saw the path toward the entrance filled with people, but the mechanism of the metal door didn't allow the crowd to cross it at the same time.
Khan could still jump on everyone and launch a spell at the door, but he would risk hurting someone like that. He had to find another path, but Orlats began to come out of the corridors and point at his figure.
Chaos unfolded in every direction. Khan couldn't move freely due to the general panic, but the Orlats were in the same situation. Everyone felt trapped as they tried to leave the building or find alternative paths, which only left them stuck in even more crowded conditions.
Khan moved left and right only to end up in his previous positions. He wasn't in danger, but making his way among the crowd was impossible, and the lack of a clear exit didn't give him the chance to create an escape plan.
People tried to slam on Khan as the minutes passed, but he swiftly dodged everything coming in his direction. He felt forced to store his knife out of fear of hurting someone, but the situation remained troublesome.
Khan eventually decided that breaking a wall or two was better than remaining in that situation. He knew where the surface was, so he approached one of the spots without people and prepared his mana for a spell. Yet, an explosion resounded before he could start his plan.
Cries and screams overcame the music as the pale-blue light of the outside world entered the building and fused with the flashing glows. Khan peeked past his corner and noticed that a giant hole had replaced the entrance.
Soldiers donning green uniforms and wielding small guns filled the hole and shouted orders that Khan couldn't hear due to the music and screams. Yet, the loud songs finally went silent, and a few orders made their way among the crying crowd.
"[What is this mess]?" The Fuveall soldier in front of the group from outside shouted in the Orlats' language. "[Do you realize how troublesome is it for us to come here? That's it. All of you come with us]!"
The people standing right in front of the soldiers tried to complain, but the latter didn't care. The Fuveall lowered his gun and nodded at the Orlats woman behind him, who raised a conical device and spoke inside it. "[The building is surrounded. Do not try to escape, or we will use force to capture you]."
The Orlats went on to repeat the speech in other languages, leaving Khan conflicted. He didn't want to get captured on his first day of investigation. Still, that was his way out of the building.. He was even sure that Luke could get him out of any trouble if the situation required it.
