Khan didn't like how things had gone with Monica, and Martha's judging and surprised glances had also become a permanent memory in his mind. Yet, he couldn't do anything about both situations. He was simply himself. He wouldn't be sorry about that.
Meanwhile, there was a situation where Khan could do something. The reports had shown nothing but a perfect investigation. The soldiers appointed by the Cobsend family had been thorough, detailed, and even exceptional, but Khan found a vague flaw.
That detail wasn't a proper flaw. The investigators had really done their best and had pushed themselves into territories that Khan couldn't even begin to approach. However, he had the chance to turn one of the marked dead ends into something more.
'The Orlats told the investigators that they didn't know anything about the stolen leather,' Khan summarized in his mind. 'However, they stated that the Nele usually knew everything about illegal skin since it was a sensitive subject for them.'
That answer made a lot of sense. The Nele's tragic history would obviously make them relate to species that suffered from a similar fate. If the reinforced fabric used skin from intelligent beings, there was a high chance that the Nele would care about it.
The vague aspect of the flaw came later. The investigators had gone to the third asteroid to interrogate the Nele, but they didn't receive any real answer. The reports even described those aliens as distrustful, distant, and annoyed about those questions.
That also made a lot of sense. The Nele weren't xenophobic, but they didn't trust the members of the other species easily. They were overprotective toward their own kind, and they always prioritized their survival.
The vague issue appeared at that point. The investigators had left the third asteroid empty-handed without confirming or refuting whether the Nele actually knew something. Those aliens were a lead that the soldiers couldn't pursue, but Khan believed to have a chance there.
'Am I making this up because I want to go to the third asteroid?' Khan wondered as he dived deep into his thoughts and checked his state through one of his techniques.
Everything was normal. Even the anger from the previous day had disappeared. Khan knew that his personal desires had nothing to do with that plan. There could be something worth pursuing on the third asteroid.
Excitement started to build up inside Khan as he reaffirmed that decision. He couldn't wait to see the Nele, but he couldn't rush his departure either. He smelled, and it was smart to take a nap before something some important.
Khan closed all the reports on the wall, took a bath, and went to sleep. He woke up slightly after dinner, but he disregarded the food as he wore some of the clean clothes in his room before darting outside.
The building on the second asteroid was even bigger than the one on the first, but Khan couldn't avoid meeting his companions. The group had gathered in the living room right before the exit to talk about their findings, and Khan's arrival inevitably attracted everyone's attention.
"Hey, where are you running off to at this hour?" Bruce asked in a playful tone.
The smell of booze and smoke had reached Khan's nostrils as soon as he left the elevator. Bruce and the others had occupied three comfortable couches that encircled a short table. Bottles, cups, and a fuming ashtray stood at their center, and some of the soldiers had already shown signs of drunkenness.
Master Ivor was absent, and Martha seemed the only one completely sober. Luke appeared too busy reviewing things on his phone to drink, but he didn't hold back from launching casual smiles at Khan.
As for Monica, she had joined Luke in those polite smiles toward Khan. She had also added a teasing look at his clothes, but her eyes darkened when she glanced at her cup on the table.
Monica was pretending that everything was normal, but she couldn't hide her hesitation in front of her drink. Francis was sitting next to her, and he had even stretched an arm on the back of the couch. He wasn't actually touching her, but it was clear that he couldn't wait to do that.
'Why am I already thinking of a way to help her?' Khan cursed in his mind.
"I'm going to investigate," Khan explained while slowly approaching the short table.
"Khan, it's already late," Bruce added. "Take it easy tonight and tell us how you ended up in a cell."
A few laughs resounded on the couches, and Khan also smiled. Even he found the topic funny, but he still had to fake his reaction since he had something far more important in mind.
"Most of the illegal activities happen at night," Khan chuckled before pointing at the bottles on the table. "Is there a cup for me?"
"I'll tell the domestics to bring one," Luke exclaimed.
"No need," Khan replied as he casually bent toward the table and seized Monica's cup and the bottle next to it. "I'm in a hurry. I might come back with something valuable if I'm right."
"Hey!" Francis called, but Luke spoke before he could continue to complain.
"Good luck!" Luke shouted. "Don't forget to send me the details of your expenses!"
The sound of the sliding door suppressed the echo of Luke's words and announced Khan's departure. The group soon disregarded the event, but Francis couldn't hold back from complaining. "Why did he take my bottle?"
Luke and Bruce exploded into a laugh. The event didn't have much value in their minds but seeing that Francis cared about it added a fun aspect to the whole matter.
"Don't think too much about it," Luke explained when he suppressed his laugh. "Khan forgets about everything else when he has a precise goal."
"You had to see him in Ylaco's camp," Bruce continued. "He would always have bruises and whatnot at the beginning of each week."
"Lieutenant Dyester is one of the reasons behind his current strength," Martha declared.
"Oh, I'm not trying to offend anyone," Bruce responded. "I was just explaining how Khan probably didn't even realize that the bottle belonged to Francis."
"And the cup to Monica," Francis added.
"I'm sure Khan won't mind that Monica drank from it," Luke laughed. "Don't worry. I've already told the domestics to bring more booze and another cup."
Francis couldn't say anything at that point. He glanced at Monica, but she wore a perfect smile as she shook her head gracefully. He couldn't possibly notice that she had to use the entirety of her willpower to keep her hands still and stop her from sending a message to Khan right away.
.
.
.
'This booze is really odd,' Khan thought after sniffing the liquid inside the bottle for the fifth time.
Khan was storming through the city's streets. He had already thrown away the cup next to one of the cleaning robots, and his phone showed a map that pointed toward the nearest elevator.
During the walk, Khan had taken his time to inspect the bottle. He knew that the item probably belonged to Francis due to its position on the table, and his senses found something surprisingly odd inside it.
'Is this mana?' Khan wondered as he continued to inspect the bottle. 'Why is there mana inside booze?'
Khan couldn't believe what he was sensing. The liquid inside the bottle radiated faint traces of natural mana that were barely noticeable. He had to use the entirety of his concentration just to notice them.
The phone ended up answering Khan's doubts. He searched the matter on the network and discovered that some brands of booze relied on the influence of mana to affect high-level warriors. Still, their targets usually involved third-level warriors or above.
Out of curiosity, Khan took a short sip from the bottle to experience its effects. The booze didn't feel strong, but a quick inspection to his state through his technique revealed that his focus was slightly off.
'This drink is quite sneaky,' Khan concluded before throwing the bottle at the nearest cleaning robot. 'No wonder Monica got so wasted. I'm surprised she could walk at all after a few cups of that thing.'
That conclusion added a point to Monica's alibi, but Khan decided not to draw conclusions so soon. His focus soon went back on the Nele and the third asteroid, and his excitement returned stronger than ever.
Reaching the third asteroid was far from hard. Khan only had to use an elevator to reach the streets above and walk until he arrived in the hangar with the short-distance teleports.
The soldiers inside the hangar only needed to scan Khan's genetic signature and some Credits to allow him in the lines. In a few minutes, Khan's hair turned into a spiked mess that attracted the attention of the other people on the third asteroid's hangar.
Khan didn't care about the surprised and interested gazes. He left the hangar in a hurry and inspected the new environment briefly before approaching the nearest elevator.
The third asteroid shared the same layout as the previous two, but its contents changed quite drastically. The four vast streets on the first floor weren't nearly as crowded, and the number of shops was also a small fraction of what Khan had seen before.
It was clear that the third asteroid marked a change in Milia 222's trend. The area had stopped targeting tourists and travelers and had become an actual home, especially for certain species.
Khan couldn't help but notice many purple spots during his trip inside the transparent elevator. The city on the lower level was similar to what he had seen on the second asteroid, but he average heights of its buildings seemed lower.
A few spots in the city seemed empty, but they turned out to be small stands occupied by Nele. Only a few of them had fortune-tellers, but those shops remained a common sight along the streets.
Khan didn't need to interact with anyone to find a path. The investigator had already given him everything he needed, so he reached a parking lot and took a cab to travel to the center of the city.
The trip took a while. The city wasn't too big, but the high density of smaller buildings slowed down the cars. Of course, Khan didn't mind that slight delay since he could use that time to review the reports.
When Khan left the car, he toured among the area to match what he was seeing with the descriptions in the reports. The neighborhood had multiple purple shops, and the Nele behind those stands didn't hold back from following Khan with their eyes.
Khan eventually found what he was looking for. A small shop with no windows stood between two stands, and its metal door didn't need any special process to open.
Khan pushed the door open and found himself inside a strange environment. Wood replaced the iconic metal floor of those places, and plants stood on the furniture all around the small room.
The show had a single armchair, a carpet, and a sleepy male Nele resting on a transparent case that acted as a counter. Khan's arrival alerted the Nele and forced him to straighten his position, but the latter didn't speak as he crossed his arms behind his back.
'He's wielding his weapon,' Khan thought as he inspected his surroundings.
The environment was definitely peculiar for a place in the middle of space. Plants and similar items usually were too annoying and expensive to preserve there, but Khan knew that the shop didn't lack money. It couldn't when an entire species supported it.
"[I offer myself with nothing but respect]," Khan stated as he approached the counter.
"We don't read the future here," The Nele responded in a perfect human accent as he inspected Khan from head to toe. He appeared surprised that Khan didn't show any reaction to his pheromones.
"I'm not here to know my future," Khan revealed. "I need to go downstairs."
The fact that someone so young knew about that topic left the Nele speechless. Still, the alien recovered quickly and voiced a warning. "You'll be alone down there. Many outsiders think to understand our ways, but most fail to respect them, which doesn't end well."
"Thank you for your concern," Khan politely replied, "But I still wish to go."
"As you wish," The Nele sighed as he pressed on a spot behind the transparent counter to open a secret door on the wall behind him. "There are no handles. Don't lose your balance."
Khan nodded as he entered the secret passage. The area was dark, and it turned out to be smaller than the elevators on the first floor. Yet, as it began to descend, all those details disappeared since a spectacular sight became visible.
The secret passage was an elevator connected to the lower level, which wasn't a simple platform. The Nele had built a separate dome under the city. That was their true home.
