Chapter 1344: Deviance

The decision to leave Yeza behind while flying to the Nak’s home world had been easy to make when she had yet to be born. It had also been the wise and only possible choice, and that hadn’t changed.

However, Khan and Liiza couldn’t help but hesitate now that Yeza was with them. The two already missed her during their short separations, so they couldn’t fathom how it would be to leave her behind for weeks or months without having the opportunity to hold or check in on her.

It didn’t help that Khan was Khan, and Liiza belonged to an emotional species. That separation would be far heavier on them, but the matter was simply hopeless. It would be beyond reckless to bring Yeza on that mission.

Khan also had come to terms with Liiza’s decision to follow him. At first, his acceptance had merely been out of his inability to refuse his wife.

Yet, the battle against the two alien scouts had proven how necessary Liiza was for Khan’s psyche. He was far better now, and chances were almost nothing in the universe could make him regress to his previous mindset, but the Nak were that exception.

Khan’s grudge with the Nak was too deep, and their fated meeting would involve the Scarlet Eyes. That probably was the only thing in the universe that could make Khan accept compromises, especially now that he was a father.

Therefore, Liiza had to be with Khan to make sure he didn’t revert to his selfless habits, accepting terrible deals to guarantee the universe and his family’s safety.

Nevertheless, that set the complete separation in stone, which was upon the married couple now.

Liiza gulped loudly. She was of ice and had always been colder and more aloof than her fellow Niqols. However, thinking about the imminent separation was attempting to make her emotional, and she couldn’t give in to those feelings just yet.

Khan raised a hand to immerse it in the white and red hair on his shoulder, remaining focused on Yeza as he held her with one arm. It had always been easy for him to leave and deal with his feelings afterward, but his brain wanted nothing more than to stay with his daughter now.

Moreover, Khan knew that hesitation had no expiration date. Despite the trip’s necessity, he could delay it a bit longer, but no amount of time would make him ready to leave Yeza behind. He would always worry. His daughter was his home, but a man in his position couldn’t stay there forever just yet.

“The-,” Liiza muttered, clearing her throat to avoid sounding on the verge of sobbing. “The Niqols’ old ways aren’t the only weapon that works in the Scarlet Eyes’ presence.”

Garret had fallen silent to give the married couple some privacy, but that statement rekindled his interest in the conversation. Still, he believed he knew what Liiza was talking about.

“My husband’s genes,” Liiza continued, “The genes he inherited from the ancient horror he defeated. They were unaffected by the True Chaos.”

The footage had highlighted that point, but the Great Old One’s abilities were still a secret in the universe. Khan’s forces had released pictures of what he had killed, but had yet to disclose which benefits warriors might gain from it.

That was mostly due to the research’s results. Khan’s forces had developed a few things, which some close allies already had access to, but more tests and studies were needed to create a proper set of boosters, new medications, or other products that could hit the public market.

Of course, that wasn’t to say that the research had been fruitless, but Khan’s force had a few rules to abide by when it came to innovations. Also, Garret knew nothing they had developed would work in that specific issue.

“I’m aware, My Princess,” Garret stated. “I’m sure others will come to similar conclusions, especially now that the Niqols have highlighted those factors.”

That was one of the details the Elders had added to the footage. Khan’s forces could feign ignorance for now, but people were bound to connect the dots soon enough.

“But,” Garret continued, “We are still unclear on how to trigger similar behaviors. Our best products currently entail physical supplements and boosters.”

“[Humans],” Liiza scoffed, promptly switching back to the human language. “Once the Niqols reach Coravis, have them join the research. I’ll leave instructions before departing.”

“If I may, My Princess,” Garret called. “We might be able to follow these instructions already to start the research before the Niqols get here.”

“You can’t,” Liiza sighed, reaching for Yeza to rub her belly. “What I have in mind is similar to the Niqols’ old ways. It’s akin to mutations that might render the mana immune to the True Chaos throughout their duration.”

Khan couldn’t help but peek at the head on his shoulder. He didn’t do that during the battle against the two alien scouts. He had simply fed all his available mana to his cells to express more power, but Liiza was talking about actual mutations.

“Like tainting the mana itself?” Khan wondered.

“It would be temporary,” Liiza explained, “Like a controlled deviance that the warriors will push out of their system on their own. Of course, abuse would make those deviances permanent.”

Khan inevitably connected the suggestion to Professor Parver’s condition. The latter suffered from a mana illness that had changed his energy’s nature, and Liiza’s idea didn’t sound too far from that.

Yet, desperate times demanded desperate measures. Currently, only a few exceptional individuals in the entirety of the regulated universe would be able to fight in the presence of the Scarlet Eyes.

The Great Old One’s blood was a finite resource, but Khan was willing to use all of it to give the rest of the regulated universe a fighting chance. It would be a worthy trade.

Also, Khan could probably use his blood, too, for that project, and the universe now had another being who could, but that ended up triggering his ruthless side.

“Keep this news limited to the Niqols,” Khan ordered. “I’ll warn them, too. I don’t want anyone getting any funny idea about my daughter’s blood.”

“It will be done, My Prince,” Garret promised. “However, I have a troublesome suggestion to make.”

“Speak,” Khan said.

“I apologize in advance,” Garret exclaimed, “But it’s clear I’m not your best asset in this field. Raymond Cobsend is.”