Chapter 805 Expansion
Finding excuses to keep the younger generation on Baoway after the birthday ended was easy. Prince William and Princess Felicia stayed behind, providing the perfect opportunity to create a connection to the Nognes family that went beyond Khan.
Even those who had refused Khan's offer played along, lingering on the planet to hide the various individual negotiations. Many meetings unfolded as specialists landed and departed into the quadrant. Balancing deals among so many descendants took time, but Khan eventually reached an agreement with everyone.
The plan could move to the next step afterward. The forest was already taken, but the other quadrants needed to understand the new world order. The descendants had more than enough firepower to take them by force, but Khan had his reasons to act personally.
A ship hovered above a pristine environment. Shorter trees surrounded the many lakes in the quadrant, creating the perfect spots for settlements and villages. A few tribes lived in the area, and their population was slowly reaching a critical point.
Khan checked the scanners inside the ship before opening its side doors. The warm afternoon wind blew on his face, filling the vehicle's insides. The small crew couldn't help but ignore its duties and look at him, only to see him jump in the following second.
The symphony added details to the scanners' images. Khan closed his eyes, free-falling from the ship as his brain absorbed all the necessary information. Usually, he would opt for the same slow approach he had taken during his first period on Baoway, but time wasn't on his side.
'There,' Khan thought when he pinpointed the area with the highest number of auras. His eyes opened, and his figure stopped mid-air before disappearing altogether.
The Scalqa had primitive ways of communication. The best they could rely on was information gathered by scouts or during battles, which only provided knowledge of the nearby areas. Learning about the situation in different quadrants was simply impossible with their means.
However, many ships had invaded Baoway's atmosphere in the previous months, warning even the more distant tribes about strange events. The issue had yet to affect them, but that was about to change from that day onward.
The vaster and more populated settlement in the lakes' quadrant counted around sixty Scalqa. That was an excellent achievement for a tribe with no external help, but the favorable environment aided that process, and its encampment reflected that advantage.
The lake was a natural barrier against incoming attacks, so the settlement's barrier only had to encompass three-quarters of the total area occupied by the tribe. That allowed more flexibility in eventual expansions and provided a secure food source that didn't require dangerous hunts.
Of course, the different environments led to different habits, but one detail stuck around. The lake settlement had a blue bush at its center, which the tribe didn't hide under a tent. Those Scalqa seemed to prefer leaving it in the open.
It was late afternoon, so every hunting team had returned to the settlement. By that hour, the tribe was almost complete, leaving only a few patrolling teams and scouts outside. The encampment's power was at its peak, and Khan landed right in the middle of it.
Khan's movements never made any sound. Even his more violent techniques exuded an innate grace that saved the environment from loud repercussions. His landing was no different, so no one noticed his arrival.
However, Khan's aura was a completely different issue. His presence carried the weight of his power, warning the entire settlement about his arrival.
The Scalqa lacked heightened senses, but the sudden temperature drop didn't go unnoticed. Out of instinct, they turned their heads, focusing on the settlement's center. Many aliens also exited their tents and saw the same eerie scenery as their companions.
It couldn't be stressed enough how small Khan was in the Scalqa's vision. The average Scalqa was three meters tall, and everything about Baoway was bigger, so Khan looked genuinely tiny, and his defined muscles didn't help.
Nevertheless, that detail created an inexplicable conflict in the Scalqa's primitive minds. Khan was beyond tiny, which should mean relatively harmless and weak, but the aliens' instincts told them to stay away. Death seemed ready to descend on anyone who tried to approach Khan.
'It needs more nutrients,' Khan thought, studying the blue bush. He had landed right before the plant, and his time on Baoway had taught him much about it. He only needed a look to understand its state.
'They must lack shamans,' Khan concluded, forgetting about the plant to face the frozen audience.
A blue light joined the environment, and the frozen Scalqa soon saw that glow shining on them. Khan's bright eyes illuminated the area, granting him a magical vibe that kept the aliens silent.
"[I'm Ka-Han]," Khan announced, "[From the Ka-Han Tribe. Join me]!"
Khan filled his words with his power, hoping they would convince the Scalqa to submit without a fight. Yet, he miscalculated an aspect of the new quadrant, and one of the aliens soon clarified.
A fourth-level warrior wearing bone armor stepped forward after the announcement, approaching Khan and stopping a few meters from him. His imposing figure hid Khan from Baoway's star, but his bright eyes fended off the shadows that tried to envelop him.
"[Ka-Han Tribe]," The huge alien said alongside other words Khan couldn't understand. They reminded him of things he had learned in the past period, but the different accents and sounds prevented him from translating them.
'A dialect,' Khan realized. 'Great.'
The Scalqa's statement made his companions explode into excited cries. Many shouts flew in Khan's direction, but he barely understood a quarter of them. He believed getting used to the dialect wouldn't take him long, but his priorities lay elsewhere that day.
"Fall," Khan muttered, giving birth to a circular tremor that expanded from his figure and reached every corner of the settlement. Ripples appeared on the lake behind him, and the tents' pelts flapped as if moved by the wind.
The Scalqa had it far worse than the lake and tents. Everyone lost their balance, and many fell to the ground. The ground shook due to those aliens' weight, but Khan's figure didn't waver. His eyes remained fixed on the Scalqa who had dared to challenge him.
The huge Scalqa before Khan was the best warrior in the settlement but had also been closer to the tremor's origin. His muscles tensed as his legs gave in. He fell, but his immense physical strength kept him on his knees.
However, a hand closed itself around the Scalqa's jaw before he could even think about standing up. Khan's fingers were too short to reach both sides of the alien's face, but that didn't stop them from conveying their strength. That mere touch told the Scalqa that Khan could kill him without dropping a sweat.
The scene didn't make any sense. Even while kneeling, the Scalqa still matched Khan's height. The difference in size was immense, but the same went for the gap in their power. Khan could very well be a god to those primitive warriors.
"[Join Ka-Han Tribe]," Khan said as a silent order spread through the symphony, "[Or die]."
Everyone heard Khan's words, and the following event compensated for the language barrier. Tens of purple-red lights appeared in the sky above the settlement, gathering power to shine more brightly. Khan didn't bother turning them into spears, but the demonstration worked as intended.
Primitive minds or not, the Scalqa instantly understood they were against something otherworldly. Most were warriors, so they realized they stood no chance against Khan. His existence exceeded what they could comprehend, and reverence was the only reasonable reaction.
"[K]-," The kneeling Scalqa muttered, slowly lifting his arms to point his palms at the sky. "[Ka-Han Tribe]."
Khan's gaze lingered on the kneeling Scalqa before going over the audience. Aliens lifted their arms in surrender whenever his eyes pointed at them. Soon, the entire settlement prostrated to Khan, and he let go of the Scalqa to wave his hand at the sky.
The gesture initially confused the Scalqa, and that feeling intensified when ships descended toward the settlement. Still, Khan was among them, so no one dared to make harsh moves. They didn't understand what was happening but knew they had no choice but to go along.
The ships landed outside the rocky barrier, opening their side doors and showing their spacious insides. Those cargo vehicles seemed perfect for carrying Scalqa, which was why Khan had brought them with him.
"[Climb]," Khan ordered, pointing at the ships and taking the lead in the march. He walked toward the vehicles, and the settlement slowly gathered behind him, following his every step.
"Fly them back to the settlement," Khan ordered one of the pilots while the loading process was still ongoing. "My fiancée will handle the rest."
The pilot responded, but Khan had already started ignoring him. He needed to help retrieve the blue bush and sort out the settlement's items. He didn't hope to find much, but some details could aid the following trips.
'Now I just have to repeat this for the entire planet,' Khan thought, holding back a helpless sigh.