Chaos' Heir - Chapter 1111

Chapter 1111: Captain
“How long still?!” A harsh shout resounded in the shabby ship, forcing Clifford to swallow a curse.

Clifford looked at the shout’s source, his eyes running over the messy, small bridge before ending on a burly middle-aged man with a military haircut. The latter impatiently watched the control desk with his arms crossed, seemingly unable to read the information on the single holographic screen.

“We are still a few hours away, Mister Ratré,” Clifford responded, “But there’s always a chance the Prince has already left the planet.”

“I told you to call me Captain when we are on my ships!” Mister Ratré scolded, glaring at Clifford before showing an arrogant smile. “And your transaction paid for this trip. You should hope this Prince Khan is still on Coravis if you want it detracted from your debt.”

“Yes, Captain,” Clifford responded, lowering his head in defeat. “Prince Khan will surely be there.”

Mister Ratré summarized Clifford’s sad situation in a few lines. Clifford was indeed the White Mouse crew’s boss, but his finances couldn’t possibly afford ships. No one in those quadrants had that kind of money.

So, pirates often requested them from wealthier businessmen, incurring hefty debts. Clifford had been unlucky enough to end up with Mister Ratré, a relatively rich man with connections with Merth 290.

Usually, that wouldn’t be enough to put pirates on the leash. After all, Merth 290’s businesses were on the ground, while Clifford’s life happened in space and in shabby colonies. The White Mouse crew could theoretically relocate and escape with the loaned ships, but things weren’t as simple as they looked.

First of all, Merth 290’s businessmen were no idiots. They wouldn’t loan goods they couldn’t retrieve. Mister Ratré had full remote control of the White Mouse crew’s ships and could hijack their commands at the slightest sign of betrayal.

Also, businessmen like Mister Ratré didn’t only own a single crew. They had many men under their command and lived in a world where face was everything. They would happily incur financial losses to catch anyone who dared to double-cross them.

Finally, Mister Ratré was a third-level warrior, a powerhouse in those poor and mostly desolate quadrants. No one could oppose him financially and physically, making his orders absolute, no matter how unreasonable they sounded.

That was the main reason behind Clifford’s unwillingness to get Credits from the negotiations with Prince Khan. He couldn’t hide the transaction, especially one involving such a hefty sum, and Mister Ratré had quickly caught wind of it.

To make things worse, Mister Ratré happened to be close to Blue Moon colony when the transaction occurred. The third-level warrior flew to Clifford as soon as he noticed it, and learning about the situation gave him a devious idea.

“You are too tense, Clifford,” Mister Ratré laughed, approaching the second-level warrior to place a hand on his shoulder. “I just want to meet the Prince and see if he still needs your services.”

Clifford kept his head lowered. The difference between second and third-level warriors wasn’t too significant, but a sea separated him from Mister Ratré. The latter had access to spells and martial arts that matched his attunement, making him several degrees stronger than Clifford.

“Also,” Mister Ratré smirked, instinctively lowering his voice. “If the Prince somehow met problems, we could rescue him and gain his favor. And if your man said the truth and the Prince could be dead … Well.”

Mister Ratré tightened his grip on Clifford’s shoulder, seemingly wanting him to feel the difference in their power before finishing his sentence. “We’ll have a rich loot to plunder.”

Clifford could only nod. Prince Khan had nothing on his persona, but his ship alone was worth a few fortunes. Its insides would probably contain goods those quadrants had never seen, so Mister Ratré immediately decided to go after him.

“I should warn you again, Captain,” Clifford felt compelled to reiterate his past warning. “This Prince Khan is no ordinary fourth-level warrior. There’s something about him that I can’t explain.”

“Clifford, Clifford,” Mister Ratré shook his head, finally letting go of Clifford’s shoulder. “My intentions are pure, but I’m sure the Prince understands the meaning of ownership. I own you, so he should have negotiated with me, and what he gave you isn’t enough, especially considering this trip’s expenses.”

Clifford nodded again, giving up on the idea of changing Mister Ratré’s mind or retrieving the transaction’s Credits. Truthfully, he didn’t know what he feared more, but his instincts pointed at Prince Khan, whom he hoped the crew wouldn’t find.

Luckily, that outcome was quite likely. Mister Ratré’s ship couldn’t compare to Khan’s. Even in the worst-case scenario, the Prince should have reached Coravis two weeks ago, making his presence on the planet improbable.

The rest of the flight was mostly silent, with Mister Ratré occasionally voicing unilateral complaints. The man didn’t know much about ships, so Clifford handled everything, commanding his crew to complete all the necessary procedures.

The ship Mister Ratré had chosen for the trip was relatively large, allowing the entirety of the crew to fit inside, but its scanners left much to be desired. Even after reaching Coravis, the vehicle couldn’t discover much from its orbit, and the pilot also mentioned an additional problem.

“There seems to be some kind of interference, Boss, Captain,” The pilot explained, half-panicking while tinkering with the control desk. “The scanners don’t work right.”

“That’s because you have done a poor job of maintaining my ships,” Mister Ratré scoffed. “No matter. Enter the atmosphere and do another scan from there.”

The pilot complied, bringing the ship into Coravis’ atmosphere before stopping it in the middle of its sky. He performed another scan, which revealed the same interferences as before. Yet, something else also popped out.

“I think I found something!” The pilot exclaimed.

“Bring us there,” Mister Ratré ordered, and the pilot glanced at Clifford’s lowered gaze before complying.

The ship crossed Coravis’ sky until another vehicle appeared in its scanners. Khan’s luxurious white ride was still hovering mid-air, completely sealed through various security measures.

The pilot approached Khan’s ship and performed multiple scans, which Clifford studied. A grim expression soon appeared on his face, but he mustered his strength to explain those results.

“Captain, I’m afraid we can’t do much with our current equipment,” Clifford revealed. “The noble’s ships’ security measures are no joke. Unless we bring a specialist, we might risk alerting the Prince’s family.”

“The Fuveall on Merth 290 can probably get the job done,” Mister Ratré thought loudly, “But they are expensive. No matter. The ship is here, so the Prince is too, as is his genetic signature.”

“Look for traces of the Prince,” Clifford ordered, understanding what Mister Ratré wanted.

“I already did, Boss,” The pilot muttered, “But there’s nothing. This interference keeps messing with our systems.”

“Fly at the interference, then,” Mister Ratré snorted. “What is taking you so long?!”

“Captain,” Clifford called. “Prince Khan is a chaos wielder. His kind can create problems for our ship. We might end up stranded here if the Prince caused the interference.”

“My ships aren’t so brittle,” Mister Ratré snorted. “Go look for this interference.”

Clifford held back a sigh. Truth be told, that ship was terrible. It was a miracle it still flew, but Mister Ratré would never speak ill of his loaned goods. The businessman inside him prevented it.

“Look for the interference’s source,” Clifford nodded, and the pilot complied.

It took a while, but the shabby ship eventually reached the interference’s source. The vehicle’s systems started flickering to no end as it approached the location, but the ride somehow remained afloat. However, the scanners stopped working, forcing Clifford and Mister Ratré to eyeball the scene from the transparent canopy.

Typically, a ship’s canopy was far from the ideal tool to study the environment, but Clifford and Mister Ratré couldn’t help but freeze when they looked past it.

The scene before the ship depicted a storm of raging waves surrounded by an eerily calm sea. The interference’s source seemed isolated from the rest of the world, limited to a specific patch of those not-waters.

Moreover, something so immense that the human brain struggled to comprehend floated among the raging waves. A gargantuan serpent rested on the sea’s surface, carried lifelessly by its not-waters and tainting them with the deeper blue color of its blood.