Chaos' Heir

Nott Station's increased population had forced the Nognes family to send waves of supplies. Still, the structure's storage areas were limited and definitely weren't suitable for its new number of inhabitants, splitting the massive delivery into many smaller ones.

Life in space was a matter of balance and compromise. Sacrifices had to be made in certain aspects to keep the most important ones up and running. Energy had to be redirected from specific functions to prioritize others. Food usually didn't fall into that category, especially with a backer as wealthy as the Nognes family, but Khan made it come close to that.

Khan had always been a good eater, but even he became scared of his own hunger at some point. He wolfed course after course, never experiencing any fulfillment or fullness. His stomach felt bottomless, but there was far more to it.

Khan's organs didn't change, but their functions had undergone a qualitative transformation. His body had become a perfect, seamless machine that instantly turned anything he ate into nutrients for his cells. He digested at record speed, only to learn that he needed more.

It seemed Khan's body was cursed with an ancient hunger that had lasted millennia. He felt there was no end to what he could contain, absorb, and store, but he planned to find those limits that day.

The soldiers who kept delivering food to Khan's quarters couldn't help but grow worried at some point. Khan had already eaten enough for fifteen people, but orders didn't stop coming.

The matter became so concerning that Gordon caught wind of it. The noble guard had grown used to Khan's strange shenanigans years ago, but as more orders reached the space station's network, he felt compelled to ask Garret's advice.

Luckily, Garret had never stopped studying the data from Khan's complete check-up. He had been busy with all kinds of tasks, especially those involving Coravis, but the Prince's physical state remained his priority, so he could reassure Gordon about that unusual event.

So, Khan kept eating uninterrupted without anyone directly questioning or attempting to stop his behavior. He ate as much as entire squads and almost a whole platoon until his hunger finally subsided, leading to a strangely unfamiliar sense of deep satisfaction and fullness.

Khan couldn't help but close his eyes when that feeling invaded his body, but opening them put him before undeniable proof of his strange exploit. He found himself surrounded by piles of trays messily arranged on the bedroom floor. Those metal plates created tall towers all around him, and something told him the flat's robots wouldn't be enough to clean them.

'Did I really eat all this?' Khan wondered, shocked by his feat. Somehow, he found it easier to believe he had defeated the Great Old One.

The size and height of the litter made Khan glance at his exposed torso. His figure had always been extremely cut due to his training and martial arts, but his belly would still bloat after overeating. However, his glowing eyes revealed a far different truth.

Khan didn't see any bloat. Instead, his abs were perfectly visible. Actually, they looked more evident than what Khan could remember. He never cared about appearing fit, but the scene still surprised him.

Khan stood up to take a better look at himself. He even removed his cape and the upper part of his uniform to check whether the trend affected his entire body, which seemed to be the case.

Every muscle Khan inspected looked slightly bigger and more defined. He had never been too burly, but his lean figure seemed to have become more muscular. His skin and flesh appeared fuller and livelier, highlighting the lack of fat and the clear edges of his bulging muscles. Khan couldn't be sure of that, but even his veins felt more evident.

That inspection didn't satisfy Khan, so he went toward the bathroom, flying over the towers of trays to reach the nearest mirror. He stripped himself naked to look for other changes, but his face ended up claiming his attention.

Khan knew the mental training was eating him alive, but the dark eyebags had disappeared. His complexion had never been livelier, and the same went for his eyes. Their light seemed able to break the mirror without needing any help from Khan's element, vouching for their power.

Khan looked down again, flexing his arms and tensing his muscles to experience their power. He had already felt the new, immense strength that flooded his flesh, but the recent eating session seemed to have increased it several times, almost worrying him about what he could do now.

The news was welcome and understandable. Khan needed a stronger body for the Transcendent Step's advanced forms, and any advantage would help in his seemingly impossible mission.

Also, Khan had inherited traits from a seemingly mostly physical ancient being. He wasn't as big as the gargantuan snake, but his flesh had gained a similar power, increasing its passive energy consumption.

Strength didn't come out of nowhere. It needed a channel and fuel. Khan's body had gotten stronger, demanding more energy to function. It could still perform well when starving but would only show its true power when full of nutrients.

Khan itched to test himself but suppressed that urge. He was curious about what his cells could perform but lacked a safe place to unleash their power. Honestly, Khan wasn't sure whether humankind could even build something like that anymore.

The lack of suitable training halls didn't force Khan to stand still. His healthy face confirmed that his mind had recovered, and he had never felt so full of energy, either.

Khan quickly returned to the bedroom and pushed the piles of trays into the living room. He would take care of them eventually, but his curiosity had the priority now, so he quickly activated the flat's menus to summon his tattoo's replica.

Theoretically, the benefits shouldn't just apply to Khan's physical strength. The brain was an organ that should have benefited from the torrential stream of nutrients, and he didn't hesitate to test it through torturous mental training.

As for the soldiers outside the flat, they finally heaved a sigh of relief at the absence of additional orders. The starving beast inside Nott Station had finally been sated, sparing the crews from rationing what was left in the storage areas.