The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] - Chapter 701

Chapter 701: A Passion for Tentacles

The first to stand was the Marshal.

He had already been uneasy, but the sight of Luca’s mecha breaking formation to charge directly toward the monster was enough to make him grip the edge of the console.

“What is that kid doing?” someone whispered.

It looked reckless. No, it was reckless.

The white-and-gold mecha rushed straight toward one of the larger, more aggressive tentacles, moving too fast for anyone to call it a bluff. And this time, worse than before, it wasn’t even armed.

“Is he out of weapons?” Curtis asked, voice cracking halfway through.

“Does he look like he’s out?” another muttered.

Because Luca’s mecha wasn’t damaged. It wasn’t limping. It was just… empty-handed.

The entire bridge held its breath.

Meanwhile, in the private communication feed moments before, one very flabbergasted husband had been the first to know.

“Xavier,” Luca had started sweetly—too sweetly.

That tone should’ve been a warning.

But by the time the Imperial Crown Prince realized where this was going, it was too late. The trap had already been set.

Okay, to be fair, this might’ve been his fault. Now that he thought about it, the prince was pretty sure he hadn’t been specific enough when he told his little wife not to keep dangerous plans from him—just to share them before trying them.

He really hadn’t told him about the acceptable lead time for plans like this.

“!”

Thankfully, the private channel had been muted earlier, courtesy of Duchess Amelia, who suspected that the cadets might discuss matters that no one—including the command staff—needed to hear. In hindsight, it was a mercy. Because if anyone had heard what came next, they might’ve grounded the entire group indefinitely.

For one, D-29 had immediately objected.

“H-Host, what about option number 368? A plan where we wait and see what the monster will do? Option 1024 also seemed appropriate, as it would do us well to continue harvesting. So, why did it have to be the Option negative 109?”

But fearing demotion from “manager of managers” to “decorative scrap,” the little system reluctantly gave in.

And so began the next episode of everyone’s shared stress disorder.

Xavier actually volunteered to do it. He was confident that he and Sid could handle it, and it would spare him the psychological pain of watching Luca do something like that. D-29 obviously agreed, but the little money-grubber was adamant about testing something he felt was very important.

And so the husband, who was weak to his wife’s heartfelt requests, relented begrudgingly.

Luca’s mecha sprinted across the field, boosters flaring bright against the churning sea. One of the massive tentacles noticed and lashed toward him; the impact alone would’ve been strong enough to crush steel.

Every officer in the command center braced instinctively, as if they could somehow stop what was about to happen.

But instead of dodging, the cadet’s mecha suddenly whipped out something that made half the room blink in confusion.

“…Is that a tentacle?” Curtis croaked.

It was.

A severed one.

One that Luca himself had cut earlier—and apparently stored away for later use.

For some reason.

For some reason, he hoped they’d never have to learn about it.

On-screen, the small mecha raised the severed limb like a trophy and met the attacking tentacle head-on. The two collided with a wet crack that sent shockwaves through the air.

Everyone held their breath, expecting a blast of bioluminescent harpoons or another explosion.

But nothing happened.

The tentacle didn’t react.

It didn’t release venom. It didn’t lash out again. It just… stopped, recoiling slightly, as if confused.

Inside the command center, disbelief spread like static.

“???”

“…Did it just—did it recognize that?” someone asked.

“Why didn’t it attack?”

“Because this is apparently how we’re doing science now,” muttered one of the engineers, dragging a hand down his face.

Out there on the battlefield, before his friends could recover, the private channel lit up again—this time with pure joy.

“I knew it!” came the unmistakable voice of one successful businessman, triumphant and breathless. “Sure enough, just like that one, there must be particular triggers!”

If only everyone else could’ve heard how happy he was. Back in the Imperial Battleship, Curtis briefly forgot he was watching a live combat feed.

Then, to everyone’s shared horror and fascination, Luca’s mecha cut down the harmless tentacle, collected both into storage, and casually flew back toward Xavier’s position as if he hadn’t just given half the command staff a collective heart attack.

Only, somewhere on another unfortunate battleship, one father was being stubborn.

Adamantly, in fact.

Because how could Duke Leander possibly sit still while his son was out there collecting tentacles without him?

It could’ve been a bonding moment!

If only he knew how close it had been to becoming a complete breakdown instead.

See, before everyone realized that the cadets had already moved in front of the monster, something rather chilling had taken place.

Luca had been brimming with excitement over the creatures of Zone Four. So when everyone rushed out to witness the monster rise from the sea, he didn’t hesitate. Not for a second.

The boy practically lit up.

And of course, one prince had expected this.

So when he saw him rushing out, they were able to follow him.

He listened quietly as his little wife went on and on about how fascinating the creature was—according to the scans—describing every detail on the charts with so much awe that Xavier quietly wondered if he was supposed to grow regenerative tentacles too.

But more importantly, what had them gunning straight for the monster just as everyone was trying to make sense of it was because of several readings.

Apparently, when D-29 detected the creature, it had reported an enormous amount of corruption—so much that even the system sounded giddy about it. They could practically smell the profit.

But the moment the creature fully emerged, everything changed.

It wasn’t like Tortie the Sludgeborn Tortoise.

Not even close.

And this wasn’t just about its size or shape—it was something else entirely.

Somehow, Luca couldn’t tell where the corruption was coming from.

“?”

That was roughly the collective expression everyone made when Luca frowned and tilted his head, confused.

He tried to purify the tentacles. Nothing happened. Not even a flicker of reaction.

It wasn’t that there was no corruption. D-29 confirmed that the readings were right. But it was like trying to grab fog with his hands—it was there, yet not.

For once, Luca looked truly heartbroken.

To him, this was like finding out a long-awaited grand sale only applied to one item—the membership.

He felt personally wronged.

“I don’t know what’s wrong,” Luca admitted in the shared channel, sounding betrayed. “I can’t find where to purify it.”

Silence followed.

Then, as always, Ollie—the dependable shining star—spoke up brightly, as if bestowing divine wisdom upon the group.

“Well, brother, even if it’s not contaminated, we could still use it, right?”

“And if we cut enough of these, won’t we eventually find what’s causing the readings to show up like that?”

Everyone froze.

Oh.

And just like that, Luca’s eyes began to sparkle.

That was the moment the golden-eyed cadet discovered his passion for tentacles.

It was not a passion anyone expected—or wanted—but it was unstoppable.

And as he grew more invested, Luca began noticing patterns, small details, little truths about the monster that most people from the Empire would never have recognized.

Because honestly, how would they know anything about sea anemones?

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