The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] Chapter 701 701: A Passion for Tentacles

The first to stand was the Marshal.

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

"What is that kid doing?" soone whispered.

It looked reckless. No, it was reckless.

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

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

"Does he look like he's out?" another muttered.

Because Luca's cha wasn't damaged. It wasn't limping. It was just… empty-handed.

The entire bridge held its breath.

anwhile, in the private communication feed monts 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 ti 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 ti for plans like this.

"!"

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

For one, D-29 had imdiately objected.

"H-Host, what about option number 368? A plan where we wait and see what the monster will do? Option 1024 also seed 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 sothing like that. D-29 obviously agreed, but the little money-grubber was adamant about testing sothing he felt was very important.

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

Luca's cha 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 sohow stop what was about to happen.

But instead of dodging, the cadet's cha suddenly whipped out sothing 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 so reason.

For so reason, he hoped they'd never have to learn about it.

On-screen, the small cha raised the severed limb like a trophy and t 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?" soone 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 ti with pure joy.

"I knew it!" ca 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 cha 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, sowhere 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 mont!

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, sothing rather chilling had taken place.

Luca had been brimming with excitent 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 sll the profit.

But the mont the creature fully erged, 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 sothing else entirely.

Sohow, 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 confird 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 mbership.

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 mont 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?