Chapter 73: Alternative Solution

Words : 1271 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

Chapter 73: Alternative Solution Xavier watched as Luca pouted more with every sip of the nutrient solution and wondered if he wanted a different one. "You don’t like the flavor?" Asked Xavier, Luca shook his head before answering, "I... I generally don’t drink nutrient solutions." Not that he didn’t give it a chance, but all the flavors couldn’t match the real thing. As someone who had access to the actual food they were trying to recreate, I would be too sad to drink such a food substitute, but in the absence of food, this was still better than nothing. "Me too!" Jax chimed in from the side, similarly expressing his love for actual food. While Luca felt the camaraderie, it was hard to stomach because Jax was happy with the gruel they ate back at the cafeteria. Luca had never been rich (still thinks like this), but if there was one thing he was lucky to have access to, it was food. Nothing fancy, but fresh and readily available food. And now he was missing it more than ever, and it hadn’t even been a day. He was lucky to ask what the floating devices were, or he would’ve tried eating a few things without knowing that there was a livestream of them. But what were the chances of someone watching his stream, right? There were so many students, after all! Why would they bother with him? "Host, what about mixing spiritual water into your nutrient solution pack? If it’s just liquid, then you should be able to take the resource and fill the container." "?!" Luca’s cheek bulged, doing his best not to spew the nutrient solution in his mouth. "I can do that?" "I don’t see why you can’t, Host. You can even take the badges they have hidden if you’re close enough!" His eyes blinked, and suddenly, he could envision a career where he could just be a successful thief if being a soldier didn’t work out. "But of course, it has to be within a certain radius! And doing it with sizeable objects would require more of the Dungeon’s energy when storing." D-29 reminded. And Luca remembered how he took down his earlier enemies. He was clear about his offensive limitations and stuck to petty magic tricks, like distracting the enemies by dropping items that felt like actual projectiles. Luca would drop daggers from above using his dungeon and would then be poised to take the opening it would create. That was how he did it earlier. In fact, he even considered trying to teleport using his space, like back in Tesseris but was afraid it would use too much energy and might be discovered because of the livestream. But if he could really mix in spiritual water, then maybe he would be fine. And he was more than fine. Luca took his time, not wanting to bloat the nutrient pack. But every little bit of the mixed solution made him very happy. In fact, he was so happy that everyone watching, whether Greg, their allies, or the live viewers, wondered what had made him smile like that. After all, the spiritual water was so good anyone would sparkle as if polished, and even when diluted, it was still way better than just the nutrient solution. Xavier wasn’t sure what was suddenly happening to the chipmunk and figured he needed to know what it was as the actual teammate. Did he sense an enemy? Surprisingly, Luca always seemed happy to encounter them. At first, he thought the chipmunk was overestimating himself, but Shorty was capable enough to handle his prey. Xavier leaned over, wanting to ask him when Luca moved faster, as if in a hurry. "What happened with you?" "This one," Luca almost pressed his pack against Xavier’s questioning face, "It seems to taste much better now that I’ve shaken it a bit. It must have settled. You should try it, too!" What’s gotten into him? Xavier wanted to reject, but Luca’s waiting eyes kept on guilting him into rejecting. He’d wilt again if I said no. And that was how Luca managed to rope a hesitant Captain into drinking from the same pack. At least he should be safe from poison, right? Poison, sure. But assassinations? Questionable. While Luca was making googly eyes at Xavier to ’force’ him to drink the mixed solution, the live viewers tried to determine their relationship. But that was from everyone not privy to the Royal Military Academy’s current scandal—Like the people from the duchy. Duke Leander just watched as his son’s eyes shone brightly while trying to convince that predator to take a sip from his drink! He wasn’t sure if he was more annoyed by the fact that Xavier was hesitant and looked ready to reject his adorable son or if he wanted to burn the white-haired guy because Luca was too close and clung to him. But if the Duke was feeling that way, Butler Gary and a few other men were inwardly screaming. They knew this person! This was the person being dominated by their Lord! When Luca finally closed in on Xavier, who had no choice (he keeps telling himself) but to drink, the Duke realized that his son just shared his first kiss (indirect) with that animal?! The viewing deck was suddenly enveloped in a thick, menacing aura before Butler Gary decided to fess up. "Your Grace, actually, there was something about this last time we met with the Lord." "Speak!" The Duke’s golden eyes glowed, but unlike Luca, his was with explicit threats. "We found our Lord dominating that white-haired man. They were in a rather compromising position, and the man couldn’t defend against our Lord Luca." The Duke’s head tilted, still processing the information. "???" "What do you mean?!" The aura visibly lessened as he was now more confused than before it started. Butler Gary wasn’t sure how he would explain that they might have to compensate the white-haired man. When they saw them last time, the Lord seemed to have had his way with him, who was motionless on the floor. When he saw they were partners, Butler Gary felt a different kind of fear. But then he saw that they seemed to be harmonious and felt relief. Their Young Lord was really capable! Butler Gary sighed and hoped for the best. The Lord was really speedy in all aspects, and didn’t even need their help with anything, even finding partners right after recovering. Duke Leander sat there, dumbfounded, as he listened to the Butler’s version of the story. So, it was his son who was the bigger animal? Compensation? His mind raced with so many possibilities while his heart cracked at the loss of his son’s innocence. But what to do when it was his son who was at fault? Would the pitiful man accept planets as compensation? He was still distracted when the same maid who pointed out the watermelon screamed. "Your Grace!" The Duke immediately checked on the livestream, thinking that something happened to Luca, only to see him still pressed against the suddenly pitiful animal. It definitely annoyed him, but at least his son was fine! "What’s wrong?!" "Your Grace, I... I think you should see this?" The maid stuttered; her face was flushed, but she knew the Duke HAD to see this. It was a clip of the training hall incident where the Orc Princess cornered the same two people. The Duke watched it all. And when he got to the last part, there was a sudden quake. *CRACK!* Then, the viewing deck was split into two.

Chapter 73: Alternative Solution

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