The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] Chapter 1355: The Dreaded Words

Ominous words.

Anyone could utter them, but not every instance would evoke the kind of sheer panic that came when those particular words spilled from the mouth of one Jackson Taylor.

Because when said something as dire as "I don’t feel good about this," even the usually logical Imperial Crown Prince reacted as though he regularly entertained superstitious beliefs.

He didn’t.

But considering it was guy saying it, surely something catastrophic was about to happen.

And as if to confirm their suspicions, just as the group was preparing to find a more spacious area where they could discreetly leave and return to their mechas as promised, a sharp crackle suddenly came from a corner of the room.

"...!"

Luca stopped in his tracks, his gaze immediately drawn toward the pile of battered pirates they’d rather haphazardly hidden there.

Now, as for why they’d bothered dragging those three around even after beating them to a pulp, well...

As it turned out, those unconscious fellows had actually played a rather important role in their operation.

Earlier, the mysterious pirate had mentioned that they needed those men to access the space buttons, and apparently, he hadn’t been joking!

Sure enough, they’d managed to unlock the storage devices using the unconscious pirates’ biometrics, although their rather uncooperative guide had remained just as evasive whenever they tried asking him anything else.

Still, thank goodness they’d gone through the trouble!

Because as convenient as it would’ve been to simply pocket those space buttons and deal with their contents later, the devices were actually heavily bugged and rigged for immediate self-destruction.

No, thank you!

Even a dedicated scavenger and resident money-grubber like Luca wouldn’t want to bring a bunch of trackers back to their safe space!

"I don’t think you want that," the mysterious pirate had warned them. "So empty them out and put them back where we found them. If the others manage to return here, they’ll probably do what those three did and look for the space buttons first, hoping to get their hands on the materials themselves."

"..."

Right. That sounded plausible enough.

So rather than taking any unnecessary risks, they’d followed his recommendation and carefully transferred the hazardous materials into one of the many space buttons Luca’s good brother always carried with him.

Once emptied, the storage devices that could’ve served as several people’s illegal meal tickets were simply returned to their original locations.

Now, while there was hardly anything about the situation on Caldris Minor-7 that could be considered fortunate, the present members of DG had at least believed their operation was proceeding relatively smoothly.

Once they’d secured all the contaminated materials, they could concentrate on apprehending the remaining pirates and figuring out how those bastards had managed to establish such an extensive operation here in the first place!

That had been the plan, anyway.

At least until D-29 delivered its shocking report, followed almost immediately by Jax’s rather chilling declaration!

And now?

It was an illegal communication terminal.

One that wasn’t even attached to the man’s body, but had apparently been brought along specifically for this operation.

And as the static crackling through its modified speakers gradually cleared, the sounds of an ongoing conversation over the pirates’ shared communication frequency became terrifyingly clear.

"Activate it now!" a frantic voice barked through the speaker. "I don’t give a damn where the hell we end up! As long as we can hold out there with even one of these punks, it’ll be perfect! They’ll eventually come pick us up, especially once they find out we’ve got high-value cargo!"

"...!"

The cadets’ eyes immediately narrowed.

Xavier, in particular, shot a sharp glance toward the mysterious telepathic pirate standing nearby.

But the man himself was already staring down at the crackling terminal, his expression suggesting that he thoroughly hated whatever he was hearing.

Then, from the same communication network, another pirate’s voice came through between heavy, labored breaths.

"Then use it this time, since you’re the smartass who suggested it!"

"...?"

Judging by the increasingly heated argument, the pirates were practically passing a hot potato around, with none of them particularly eager to be the one responsible for activating whatever mechanism they were discussing.

"Fine!" the pirate who’d originally suggested it finally shouted through gritted teeth. "But I better get the biggest share of the reward, since I’m the one risking everything!"

A storm of angry complaints immediately erupted from the others.

However, before anyone could properly argue over how their imaginary reward was supposed to be divided, the same pirate suddenly raised his voice into a desperate scream!

"There’s no pod this time! They specifically told us never to use it without that shit, so how the fuck do you expect me to share anything when you’re forcing me to do it like this?!"

"...!"

__

There were certainly more colorful insults being exchanged over the communication channel, but Luca was no longer paying much attention to their squabbling.

Like his husband, the curious dungeon owner had turned his attention toward the mysterious pirate standing with them.

The man clicked his tongue in obvious annoyance, his expression growing increasingly grim as he listened.

Ah.

As expected!

If anyone down here knew what those bastards were planning, surely it had to be him!

And apparently, Luca didn’t even need to ask, because the man volunteered the information himself.

"If they’re really talking about your comrades, then you’d better make sure those people take your orders seriously," he warned. "Tell them to stay as far away from those idiots as possible, because once they activate that thing, they won’t be able to get away even if they want to..."

"...!"

Beside the stunned golden-eyed cadet, one blonde’s expression immediately changed.

As someone who’d survived a pirate attack himself, Ollie couldn’t help but suspect something particularly unpleasant.

Especially after hearing those bastards talking about pods, activating some unknown mechanism, and disappearing to who knew where with one of their comrades!

"Hey, Mister!" Ollie suddenly blurted out, his voice tense. "Those guys... are they planning to conjure another wormhole?!"

"I wish," the pirate spat, his jaw tightening. "But no. Wormholes don’t appear inside planets, do they?"

"...!"

Right. They didn’t.

And sure enough, what actually appear was something none of them were going to like.