100% DROP RATE : Why is My Inventory Always so Full? - Chapter 309

Chapter 309: Chapter 309 – Domain
Lucien rose to his feet.

For the first time since the breakthrough, excitement broke through his composure.

He had crossed the threshold. Now he wanted to feel it.

Lucien lifted his hand, then paused. A faint smile tugged at his lips as he crossed two fingers together, half in jest and half in anticipation.

“Domain Expansion,” he said.

The response was immediate.

Reality folded.

A dome of authority unfurled outward from Lucien. It expanded in a smooth, unstoppable wave.

The Obsidian Tower’s interior vanished from perception, replaced by a boundless radiance.

Golden light filled everything.

It was not blinding. The light did not shine from any single source. It existed everywhere at once as if the concept of illumination itself had been granted form.

Lucien inhaled sharply.

He recognized this place.

It was reminiscent of the realm where he had first encountered the Will of the World in the small world long ago.

“This is…” Lucien murmured.

Then he felt it.

Responsiveness.

The domain was not static.

It awaited him.

Lucien’s eyes brightened as understanding clicked into place.

“So this is how it works.”

He willed change.

The golden radiance shifted instantly. Space reassembled itself according to his imagination.

Walls unfolded where none had existed. Floors inverted. Staircases spiraled upward and downward without regard for direction. Doors floated in midair, opening into corridors that led nowhere and everywhere at once.

An abstract labyrinth took shape. A structure born of intent rather than geometry.

It resembled a fractured infinity castle, layered and recursive. Each section existed because Lucien acknowledged it should. Distance lost meaning. Orientation became optional.

Lucien stepped forward, amused.

Then he imagined again.

The labyrinth dissolved. The domain reshaped itself into something else entirely. Vast plains appeared, stitched together by floating constructs of light. Then those vanished too, replaced by a cathedral-like expanse of suspended platforms and flowing symbols.

Lucien experimented freely.

Each thought translated into structure. Each concept solidified without delay.

His Law of Creation moved effortlessly within the domain.

There was no resistance. Constructs formed fully realized, concepts stabilized as soon as they were conceived. Creation no longer felt like negotiation.

It felt like breathing.

Lucien tested further.

He reached for his other Laws.

They responded.

Within the domain, his authority extended beyond Creation alone. Other Laws aligned themselves naturally, reinforcing the space instead of clashing with it. Each Law knew its place here.

Lucien nodded slowly.

“In here,” he said, “I hold full authority.”

An enemy caught inside this space would not be facing a battlefield.

They would be facing “him.”

Lucien was still smiling when something unexpected occurred.

He felt it before he saw it.

A pathway.

Lucien’s breath caught.

He turned his attention deeper, toward the foundation of the domain itself. The sensation was unmistakable.

“This domain…” he said quietly, “…is connected.”

Understanding crystallized.

The domain was not merely an external projection. It was an extension of his Divine Energy Core. A conceptual overlay that bridged reality and his inner realm seamlessly.

Lucien’s eyes widened.

He willed it.

The domain responded.

Space folded again.

The abstract structures peeled away, and a familiar scene emerged within the boundaries of the domain.

A bustling place appeared.

The monster economy.

Creatures paused mid-motion as the air shifted. Then recognition spread. Monsters turned toward Lucien one after another. Their eyes widened before they bowed to him.

Their reactions were immediate and instinctive.

Lucien laughed aloud.

He took a step forward, then willed another change.

The scene shifted.

Now he stood near the training facilities within his divine energy core.

Lucien stared around him as exhilaration surged through his chest.

“So that’s how it is,” he said.

By expanding his domain, he could reach anywhere within his inner realm instantly. Distance no longer mattered. Separation had become a suggestion rather than a barrier.

He no longer needed to wrap beings or structures in divine energy to move them.

If he wished to summon armies, he could do so by opening his domain.

If he wished to relocate populations, he could do so without delay.

Lucien laughed again, unable to contain it this time.

“This changes everything.”

The domain receded smoothly, folding back into him without backlash or instability. The Obsidian Tower returned to view, still hurtling through the void.

Lucien stood there, breathing steadily.

He had not merely advanced in realm.

He had gained a new way to exist.

Just then…

Lucien’s excitement faded.

It was displaced.

From the depths of the Obsidian Tower, a sound bled outward. It was not a single voice. It was indignation sharpened by eternity.

Howls echoed along the corridors.

Lucien exhaled slowly.

“I almost forgot about those monsters,” he murmured.

He turned and began walking.

The Obsidian Tower continued its violent drift through space. Even now, inertia twisted unpredictably, sending tremors through the structure. Lucien had already adapted. His Sticky Boots adhered to the obsidian floor.

He moved without hurry.

When Lucien reached the lower containment level, the scene that greeted him was… unexpected.

The cages were still intact.

But each containment construct now tumbled and spun through the vast chamber. Some rotated end over end. Others drifted sideways, colliding lightly before bouncing apart.

Inside them—

Chaos.

The ancient beings were unharmed.

That was obvious.

What was damaged was something far more precious to them.

Their dignity.

A massive scaled entity slammed its claws against the bars as its prison rotated.

“This is humiliation beyond measure!”

Another voice followed,

“To be tossed like refuse through the void! Human, you insult eternity itself!”

A third roared with venomous disdain.

“Even the Eternal of Stillness understood restraint. She knew how to keep captives with decorum!”

Lucien stopped.

He stared.

Then he sighed.

“…So that’s what this is about.”

They were not injured. They were not weakened. They were not even afraid.

They were offended.

Lucien observed them quietly.

‘Ancient beings truly are strange,’ he thought. ‘Pain is acceptable. Death is acceptable. But embarrassment? Unforgivable.’

The cages continued to drift.

None of the imprisoned beings attempted to stabilize themselves.

They could not.

The suppression prevented them from exerting meaningful control over space, law, or force. Their own power pressed inward uselessly, denied expression.

Lucien finally spoke.

“I am aware of your situation,” he said calmly. “The Tower was caught in a cosmic recoil. Stability was not my priority.”

That did not help.

“Then make it so now!” one of them thundered. “Anchor us!”

“At least grant us stillness!” another demanded.

Lucien tilted his head slightly.

“Stillness,” he repeated.

A faint smile crossed his face.

“Interesting word choice.”

The howling paused.

Lucien continued.

“I considered extracting your blood earlier,” he said. “Your bodies carry refined Law imprints. With it, I could elevate my monsters rapidly.”

The ancient beings stiffened.

Then Lucien shook his head.

“But I dismissed the idea.”

Silence fell.

Lucien’s gaze hardened.

“Sharing a Law does not create equality,” he said. “It creates hierarchy. The one with deeper understanding commands the one with lesser clarity.”

His eyes swept across the cages.

“I do not need more variables.”

The chamber remained quiet.

Then from one of the spinning cages, a voice spoke, unmistakably offended on a far more personal level.

“I will yield.”

Lucien turned.

The speaker was unexpectedly the Storm Roc.

Its vast wings were folded painfully tight. Its feathers pressed against its body as the cage rotated.

“This accursed vessel denies me sky,” the Roc said. “It fractures my bearing. My form was not made for confinement of this nature.”

Lucien raised an eyebrow.

“You are volunteering?”

“I am choosing the lesser indignity,” the Roc replied coldly. “Place me within the realm you used before. At least there, I may enter hibernation.”

Lucien studied it for a moment.

Then he nodded.

“Accepted.”

The reaction was immediate.

The other ancient beings erupted.

“You traitor!”

“You debase yourself!”

“Human! You dare bargain like a slumlord of realms!”

Lucien ignored them.

He expanded his domain.

Golden authority unfolded instantly, enveloping the Storm Roc alone. The other cages remained untouched, drifting helplessly outside the boundary.

The Roc vanished and reappeared suspended within Lucien’s domain.

Lucien did not approach it.

Instead, he lifted his hand and shaped intent.

Within the domain, a construct formed. A clean, precise incision defined by Creation itself.

The Roc hissed softly as the construct opened a controlled wound along its flank.

“Tch,” it muttered. “Cautious creature.”

Lucien did not respond.

A massive vessel formed beneath the wound.

Blood flowed.

The vessel filled steadily.

Lucien watched without expression.

When it was complete, he sealed it and turned his gaze back to the Roc.

“This is your rent,” he said. “One month.”

The Roc’s eyes flared.

“You overreach, human!”

Lucien met its gaze evenly.

“Or you may return to the tower.”

The Roc fell silent.

After a moment, it exhaled slowly.

“…Place me away from here now.”

Lucien nodded.

The domain shifted.

The Roc was relocated into a distant region of Lucien’s divine energy core, far from settlements and activity.

Lucien withdrew his domain.

The remaining cages continued to tumble.

The ancient beings glared at him with hatred, fury, and something else beneath it.

Calculation.

Lucien turned away.

“Consider your options,” he said calmly. “The Tower will not stabilize anytime soon.”

He began walking.

“Imagine your peers hearing that you drifted helplessly through space,” Lucien said. “Eternal bodies, rendered useless. That would be quite an entertaining tale for the Big World.”

Behind him, the howls resumed.

But this time—

They carried hesitation.

And for the first time since their capture, the ancient beings understood something clearly.

Lucien Lootwell was no longer just a variable.

He became their landlord.

And the rent had begun.