The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] novel Chapter 273

Chapter 273: Sustainability

But if there was a benefit to Duke Leander’s new obsession, it was the fact that he had laid low from bugging the fishes.

They were the same ones who clearly needed a break from the back-to-back fish dishes that were enjoyed for a few days.

For days, those scaly innocents lived in a state of dread—not because of natural predators but because of their regular assailant.

The fish knew.

They could feel the pressure.

Thankfully, Elder Pao Xi’s abilities had considerably improved the condition of the aquatic creatures. The significant boom in fertility and growth was promising, but it was not the answer to more long-term sustainability issues.

Given the current growth and fertility levels, this was especially true if they ever attempted to breed in the wild, as this might result in overcrowding.

So, one guild leader decided to look for possible solutions.

And that was great and all, if not for one particular mop lamenting his fate.

It was one thing to buy the facility but another to build it from scratch. And yet, there he was—a mechanic who part-timed as a student—having to learn a new blueprint for this aquaponics farm.

Now, that was not the problem. He was generally okay with blueprints, especially quality-of-life ones. His issue was understanding the reasoning behind the build.

In fact, the very concept of farming with soil had been very new to him, and now the soil was being replaced by fish poop water?!

Ollie was struggling to understand why.

Add the fact that they didn’t exactly know about edible fish until very recently, and you have yourself a recipe for disaster.

Especially when the partner-in-crime and good brother learned incredibly fast.

"So, brother, you’re saying we’re gonna farm...with that?"

Luca nodded, eyes still fixed on the physical book he held before him. "Not exactly just poop. Oh well—technically, yes, but also no. Hmm..."

Jax, Duke Leander, the four bony elders, and even Tortie (reluctantly) gathered around, forming a semi-circle like schoolchildren as Luca stood and showed the visual interface modeled by D-29.

"So this," Luca said, gesturing to the hologram, "is aquaponics. It’s a hybrid system. You raise fish in a tank like this one—"

The image showed a large water container with fat, contented fish.

"Obviously, these fish would produce waste, which happens to have ammonia. And in high concentrations, this could really be toxic to the fish that would be submerged in that water."

Ollie blinked slowly. "And we want to keep that water?"

"Yes. But only because ideally, we’re going to nitrify the water so that we can convert the ammonia into nitrites, then nitrates. And as you all have likely learned, plants really like that."

Jax’s hand shot up. "So the poop gets turned into plant food?"

"More or less, yes."

The image shifted to reveal pipes connected from the fish tank to planter beds full of lush greens.

"These vegetable beds sit on top of or beside the fish tanks."

"The goal is for the plant roots to clean the water by absorbing the nutrients. Then eventually, the cleaned water would return to the fish."

Duke Leander leaned forward, squinting at the screen. "So... fish feed the plants... and the plants clean up after the fish?"