The temptation was real. He could feel it pulling.
But he held firm.
Five hundred star crystals. Nearly half of everything he currently owned, gone in a single transaction. He couldn't afford to bleed out his resources like that — not when there were other things he still needed to account for. The math didn't work, and Lukas had learned a long time ago not to let want override need.
He exhaled slowly and turned back to the young man.
"Do you happen to sell star monster meat?"
The young man blinked.
"Star monster… meat?"
He repeated the words carefully, as if testing whether they meant what he thought they meant. The shift in topic had clearly caught him off guard. For a brief moment, his dull expression gave way to something almost resembling confusion.
But he recovered quickly enough and gave a single nod.
Lukas's face broke into a rare, genuinely excited smile.
"Good. Pack twenty kilograms for me."
Silence.
