*( mood song: "Nico Vega - Beast")

Once back at the base, they chopped up the beast, plumes of bubbles coming out every time they cut a vein, the thick leather was cut in 4 by 4 meter pieces and taken to the octopeople city to be processed, while the meat and organs were split between Erik and the octopeople, and a smaller part for the hybrid crab women.

As they were about to start working on the bones though, Anhuka came close to Erik "hmm could I keep some bones?"

Erik: "Oh? you know how to carve bones this hard?"

Anhuka: "yeah, I used to be a crafter in the past after all"

Erik: "that sounds interesting, were you good?"

Anhuka snickered with pride "heh! I was the best in my tribe-"

Jennifer was close by examining the bones and frowned "really? you, a crab... was THE BEST... I doubt that"

Anhuka was about to reply, but Erik answered first "you never know with these things right? how about this, we should be back in about a week or two from the infiltration, how about giving her some bones and see what she can do in that time?"

Jennifer hesitated but nodded in the end "that seems reasonable"

Anhuka by the side was way more concerned with something else though "you are going somewhere?"

Erik turned to her "yeah, we are gonna infiltrate the caves"

Anhuka grew concerned "let me go with you! it's too dangerous to go down the unexplored tunnels you know, my father used to be a hunter and told me lots of stories so-"

Erik stopped her "we won't be going with our real bodies, you remember how the old crabmen now move like mindless workers? we are gonna control some of those from here"

Anhuka: "oh... and can't I just use one too? all of you know nothing about the caves while I've lived there my entire life, at least there should be something I can do to help you..."

Erik: "well, there's something, keep taking care of Crabina, and I will disconnect once a day to eat a big meal" he caressed his belly "can't have my babies go hungry"

Anhuka: "okay... but remember this, NEVER and I say NEVER stop looking at your surroundings, even if it looks like a wall or you see just some small holes, that is deceiving, as what you might consider a small hole, could be the launch orifice of a wall hugger"

Erik: "wall hugger?"

Anhuka nodded "yeah, they are tasty, but also really dangerous, they hide like part of the rocks on the tunnel wall but... once you show your back to them... their tentacles and stings will pierce your back and paralyze you, leaving you there to observe as they slowly crawl to you and pull you inside their stomachs in one piece..."

Erik: "...that sounds awful" inside thinking 'mental note, never take the armor off'

Anhuka: "but that's not the worst..."

Erik: "heck, there's more?"

Anhuka nodded "yeah, my father called them the head gulpers, you never hear them coming, a member of your group might just mysteriously go silent and once you turn around, you see his body being sucked whole by a tentacle coming out of a wall, according to my father, they are pulled to a lair deep inside the rock where their every hole is pumped full of eggs that eat them from the inside out once they hatch.... a horrible way to die..."

Erik: "........ anything else?"

Anhuka thought for a moment "Yeah, untrained hunters were required to tie themselves to each other with a loose rope to avoid members of the group getting dragged away by a predator, you will be able to react to it faster that way... ah, also... if you hear scratching inside the walls... run away instantly"

Erik: "...why?"

Anhuka: "The tunnelers, they usually eat stone, but they will eat flesh just as well if given the chance, they are also mostly invulnerable, their shells tougher than stone, their sharp jaws cutting through stone like butter"

Erik: "... I might have seen some, they had long necks and were squishy though"

Anhuka shook her head "no no, those were gulpers, they gulp down anything and then slowly digest it, their prey inside them eating each other until the last one dies, their digestion is really slow and can take months, a horrible way to die"

Erik: "...yeah... tell me more about the tunnelers then, and did your father tell you how to kill one?"

Anhuka: "well they have eight legs and a circular mouth full of teeth, they also see by sound and can communicate with each other, it sounds like loud scratching sounds... and my father used to say they could chew through a bone spear so even stabbing them in the mouth was useless..."

Erik: ".... thanks for the info Anhuka, we will go prepared now" inside yelling [ROSE! ARE THE WEAPONS AND ARMORS READY?]

Rose: [Yep, want to add some oomph now? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

Erik: [yeah... I was thinking a sound cannon, something that will make them go crazy and leave the fuck out of there..., we could also map the caves too this way, like a sonar]

Rose: [easy enough, and when in danger it could be dialed up to make it unbearable for creatures to keep hiding, but... what if it has the opposite effect? what if it enrages all beasts nearby making them all come to attack you?]

Erik: [...we... need more explosives..., you know what? I'm really glad we are using avatar bodies for this, it's still scary though]

He turned to the Elders that had been listening and now had worried faces "it will be okay, now I will show you the bodies you will be using" and guided them inside the base, to a new room dug on the second floor.

The room had 10 chaise-longue submerged seatings in a shallow pool, and helmets with cables attached to the ceiling, the elder's bodies would be here while they controlled their avatars, while he would use the separate one in the workshop, he just didn't trust that if he was unconscious next to them they wouldn't try anything at all, so better not giving them the chance to begin with.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

On one side they also had a small fridge with food and a table, to eat quickly, and a small bathroom to do their daily necessities by the other side.

Erik: "and here is where you all will stay while controlling your avatar bodies"

Shana looked around "the room looks nice and all but... where are the bodies?"

Erik: "in the room next to this, follow me" and took them through a door on the left, getting to a room with a similar shallow pool, with the crab bodies also wearing helmets, screens on the walls showing their vitals as stable.

Timberly walked to the bigger one and asked "this is mine right?"

Erik smiled cheekily though "Nah, that one's mine, you are the second biggest"

Timberly snickered hearing that "oh? so you have confidence issues now? wanting to have the bigger body now? well, that's fine, my real body is much more magnificent after all~"

A vein in Erik's fair face throbbed as he heard that "Oh yeah, so magnificent indeed, no need for any armor, weapons, or any new upgrades with a body so perfect right~?"

Timberly's smile froze and disappeared as she apologized "I'm sorry, thanks for everything"

Erik coughed: "well then, except mine I matched the rest to your actual physique in what was possible, they all have similar heights and muscle development, with Timberly's one being more focused on strength than the rest, and Megan's having a really developed charm gland, her body should look irresistible to crab people, while Inky's and Shana's bodies are focused on speed, and Jennifer's will have nimbler hands, any questions?"

Megan: "yeah, I have one, these bodies appear to be what is called a female, so... do they only have pussies?"

Erik: "...well, I saw that problem might come up so I installed them clit dicks, they were easy to make just growing some clit cell tissue"

Megan seemed satisfied "yeah, that's good, even if I don't use it, I like rubbing it as my pussy gets drilled after all"

Erik nodded "well then..., if that was all, let's get to testing the new bodies shall we?"

They went to the other room, and Inky, Shana, Jennifer, Megan, and Timberly sat on their respective seats.

Erik: "now ladies just close your eyes and relax, it will just take a moment for the transition to occur" as he said so, they all closed their eyes.

Erik went to the next room as he saw the avatar crab bodies open their eyes and stand up "how does it feel"

Megan was having trouble standing up as she replied "it just feels foreign, and walking with six legs is kinda hard..."

Inky by the side though, dominated it easily, smiling in triumph "Nah, it's not that hard"

the second was Jennifer "yeah, just need some precise control"

Inky: "no, you just need to feel it like duuun~, and then fwoosh! you got it, it's that easy"

Erik saw them about to argue and said "well, first we will practice for 3 days and then we will initiate the descent" pointing at lockers lining the wall "in there you have your armor and equipment, we will need it where we are going".

--- 3 days later, cliff wall ---

The 6 Elders, Erik included were in their avatar crab bodies and fully armoured, carrying bombs, rifles, sodium pellet shotguns, close quarter weapons like swords and knives, and a sound deterring and mapping sonar system Erik was carrying on his back.

The crab bodies weren't stronger than their real bodies, but were tougher and had an increased healing, they could take way more of a beating, and with the plus of the modifications like chainsaw claws, combined with the lack of the fear of death, would make them fearsome.

Behind them, 30 shadow crab tribesmen also armed to the teeth accompanied them, all of them controlled by Rose.

Erik pivoted in his 6 legs and said "now we will descend, remember you are way heavier now, so remain close to the wall and keep your lights on as we descend, ready to blast any abyssal we find along the way, the empty avatars will jump first and we will right after them, understood?"

He saw everyone node as he turned around, the 30 shadow claw soldiers already ready to jump, their armors were full of explosives to use if needed as cannon fodder, they carried shotguns and rifles that shot sodium spears covered in a thin layer of bioplastic, as it was designed to wear off when fired, it was highly dangerous but also highly destructive.

They then all jumped, controlling their descent with the thrusters on their armors as they jumped from one stone cropping to another, the journey down mostly uneventful as the predators in the area went for the corpse field at the bottom, making them less interesting for predators.

As they arrived at the bottom, and they could still see lots of slugs and other predators skimming below the rocks to try eating all they could.

Reaching the tunnel they found it closed up with rocks, but they just slipped some sodium harpoons between them.

*BOOM!* an explosion rocketed the water as the rocks were cleared from the tunnel, lots of bubbles being generated with the explosion.

They went in and after some time, they reached the now abandoned and empty village.

Rose: [Erik... ambush]

Erik nodded [yeah, I noticed, the floor is full of footprints after all... blast the tunnels with explosives on my order] he looked at the other and whispered "we are surrounded, act naturally, but load your weapons and aim at the tunnels in 3... 2... 1... FIRE!"

Grenades and sodium harpoons were shot into the tunnels, shadow claw soldiers started emerging but then *BOOM!!!* the explosions chained together as dozens of soldiers were obliterated or mangled into pieces, a second volley of explosives landed as the screams from those injured and dying still reverberated *BOOM!!!* and dozens more were annihilated.

Some arrows starting to rain down on them from behind rocks and higher tunnels, but just scratching their armors.

--- Some distance away ---

The explosions were heard as a shadow claw general waited worriedly with his three commanders sitting around a table in a leather tent, an injured scout soon coming panting inside.

General: "what happened soldier? was the ambush successful?"

the scout bowed the best it could, missing two legs and one arm "no my general, they knew we were there, they throw strange artifacts that explode, half of the battalion has been annihilated, we... should retreat... the soldiers are afraid to come forward my general"

A commander slammed his fist on the table "incompetents! how dare them disobey orders?! they were ordered to capture those women, shoot arrows from afar if you can't get close!"

Soldier: "but arrows just bounce off their armors commander, we won't last much longer! they seem to always know where our soldiers hide and blast them to pieces!"

Another commander grew impatient and said, "then charge them with numbers, what we need to do everything-"

The general stopped him and seemed to hesitate as he said "use the lure potion"

third commander "but my lord... our own soldiers would also get covered on it, such extreme measures...-"

General: "enough! if we can't capture them and take their knowledge, then we will make sure others can't get it either! go now soldier! we are important so we will start retreating first"

The soldier gritted his teeth and stood up "yes general, I will do what needs to be done" going out of the tent, as he went out he looked back with malice "you pigs sending other's to their deaths..." taking a potion from a pocket and opening it as he got farther away "I was hesitant at first but... it seems like it's time to change sides..."

He waited for some time, and soon some crab men and women of different ethnics appeared from a nearby tunnel, the leader a scarred crabman stepping forward from the diverse group with a smile "so, did you change your mind? we smelled the flare "

soldier: "yeah, those pigs... I won't serve them anymore, I also have information for you, 37 mysterious crab women are annihilating an entire battalion right now, they could help your cause-"

His speech was stopped as they all started laughing, a burly crab woman on the back saying "hahahaha an entire battalion, who do you wanna fool with that kid?! you might be a relative of the leader, but if you expect to lead us to a trap that easily then-"

RebelLeader: "enough!... Krander... what you say is the truth?"

The soldier Krander nodded "yeah, those explosions are their doing, the general is planning to use a lure potion while the battalion keeps them busy while he runs away"

They all went silent as the rebel leader pondered "well, then they will definitely need help, once he opens that all nearby tunnels will get flooded with head gulpers..." he turned to the others "ready your weapons guys! if what Krander says is right then we need to save them no matter what!"

"YES LEADER!" they all replied in unison.