*(mood song: "Red Hot Chili Peppers - Snow")
It took an entire week to print the layout of the pump from recovered metals, with a small steam turbine by the side to power up the turbine inside the pump, and another week to install it with the help of dozens of strong crab people carrying the components to their designated places, an extra of enormous tanks of chlorine would be pumped inside the tunnel as it was produced as a by product of producing sodium.
He had also wondered about using uranium but radiation might just make it mutate more, while chlorine would destroy the entire food chain on the caves, killing the bacteria and plankton inside, and with some luck and all the surface area the tentacles had, they would absorb it inside themselves producing chemical burns inside them and burning the gills of any living being inside, so pumping it in large quantities would annihilate the entire ecosystem at the other side of the blockade, so they also sealed the rubble using a plasma launcher to melt the rubble rocks, creating a tight seal with different layers of molten rocks.
As they started up the system, Erik observed as everything was working properly and sighed 'if this was back on Earth... destroying an entire ecosystem would be super taboo..., I probably would have gotten executed or worst... thrown into a VR prison to work for eternity while my body and possessions are sold to others... it's the only way to weaken that monster though'.
Rose: [so what now? a monster that big won't die in just one or two days...]
Erik: [...what about some hunting? I will probably need to improve my spleen and immune system in case that thing ever reaches the surface, also some of those wall hugger abalone's would probably be a good meal for everyone at the base, Inky says she's fine but she's been a bit weird since then...]
Rose: [well, she trains way into the night without telling you, you should train some too or she will surpass you right? (･ิω･ิ)]
Erik rolled his eyes [jeez Rose, it ain't a competition alright? and I don't have myostatin in my body anymore so I won't lose muscle anyway.... but I should do something to cheer her up... oh I know what will cheer her up! we could try having a look at that city?]
Rose: [isn't it too deep? if you go alone you would just be wasting this avatar body...]
Erik: [that's true... we could try sinking some signal repeaters and use the drones to explore...]
Rose: [that's actually a good idea... I will make some fast ones as they would need to run from whatever goes after them..]
Erik: [oh, I have an idea if you need inspiration, Eelume a robotic sea snake drone made back on Earth, there should be diagrams of it in the spaceship data, ask Amanda if you need-]
Rose scoffed though [hmph! I need no help from her, she learns so slow! and since you both don't want me to touch her code I have to teach her how to do it herself, but she gets frustrated with every little thing, she even struggles when I send her some petabytes of code... it's like teaching a pig how to build a fighter yet...]
Erik: [....you have too high standards, why not less homework so she can properly process it, not like you are in a hurry right? teach her how to upgrade her computing power first then]
Rose: [...fine... but we can't do that until the forge is on anyway...]
Erik: [... fair enough, so... will you check that design?]
Rose: [yeah...., I can give it a look as inspiration I guess...]
Meanwhile, back at the surface, Crabina and all the kids in her class were in a sand field all holding small spearguns, as the teacher was talking to them in the front, another 5 warrior octopeople with her.
teacher: "well kids, today you are gonna learn how to shoot, we will first practice shooting at dry algae logs" pointing at dry algae cylinders 30 meters away, they were made by rolling laminar algae tightly and then letting them dry until they fused into tight blocks while soaked in a plant glue "after that we will divide into groups to go hunting, alright start kids"
All kids got into groups as they started practicing their shooting, only two kids practicing with Crabina, two shy scout girls Shukua and Nhasa, who were her only friends, both only reaching to Crabinas shoulders, she had met Shukua as she was a shy girl who liked reading and had protected from bullies in the past, she was also a fan of the Fifth Elder, her daddy, as for Nhasa she was an orphan, her parents havings died on a hunt so she usually had to look for food herself as she was scrawny and constantly hungry, Crabina had invited her to eat home once and Anhuka her mommy had been surprised when Nhasa ate until she passed out and fainted with a protruding belly full of food.
Crabina had really good aim as she had been taught by her aunty Rose and Erik, even her gun was slightly more powerful than those of the other kids as Erik had designed them and of course he would give better equipment to his daughter, so she had promised to teach her how to shoot today, but for some reason she noticed they looked strange, looking around distracted.
They trained for some hours until the teacher told them to gather around.
Crabina went with her two friends Shukua and Nhasa, and asked them "so... do you wanna team up and hunt together later?"
Both of them looked at each other and then to the floor as they replied "n-no... we are sorry... we promised Brekta earlier we would go with her..."
Crabina frowned hearing that "that bully? why? she looks down on you and insults you!, why would you go with her?!"
They looked nervous as they answered "t-that... we are sorry..." and then they turned around and went behind the nearby Brekta, who was looking at Crabina with a proud victorious scowl on her face.
Brekta: "seems like you are alone huh~? maybe I can let you come with me too~? what to do~ I-"
But her taunts were interrupted by the teacher clapping and whistling a long call to get the kids attention "alright kids, now I will group you all into groups of 5, make sure you collaborate together to hunt alright?" she then started grouping the kids together "... and lastly Brekta, Shukua, Nhasa, Ekty and... Crabina will make a group"
They all five were surprised, but Brekta and Crabina pointed at each other and yelled "I can't go with her!" looking at each other ominously.
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Teacher: "more the reason to go together, if you are like this at such a young age then what about when you grow up? we are all a family and need to work together, remember that"
Crabina: "but-"
Teacher: "no buts" she looked at all the kids and clapped her hands "now kids the hunt begins! if you need help" she pointed at the accompanying guards "then come look for the accompanying guards this time or search for one of the patrolling metal spheres, someone will come to help you"
All the kids started dispersing in their groups, except Crabina's, both her and Brekta looking at each other.
Brekta smiled and said "tell you what, why don't we compete, you crab demon against us the superior race~"
Crabina clenched her teeth, she looked at her friends but they just looked away, so she angrily said to Brekta "you are on! let's see who is a better hunter then!" and angrily turned around.
Brekta: "well, while you walk around we will swim to our prey, bye~" swimming away in the direction of the kelp farms.
Crabina muttering as she saw them swim away "see how will laugh last, aunty Rose told me a better spot, the farms are guarded by lots of hunters and warriors already", going to the left of the base instead, the opposite direction than the kelp forest.
It took Crabina a couple of hours as she finally arrived at a rocky area, here the algae were thicker but smaller and less edible, the currents making the algae dance between the tall rocks, some barnacles, and other filtering animals, the place only lightly illuminated by the light coming through the ice on top, it was a more dangerous place as there were fewer patrols in that area, but that also meant there was more prey, some pig fish grazing around, and the occasional 12 meters big fish coming out of holes and eating them, or chasing after them if it failed.
Crabina hid between three rocks as she observed her surroundings, the water was colder here but the rocks gave her some cover from the currents, she saw lots of small fish but her objective was something bigger, Rose had told her about a really big and shrewd pig fish roaming that area, it would always try to outsmart the guards to eat the algae crops from the farm, and the guards have only wounded it but never killed it "if I hunt that... it will be a great achievement..." her face growing determined".
unbeknownst to her though, a robot had been following her, one of Rose's drones observing from afar and thinking 'hmmm she seems to be doing fine... should I attract that alpha pigfish or scare him away... it's quite the dilemma, she might successfully hunt it, but she could also get hurt.... guess I will just wait and see huh? there it is...'
A hundred meters to the front right of crabina came then a fearsome pig fish with a bloated eel like fish with legs in his maw and going in the direction of Crabina, it reached a clearing nearby and left his barely alive prey on the floor, taking big gulps tasting the water as he looked around, feeling secure after some minutes it lowered his head and started eating, ripping a leg off and chugging it down.
Crabina that didn't smell like octopeople wasn't recognized as dangerous, so she calmly loaded her speargun and dipped the point in a strong and sticky dark blue poison, then aiming perfectly at the big pig fish's left eye and pulled the trigger.
*ZWOOSH!* *SQUEEEAAAALLLLL!* the pigfish squealed as the harpoon went right through its eye, it then looked at Crabina's location and charged over.
Crabina seeing that, was surprised 'shouldn't it be dead? I will need to make time for the poison to act...', but quickly took out two trench knives as she used the rocks as cover, the pigfish being 7 meters long crashed into the rocks and pushed them aside, but they succeeded in stopping his charge as rock dust clouded the water around it, Crabina appearing on his blind left side and cutting deep into the fish's gills.
The fish then reacted in a way she hadn't expected, as it swiftly turned around and bashed her away with his tail, sending Crabina flying and crashing onto a rock wall, cracks appearing on her caparace as she slid weakly down the wall, thankfully with adrenaline still flooding her system, she was able to stand up, unfortunately for her the pigfish was already charging at her once again, as she was about to take cover though it just fell weakly to the floor, gasping for air, the poison Erik had given her was a Hemotoxin, so it destroyed all red cells in the fish veins, making it unable to breathe at all.
She carefully approached the corpse and poked it a few times, cutting up its gills to make sure the fish was dead, her body was relaxing though and she started to feel all the pain, her chest and back caparace were cracked so she took some bandages from her small backpack and wrapped herself.
Then as she was about to go ask for help to carry the fish back, she was relieved to see a group of guards coming following a metallic ball drone, her body almost passed out as she relaxed, but she kept herself awake.
The drone talking to her *aunty is impressed little one, most would have fled against a beast so much bigger than themselves*
Crabina: "....I had something to prove"
Rose: *right, let's see how they react* grapping a clawed metallic hand to the fish and with the help of the patrol guards lifting it from the ground.
All the kids had returned with their prey by now, Brekta having caught a 3 meter long barracuda like fish by using the others as bait as she delivered the killing blow, she was really proud of her achievement, but that wasn't bound to last, as Crabina arrived with her prey, surprising even her teacher and leaving all the other kids slack jawed.
Crabina coldly said "I won" Brekta didn't answer though as she was still dumbfounded, Crabina looked at her friends and saw them look away, she got angry and turned around "I'm going home!" angrily walking away, and leaving behind the dumbfounded crowd.
Meanwhile, back on the shadow claw tribe, Erik had just came back from hunting with a cart full of prey thanks to Rose's scanning, when one big crab man just blocked her way.
crab man: "Queen Erika! I challenge you to a duel!"
Erik: "...do you have family or descendants?"
The crab man was confused about the random question, but quickly answered "...no?, I don't... that's why I will defeat you and make you my-"
Erik sighed relieved 'I would feel bad having to then kill his family later to avoid loose ends...' then interrupted the self-centered crab man "then come!"
The crab man was annoyed at being interrupted but charged with a frontal chop with his pincer.
Erik easily sidestepped to the left and his pincer connected to the crab man's chest, the chainsaw at full power.
*GYAAAARGH!!!* and easily ripping the crab man in half, the people around turned serious as Erik just sighed muttering "I have no time for this..." then looked at a nearby guard and snapped his pincer to get his attention "you! get that trash out of the street!"
The guard quickly saluted "yes mam!" quickly getting to it and grabbing the still shouting crab man in his dying shouts, with the help of three other guards.
Rose: [was it necessary to kill him?]
Erik: [maybe, maybe not but this will save me from future nonsense, there's a Chinese saying that says "kill a chicken to scare the monkeys", he was weak and overconfident, if I let him live then every kind of weirdo will start challenging me all the time... I don't have time for all that crap...]
Rose: [...that makes sense, so what now? (◉ω◉)]
Erik looked back as he started pulling his cart again [now I will send these up and eat them with my human body... It should be tasty...]
--- Back at the base ---
Erik woke up on his human body and went with his power armor to the cliff's edge, some drones controlled by Rose bringing the meat inside a waterproof container to avoid leaving smell trails and lightened with air bags, they carried it back to base Erik happily carried a big wall hugger to the kitchen.
Once he arrived at the kitchen he saw Crabina frowning as she sat at the table in her stool chair, looking distracted as she ate a piece of raw meat without even noticing Erik.
Erik got behind her and hugged her from behind, making her yelp "is anything wrong sweety?"
Crabina: "daddy... hmmm no, nothing is wrong..."
Erik, though, wouldn't take a no for an answer "ohhh~ so you lie to your daddy huh? what if I do this!" and started tickling her armpits
Crabina: "hhahahaha! daddy! hahaha s-top! hahaha I yield!" catching her breath as she stopped laughing "A mean kid at school is always saying things to me, and looking down on me... I didn't do anything to her so why?! it's so annoying, and today she threatened my friends to stop being my friends..." she noticed Erik going silent and getting serious then "daddy?".
Erik put on a serious face as he said "tell daddy everything that happened sweety".