*( mood song: "Dua Lipa - Physical")

Hours passed, and Erik was still boredly looking at the ceiling, but then something changed, he started to slowly regain feeling in his body.

Erik: [Rose! I think my spine is regenerating!]

Rose: [that's quite fast... want me to sever it again? (◉ω◉) ]

Erik: [n-no... it's fine, I'll just endure it for now...]

Rose: [alright~ tell me if it gets too painful (･ิω･ิ)]

Erik: [alright...]

The sensations started coming like an avalanche, his body was a bonfire of pain, he clenched his teeth till his gums bleed, the blood the only moisture in his parched mouth.

Erik: [Rose, can you give me some water?]

Rose: [left a thermos with tea below your hammock while you meditated (✿◠‿◠)]

Erik: [thanks Rose]

Erik slowly moved his right arm, letting it fall down "ugh..." but the twitches of pain where too much.

Erik: [...can you please help me drink? my arms hurt and twitch way too much right now...]

Rose: [sure thing (✿◠‿◠) ]

A bot then approached, and took the thermos, slowly bringing it to Erik's lips and letting him drink slowly.

Erik drank it all, quenching his thirst at least: [Thanks Rose]

---

Meanwhile, Crabina had reached the octopeople city with the group of alert crab men and women following her.

Crabina: "good morning!"

Guard: "good morning little miss"

The guards at the entrance saluted Crabina, as they knew perfectly who she was, but they kept a harsh look on the rest of the group except Anhuka.

Thanya whispered to Alkban beside her: "is it okay to enter this... demon den?"

Alkban hurriedly whispered back: "don't say that! better even, don't talk at all, you will get us killed..."

Thanya: "hmph! I won't talk to you then!" walking faster in front of him.

Alkban: "sigh... I'm so tired... endure... endure for your family..."

Crabina then saw the Fourth Elder: "auntie! have you seen my dad?"

Shana: "Erik? hmmm... I believe he went to your house with Rose"

Crabina: "thanks auntie!" she then turned around "follow me, guys!"

--- Back at the third floor ---

Erik had stood up, his body was in incredible pain, but his hunger was way worse.

Erik: "ugh... hungry..." he then noticed the chickens eating some glowing chestnuts from the ground, and murmured to himself "well, why not?"

He slowly limped near the weary super chickens that made way, as he grabbed one, roughly peeling it and seeing a light blue glowing chestnut "hmm... well whatever" and ate it, he had always loved eating fresh chestnuts when in season.

His eyes dilated as the taste hit him, a sweet and delicious chestnut like any he had ever tried "the hell... this is amazing!" his hunger hadn't diminished much though, so he started eating them by the dozens, not bothering to peel them anymore, as his powerful jaws crushed the dark blue thin peel, only removing the dark blue spike ball with his bare hands.

Rose: [hey..., you alright?]

Erik: [yeah, these are amazing!]

Rose: [is that so...(=_=)]

She came close and grabbed one, scanning it: "as I thought... it does have addictive elements... well it should be fine..."

Erik ate and ate, only managing to stop himself when his stomach was full and slightly bulging, seeing his stomach bulge he remembered: [R-Rose! the kids! are they alright?!]

Rose promptly reached him, and used her hand to scan his belly: " don't worry, they are fine, their development seems to have slowed down, but their physiques will just become that much stronger, so don't worry, more worrying is..." she patted his belly "is this gonna become an addiction?"

Erik coughed *cough*: "n-no... of course not but... they taste amazing..."

Rose: "lots of sugars, minerals, and carbohydrates, along with vitamins, it's indeed a superfood but... it also includes some additives"

Erik: "huh? really?"

Rose: "Yeah, it's a common tactic for immobile beings to recruit others to protect it one way or another, the trees seem to be doing that" she pointed at the trees, and the giant scaly chickens cautiously walking around them like guards "I guess that explains your chickens growing faster"

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Erik: "interesting... this place belongs to me, so of course, I would protect it, but anyway... its a good detail, I hadn't eaten so well in a while...., actually I feel great, still some pain but my body seems to be recovering fast now that I ate something, now if i just roasted the chestnuts over some coals... that would be amazing..." cleaning his mouth as saliva almost dripped from it.

At that moment though, Crabina came through the door followed by a group of crabmen and women.

Crabina looked around and quickly spotted Erik, smiling as she ran to him: "Daddy!"

Erik smiled too, as he hugged her and got her in his arms: "hey, shouldn't you be in class, you naughty girl~"

Crabina pouted: "no daddy, we need to write about something, so I was gonna write about the new people that came" pointing to the entrance to the third floor.

Erik looked at them and saw the crab men and women were whispering among each other.

Rose: [they seem to be disappointed ~ (≖ᴗ≖✿)]

Erik rolled his eyes as he stood up: [well, excuse me for not being a buff monster... they don't seem that strong though]

Rose: [why don't you show them then? I bet your body will recover faster with some stretching~ (≖ᴗ≖✿)]

Erik smiled: [yeah..., you are totally right~]

By the side, the chickens surrounded the chestnut trees, eyeing Crabina cautiously, while she also gave them an angry look before following Erik, that walked calmly to the group.

Erik's body had become leaner, losing a tenth of its volume, so he appeared smaller than the crab men without his power armor.

Nevertheless...., Erik stood firm in front of the group as he patted Crabina's head.

Erik: "so you are my daughters guest's huh?"

Khrana was about to talk, but the huge axe wielding crabman spoke first, in a condescending tone: "so you... are the ruler of this entire place huh? I Krumluk only respect strength! if you are weak i will just take over this place!"

Erik smiled coldly: "Is that so~ let's fight then!"

Krumluk: "I will let you grab a weapon first... woman?"

Erik: "jajaja~ I don't need a weapon, proceed!"

Krumluk frowned: "hah! you will regret looking down on me!" raising his huge axe.

Erik: "same... you are too relaxed~" and sidestepped at a speed that left a deep footprint on the ground, instantly reaching the side of Krumluk and grabbing one of his legs.

Krumluk: "huh? you are fast but- aaghh hah... hah... how?!"

Erik had effortlessly ripped off the crab man's leg, wielding it like a club.

Erik: "guess I will beat you up with this~"

Krumluk just barely had time to block with his axe, as Erik sprung forward, but... it was no use, as his axe flew out of his hands and onto a nearby wall.

Krumluk then defended with his claws, but the hits started coming too fast for him, to the head, to the side, the leg Erik was using became useless after some hits, and he just ripped another off, continuing the onslaught.

Those crab men and women, watching the beating from the side were horrified, they too had looked down on Erik, but this was out of their expectations. This being lived in a strange environment devoid of water, already making them feel uncomfortable, but now they felt a huge pressure in Erik's presence.

Minutes passed, and Krumluk couldn't do anything. His breathing became labored as his body strained to oxygenate, and his eyes stung from the sunlight, the conditions were certainly unfavorable for him, but he didn't delude himself, this being was strong, too strong.

He was already missing three legs and his exoskeleton had a multitude of cracks when he finally grit his teeth and bowed down.

Krumluk: "I surrender!... you have shown me your strength... I'm satisfied with serving you, oh great one"

Erik threw the leg in his hand to Krumluk: "good... go back to the group, I expect great things from you Krumluk"

Krumluk hit his chest loudly, and limped back to the group, fluid coming out of cracks on his exoskeleton.

Erik whistled on his mind: [he's definitely though, a good recruit]

Rose: [indeed]

Erik looked at the rest and smiled: "does anyone else want proof~"

A silence ensued, but before Erik could talk again, a crab woman in a suit of heavy armor came forward and bent in front of him: "my lord, I'm Khrana, I offer you my respects in the name of queen Erika"

Erik: "Erika..., yeah I know her, I gave her that name in fact, as my own name is Erik"

The crab group was surprised at the revelation, whispering among themselves.

Khrana: "are you close with the queen my lord?"

Erik: "yeah, we are really good friends, so relax~"

Meanwhile, the mutant octopeople looked in both fear and awe from the chicken drinking pond, as the entire fight had proceeded.

Rose then came over: "well, sorry to interrupt but I finished compiling the language of the mutants, wanna talk to them?"

Erik: "Yeah, that would be nice" he then turned to Crabina "go show them around, tell aunty Timberly if they misbehave, she will know what to do with them *chuckle*"

Crabina: "okay daddy!" looking at the group "come! follow me! I will now show you the farms"

Anhuka seemed reluctant, but she went with Crabina in the end too.

As the room emptied, Erik approached the mutant leader, now with a functional translator collar around her neck.

Erik: "now... tell me about you, what's your name?"

The mutants seemed surprised, but she promptly talked: "me name Yhana, me chief"

Erik:[you look young for being the chief, where's the previous chief]

Yhana:[last chief eaten by crab, she mother, now me chief]

Erik patted his chest: "Oh... I'm Erik, so... why were you scared of the octopeople in their city?"

Yhana: "...Yaksha small, they too big and scary, danger..."

Erik: "Yaksha?"

Yhana pointed at herself and the others: "we Yaksha, family, tribe"

Erik: "understood, so... had you seen someone like them before? like the octopeople..."

Yhana: "me didn't see, previous chief did though, she talked about giant Yaksha and went look for her alone... never came back, dead"

Erik: "how do you know she died?"

Yhana: "...we found parts body, half her face... I became chief that day...." her body trembling.

Erik: "okay, okay no need to talk anymore, that must have been traumatic..." he took off the neural helmet from her head "tell your people to follow me"

Yhana screeched lightly at her people, and they all followed after Erik upstairs, along with Rose.

Rose: "where do you plan to take them?"

Erik: "well, I could empty the pool and fill it with seawater, but I need the vegetables and oxygen generated there and in the vegetable field, so the only place left is the entrance pool... since I usually enter through the door, or the octopeople city, it should be fine for now..."

Rose: "well, not like there are many other options... hmmm... maybe a stone hut outside?"

Erik: "maybe... once they aren't scared of everything around them, they seem to like small spaces anyway, so space won't be an issue"

They finally reached the entrance of the garage hatch pool, and Erik put on a mask from the side and jumped inside.

The Yaksha followed him inside and looked around curiously at the tools and vehicles parked inside.

Erik: "this will be your new home, just tell me if there's something you wanna do or if you are hungry okay?"

Yhana stared at Erik's face for a couple of seconds and nodded, moving to a corner with the rest of the Yaksha as Erik exited the pool.

Erik: "well, they should be okay there"

Rose: "are they really useful? I would have left them in the city"

Erik: "no, that would just give their mutagens to other monsters who ate them, I'm sure they can be useful at something"

Yhana meanwhile was talking to her tribe: "We are guests, observe what is done around here and search what you can do, if we become a burden... I fear they will return us to the deep..."

Kids: "no! we like here! safe! food!"

Old Yaksha: "as you command chief, their leader gave us this place only for us, we shall return the kindness"

Yhana: "good, I heard them talk about feed, we yaksha help, we useful"

They all hit their shoulder in agreement.