*(mood song: "Nightcore - Roundtable Rival")

*(mood song: "CREED - One Last Breath")

Erik bolted forward as one huge tentacle crashed down on him, the creature was apparently capable of accurately tracking his location somehow.

A blade formed in his left hand as he slashed at it, but it barely cut it, only managing to deflect the tentacle away, as it was like cutting extremely dense rubber.

Erik looked at the extremely huge creature and became determined, he needed to get closer before he became exhausted, cutting all the tentacles would take too much time.

As turbo jets grew on the back of his power armor, Erik swam forward at high speed and was soon getting closer, but... the seemingly clumsy and slow tentacles suddenly started moving faster and hit him flying through the waters in a trail of bubbles.

Erik hit the stone floor at high speed, sinking into it with a cloud of mud and stone dust rising into the waters. He dislodged himself from the stone floor as he stood up, the cracks on his helmet's visor quickly mending as he did so: "Great, the thing is intelligent and can play feints... this is gonna be a pain to kill...huh?"

He then noticed the tentacles were inflating and pointing at him.

"That can't be good, almost seems like- gah!" he didn't have time to say more as a jet of extremely high-pressure water sliced through his power armor and lower abdomen, he felt a rush of pain as his internal organs were squeezed by the salty water rushing in. Erik gnashed his teeth as his armor quickly closed up the hole, and his body healed the perforation wound, emptying the salty water now inside his guts and power armor too. It took him a moment to be able to breathe again as he coughed inside the helmet, the salt was still being expulsed out of his body, but he still risked suffering hypernatremia and dehydration as his kidneys would have to work overtime even if the wound was healed, not to mention the salt between his organs making him feel like someone had covered them in chili powder.

"that... freaking hurt!" he saw all the other tentacles pointing at him and decided to change his strategy, despite his tough body and power armor, he would definitely die if hit a couple more times. The armor level of the power armor was reduced and instead, he added more propellers to his arms and legs "If Timberly's style doesn't work... time to try Shana's way... SPEED!"

More water rays went past him as he zoomed past them in a trail of bubbles, avoiding everything as he got closer and closer to the beast's main body.

*(https://youtube.com/shorts/d2RRDNFCCuw?feature=shared)

"KEKEKE~ NOW ITS MY TURN!"

The hands of the power armor sharpened and joined together as the armor turned into a human bullet with Erik stretching his hands forward like a swimmer jumping into an Olympic swimming pool. The power armor thrummed with energy as the entire surface of it glowed, sublimation occurring all over its surface full of bubbles reducing water friction, as it bolted forward through the water with almost no resistance.

Erik soon impacted against the gigantic body, as ripples expanded through it, it seemed he was about to bounce back when a black ripple covered him, rending the surface flesh into energy, allowing Erik to pierce inside the creature like a storm of flesh and very sharp metal. Tentacles extended from the armor in all directions with thousands of blades soon growing on them, spinning wildly as into a giant omnidirectional blender, the resulting carnage rendered the flesh of the creature as it was constantly absorbed and digested into energy except the DNA material that was stored into Erik's secondary mechanical stomach.

Then, he unloaded all that energy in one go as electricity, Erik's body and the power armor sparked with pure lightning, while the surrounding tissues boiled alive, their nerve connections fried and their cell walls exploding.

Then, a cry reached Erik's mind, like a plea, sounding like a cacophony of sounds as if made by thousands of creatures at the same time.

"Hah! You wanna surrender now? isn't that convenient~" his metal tentacles propelled him forward to the core of the creature, and in the center of it, he found a giant heart, and below it a red glowing marble the size of a basketball. In his mind, he could still hear the screeches as if pleading for mercy, but Erik ignored them, he ripped off the tissue surrounding the marble and took it out, making a compartment in his power armor's back to store it for now.

The heart seemed to spasm in pain as it stopped for a moment. The earth started beating again softly as the surrounding tissue became lifeless and contracted, still healthy organs moving closer to the heart as the damaged ones were discarded outside.

Erik was curious how the creature was going to survive the tremendous damage, but little by little the enormous mangled body reduced in size as damaged parts were discarded one after another.

"How is it still alive, I gave it my all... should I blend this entire enormous thing to kill it?"

As he was pondering how to end the creature, Erik heard static on his radio, as well as a familiar voice in his head.

Rose: [ERIK! CAN YOU HEAR ME?! ARE YOU OKAY? THAT CREATURE CAN MIMIC THE WAVES FROM THE NEURONAL JAMMER, IF YOU CAN HEAR ME THEN-]

Erik: [I'm okay Rose, it's fine now]

Rose sighed relieved finally reconnecting with Erik: [Sigh... what a relief, seems like the creature stopped moving too]

Erik: [Yep, I ripped apart its insides, strangely enough, it ain't dying, but at least it will take quite a while to recover from something like that... also, don't get close to the big tentacles, or even better shoot them off, they can shoot water jet cannons with quite a bit of power, enough to rip a hole through my power armor even]

Rose: [I see... the thinner tentacles are retracting or falling lifeless, but there are still a lot are retracting and moving]

Erik: [keep shooting then~]

[SKREEEECH! *MERCY* *SPARE*]

Erik felt another screech in his mind.

Rose: [what was that?]

Erik: [...the damn creature seems to be quite adept at telepathy ]

Rose: [that seems quite- dan- I-]

Erik: [Rose? Rose?... must be jamming again...]

Erik: "If it has the brains to plead for mercy then it should be able to communicate... let's try this then..."

Erik: [WHY, EAT, ME?]

A cacophony of sounds came in response, like thousands of voices imitating his voice at the same time [EAT... FEED... SMARTER... BIGGER...]

Erik: "So it became smarter after devouring quite a bit of humanoids" he looked around at the mangled mess of the creature's body and decided to explore its anatomy further "If here's the heart... where could the brains be then?"

Erik ascended between the organs and finally reached another huge bulbous organ.

The voices now seemed afraid as they became frantic [NOT... THERE... DELICATE...LEAVE...]

Erik smirked and tore it open, inside greeted him a flesh wall where thousands of heads of creatures were fused to the walls of the bulbous organ as their eyes now all stared unblinking at him, from lizardmen and fish people, to all kinds of creatures, and even half of what seemed an octopeople's head.

Erik was extremely creeped out as he felt cold shivers all over his body.

Erik: "Just how many... how old is this freaking monster..."

The mouths of the heads slightly moved as they all looked at him with cloudy unfocused eyes, all talking inside his mind as one [NO... MERCY...PLEASE...LEAVE...]

Erik grimaced in disgust, as he quickly severed the entire bulbous organ from the rest of the body, cutting any blood vessels into it and then grinding it to a paste.

Erik: "Rest in peace now..."

Instantly the body trembled and then relaxed as it started falling apart. Erik exited the body and observed as it divided into thousands of smaller bodies the size of a car.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Erik: "So it was a kind of hive mind..."

Rose: [Erik are you okay? couldn't reach you for a moment]

Erik: [yeah, check my memory, I discovered why this creature was so smart...]

Rose: [hm let's see... ugh, indeed... so it absorbed the nerve systems and intellect from other creatures, lots of fishmen and some other races... even some lizardmen, and even maybe octopeople... and it just divided once it lost its intellect... I see...]

Erik: [probably each mind controlled a part of the body, without them the entire body decided to divide itself... that's my theory at least]

Rose: [It's quite interesting indeed... do you want to capture some to study them?]

Erik: [and have that thing absorb our people? nope, not a chance, better just exterminate it]

Rose: [Ruthless, I like it~ get out of there so I can start bombing then~]

Erik: [understood, bomb the outer perimeter for now]

Erik soon swam up with the help of his power armor, as impacts rained down on all the squirming bodies in the sea floor.

With the algae parting ways, Erik could finally see the submarine in the distance speeding up in his direction.

Soon he entered the lower hangar of the submarine as his power armor retracted, leaving the red pearl on his left hand, he then saw Artalia lying down on the floor to the side of the hangar, as she didn't fit inside the other parts of the submarine.

Artalia: "Glad to see you are fine" She had a tablet on her hand, seemingly watching a lecture "Waiting to have a talk with you once you have time, I have quite a bit of questions young one" pointing at the tablet.

Erik nodded with a smile: "Thank you, it will be my pleasure to have a talk with Lady Artalia" Meanwhile he tapped on a wall, and it produced a metallic bottle, full of distilled water to dilute the salts inside him at the moment.

Artalia: "Lady... I understand what you said but I have no collection of such a word..." She looked at the metallic collar on her neck "What an intriguing technology... even this... tablet device, so much knowledge in such a small device"

Erik drank it all in one go, feeling slightly better, and answered with a smile: "Haha ~ it sure is, the collar is quite the technological marvel indeed. It directly transmits the meaning to the other's mind filling any gaps in translation. Rose could explain to you better. As for the tablet, it's just a display connected to a database stored in the submarine itself."

Artalia nodded looking around in amazement: "Fascinating, that being called Rose... " she pointed at the tablet in her hand "From what I read she could have almost been considered a godly being in her prime..."

Rose's voice sounded from a nearby speaker on a wall: *why thank you~ it was a wonderful time indeed*

Artalia was startled: "Where?"

Erik shrugged: "Everywhere on this submarine, we are basically inside a part of her right now" he then waved at Artalia with a slight bow "gotta leave to the bridge now, it was my pleasure talking to you"

Artalia nodded in contemplation: "Likewise, come by when you have the time. Convey to the... Elders that... I would like to meet them all as soon as possible, there's lots of catching up to do"

Rose: *They have been notified*

Artalia was startled once again, but Erik slightly bowed at her one last time and went away. She reminded him of a grandma struggling with technology, though he was sure she would quickly adapt. He also reminded himself he needed to take a genetic sample of her too, he would have to erase all the unneeded genetic chains to restore her body to her original form, without the snout, claws, or the sting-tipped tentacles, though she would probably require many other modifications too.

Erik arrived at the control room, the rumbles from the submarine's weapons systems hadn't stopped for a moment as on the screens lots of slow monsters tried to run away in all directions as the remains of their brethren filled the waters. Octopeople manned all the different cannons as orders were constantly shot around.

As Erik entered the room he saw the main soldiers of the octopeople and bots fully armed and on standby, when suddenly something hugged him from behind.

Timberly: "hahaha! I'm relieved you are okay!"

Inky then pulled him away and hugged him too.

Inky was crying: "I'm so glad... so glad..."

Sarah waved at him with a smile, not wanting to interrupt Inky.

Sarah: "Welcome back"

Erik nodded back with a smile: "I'm back"

Rose just nodded at him as she kept directing the submarine, it had gotten closer to the sea floor, as the submarine took a sample.

Rose: "These things... are good fuel... they contain a lot of oil actually"

Erik: "Is that so? they are too dangerous though"

Rose: "You know how this planet works though, once a mutation occurs it's just a matter of time for it to expand... soon, if not already lots of creatures will be able to avoid my detection..."

Erik: "I collected lots of DNA if you wanna scan it, my secondary stomach is still completely full from tearing that thing apart, and I also found this thing" showing the ball-sized red pearl to Rose.

Rose: "So it was starting to create a leviathan core, it's a rare mutation that usually appears on giant creatures, like a backup to regenerate when they incur severe damage, even their brain can be healed though it usually regenerates the brain functions first... wanna consume it? if ground into a powder, there's a possibility you could generate your own core too"

Sarah and the others were also looking in fascination.

Erik nodded: "in that case, I think it should be distributed, at least for me, Inky, Sarah, Timberly, and Jennifer, and save some for Shana and Megan when we come back"

Rose nodded: "it's huge so there should be enough... don't you wanna leave some for your daughters too~"

Erik shook his head: "They don't need power right now, kids should just enjoy being kids and be sheltered by the adults. We can help them find another one once they grow up too"

Rose and everyone else nodded.

Sarah: "I agree, a proper education comes always first, a trained mind is hard to get, while a body you can always make a new one" She then touched the pearl "So fascinating how does it even work?"

Rose: "Well, periodically takes in DNA from the body, like a software update. The bigger the body the bigger the pearl as it keeps all previous copies..." She then put her hand on Erik's stomach "May I? it's probably too much to absorb at once"

Erik: "Huh? sure, but how- *gahh*" A tube came out of Rose's hand and it directly stabbed into his secondary pouch stomach, emptying it, then retracted again as the hole quickly healed "That... freaking hurt!"

Rose: "Oh? more than that water jet cutting right through you?"

Erik: "You know an adrenaline spike can numb pain, but this... I fully felt it"

Inky was angry too: "Wasn't there an easier way?"

Rose: "Maybe, but this was the quickest and least invasive method, programming a response on his arm to pump it out would have also felt like an eel crawling through his insides, and making him swallow a suction pipe to his stomach wouldn't have been a pleasant experience either, now follow me" turning around.

Timberly: "What about the monsters?"

Rose sighed: "We lack the capabilities for a total extermination anyways, so we shall resume course to the Iron sect's base" She pointed back "Amanda will take care of the bridge"

Amanda nodded: "leave it to me!"

-- In the armory --

All were laid down on different tables while Rose gave them vials full of a red and white murky liquid.

Rose: "I've diluted the pearl in equal doses with the DNA extract" She then showed them two extra vials "Don't worry I prepared some for Shana and Megan, so... are you all ready?"

Erik, Inky, Sarah, Timberly, and Jennifer nodded.

Rose clapped her hands: "Well then drink, the formation of the pearl should be fairly painful but don't worry, I will thoroughly monitor your vitals at all times"

They all drank it while Erik also opened his secondary mechanical stomach, absorbing way more DNA extract, instantly his stomach started churning, a feeling he was used to by now. To his left Inky held his left hand while to his right Sarah held the other, as they were not as used to frantic mutations as Erik was, luckily his flesh and bones were extremely tough or they would have crushed them.

Erik could feel the mixture of DNA and the diluted pearl surging through his body, igniting a fire in his veins that made his muscles twitch and spasm. The sensation was excruciating, like his entire body was being torn apart and rebuilt from the inside out. He clenched his teeth, refusing to let out any sound of pain, but the pain didn't subside, it only got worse. Inky and Sarah were not faring much better; their grips on his hands were like vices, and their faces were contorted with agony.

Suddenly, a sharp pain radiated from his chest, and he felt something hard forming near his heart. The pearl he thought. It was like a burning coal, slowly crystallizing as it drew energy from all over his body. Erik could feel it siphoning his strength, molding itself into a core, a new organ that pulsed with a life of its own. His vision flickered between reality and something else—flashes of memories that weren't his, of battles fought in ancient seas, of the desperate hunger of a creature much older than himself as it absorbed one creature after another.

Inky groaned beside him, her grip tightening to the point of near breaking his fingers. Erik glanced over at her; her normally serene face was twisted in pain, her eyes tightly shut. Her skin was starting to change color, taking on a faint, shimmering hue. Timberly, on the other side, was convulsing, her body rippling as her muscles expanded and contracted, adapting to the influx of power.

Rose's voice, calm and steady, cut through the chaos. "You're doing well, all of you. The formation is nearly complete. Focus on your breathing, and let your bodies adapt."

Erik took a deep breath, trying to ground himself. The pain was still there, but he could feel his body beginning to stabilize. The DNA had settled, the transformation reaching its final stages. The burning in his chest had dulled to a steady throb, the pearl now fully formed and integrated. He could feel its power, a deep well of energy just waiting to be tapped into.

Sarah gasped and released his hand, her body shuddering as the last wave of pain passed through her. Her skin had taken on a faint luminescence, her eyes glowing with a new intensity. She looked at Erik, and despite the pain, there was a determined fire in her gaze.

Sarah: "That... was something else," she managed to say between heavy breaths.

Inky finally opened her eyes, blinking away tears of pain. "I never want to go through that again," she whispered, though there was a newfound strength in her voice.

Timberly, ever the warrior, simply grinned through the pain, her body still twitching as it adjusted. "No pain... no gain... right?... hahaha... I do feel different than before."

Erik finally let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. The ordeal was over, but he could feel the power coursing through him, his body humming with the energy of the newly formed core as it still felt strange, like an itch inside himself he couldn't scratch.

Rose stepped forward, her eyes scanning them, analyzing their vitals as scanners had been formed above them at some point. "The formation process was successful. Each of you now has the beginnings of a core. It will take time to fully integrate and mature, but you've all made it through the most dangerous part."

Erik nodded, still feeling the residual tremors in his muscles. "What's next?" he asked, his voice rough.

Rose smiled slightly, though there was a hint of pride in her expression. "Now, you rest and let your bodies adjust. As for Erik you took a lot more DNA and have some other changes other than the core, but we better talk after you have all rested"

They all nodded and laid down again, too exhausted to argue. And as Erik drifted off into an exhausted sleep, the last thing he felt was the steady pulse of the pearl in his chest, it seemed to be connecting to all parts of his body, like a manager finally arriving to organize the genetic chaos inside his body, not only that there was something more but he was too exhausted to probe further and just fell asleep, relieved that those he cared about were now stronger and thus safer.