*( mood song: "The Heavy - What Makes A Good Man")

The next morning Erik woke up on his bed, wearing clean clothes, and his belly flat by now, he had woke up late but wasn't hungry "w-what? how did I get here?"

[...it was Inky, she washed you, dressed you, and put you in your bed]

Erik: [...damn, guess I should make her something... hmmm... oh, what about those sweet algae? a pity I don't have flour to make some muffins... maybe some jam and jelly...]

Hours later he had boiled, blended, and strained a purple honey-like substance and put it inside a jar, going to the living room and seeing Inky there watching a show "hey Inky"

She just looked at him from the corner of her eye and ignored him.

"I made something for you, do you wanna try it?" he saw her lightly flinch but still ignore him. He chuckled and sat next to her, scooping some purple jam on his ham and licking it "yummy! so tasty! wow, you really don't wanna try it? it's delicious!"

Inky finally couldn't stop herself and she took the jar from him, quickly scooping some with her finger and licking it 'it can't be that go- ....ohhh I love it!' "what's this? how did you make it? tell me already!"

"Jajaja so you talk to me now huh~? well, I will be happy to make more for you if you are hungry, there's still quite some jars in the kitchen if you want more" he saw she was about to talk and used his finger to scoop some jaw and put it on her mouth "no need to say anything my love, thanks for the cleaning and carrying me to bed" he gave her a kiss on her cheek "i think I'm gonna take a break from Timberly's trainings, there's the crabmen still down there to deal with, and we will need better weapons for that, there's a weapon I've wanted to develop for quite some time actually"

Inky just nodded to what he said and grabbed his hand, licking his finger thoroughly, and then taking it out said "I'm just scared, I can't live without you Erik..." looking at him in the eyes.

Erik raised his eyebrow and said "I can't either my love, but wasn't this about your chips?"

Inky shook her head and said "No, this is about how I found you bloated and leaking yesterday, if you continue to hang around with... Timberly, you will end up like the First Elder and I don't want that okay?"

Erik kissed her forehead and said "okay don't worry, we will do our own training from now on okay?" he passed an arm over her shoulder, pulling her into his chest as she hugged him back too.

Erik then smiled mischievously and tickled her side, making her giggle.

Inky: "hey, stop that! giggle i told yo- jajajaja sto- jajaja stupid- jajajaja" she then struggled to tickle him too.

Erik: "jajaja you won't jajaja win a tickle war! jajaja against- jajaja me!"

Half an hour later they were both panting and with residual giggles still escaping their mouths, Inky got up first and playfully punched his chest "you are stupid..." then she hugged him "my stupid..., I love you"

Erik smiled, hugging her back "I love you too"

his face growing determined 'and that's why I won't allow anyone to hurt you'

He went to the workshop and started working on something he had been planning for some time.

--- Octopeople city ---

Meanwhile, Timberly was humming happily as she cut some meat 'okay, he will needs a nice stomach, and...' she checked a human anatomy diagram on her laptop nearby 'connective tissue to keep his organs in place, okay, and some intestines too' she cut it all up and washed it thoroughly. Picking up all the washed tissue, she poured it all into a boiling water pot, scooping it all up and pouring it into a bowl with cold water after half a minute 'alright, now it's clean, hehe~' she put half into a blender with 3 of her eggs and made a smoothie, and planned to make something different with the rest ' i will make something tasty and special today as thanks for yesterday~' picking some 10cm bone spines she skewered different kinds of tissue pieces and then grilled them using super dried algae trunks, giving it a char with a smoky smell. When they were ready she smiled seeing the final result, almost tempted to eat them right there herself 'this should be easier to eat for him'

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

*( https://images.app.goo.gl/LSK2z3wZkqz2VGsc8 )

She chuckled as she hadn't been so gentle when she developed the First Elder in the past.

--- at the base ---

The elders came and were surprised when they didn't see anyone in the gym, and the rest of the base was silent.

*BANG!*

They heard a loud sound then, and Timberly almost dropped what she was carrying, quickly going to the sound.

--- Minutes earlier ---

Inky was watching Erik work as he gave the finishing touches to his weapon.

Erik fished mounting the last part as Inky watched over his shoulder "alright Inky, this is a gun like those in the movies, well with quite some differences, wanna try it?"

Inky was surprised and excited at the same time "won't it make a hole in the wall?"

Erik chuckled "it's fine, I didn't load a bullet, it's just compressed air, come here sweety" he made space for her and grabbed her hand from behind her back, and put it on the trigger "that's it, honey, now let me put this on you" he put some earplugs on her ears "now fire!"

*BANG!*

Inky was stunned by the loud sound but she quickly recovered and was excited "wow! it's so loud! how does it even work?!"

Erik chuckled and took her earplugs off "you were shouting my love, its just a super compressed hydrogen-powered gun, electricity transforms water into hydrogen and oxygen at high pressure, and then it's ignited when you pull the trigger" he saw Inky about to ask a question "yes?"

Inky was confused "but don't bullets in movies get stopped by the water?"

Erik chuckled and answered eagerly " that's the best thing about my design, it shoots steel bullets as the barrel is smooth inside, the same circuit that starts generating the hydrogen, also sends electricity to coils around the barrel, heating up the bullet, this is the best part, it uses the Leidenfrost effect, the bullet turns the water surrounding it to steam, forming a vapor layer surrounding the bullet, that way the water doesn't slow it down, a hydrophobic covering also might have worked, but the bullets would have been way harder to make that way"

*( https://youtu.be/R9mn2vZ9d5U )

Inky didn't really get much and just nodded as she saw Erik happily explain

Erik was also thinking ' hehe~ this will put a nice hole through those crab bastards, get ready Trutk, we will see each other again'

Just at that moment, the elders came through the workshop's door, surprised as they saw the big metal thing on the table, and both Erik and Inky happy together.

Timberly frowned but her eyes were soon drawn to the strange device on the table, asking "what is that?"

Erik turned around and said "this... is revenge against those crab demons, but I will explain it later, lets go out, I have something to tell you all"

They went to the living room and Erik set some jam jars for them to eat, and they all enjoyed them, Shana commenting it brought her memories from her childhood, as her mother apparently used to give her some berries that also had a sweet flavor, making Erik think 'i will have to search for them deeper, maybe arrive at the bottom to see what still remains of their city'

Timberly also took out her skewers soon after, having a nice meal all together. The Leader had also come and joined them.

After some small talking and having eaten a bit, Erik coughed, getting everyone's attention starting with the main topic "Some time ago I gave the Second Elder the name Timberly, and I asked you to come here, cause I... came up with names for the rest" they became excited as he continued, looking at the First Elder he said "for the First Elder I thought of the name Megan, it means pearl and also great and mighty, do you like it?".

The First Elder eagerly nodded "Megan... Megan! I like how it sounds, thanks a lot!" she stood up and gave him a hug.

Erik laughed "jaja~ I'm glad you like it" he then looked at the expectant Third Elder "as for you Third Elder I thought of the name Jennifer, as it means the fair one, you are tidy and hard-working after all"

Then Shana started crying, alarming Erik "is something wrong Shana?"

Shana calmed herself a bit and said "it's just... mom would have been really happy, thank you, Erik, those were wonderful names"

Erik smiled and opened his arms "aww no problem, come on, give me a hug" he hugged her, with the elders and Inky joining in on the hug too.

The Leader then asked confused "what about my name?"

Making Erik look at Inky in the eyes as both of them chuckled, Erik then said playfully "well, I don't know~ why don't you ask Inky to give you one?" making Inky chuckle as the Leader blushed.

After the hug, they separated and sat again, the elders then nodded to each other and Shana said solemnly "Erik, it's undeniable by now that the destiny of our race is tied to yours, you have given us so much and you have always treated us all with sincerity and care, so we would like to hereby name you the Fifth Elder! from now on you will have the same authority as any of us!"

Erik was deeply moved, he already considered them family, but knowing they felt the same way, was really recomforting to him "we are a true family from now on"

They had another group hug, and after a while, they sat again, with Erik soon putting a serious face "well, now we shall discuss the second topic I wanted to comment on, you saw the weapon I made earlier, I will need a group of your best warriors to train them as true soldiers, we are gonna conquer the caves and get revenge for your mother!" he grabbed a glass of watered jam and said "a toast! FOR THE QUEEN!"

And everyone else echoed "FOR THE QUEEN!" and clanked their glasses.