On the ground, Josh was satisfied. Plus, he had received a piece of very great news. That is when appeared at the horizon a fleet of cars. The sloths began opening their mouths, but Josh gently slapped them. 

Then, packages started dropping from the sky. Only a few, but it would be sufficient for now. On each, there was the icon of a panda avidly devouring bamboo. He opened it, taking out the food inside. 

There were many big pieces of meat. The smell alone was incredible. It made one's mouth waver as if was perfectly seasoned and juicy. Josh began taking some bites while throwing some to the sloths. 

This tactic was as old as humanity itself: the carrot and the stick. Hell, it worked even on other humans!  His slaps acted as the negative punishment along with keeping them awake. The positive reinforcement was some delicious food. 

The people watching couldn't help but become jealous. These sloths were eating better than they were! Luckily, any soul was far enough not to smell it. Still, just the Devouring Panda's reputation was enough to let them picture how tasty it was. 

Bennett had graciously offered these as soon as Josh had asked him for help. He had refused any payment too. The man seemed intent on pleasing Josh at all cost. Plus, this probably wasn't hard for him to organize anyway. 

Josh wasn't sure if Bennett was banking on his individual potential, on Dimensional Legion, or if he was just happy to turn the sloths into foodies. There was mad advertising potential there: "Devouring Panda: Even the D-23 slothtrosities can't resist it!"

Josh couldn't help but chuckle, thinking of all the possibilities that were opening to him. Right now, he had a deal with Markus for this land. Still, that wasn't enough. This only served to give him legitimacy. 

He also needed actual power to be able to hold and control it. These sloths just might be the answer he had been looking for! Before, he had planned to slowly increase his power before making any big wave. 

But, what if he had an army of sloths that somewhat obeyed his command? He just needed to be the only one known to be able to handle them. The success of this would depend on how many could accomplish a similar feat. 

He was convinced that there were others out there. The priority was to find about them before anyone else. As long as he made it seem like only he could save people from the sloths, he'd have lots of freedom. The MTAs would have to hold him in high regard. 

He only fed the creatures a bit. He wanted to motivate them, not to have them feel bloated and sleepy. He continued leading, handing them small snacks at regular intervals. The more it went, the easier it became. 

Honestly, this whole process was something straightforward. Why hadn't people tried taming the sloths? He messaged Dario about it, and the answer only added to the confusion. They had tried many times! 

Josh felt like the crux of the matter was probably the fact that he was able to go near the sloths without relying on any visible ability. To them, he was a complete enigma. With his ability to sense killing intent, they couldn't sneak-attack him either. 

When the others had tried, the creatures probably realized that the humans were vulnerable as soon as their defensive abilities ran out. There wasn't the same sense of wonder and respect gained from strength. 

In any case, he was having a blast. Meanwhile, the whole region was going crazy. There had been lots of people worried about the sloth situation. This sudden development was shocking for sure. Josh randomly checked forums with people reacting to it. 

- RainbowPepper: This is a miracle! We are so lucky that someone has finally stepped up to save us!

- BlazedGoldfish: Who the heck is he?! There isn't any guild emblem on his clothes.

- BigCityGuy: You guys are making such a fuss about it! Back in Metropolis-A, we would have taken care of the problem the same day it appeared. You people are a joke, lol 

- ISmellBullshit: BigCityGuy please read my name aloud. BTW He's the weak guy that was the first to clear the instance. Honestly, is it possible that he has a sloth related class? He seems to be immune to them for some reason! 

- Badadada: Wow. This is both impressive and insane. Did you guys see the video where he almost killed two reporters? 

- GGScrub: That's fake news! He missed on purpose! 

There were so many exchanges similar to that one. Josh could only chuckle to himself. What would be their reaction if he shared information about meeting two gods? Would they go insane or go insane? 

Meanwhile: BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! There were so many of the people that he knew from Draconic that were messaging him along with a few others.

- Gorgeous Kasha: Hey, you totally left me to sleep alone on the floor! How dare you treat an amazing delicate beauty like that! 

- Josh MF Malum: What do you mean?! I left you premium pillows and a blanket! 

- Gorgeous Kasha: Anyway, I'll still hold you accountable for disappearing for that long. I'll be expecting you to show me some sloths doing cool tricks as an apology! 

...She was completely unfazed by the whole deadly creatures part and was thinking about having fun. Actually, that did sound like fun. Perhaps he could teach them how to do some synchronized dancing? 

- Dale the Phoenix: Sup! I recently finished some training in the Tower. Want to spar and help me gauge my progress? Also, if you have any more of these Devouring Panda lunch-boxes, bring one! 

...Dale was aiming for the sloth treats. What kind of plan was this?! Still, Josh was getting curious. He didn't expect him to ask to fight so fast. What kind of training had he even done? 

- Emsee Hammer: Damn, that's some fantastic Sloth train you got there! By the way, I have your money from selling the Hellish armor pieces. It's a mix of Credits and favors. I took the second one too since it can be resold if you really want the Credits. 

That was pretty neat. This would come in handy in building basic infrastructures in D-23. Josh was planning to make himself a living space there. But, he would have to make sure it was bunker grade in case anyone decided to bomb it again. 

- Liam the Ultimate Samurai: Hey, I saw you with the sloths. Is there any possibility for me to train with one of these? I kept asking the MTA, but they didn't want me anywhere near. 

…..Liam saw this sloth disaster as an opportunity for training. Did he even realize how crazy a demand that was?! Josh would have done the same. He quickly texted him to get his ass over when he was ready. 

- Frank the Undercover Idol Fan: Hey! I got some news. You asked me to get you phenomenal candidates. I found one that seems like a total trainwreck at first glance, but I think he's a hidden gem. 

Oh? That seemed pretty neat. Josh would probably need many slav— recruits for his new projects. That came just in time. Ah, then again, Frank had probably messaged him after seeing that he was back. 

- Climbers' World Official: We've been trying to reach you concerning your VR capsule's extended warranty. 

Josh would never fall for such an obvious scam! 

- Climbers' World Official: Actually, it seems you haven't received your VR capsule at all! Please reply to schedule a meeting with one of our experts. Have a nice day.

...Apparently, it was legit. Wow, talk about a fail! To be fair he had been missing for over two weeks. He had probably missed their initial message. 

Josh couldn't help but chuckle. He was taking care of the sloth problem while organizing his messages. This in turn only fueled the people's craze. How was he so casual about all this?! 

He repeated the same walking, texting, feeding sloths, and slapping a few whenever they tried yawning out of line. Eventually, they did reach D-23 to the amazement of all. 

The people in charge of the defense perimeter couldn't help but rub their eyes once they saw him appear. They had seen the news already, but it was different from being there. They shook as the sloths walked mere meters away from them. 

Josh finally addressed the sloths: "Welcome back home!"

Now, what should he do first? He probably had to handle the sloth aftermath first. There would be so many things left to do afterward. He also had to keep Climbing, he couldn't wait to test his newfound power! 

Still, one thing at a time...

Creator's Thought

Life kept going even when I was gone. People had received their VR capsule, the farm had been attacked, Dale had been training, Kasha had been worrying, Emsee had sold my stuff, the sloths had rampaged...the list went on. A human is insignificant compared to the world. Still, that wouldn't stop me from taking control of my own destiny (or try at least).