I was just fishing, how did I become a Great Old One?

1,200 meters deep in the ocean, the outer perimeter of the (pseudo) R'lyeh ruins.

The icy seawater, like liquid darkness, squeezed every inch of space. Here, light was a luxury; only the glowing deep-sea plankton and the eerie green light emanating from the ruins could barely outline the contours of this underwater dead city.

A group of Deep Ones, armed with bone harpoons and riding seahorse-like monsters, surrounded the reckless human in a fan shape, filled with rage and murderous intent.

"Gaaaaaah—!!!" (Kill him! Dedicate this to the sleeping Lord!)

The leader of the Deep Ones was a monster of extremely high mutability. It was a size larger than the ordinary Deep Ones, and the fins on its back shimmered with a deadly purple light. The harpoon in its hand was made of some unknown black metal, radiating a chilling aura.

With a sudden wave of its hand, more than a dozen deep-sea creatures accelerated instantly, their harpoons shooting out like arrows, piercing the water and aiming straight for Jiang Li's vital points!

In the high-pressure environment of the deep sea, these monsters not only don't slow down, but become even faster and more ferocious than on land. Even a submarine would be riddled with holes in an instant.

however.

Faced with this deadly encirclement, Jiang Li could only sigh helplessly and exhale a string of bubbles.

"I was just asking for directions, is that really such a big deal? Are all security guards this short-tempered these days?"

In his eyes, they were a group of violent security guards wearing diving suits, looking a bit like frogs, and holding steel forks.

"If you don't want to talk things out properly, then don't blame me for being impolite."

Jiang Li's eyes narrowed.

He had no weapon (the butcher's knife was tucked into his waistband and he hadn't pulled it out), but he had hands that had just handled "King Mantis Shrimp" and were still a little oily.

"All of you—get down on your knees!"

Jiang Li didn't use any fancy moves; he simply slapped her across the face.

This slap stirred up a terrifying undercurrent in the water, as if a depth charge had been detonated on the seabed!

"boom--!!!"

The water pressure changed drastically in an instant!

The three deep-sea creatures at the forefront were smashed into mincemeat by the terrifying force of the water before they could even scream!

The crimson mist burst open in the deep sea, like a bewitching flower in full bloom.

"Huh?!"

The remaining Deep Ones slammed on the brakes, their bulging, dead-fish eyes filled with terror.

A slap?

Did he smash his three companions from a distance?

Are those human hands made of propellers?!

Before they could react, a yellow lightning bolt had already streaked across the water.

It's rhubarb!

As a Tindarous Hound, its underwater movement is extremely unpredictable; it doesn't need to paddle, but instead appears directly behind the enemy through spatial folding.

"Snap!"

The head of a Deepdiver was bitten off by Big Yellow.

"Pfft!"

The spine of another Deep One was severed by Rhubarb's sharp claws.

This is like wolves among sheep!

"Big Yellow! Keep him alive! We still need to find a tour guide!"

Jiang Li shouted, pushed off with his feet, and charged towards the team leader like a torpedo.

"So you're the captain, huh? So you're the one pointing a fork at me, huh?"

The Deep One captain was terrified when it saw Jiang Li charging towards it. It raised its black metal harpoon in an attempt to block him.

"when!"

Jiang Li grabbed the tip of the harpoon.

The sharp blade, capable of piercing alloy steel plates, was grasped in his hand, producing a crisp metallic clang, yet it didn't even scratch his skin.

"This steel fork is of decent quality; it looks quite heavy."

Jiang Li made a comment, then exerted force with his wrist.

"Creak—"

He actually managed to bend the harpoon, which was made of deep-sea black iron, into a twisted pretzel shape!

Deep Diver Captain: "..."

It let go and turned to run away.

But Jiang Li had already placed one hand on its head.

"Why are you running away? I'm not going to eat you (this thing doesn't look appetizing, the meat is too dry)."

Jiang Li looked at it with a smile, "Lead the way to your... Dragon Palace's warehouse, or treasure room, understand?"

A terrifying pressure emanating from the depths of his soul flowed through Jiang Li's palm and into the Deep Diver Captain's brain.

In its world of consciousness, it did not see a human being, but a colossal chaotic god that stood between heaven and earth, opening its enormous maw, large enough to swallow the ocean, and giving it a "nuclearly benevolent" smile.

[SAN value reset to zero... Willpower collapse... Enslavement achieved.]

The Deep One captain rolled his eyes, twitched his body, and then became incredibly compliant.

It lowered its head, made a respectful "cawing" sound, and turned to point to the most magnificent black palace deep within the ruins.

"That's right, lead the way!"

Jiang Li patted its head, as if patting a disobedient elementary school student.

……

With the "security captain" leading the way, the rest of the trip went much more smoothly.

A man and his dog swaggered into the sunken city.

As Jiang Li closely observed the R'lyeh Ruins, his brows furrowed even more.

The architectural style here... is just too abstract.

All the houses were crooked, their walls displaying a dizzying non-Euclidean geometric angle that could make one nauseous after a while. Huge stone pillars were carved with distorted tentacles and eyeball reliefs, emitting a faint glow.

"Who is this developer? Their aesthetic sense is terrible!"

As Jiang Li swam, he complained, "This house is built crookedly and is obviously an illegal structure! It's only because it's underwater that no one cares; if it were on land, the city management would have demolished it long ago!"

"And this green light... makes it look like a haunted house, they didn't even install a warm-toned light."

Big Yellow followed behind, warily looking around.

It could sense that countless malevolent eyes lurked in the shadows of this city. Those were the [Invisible Child] and [Shoggoth] living in the cracks of the ruins, but intimidated by Jiang Li's terrifying aura, they only dared to spy from the shadows and did not dare to show themselves.

Soon, they arrived at a huge black temple.

The temple, carved from a single block of obsidian, stands a hundred meters tall, with a huge, indescribable octopus head totem carved on its entrance.

"Is this the main hall of the Dragon Palace?"

Jiang Li looked up and said, "It looks quite grand, but this door... why doesn't it have a handle?"

The Deep One captain swam to the gate, knelt respectfully, and chanted obscure incantations, attempting to open the sealed gate that only the high priest could open.

"So slow and indecisive."

Jiang Li was getting impatient.

He stepped forward and pushed aside the Deep One captain who was chanting a spell.

"Get out of the way, I'll do it!"

Jiang Li stood in front of the twenty-meter-high stone gate, took a deep breath, and assumed a horse stance.

"I refuse to believe there's a door in this world I can't open!"

He braced his hands against the stone door, and the power of the rules belonging to the [Abyss Fisherman] within his body erupted instantly.

"Open it... for me!!!"

"Boom—!!!"

The entire seabed was shaking.

The temple gate, sealed for thousands of years, groaned in pain. The defensive runes on it had just lit up when Jiang Li's brute force shattered them.

"Squeak—"

With a tooth-grinding scraping sound, the stone door, weighing tens of thousands of tons, was actually slowly pushed open a crack!

The Deep One captain knelt on the ground, his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets.

That is the dwelling place of God!

That is a sacred gate that requires the sacrifice of a hundred living people and a three-day, three-night ritual to open!

This man... actually pushed me away with his hand?!

"Phew... This hinge must be rusty, it was really a pain."

Jiang Li dusted off the stone dust on his hands, kicked the door open, and strode inside.

……

Inside the temple, there was a hidden world.

There is no seawater here, but a dry space, as if an invisible barrier is keeping the seawater out.

In the center of the main hall, there was a mountain of... gold coins!

That's right, it's gold coins!

All sorts of ancient gold coins, gold bars, and gold artifacts were piled up like garbage into small mountains, shimmering with a mesmerizing light under the glowing green lamps.

Holy crap!!!

Jiang Li's eyes instantly turned into the shape of gold coins.

"We're rich! We've really struck it rich this time! How much money is this?!"

He pounced on a mountain of gold, grabbed a handful of gold coins, and was intoxicated by the heavy feel of them.

"This gold content is absolutely 24K gold! Although it's oxidized and turned a bit black, it'll definitely shine after washing!"

Big Yellow excitedly rolled around in the pile of gold coins. Although it didn't spend any money, it knew its owner liked these things, and if its owner was happy, its chicken leg would be ready!

"Quick! Big Yellow! Take out all the bags we brought! Pack as much as you can!"

Jiang Li was like a mouse that had entered a rice jar, frantically stuffing gold coins into his pockets and bags.

Just then, an old and sinister voice suddenly rang out from the depths of the hall.

"Mortals... how dare they trespass into the treasure trove of the gods..."

Jiang Li paused, then looked up.

At the end of Jinshan Mountain, there was a tall stone platform.

A hunched figure sat on the stone platform.

It wore tattered priest's robes and held a staff topped with a huge black gem. Its face had completely transformed into a fish head, with layers of wrinkles and whiskers hanging down like tentacles.

【High Priest of the Deep Sea】(B+ Rank Evil God's Follower, Mental Mage)!

It was coldly staring at Jiang Li with its intelligent yet malice-filled eyes.

"Lay down God's treasures...offer your soul...and perhaps God will forgive your sins..."

The high priest raised his staff, and a terrifying spiritual pressure surged forth like a tsunami.

however.

"Oh? There's a gatekeeper here?"

Jiang Li stood up, still holding a golden bowl in his hand.

He sized up the high priest and chuckled.

"Grandpa, your appearance is quite unique. Is this the Turtle Prime Minister? Why isn't there a shell on your back?"

In his eyes, this old man in a long robe with a hunchback was a perfect replica of the Turtle Prime Minister from Journey to the West, except that he was a little uglier.

"Prime Minister Turtle?"

The high priest's beard trembled with rage. "I am the eldest son of the great Cthulhu... the spokesperson for the Abyss..."

"Alright, alright, stop reciting your lines."

Jiang Li impatiently interrupted, "I'll just ask one question: whose is this pile of gold?"

"Nature belongs to God!"

"God? Which God? Show me your ID!"

Jiang Li pouted, "This is clearly unclaimed! Since I've seen it, it's mine!"

"Arrogant!"

The high priest was enraged. He waved his staff and chanted a spell.

"The Shackles of the Abyss!"

The shadows on the ground suddenly came to life, transforming into countless black tentacles that coiled around Jiang Li.

"The same old routine again? Nothing new."

Jiang Li didn't even look at it, and stomped her foot.

"shock!"

"boom!"

An invisible shockwave spread out from him, instantly shattering the newly risen black tentacles into black mist.

"What?!"

The high priest was terrified.

This is a B+ rank binding spell! How could it be shattered with a single stomp?

Just how strong is this person's physical strength?

"Old man, I see you're too old to fight. You should leave now; I want this place."

As Jiang Li spoke, he continued to stuff gold into his bag.

"you……"

The high priest was so angry that he trembled all over.

It has guarded this place for hundreds of years and has never seen such arrogant bandits!

"Since you're courting death... then don't blame me for waking that thing!"

A glint of madness flashed in the high priest's eyes. It turned abruptly and bowed down to the massive wall behind it.

"Great Star Familia... Awaken! Destroy this invader!"

As it called out, the wall slowly cracked open.

An aura ten times more terrifying than that of the High Priest surged out from the crack.

Jiang Li curiously peeked over.

Behind the crack stood an enormous... pillar?

The pillar was entirely black, covered with dark red patterns, and was two meters in diameter, towering into the clouds (the top was not visible).

"What's this? A load-bearing column?"

Jiang Li was stunned for a moment.

"Wait... this shape... why does it look so familiar?"

He took a few steps closer and reached out to touch the pillar.

Cold, hard, heavy.

and……

"This feels like iron!"

Jiang Li's eyes lit up. "Such a huge iron pillar, how much scrap metal could it fetch?"

"No! This isn't scrap metal!"

The high priest stood up with a sinister grin. "This is the [Pillar of Stars]! It's a weapon left behind by the great Star Familia when they slumbered! Anyone who touches it will be crushed by the power of the stars..."

Before it could finish speaking, it saw Jiang Li hug the pillar with both hands.

"rise!"

Jiang Li shouted loudly, his muscles tensing up.

"Boom!"

That enormous pillar, which seemed to connect heaven and earth, actually... moved!

The ground cracked, and gravel flew everywhere.

Jiang Li pulled the pillar upwards as if he were pulling out a radish.

"Get out here...!"

"Buzz—!!!"

A strange buzzing sound resounded throughout the entire temple.

The pillar was pulled out, revealing a thicker base underneath and several ancient characters carved on it (Jiang Li couldn't understand them).

"Good heavens! This is... a magic pillar that can stabilize the sea?!"

Looking at the thick, long iron rod in his hand, Jiang Li instantly pictured Sun Wukong in his mind.

"This thing looks really cool! Taking it home and using it as a flagpole in the yard would definitely make a statement!"

The high priest was completely petrified.

It watched as the man wielded the "Finger of the Star Clan" (which wasn't actually a weapon, but a finger of a sleeping A-rank Star Clan member!) as if it were an iron rod, and felt its faith crumble.

"He...he pulled it out?!"

"That's... God's finger!!!"

Just then.

"roar--!!!"

From deep underground came a furious roar.

The entire underwater city was shaking violently.

Because his finger was pulled so hard, the sleeping [Star Clan] (Rank A) is about to wake up!

Jiang Li hugged the iron pillar, feeling a slight numbness in the soles of his feet.

"An earthquake?"

He glanced at the high priest, who was paralyzed with fear on the ground.

"Hey old man, this house of yours is no good. Why does it shake so often?"

"Forget it, never mind. Big Yellow! Pack the gold up! Let's go! I'll take this pillar with me!"

Jiang Li hoisted the "Sea-Stabilizing Needle," which weighed over ten tons, and carried a bag full of gold coins in his other hand, whistling.

"The wind's getting strong, let's get out of here!"