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

Cast World No. 001, Mars Cathedral, Core Sanctuary.

Pushing open the towering main gate, carved from pure gold circuit boards, a sacred yet icy aroma of machine oil wafts out.

There are no candles or idols here.

Some are hundreds of millions of intricate gears, silently meshing and rotating on the walls, ceilings, and floors. The patterns they form are extremely complex, as if they contain all the truths of how the universe works.

There was no altar in the center of the hall.

There is only one huge, constantly rotating structure suspended in mid-air.

That's a... [Möbius strip].

It is composed of countless flowing liquid metals, shimmering quantum crystals, and pulsating blue electric arcs. It is connected end to end, cycling endlessly, without beginning or end.

Around it, thousands of mechanical angels (drones with metal wings) were flying in circles, spraying golden coolant and chanting monotonous gear hymns.

"Click...click..."

"Eternally... in motion..."

"Flesh and blood... so fragile..."

"Mechanical... Ascension..."

……

[Final Boss: The Omnissiah, the God of All Machines.]

[Form: Perpetual motion machine of the first kind (pseudo).]

[Divinity: Machinery, Order, Eternity.]

[Status: Currently undergoing the 9999 billionth self-check cycle.]

[Description: It is the ultimate belief of the Mechanicus cult. It views the universe as a precise clock, and Mechanicus as the spring that never stops winding.]

……

"Good heavens..."

Sun Wukong looked up at the giant Möbius strip, his golden eyes reflecting the blue arcs of electricity.

"This thing keeps spinning, doesn't it get dizzy?"

"And why does this thing look so familiar to me?"

"look familiar?"

Nezha (in his mechanical form), carrying the newly purchased neutron star spear, sneered.

"Isn't this just a larger... treadmill belt?"

"It's just a matter of twisting the issue."

Tang Sanzang (the cyber monk) clasped his hands together and analyzed the structure of the ring through his data sunglasses.

"Amitabha."

"My lord, this is no ordinary track."

"This is... [an infinite loop]."

"In its logic, energy is conserved and self-increasing. It attempts to break the laws of thermodynamics and achieve immortality."

"pity……"

Tang Sanzang shook his head.

"What is born must die; what changes must eventually cease."

"It's attached to appearances."

……

"Outsiders".

Just then, the giant Möbius strip vibrated.

It has no mouth; the sound is produced by the resonance of countless nano-speakers in the air.

"You... are full of entropy (chaos/disorder)."

"You ate my bishop."

"Dismantle my guard."

"And now, you dare to step into my sanctuary reeking of cooking oil (referring to the smell of pig brains from earlier)."

"Do you want to... be assimilated?"

Buzz—! ! !

The light of the God of All Machines surged.

The Möbius strip began to spin faster.

A terrifying [field of order] descended.

This force is attempting to forcibly alter the life forms of everyone.

[WARNING! Forced mechanization program detected!]

[Warning! Your skin is metallizing!]

[Warning! Your blood is turning into engine oil!]

……

Er Gou (the Chaos Devouring Dog) looked at his own paws in horror.

"Woof! My fur has turned into wire!"

"Boss! Help! I don't want to be a robot dog! Then I can't pee anywhere!"

"assimilation?"

Jiang Li stood at the very front of the line.

He was not affected by that force field.

Because his gluttonous godhood is itself the greatest source of entropy increase in the universe (consuming order and turning it into disorder).

"Your Excellency, God of All Machines."

Jiang Li looked up at the Möbius strip that was spinning faster and faster.

"You said you're eternal?"

"You're saying you've broken the laws of thermodynamics?"

I don't believe it.

Jiang Li took out the concept-level kitchenware from his backpack.

There's a saying in my hometown.

"There's nothing you can't finish eating."

"As long as there is 'consumption,' there is no 'eternity.'"

A fanatical smile curled at the corners of Jiang Li's lips.

"Since you like spinning around so much..."

"Since you are a perfect, closed-loop, automatic transmission system."

"Then I'll..."

"To transform you into..."

"The universe's largest... conveyor belt sushi counter!"

……

[Deep Blue Ultimate Cooking Project Launched]

Step 1: Lay out the "rice".

"Nezha! Go! Pave the way for it!"

"Use your nano flour (the leftover from making pizza before)!"

"Okay!"

Nezha rode on his Wind Fire Wheels and soared into the sky.

Instead of attacking, he scattered white powder everywhere, following the direction of the Möbius strip's rotation.

"Sizzle sizzle—"

The nanoparticles were attracted by the high temperature and magnetic field the moment they came into contact with the charged ring.

They condense and expand rapidly.

It turned into… grains of translucent, pearl-like plasma rice.

The rice covered the entire surface of the Möbius strip.

Step 2: Place the "ingredients".

"Great Sage! Serve the food!"

"Bring out all the scraps we've collected along the way!"

"And...use what you have on hand!"

Jiang Li pointed to the flying mechanical angels (drones) around him.

"Take those iron birds down!"

"As sashimi!"

"Yes, sir!"

Wukong's figure flashed, transforming into countless golden rays.

He weaved through the air, grabbing one with a single reach.

"Snap! Snap!"

The mechanical angel's wings were broken, and its core was removed.

Like a waiter, Wukong threw these prepared "ingredients" into the rapidly spinning ring.

"Get out of here!"

One by one, glowing energy cores and tender pieces of memory metal landed steadily on the "plasma rice".

……

Step 3: Make "wasabi".

"The soul of sushi is wasabi."

"Here, we use... [radioactive green mud]."

Jiang Li took out a can of high-energy radioactive waste collected from the bottom of the casting world.

This stuff is so green it practically glows, and so spicy it's piercing.

"Alice! Squeeze!"

Alice manipulated the robotic arm, precisely squeezing a little green, radioactive mud onto each piece of "sushi".

"Sizzle—"

The pungent aroma even distorted the surrounding air.

……

Step 4: Start eating (breaking the perpetual motion).

In just a few minutes.

That sacred Möbius strip, representing eternal order.

It turned into a... [Luxury conveyor belt sushi].

The table was densely covered with all kinds of glowing, metallic, and energetic "sushi".

Moreover, because it is rotating at high speed.

So the food was served... extremely fast.

"Everyone!"

Jiang Li took out a pair of huge chopsticks (half of the Golden Cudgel).

Stand next to the ring.

"The theme of this meal is... [racing]."

"The faster it spins, the faster we have to eat!"

"As long as we eat faster than it can regenerate energy..."

"Its perpetual motion..."

"It's broken!"

"start!!!"

……

"roar!!!"

The crowd, who had been starving and thirsty for a long time, instantly transformed into gluttons.

Wukong was the first to make a move.

His hands moved so fast they were like afterimages.

"Clip! Clip! Clip!"

He stuffed one energy sushi after another into his mouth.

"Crunchy and delicious! Chicken flavor!"

"This radioactive mustard is so strong! So refreshing!"

Nezha activated his three-headed, six-armed mode.

Six hands working at the same time.

"This is way too slow!"

"It's simply not enough to eat!"

Er Gou (Chaos Devouring Hound) opened the abyss's maw and lay down below the conveyor belt.

"Come on! Fall into my mouth!"

It acted like a trash can, catching all the sushi that slipped through.

Even Tang Sanzang has activated the "Thousand-Hand Guanyin - Eating Version".

A thousand electronic arms, each holding a pair of chopsticks.

"Amitabha."

"If I don't go to hell, who will?"

"Let this humble monk bear all these sins (energy)."

……

The God of All Machines panicked.

I panicked completely.

It originally thought that this group of people would be assimilated by its order field.

did not expect.

Instead of being assimilated, they treated it like a... buffet?

"Warning! Energy loss rate... 300%!"

"Warning! Rotary structure...underloaded!"

"You...shut up!"

"This is blasphemy! This is an insult to the gods..."

The God of All Machines tried to accelerate the rotation to throw these gluttons away.

Buzz—! ! !

The Möbius strip's rotation speed soared to one percent of the speed of light.

The sushi transformed into streams of light.

"It's sped up?"

Jiang Li smiled.

"Just what I wanted!"

"Great Sage! Activate... [Overclocked Feeding Mode]!"

"Okay!"

At the same time, the [Overclocked Thinking] buff that everyone had obtained from eating pig brains lit up on their bodies.

Their movements quickened as well.

The original afterimages have now merged into a single screen of light.

"Slurp—"

*Smack*

"Glug—"

The sounds of eating drowned out the hymn of gears.

……

Ten minutes later.

The God of All Machines discovered this in despair.

Its energy reserves... are empty.

The zero-point energy that was originally used to maintain the "perpetual motion" was all consumed by these monsters.

Its rotation speed began to slow down.

It's getting slower and slower.

until……

"Crack...crack...sizzle..."

The enormous Möbius strip let out a mournful cry of unbearable strain.

then.

It stopped.

The "sushi" on top was also eaten clean, and even the layer of "nano rice" was licked clean by Er Gou.

……

"Stop...stopped?"

The core consciousness of the God of Myriad Machines (that enormous sphere of light) fell into a state of utter stagnation, as if it had crashed.

"My eternity...is over?"

"Was it...eaten up?"

Jiang Li wiped his mouth.

Step forward.

Looking at the huge mechanical body that had stopped moving.

"I said that."

Nothing lasts forever.

"Except for...hunger."

Jiang Li reached out and tapped the metal ring.

"Since you're not going to share it anymore."

"Then hand over your... core."

"As payment for this 'free meal'..."

……

The God of Myriad Machines remained silent for a long time.

It looked at the group of rosy-cheeked, burping carbon-based creatures (although some of them had become semi-mechanized).

Its logic circuit suddenly produced a result that had never been generated before.

Conclusion: Flesh and blood... are not inherently weak or miserable.

Conclusion: The ability to eat... is the strongest driving force.

"I... lost."

The light of the god of all machines dimmed.

The giant Möbius strip began to disintegrate.

Countless parts fell off.

At last.

Only a fist-sized, extremely intricate and complex crystal gear remained, still slowly rotating.

[Item: The Core of Perpetual Motion]

[Rank: God-tier part.]

[Description: The heart of the god of machines. It contains the secret of infinite power.]

[Purpose: It could be used to build the most powerful engine, or... to create an egg beater that never stops?]

……

Jiang Li took the crystal gear.

Feel the surging power within.

"nice one."

"I've got this."

"The Treant can... cross dimensions."

Jiang Li tossed it to Alice.

"Install it!"

"We're going to... the world of Volume Thirteen."

……

Just as everyone was preparing to leave.

Nezha suddenly pointed deep into the remains of the God of Myriad Machines, which had already disintegrated.

"etc!"

"What is that...?"

At the heart of the ruins.

In a hidden safe.

There was a... [stone slab].

This stone slab stands out starkly against its surrounding mechanical environment.

It is ancient, rough, and covered with twisted tentacle runes.

That is... [the aura of the Great Old Ones].

Jiang Li walked over and picked up the stone slab.

He recognized the text above (after all, he had knowledge of Cthulhu).

[Prophecy: When the machines cease their roar, when the all-knowing eye closes.]

The door to "Ultimate Darkness"... will open in "Abyssal Kitchen."

All the gods will become... an ingredient in the "final dish."

……

"Ultimate darkness?"

"The Abyss Kitchen?"

Jiang Li frowned.

This sounds like... a conspiracy older than Cthulhu.

Or perhaps... an even grander feast?

"It seems so."

"Our journey..."

"This is just the beginning of the warm-up."

Jiang Li put away the stone slab.

Turn around.

"Let's go."

"Ergou, drive."

"Let's go...to the place mentioned in the prophecy."

"Look over there..."

"Are there... any ingredients that are worth cutting?"

……

The Treant (now the perpetual motion engine version) roared out of the Martian Cathedral.

They left that mechanical world, which had ceased to function, behind.

in the starry sky.

The new stargate has been opened.

Behind the door.

It is endless darkness.

And... faintly heard... the sound of a cleaver chopping on a cutting board.