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

Unknown dimension, sea of ​​gray fog, deck of the Treant.

The feeling of passing through that "secret door" was like being stuffed into a washing machine and then thrown into a moldy marshmallow.

When the dizziness subsided, Jiang Li opened his eyes and found the Tree Demon (World Tree Ark) floating quietly on a boundless ocean.

There is no sky, no sun, only a thick layer of gray fog overhead, as if pressing down on your scalp.

The seawater was also gray, viscous like mercury, and without a ripple.

The strangest thing is the sound here.

It's too quiet.

There was no sound of wind, no sound of waves, and even Er Gou's breathing was swallowed up by the layer of gray mist. This deathly silence was more unsettling than the roar of an abyss.

[System notification: Arrived in the new world—R'lyeh (dream projection).]

[Current Environment: High concentration of mental pollution / Non-Euclidean geometric space.]

[Warning! Sanity is decreasing at a rate of 10 points per hour in the current area.]

[WARNING! Do not stare at shadows in the fog for extended periods unless you wish to mutate.]

……

"Where am I?"

Sun Wukong scratched his head, his golden fur covered with a layer of fine water droplets.

"This place looks...creepy."

"and……"

Wukong pointed ahead.

"I was clearly looking 'forward,' so why does it feel like my gaze has circled around and I'm seeing the back of my own head?"

"This is non-Euclidean geometry."

Tang Sanzang (the cyber monk) pushed up his data sunglasses, which were now displaying a bunch of garbled error messages.

"Amitabha."

"The space here is distorted."

"A straight line is curved, a circle is square, and the sum of the interior angles of a triangle is not equal to 180 degrees."

"My friend, if you don't want your mind to get tangled up, you'd better close your eyes and see the world with your heart."

……

"Regardless of what geometry it is."

Jiang Li walked to the center of the deck and glanced at Harpy (the Gluttonous Witch), who was fast asleep in the co-pilot's seat.

At this moment, the little girl's belly was still round and plump, and she would occasionally murmur in her sleep. The drool that dripped from the corner of her mouth corroded small pits on the deck.

Alice (liquid metal AI) is attaching two thick wires to Harpie's belly.

"Boss, although she swallowed the Perpetual Motion Core, the good news is that she is now a giant [bionuclear reactor]."

"I am extracting energy from her body."

"The Ark's power output is currently stable, but... it's a bit demanding on the kids."

"It's okay, just consider it a post-meal exercise to aid digestion."

Jiang Li waved his hand.

What he cares about more now is... food.

Although they had just finished a victory celebration in the Abyss (the Gluttony Witch didn't get to eat, but everyone still ate quite a few scraps), their professional hazard as chefs kicked in again in the new environment.

"This place is all water."

Jiang Li walked to the ship's side and looked at the lifeless gray sea.

"Since it's the sea, there must be...fish, right?"

Jiang Li took out the upgraded [Key of Time and Space - Chaos Fishing Rod] from his pocket.

"Ergou! Set up your nest!"

"Use what's left over from before... the stinky tofu dregs from the abyss!"

……

"Woof! Okay!"

Er Gou (Chaos Devouring Hound) is now a fierce dog with a set of cold iron skull-crushing fangs. It carried a bag of dark, mushy tofu residue and scattered it onto the sea.

"Thump."

Add tofu residue to water.

That domineering stench persisted stubbornly even in the gray fog.

One minute.

Two minutes.

Sudden.

The once lifeless sea surface began to ripple with eerie waves.

"They're here!"

Jiang Li flicked his wrist.

The fishing line cut through the gray fog and plunged into the deep sea.

Immediately afterwards, the float suddenly sank!

"What incredible strength!"

Jiang Li roared, his arm muscles bulging.

"Get up!"

wow-

A huge, dark green figure was pulled out of the water and crashed heavily onto the deck.

……

Everyone crowded around.

then……

They all gasped in shock.

Holy crap!

Nezha almost threw away his Fire-Tipped Spear.

"This...this is a fish?"

"This is so ugly!"

The creatures on the ground have limbs similar to those of humans, but their skin is smooth and covered in dark green scales.

Its head is a huge, bulging fish head.

Two dead fish eyes bulged out, without eyelids, staring intently at the crowd.

His mouth was wide, stretching to his ears, revealing rows of fine, yellowish, sharp teeth.

There were several gill slits on its neck that were opening and closing.

[Prey: Deep One.]

[Race: Lower-level independent race (amphibians).]

[Faith: Cthulhu.]

[Characteristics: Immortal (if not killed), enjoys whispering in dreams, and preaches in a nauseating language.]

[Meat quality assessment: It has a strong fishy smell and a hint of...ancient decay. The texture is smooth and rich in collagen.]

……

"Quack...you...ge..."

The deep-diving creature lay on the deck, not attacking immediately, but instead opened its mouth wide and emitted a string of thick, phlegm-like syllables.

"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh..."

"What is it saying?" Wukong asked.

"have no idea."

Jiang Li squatted down and poked the Deep One's smooth belly with his finger.

"But I guess..."

"It's probably saying, 'Welcome, I'm a delivery service.'"

Deep One: ? ? ?

It was furious.

It was originally praising the great Cthulhu, but ended up being used as food by this human?

"hiss--!!!"

It let out a sharp screech.

Followed by.

slam-la-

Countless dark green heads emerged from the surrounding sea.

Those were... tens of thousands of Deep Divers.

They surrounded the Tree Demon in a dense, overwhelming manner.

All the dead fish eyes rolled back, staring intently at the people on the boat.

They opened their mouths wide and looked up at the sky (though there was only fog).

That pose...

neat and tidy.

Bizarre and absurd.

……

"Goodness."

Jiang Li watched this scene unfold.

Looking at those countless dead fish heads gazing at the sky.

Suddenly, a dark dish from the British Empire popped into his mind.

"This look..."

"That look in his eyes..."

"Isn't this just natural... [stargazing]?"

Jiang Li's culinary soul was ignited.

"Everyone!"

"We have work to do!"

"Today is our welcome dinner..."

"This is it... [Cthulhu-inspired Stargazing Pie]!"

……

[Deep Blue · K-Style Cooking Project · Launched]

Step 1: Catch the ingredients.

"Great Sage! Nezha! Set the net!"

"It must be alive! Especially the head must be intact!"

"Okay!"

Wukong plucked a handful of hairs, which transformed into a giant golden net, and cast it across the sea.

Nezha's magic ribbon stirred up the seawater, sweeping up the deep-sea divers who were trying to climb onto the ship one by one.

"Quack! Quack!"

The Deep Ones were horrified to discover that these outsiders were not afraid of mental pollution at all; on the contrary, their eyes were glowing green (because they were hungry).

In just a few minutes, a "Mount of Deep Divers" was built up on the deck.

Step 2: Prepare the ingredients.

Jiang Li took out the Occam's razor.

"Although I am a fish-man, I am also a fish."

"It needs to be scaled, gills removed, and internal organs removed."

Jiang Li's swordsmanship was as fast as lightning.

brush brush --

One by one, the deep-sea creatures were cleaned, leaving only their fattest bodies and their iconic large fish heads.

"By the way, where's the cutting board?"

Jiang Li suddenly remembered that the Zuan cutting board was still in the Gluttony Pot and hadn't been taken out.

He quickly ran to the stove (the pot of gluttony) and lifted the lid.

"Ptooey! Ptooey! Ptooey!"

The chopping board flew out, cursing as it flew.

"It's scalding hot! Which heartless bastard used me as firewood?!"

"Oh? It's Jiang Li's father? That's alright then!"

"Dad! This pot stinks! It smells terrible! It's full of that gluttonous girl's saliva!"

Jiang Li wiped the cutting board.

"Alright, stop complaining."

"Cut the fish, please."

"Okay, Dad!"

The cutting board immediately became incredibly docile, even softening itself to prevent damaging the blade.

……

Step 3: Making the pie crust.

"There's no flour here."

"but……"

Jiang Li looked at the thick, gray fog around him.

"This mist contains a large number of microscopic spiritual particles."

"That is to say... [Rationality Flour]."

Jiang Li took out the Klein pot.

"Ergou! Snort!"

Er Gou opened his mouth wide, like a vacuum cleaner, sucking in a large amount of gray mist and spraying it into the pot.

Jiang Li added a little seawater (which has a salty taste and is sticky).

Stir.

The gray fog condensed into a grayish-white dough.

Eating this dough can replenish sanity, also known as... restoring sanity.

Step 4: Make the filling.

Chop the flesh of the Deep One into pieces.

Add onions (from old stock) and potatoes (from the Abyss).

Add that bottle of [Abyss Purple Poison Vinegar] (to remove fishy smell and enhance freshness).

Stir-fry it into a pot of rich seafood paste.

……

Step 5: Design (the soul of the design).

Jiang Li found a huge disc (the Tree Demon's spare radar dome).

Spread a layer of gray mist dough.

Pour in the seafood paste filling.

then……

The most crucial step has arrived.

Jiang Li picked up the intact heads of the Deepsea Divers.

They were inserted one by one into the dough.

Let their heads... look up at the sky.

They even stuck their fins next to them, as if they were praying to the sky.

A total of forty-nine heads were inserted.

Forty-nine pairs of dead fish eyes stared blankly at the gray sky.

This scene...

My sanity level is plummeting.

"vomit……"

Nezha glanced at it and almost threw up.

"This is too creepy!"

"Is this thing really edible?"

"You don't understand, do you?"

Jiang Li patted the flour off his hands.

"That's called... a sense of ritual."

"In the territory of the Old Ones, you have to eat this kind of artistic cuisine."

……

Step 6: Baking.

"Harpie! Lend me a light!"

Jiang Li placed the enormous pie on the belly of the sleeping Gluttony Witch.

The perpetual motion core inside her body is currently operating at full power, and the surface temperature of her abdomen is exactly 220 degrees Celsius.

A perfect oven.

"Sizzle sizzle—"

The dough began to brown.

The fish head's eyes began to turn white.

A mixture of the smell of the sea, the smell of fog, and some... indescribable fresh aroma wafted out.

……

Half an hour later.

"Out of the oven!"

Jiang Li picked up the huge Stargazing Pie.

The fish heads were roasted until their eyes rolled back and their mouths were slightly open, as if they were making a silent scream.

[Dish Name: Stargazy Pie of R'lyeh]

[Rank: Ancient Priest Level]

[Description: Made with the freshest deep-diving fish head, served on a layer of grey mist pastry, and baked on the belly of a gluttonous witch.]

[Features: Extremely visually striking. These forty-nine fish heads represent forty-nine days of resentment.]

[Taste: The fish meat is smooth and tender, and the filling is rich. When you stare into the eyes of a dead fish and bite off its head, you'll feel a strange... immoral pleasure.]

[Effect: Restores a large amount of Sanity (two negatives make a positive). Gains the "Deep Diver Affinity" stat (underwater breathing).]

……

"Come on, let's eat!"

Jiang Li cut off the largest piece (with three fish heads) and handed it to Er Gou.

"Ergou, you try it first."

Er Gou looked at the three fish heads that were staring intently at it.

"Woof... Boss, they seem to be looking at me..."

"It's okay, once it's in your stomach, you won't need to look at it anymore."

Er Gou closed his eyes and bit off a fish head in one gulp.

"Click."

"Um?!"

Er Gou opened his eyes.

"tasty!"

"This fish brain...it's oozing!"

"And this noodle... I felt incredibly clear-headed after eating it! That dizzy feeling from before was gone!"

……

Seeing that Er Gou was alright, the others started eating as well.

Wukong plucked a fish head off and sucked the meat clean like he was eating sunflower seeds.

"Great! It tastes delicious!"

Tang Sanzang ate while chanting sutras to help the deceased.

"Amitabha."

"You gazed at the stars in your lives, and after you die, you enter the belly of this humble monk."

"So, it can be considered... a wish fulfilled."

……

Just as everyone was enjoying their meal.

Under the sea.

A massive, magnificent, and physically defying underwater city is slowly rising.

R'lyeh.

It sensed it.

It sensed...

Someone is eating its followers on its territory.

and……

They seemed to enjoy their meal quite a bit.

"Snoring..."

A deep, resonant snore, like an underwater earthquake, suddenly stopped.

A terrifying, ancient, and indescribable will is awakening.

[Warning! A god-level being has been detected awakening!]

[Target: Cthulhu.]

[Status: Morning grumpiness is building up...]

……

Jiang Li put down the pie in his hand.

He wiped his mouth.

Look ahead at that boiling sea.

And that enormous shadow with an octopus head rising from the sea.

"Finally awake?"

Jiang Li stood up.

A cold glint flashed from the Occam's razor in his hand.

"Now that you're awake..."

"Then... let's have breakfast."

"I wonder about this Great Old One..."

"Do you like... takoyaki?"