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

Koprulu Sector, Planet Char, Plaza in front of the Deep Blue Char Branch.

"Click".

Mechanic Swan used his oil-covered hands to load a specially made bullet into the magazine of the C-14 Gauss rifle on Er Gou's back.

This bullet is different from ordinary depleted uranium armor-piercing bullets. Its warhead is ground into a blunt round shape, its surface is engraved with spiral rifling grooves, and it is coated with a red hot-melt coating.

"Listen up, Brother Dog."

Swan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his tone as serious as if he were explaining the procedures for launching a nuclear missile.

"This is a high-friction heat-melting bomb that I just handcrafted."

"I deliberately weakened its penetrating power, but increased the efficiency of kinetic energy to heat conversion by 500%."

"The bullet will spin at Mach 3 the moment you pull the trigger."

"Theoretically, the moment it hits the egg's shell, it generates a temperature of nearly 4000 degrees Celsius and conducts this heat into the egg within 0.001 seconds."

At this point, Swann swallowed hard and glanced at the bright green exploding insect egg that Sun Wukong was holding in the distance.

"If successful, the high internal pressure will cause it to expand instantly."

"If it fails..."

Swan pointed to the sturdy temple sign above his head.

"Then we'll be bathed in strong acid, and this newly hung sign will be ruined."

"Woof!"

Er Gou confidently shook his head, his sunglasses flashing a cold light in the firelight.

"Don't worry! My marksmanship was honed in the abyss!"

"I am... Deep Blue's number one sniper!"

……

Throwing and shooting.

Everyone in the square held their breath.

Tex and his Marines hid behind the temple pillars, peeking out only half their heads.

The Firebat Squad held flamethrowers, ready to burn the acid if the experiment failed.

Jiang Li stood next to Er Gou, holding a huge empty iron barrel that was originally used to hold ore.

"Great Sage!"

Jiang Li raised one hand.

"cast!"

"Get out of here!"

Wukong chuckled, his arm muscles bulging.

He hurled the soccer ball-sized insect egg into the air, like throwing a baseball, a hundred meters into the sky.

"Whoosh—"

The insect eggs traced a green parabola in the air.

……

"locking."

Er Gou lay on the ground, the rifle on his back adjusting its angle slightly according to his will.

In its "true vision," the green dot of light is falling rapidly.

It calculates wind speed, gravity, and the bullet's flight time.

"Now!"

"Bang!"

A muffled gunshot rang out.

A blue electromagnetic flame shot out from the muzzle of the gun.

The red, molten bomb spun and tore through the air, whistling with death (or perhaps food), as it shot straight into the sky.

……

A miracle of blossoming.

A kilometer away in the air.

The bullet hit the very center of the insect egg with pinpoint accuracy.

The anticipated violent chemical explosion did not occur.

At the very moment of impact.

Time seemed to stand still.

Suddenly, the originally translucent green insect egg emitted a dazzling golden-red light from within.

That's the high temperature instantly vaporizing the acidic colloid inside.

Followed by.

"puff------!!!"

A deep, muffled, yet incredibly loud, booming sound echoed through the night sky.

It was like a giant balloon being blown up.

The insect eggs were originally only the size of a football.

In that instant, its volume expanded fiftyfold.

It turned into a huge, fluffy, white-green cloud... more than three meters in diameter.

It floated lightly in the air, then slowly drifted down.

……

"It's...it's done?"

Tex gaped, dropping his cigarette on the floor.

"It didn't explode?"

"It didn't explode."

Jiang Li took a deep breath.

That scent carried on the wind.

It's no longer a pungent, sour smell.

Instead, it has an extremely rich, sweet aroma with hints of caramel and fruit acidity.

"That is..."

Jiang Li's Adam's apple bobbed slightly.

"The caramelization reaction of acidic polysaccharides at high temperatures."

"In other words..."

"It's ripe."

……

Catch the delicious food.

"Great Sage! Catch!"

Jiang Li shouted.

"Don't let it fall on the ground and get dirty!"

"Okay!"

Wukong somersaulted up onto it.

They stretched out their hands and steadily supported the huge "cloud".

"Wow! So light!"

Wukong carried the ball, which was even bigger than himself, back to the ground.

"It's soft and fluffy, and still warm!"

……

First taste.

This giant "battlefield popcorn" was placed in the square in front of the temple.

It looks like a giant marshmallow ball.

The surface is white, but in the crevices, there are still a few green crystals (that is the acidic frosting that has not been completely vaporized).

"I'll test the poison first."

Jiang Li stepped forward and tore off a palm-sized piece of "cotton."

Put it in your mouth.

"Click."

It's extremely crispy when you bite into it.

Then came the rapid melting.

"Well……"

Jiang Li closed his eyes.

"The texture is... somewhere between popcorn and shrimp chips."

"Because it expands due to acidity, it tastes like... lemon popping candy."

"It's sweet and sour, with a hint of spiciness (which is also a manifestation of the sourness)."

"and……"

Jiang Li swallowed the food.

"There is no waste."

"Perfect."

……

Everyone went crazy for it.

Since Jiang Li said it's edible, then it must be edible.

"Me too!"

Er Gou was the first to rush up and take a big bite off.

"Woof! So crisp! So sweet!"

"This tastes much better than those hard bones!"

Nezha also tore off a piece.

"Hmm? This taste... a bit like the celestial clouds from the Peach Garden?"

"But it's sour!"

Tex and the soldiers, like children who had never seen the world before, gathered around the giant ball of popcorn, tearing off pieces one by one.

"Sir! This thing is amazing!"

"It feels like I'm eating clouds!"

"And after eating it, the bitter taste of the stimulant in my mouth was completely gone!"

……

The carnival has been upgraded.

One egg is clearly not enough for more than a hundred people.

Soon, the huge ball of popcorn was completely devoured.

"Boss! Is there any more?"

"I haven't had enough!"

Everyone looked at Jiang Li with lingering interest.

Jiang Li pointed to the dozen or so insect eggs that remained next to him.

"There are plenty of eggs."

"but……"

Jiang Li glanced at Er Gou.

"Ergou is tired, and one gun is too inefficient."

"To truly enjoy your meal..."

Jiang Li gave him an encouraging smile.

"You guys have to... fight it yourselves."

……

[Event: Deep Blue - The First Shooting and Cooking Competition]

rule:

1. Sun Wukong and Nezha are responsible for dropping insect eggs in the air (at different heights, at different speeds, and even in fancy ways).

2. The diners use their own weapons to shoot (they must use Swan's specially made hot melt bullets).

3. The person who pops the popcorn gets the whole bunch of popcorn (and his squad).

4. The person who accidentally spills the acid (or causes it to leak) will be punished by washing dishes for three days.

……

"This is awesome!"

Upon hearing this, Tyx's violent instincts were activated.

He raised the heavy Gatling gun in his hand (although it was a modified rifle, he liked to call it that).

"Swann! Change the warhead!"

"Brothers! Set up your guns!"

"Tonight, we're going to have a good fight!"

……

A shooting extravaganza.

"Get out of here!"

Wukong stood on the top of the temple, waving his hands repeatedly.

Three green insect eggs flew in different directions at the same time.

"Da da da da da—"

Gunfire roared on the ground.

Dozens of red, molten ballistic trajectory lines intertwined to form a fire net.

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"

Three muffled thuds.

Three enormous white clouds suddenly bloomed in the night sky.

It was as dazzling as fireworks.

"I won! Hahahaha! I won!"

A Marine excitedly dropped his gun and rushed over to catch the falling popcorn.

……

"Watch me!"

Nezha was not to be outdone.

He threw the Qiankun Ring out.

"Change!"

The Qiankun Ring expanded in the air, with Samadhi True Fire burning on it.

An insect egg passed through the ring of fire.

Instantaneous heating.

"puff!"

It turned into popcorn the instant it passed through the center of the circle.

"That's called... going too far!"

Nezha proudly caught the ball of popcorn that smelled of burning.

……

Even Mohanda got itchy fingers.

He didn't have a gun.

But he has Void Darts.

brush!

A green blade of light flew out and precisely sliced ​​into an insect egg in mid-air.

Although there were no thermal bombs.

But his light blade is covered with high-energy plasma.

"Sizzle—Pfft!"

The moment the insect egg was cut open, the cut surface expanded due to the heat.

It turned into a strangely shaped popcorn, like a butterfly.

Mohanda caught it.

I absorbed a mouthful of energy from it.

"Hmm... art."

……

Movie Night.

The shooting spree lasted for a full two hours.

Until all the inventory was sold out.

The square in front of the temple was piled high with white popcorn fragments.

A rich, sweet aroma filled the air.

No one went back to the restaurant.

We sat down on the ground like that.

Holding popcorn in his hands, he looked up at the red starry sky of Star Charles.

“That’s great…”

Reynolds lay on the ground, chewing on a crunchy snack.

"If it weren't for the chirping of insects in the distance, I would have thought I was watching an open-air movie."

"Movie?"

hear the word.

Wukong asked curiously.

"What's a movie? A magic trick?"

"almost."

Jiang Li sat next to him, holding a glass of sour lemonade.

"It's about showing you other people's stories."

"There are no movies to watch now."

"but……"

Jiang Li pointed to the huge red giant star in the sky and the faintly visible wreckage of the warship in orbit.

"This starry sky..."

"It is itself...the grandest epic film."

……

New demands.

We've eaten and drunk our fill, and had our fun.

The problem is coming.

"Boss."

Swan walked over with a small notebook in his hand.

"Our inventory is depleted."

"We still have bullets."

"but……"

Swan pointed to the SCV cooking machine, which was already a bit overheated from overuse.

"We're running out of fuel."

"I just used up half a bucket of flea oil to make that braised pork with bamboo shoots."

"SCV needs to be operational, repaired, and cooked."

"Relying solely on bio-oil extracted from the corpses of insects is far too inefficient."

"We need... more powerful fuel."

……

Target locked.

Jiang Li nodded.

In fact, he had already considered this issue.

As Deep Blue Cafeteria expands, an energy shortage is inevitable.

Ordinary firewood (for fungal mats) provides too little heat.

Extracting bio-oil is too troublesome.

In this interstellar age, there is only one energy source that is truly efficient and readily available.

That is……

[Vespene Gas]

This green gas is the oil of the Koprulu Sector, the lifeblood that powers warships, mechs, and... top-of-the-line stoves.

"I know where to find it."

Jiang Li stood up.

At this moment, his gaze was no longer fixed on the sky.

Instead, they looked towards... the other side of the canyon.

There, there is a natural gas spring that emits thick green smoke.

And around the vent.

A group of creatures, even larger and more terrifying than the Lurkers, lurked within.

They have huge fangs and skin as hard as rock.

[Monster: Ultralisk]

Common names: cow/elephant.

[Tier: Ultimate Zerg Ground Unit.]

[Characteristics: Thick-skinned and immune to most light weapon damage.]

……

"Gas mine".

Jiang Li licked his lips.

"It can not only solve the fuel problem."

"and……"

"The flesh of a thunder beast that has been exposed to high-energy gas for a long time..."

"Make it into a seared steak..."

"It should... have a natural smoky smell, right?"

Jiang Li patted the popcorn crumbs off his hands.

"Has everyone rested well?"

"tomorrow……"

"We're going to...steal some gas."

"By the way..."

"Slaughter a cow...to liven things up."