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

Jianghai City, Shenlan Plaza, Chairman's Office.

The night was deep outside the window, but the office was still brightly lit. Jiang Li was holding the parchment map he had taken from the vampire duke, studying it carefully under the light.

The lines on the map are extremely abstract; it's less of a map and more of a jumble of geometric shapes piled together. Inverted triangles, rhombuses, acute angles... there are no smooth curves whatsoever, making it painful to look at.

"The end of time... the city of Tindalos."

Jiang Li stroked his chin and turned to look at Big Yellow, who was lying on the sofa gnawing on a bone.

"Big Yellow, how do we get to this place? Taking a plane is definitely not an option, right? This map doesn't even have latitude and longitude coordinates; it looks like a QR code."

"Woof!" (That's a higher-dimensional coordinate! To find a place like that, you have to crawl into a corner!)

Big Yellow spat out the bone and pointed with its paw at the right angle in the corner of the office.

"The corner?"

Jiang Li seemed thoughtful. "I heard that your clan all crawled out from the corners of walls because you hate curves. Does that mean... we need to make the ship a little 'pointed'?"

A thought suddenly struck him.

"Got it! I'll go modify the boat right away!"

……

The next morning, at the old dock.

When Wang Ergou, Liu Wei, and the others arrived at the dock, they were so shocked by what they saw that their jaws nearly dropped to the ground.

The Black Pearl, whose original design was already quite post-apocalyptic and punk-like, has now changed again.

At the bow, Jiang Li had installed a massive, acute-angled triangular metal ram overnight. Countless sharp spikes, resembling those of a hedgehog, were welded onto both sides of the hull. Even the originally round portholes were forcibly hammered into squares or triangles.

The entire ship looked like a giant geometric shape floating on the sea, full of aggression and...incongruity.

"Boss... are we going to crash into an iceberg?"

Looking at the ram, which was longer than the ship's hull, Liu Wei swallowed hard. "This design is completely aerodynamically inadequate."

"Forget icebergs! We're going to the cracks in time!"

Jiang Li stood on the sharp bow of the ship, full of vigor and ambition.

"Big Yellow said that world rejects curves, only welcoming straight lines and acute angles. We're just going to adapt! Disguise ourselves as geometric shapes, and we'll blend in!"

He patted the sharp corner of the ram.

"This is called the 'Wall-Breaking Cone'! It's specially designed to drill into the smallest details... no, I mean, to drill into the smallest corners of spacetime!"

"Everyone on board! Fasten your seatbelts! This time we're going to do something big—time drift!"

……

The Black Pearl sets sail again.

This time, it didn't sail into the deep sea or fly into the sky, but instead rushed at full speed toward... a right-angled breakwater at the dock!

"He's gone mad! The boss's gone mad! He's going to bang his head against the wall!"

Wang Ergou screamed in terror, covering his head.

The boat was about to crash into the embankment and be smashed to pieces.

"Big Yellow! Open the door!"

Jiang Li shouted loudly.

Standing at the bow of the boat, Big Yellow roared suddenly, its body bursting with a dazzling blue light. It opened its massive jaws and bit down hard on the corner of the wall at a ninety-degree angle!

"Snap!"

Space shattered.

That originally solid right angle shattered like a mirror, revealing a deep, twisted passage filled with countless geometric lines.

"Speed ​​up! Charge in!"

"boom--!!!"

With unstoppable momentum, the Black Pearl plunged into that impossible "corner".

……

This is a bizarre and wonderful tunnel.

There were no walls, only flowing light and shadow. Within those lights and shadows flickered countless images: dinosaurs roaring, ancient people performing sacrifices, futuristic skyscrapers collapsing…

That is the long river of time.

But the Black Pearl did not drift downstream; instead, it frantically traversed those sharp fragments of time.

"vomit……"

Professor Miller leaned against the railing, vomiting violently.

"This...this is the dizziness caused by time travel...my brain can't process such complex information..."

"That's because your physical condition isn't good enough."

Jiang Li held a "Screaming Carrot" he had brought from the farm, munching on it while enjoying the scenery.

"Look! Isn't that Genghis Khan on horseback over there? Hey! Great Khan! Have you eaten yet?"

Jiang Li waved at a scene outside the window.

The person in the picture seemed to sense something, looked up at the sky blankly, and then the picture flashed by.

"Tsk, that's fast."

Jiang Li said with some regret, "I was originally going to ask him how the whole roasted lamb was made back then."

Just then, the ship suddenly began to shake violently.

"Warning! Warning! Angular spacetime turbulence ahead! Numerous sharp-angled objects are approaching!"

Mi Go's brain emitted a piercing alarm.

Suddenly, countless floating geometric shapes made of pure blue light appeared in the passage ahead. Triangular pyramids, cubes, polyhedra... they seemed to have a mind of their own, spinning wildly and crashing towards the Black Pearl like a meat grinder.

"Oh? So this is that 'geometric defense system'?"

Jiang Li threw away the leftover carrot tops.

"Trying to outlast me? Old Liu! Show us your 'hedgehog shell'!"

"yes!"

Liu Wei pressed a button.

The newly welded spikes on both sides of the Black Pearl suddenly elongated and were electrified.

"Sizzle sizzle—"

The entire ship turned into a giant, electrified hedgehog.

"Charge them! Let's see who gets stabbed!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The Black Pearl streaked through the geometric shapes, creating a path amidst sparks and lightning.

Those seemingly solid crystals of time shattered into powder upon impact with this "dismantled ship" modified by Abyss Technology.

"Haha! Awesome! This is what you call a 'ghost fire boy' clearing the way!"

Jiang Li laughed loudly.

Finally, after smashing through the last barrier, the Black Pearl burst out of the tunnel.

Suddenly, everything became clear.

But when everyone saw the scene before them, they couldn't help but gasp.

This is a gray world.

There was no sky, no earth, only an endless gray void.

In the center of the void floats a city so enormous it defies description.

This city has no curves.

All the buildings are composed of sharp spirals, leaning towers, and complex geometric shapes. The streets are zigzag, the squares are polygonal, and even the dust floating in the air is cube-shaped.

This is the graveyard of curves, the paradise of angles.

【The City of Tindaros】.

"My God...this is so eye-catching!"

Wang Ergou covered his eyes, "This place looks so uncomfortable, there's not even a round object here?"

"This is art!"

The Mad Hatter (former Yellow Priest) was completely mesmerized, exclaiming, "Such extreme sharpness! Such a desecration of roundness! So beautiful!"

"What a load of rubbish! It looks dangerous; you'd be afraid of hitting your head on the corner if you took just a couple of steps."

Jiang Li pouted.

"However... since we're here, we should pay a visit to the owner of this place."

He directed the Black Pearl to slowly approach the edge of the city.

"Big Yellow, we're home! Aren't you excited?"

Big Yellow stood at the bow of the boat, its tail tucked tightly between its legs, its eyes darting around.

"Woof..." (Not too excited... Actually, I ran away from home... I owed the neighbor's dog two bones and haven't paid it back yet...)

"..."

Jiang Li was speechless. "You've got guts! Don't you understand? You're returning home in glory! Now you're the head of security at Deep Blue Group! Who dares to come after you for money?"

The ship docked... or rather, it docked on a huge triangular platform.

Jiang Li led everyone to jump off the boat.

The moment it landed, the surrounding air seemed to freeze.

Countless pairs of cold, malicious eyes shone from behind those sharp buildings.

Immediately afterwards, a tooth-grinding scraping sound rang out.

One by one, enormous monsters, their bodies made of irregular geometric blocks, with long fangs and claws, emerged from every corner.

They have no hair, their skin is a sickly bluish-gray, and their body structure completely defies common biological sense, being full of angular features.

Hounds of Tindalos.

And there are hundreds or even thousands of them!

They surrounded Jiang Li and his group, letting out low roars and emanating a strong stench of decaying time and space.

"Woof! Woof woof!" (Who was so foolish as to bring that round thing in?!)

"Woof!" (That fat guy (Wang Ergou) has such a round face! I really want to take a bite!)

"Woof!" (That bald guy (Lei Meng) has a rounder head! I'm going to flatten it!)

Hounds have an innate hatred of the shape "round".

Of the people present, apart from Jiang Li who had a relatively standard figure, the others were all more or less "plump".

Wang Ergou was so frightened that he quickly covered his face, trying to squeeze it into a square shape.

"Boss! They seem to have a problem with my face!"

"Stay calm."

Jiang Li stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the pack of vicious dogs like a leader on an inspection tour.

"This is Big Yellow's relative? It looks quite unique, like it was made of building blocks."

He walked up to a snarling hunting dog and tapped its angular head.

"Knock! Knock!"

The sound was crisp, like striking a stone.

"Good firmness."

Jiang Li commented, "This kind of bone is absolutely top-grade for making soup! And look at all those angular bones, they're all cartilage!"

"If you fried this and sprinkled it with salt and pepper, the texture would be... crunchy!"

The hunting dog that had been hit on the head was stunned.

It has lived through countless eras, hunting down countless time-traveling mages and sages. No one has ever dared to tap its head! And they even said they wanted to fry it up and eat it?!

"roar--!!!"

The hound flew into a rage, opening its enormous jaws—large enough to swallow a car whole—and biting at Jiang Li's arm.

"Want to eat meat? Me too!"

Jiang Li neither dodged nor avoided, but instead grabbed the hound's chin with his backhand and then forcefully twisted it.

"Click!"

The hound's jaw is dislocated.

"Your mouth is open so wide, it's easy for air to get in. Let me close it for you."

Jiang Li slapped it back into place, then kicked it away.

"boom!"

The hound crashed into a spire, breaking off the spire.

The entire room fell silent.

All the hunting dogs stopped barking and stared at the human in shock.

Physical uniform?

On their territory?

"Big Yellow! Come out and acknowledge your family!"

Jiang Li clapped his hands. "Let them know who's in charge here!"

Da Huang walked out from behind Jiang Li.

It took off its sunglasses, revealing a pair of eyes that were full of majesty (actually, it was just a fox borrowing the tiger's power).

Its aura erupted, a mutated aura that had been nourished by Jiang Li with various divine-level ingredients and fused with the residual energy of the [Filthy Core] and [Dragon King's Eye].

Compared to these sallow-faced, emaciated native hunting dogs, Big Yellow was practically a bodybuilding champion among dogs, with a glossy, smooth body and bulging muscles.

"Woof—!!!" (Get down on your knees, all of you! This is my boss! And your new sugar daddy!)

Big Yellow let out a roar, its sound waves rolling.

The native hunting dogs sensed the high-level pressure emanating from Big Yellow and actually cowered, tucking their tails between their legs and retreating.

"That's right."

Jiang Li nodded in satisfaction.

"Since we're all relatives, it'll be easier to talk things out."

He took out a huge woven bag.

"I heard that this area is famous for a type of cartilage called 'Time-Space Crystal'? Where is it? Take me to dig some up."

The hounds looked at each other in bewilderment.

Spacetime crystallization?

Those are the core materials they use to build their nests! They are the foundation of the city!

"Woof!" (No way! That's our property!)

An elder hound, the leader, stepped forward. Although a little scared, it still gritted its teeth and refused.

"You won't give it to me?"

Jiang Li frowned.

He pulled the Cauldron of Gluttony from his pocket.

"Lei Meng! Start a fire!"

"Since there's no ready-made cartilage, we'll just have to make it on the spot."

Jiang Li looked at the elder-level hunting dog with an extremely dangerous gaze.

"I think your old bones are quite chewy."

"Simmering a pot of 'old dog soup' should be very nourishing, right?"

Elder-level hunting dog: "!!!"

It sensed the vengeful spirits of countless others of its kind from that cauldron (which was actually scrap material used in previous experiments).

"Give it to us! We'll give it to you!"

The elder immediately knelt down.

It pointed to the tallest inverted pyramid in the center of the city.

"In...inside...that's the city lord's treasury..."

"You should have said so earlier!"

Jiang Li put away the cauldron and smiled like a friendly older brother next door.

"Let's go pay a visit to your city lord! And borrow some building materials while we're at it!"

……

In the center of the city, an inverted pyramid.

This is the center of power in the city of Tindaros, inhabited by its ruler—Mh'ithrha, the overlord of Tindaros, a higher-dimensional being beyond ordinary hounds.

It has no specific form; rather, it is a collection of countless constantly changing and folding angles, an invisible giant wolf full of geometric beauty.

At this moment, it is lying on the throne, observing the intruders through countless time-space slices.

"Interesting humans..."

M'Shis's voice sounded like the shrill whistling of countless pieces of glass rubbing together.

"They actually treated my people as food..."

"The rules governing him... seem capable of breaking the boundaries of dimensions..."

"If I could eat him... I might be able to evolve to a higher level."

Mshisha slowly stood up, and the surrounding space cracked open with countless black fissures as he did so.

"Since you're here, why not stay?"

"Become a part of me...or become the new cornerstone of this city."