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

Deep in the Atlantic Ocean, eight thousand meters below sea level.

This is a true forbidden zone of sunlight, where eternal darkness and terrifying high pressure rule everything. Even the most advanced modern nuclear submarines would be instantly crushed like a soda can at this depth.

But at this moment, a "crystal warship" emitting a faint blue light is like a glowing deep-sea ghost fish, silently traversing in this deathly darkness.

[Black Pearl - Crystal Armor Mode].

The transparent armor on the ship's surface, forged from countless crystal crab shells, is not only incredibly hard, but also perfectly reflects the faint bio-phosphorescence of the surrounding environment, making the entire ship almost blend into the deep sea.

The atmosphere in the driver's cab was somewhat oppressive.

"Boss... we're just at the edge of the 'Great Whirlpool' ahead."

Qiang, the newly hired "deep-sea guide" (formerly the leader of the Tiger Shark Legion), was trembling as he lay on the control panel, pointing at a chaotic red vortex on the radar screen.

Although he surrendered, it didn't mean he wasn't afraid of death. On the contrary, it was precisely because he was afraid of death that he was even more terrified of what he was about to face.

"That's no ordinary ocean current vortex; it's a 'meat grinder' created by Queen Hela using her divine power. And..."

Ah Qiang swallowed hard, his huge shark eyes filled with terror.

"And there, guarded there is... the Hydra."

"Hydra?"

Jiang Li was sitting in the captain's chair, holding a nail clipper, trimming Da Huang's nails (because the nails had been split in the fight earlier).

"The name sounds fancy, but what is it? Is it a fish too?"

"No...it is...it is the Mother Goddess's retinue, the immortal gatekeeper."

Ah Qiang said, trembling, "It has nine heads, each capable of spewing different deadly poisons and curses. The most terrifying thing is that if you cut off one head, two more will grow back; it has the ability to regenerate infinitely! It's unkillable!"

"Infinite regeneration?"

Jiang Li stopped what he was doing.

He slowly turned his head, his eyes shooting out two beams of light brighter than searchlights.

"You mean... cut one off, and two grow back?"

"Yes, yes..." A-Qiang was startled by Jiang Li's gaze.

"So... if we only cut off its head and not its body, we'll have more meat than we can eat?"

Jiang Li's breathing became rapid.

"This isn't a gatekeeper; it's clearly a buffet with 'unlimited refills'!"

"How can we let such a good thing guard the gate? We should invite it back to be our 'food supplier'!"

Jiang Li suddenly stood up and threw Da Huang aside.

"Speed ​​up! Full speed ahead! Don't let my 'infinite source of flesh' get away!"

Ah Qiang: "..."

Looking at Jiang Li's fanatical expression, he suddenly felt that the legendary, terrifying Hydra actually seemed somewhat... pitiful at this moment?

……

"Boom—!!!"

In the deep sea, there is no air to transmit sound, but the terrifying vibrations directly bombarded the ship's hull through the seawater.

Ahead, a colossal black vortex, several kilometers in diameter, stretched across the entrance to the underwater canyon. The center of the vortex was not empty; instead, a massive, suffocating shadow lurked within it.

It was a giant sea serpent... or rather, a multi-headed monster dragon.

It has a swollen, scale-covered body, and nine long necks that sway in the water like seaweed, each topped with a ferocious snake head.

Some of the snake heads spewed green venom, some emitted icy coldness, and some burned with black flames that never went out in the water.

【Abyss Gatekeeper Hydra】(S-rank Mythical Creature).

It sensed the presence of the intruder, and all nine heads turned around simultaneously, their eighteen lantern-like yellow vertical pupils locking onto the Black Pearl.

"hiss--!!!"

A powerful mental shockwave, accompanied by a silent roar, instantly swept across the entire sea area.

"Warning! Warning! 5% damage to ship's shields! High concentration of corrosive venom detected!"

Mi Go's brain was sending out piercing alarms.

The seawater around the Black Pearl instantly turned dark green, a highly toxic substance capable of melting steel in an instant!

"Tsk, this is a rather heavy gift. Spitting on the ground is not a good idea."

Jiang Li stood inside the crystal shield at the bow of the ship, looking at the hellish scene outside, but it felt like watching a 3D movie.

"Ao Bing! This guy looks a bit like you, is he also a dragon?"

Jiang Li turned around and asked Ao Bing, who was wiping the dragon's horns.

Ao Bing snorted coldly, his eyes full of disdain.

"Those are lowly reptiles! Deformed mutants! How can they be compared to noble dragons?"

"How dare it bar its teeth and claws in front of me? It's practically asking for death!"

Ao Bing was enraged.

As the former third prince of the Dragon Palace, he hated things that looked like dragons but were incredibly ugly, as they were simply lowering the average appearance of the dragon race!

"Boss! Let me go and kill it!"

Ao Bing volunteered.

"Don't kill him! Remember, it's 'unlimited refills'!"

Jiang Li instructed, "Our main objective is to reap the rewards, not to kill. Understand? Sustainable development!"

"clear!"

Ao Bing flashed through the crystal shield and plunged into the poisonous deep sea.

"roar--"

A flash of golden light appeared.

Ao Bing transformed into a golden dragon a hundred meters long in the water (although much smaller than Hydra, its aura was far more imposing). Ignoring the surrounding venom (dragon scales were impervious to all magic), he lunged at Hydra with bared fangs and claws.

"You beast! Shrink those ugly heads back in!"

Hydra was clearly also bewildered by the sudden appearance of the golden dragon.

It has guarded this place for thousands of years, and apart from occasionally eating a few lost Deep Ones, it has never seen a creature that dares to confront it head-on.

"Hiss!" (Food! Dragon meat!)

Hydra's nine heads became excited.

Dragon meat is incredibly nutritious!

The nine heads, like nine giant pythons, attacked Ao Bing from all sides. Some bit, some coiled, and some spat venom.

An epic battle between a dragon and a snake erupted in the deep sea.

Although Ao Bing was brave, he was ultimately outnumbered and outmatched.

Hydra not only has many heads, but its regenerative ability is also abnormal. Ao Bing tore off one of its heads with a single claw, but before he could even rejoice, the granulation tissue at the severed neck wriggled, and two new heads instantly grew back!

"Holy crap? It can actually grow?"

Ao Bing grew increasingly alarmed as the fight progressed.

The more he hit the head, the more heads it produced, growing from nine to twelve, tangling up like a mess of yarn.

"Boss! Help! This thing is cheating!"

Ao Bing was strangled so badly that his eyes rolled back, and he sent out a distress signal.

"You can't even handle this? I always tell you to exercise more, but you never listen."

Jiang Li on the boat shook his head and put down the melon seeds in his hand.

"Looks like I'll have to do it myself."

"Lei Meng! Get the basin! Get ready to receive the goods!"

"Liu Wei! Bring me that 'high-voltage stun gun'!"

"Big Yellow! Come with me!"

Jiang Li opened the hatch and stepped out.

The moment he left the shield, a faint aura of rules shone around him—[The Abyss Overlord's Pressure].

The deep-sea pressure around him, enough to crush a submarine, automatically retreated as if he had encountered a monarch.

"Hey! You multi-headed monster!"

Jiang Li waded through the water, as if strolling in his own backyard, and walked to the center of the battlefield.

"What kind of skill is it to bully my security guard? Come at me if you dare!"

Hydra's twelve heads all looked at Jiang Li at the same time.

It sensed the scent emanating from this human that instilled in it a primal fear, yet was also incredibly alluring... (the scent of flesh and blood of a higher-level creature).

"hiss--!!!"

It released Ao Bing, and all the heads shot towards Jiang Li like sharp arrows.

"Well done!"

Jiang Li did not retreat but advanced.

The butcher knife in his hand drew a black trail in the water.

"Swish, swish, swish!"

The blade flashed like lightning.

The three snake heads at the very front were instantly severed at the root!

"then!"

Jiang Li kicked out, sending the three giant snake heads hurtling towards the Black Pearl.

Lei Meng and the Deep Divers were already prepared, holding the huge nets to catch them steadily.

"Alright! Three spicy snake heads in hand!"

Hydra roared in pain, and the fleshy buds at the severed neck began to writhe wildly, about to sprout six new heads.

"Want to grow taller? Did you even ask me?"

Jiang Li sneered and took out the Plasma Network Launcher.

"Physical hemostasis method—electric heating!"

"Zzzzzzz—!!!"

A high-voltage electric arc struck the wound precisely, instantly carbonizing the flesh and sealing off the regenerating cells.

"Aww!!!"

Hydra was in so much pain that his whole body was convulsing.

Not allowing them to have more children? That's too cruel!

The remaining nine heads went berserk, disregarding all rules, tearing and biting wildly, even tangling together.

"Tsk, this way of eating is so unsightly, not elegant at all."

Jiang Li frowned as he looked at the tangled mess of snake heads.

"So many heads, it's making my eyes dizzy. And those necks are so long, it looks messy."

"I need to tidy up your appearance."

Jiang Li sheathed his knife and pulled out a huge [Drilling Demon Worm Tendon] (Max Toughness) from his pocket.

"Big Yellow! Help! Gather all its heads together!"

"Woof!"

Big Yellow transformed into a streak of light, weaving among the snake heads, biting one of them and forcefully pulling them together.

Jiang Li, like the most skilled bondage master (or weaver), held the demonic worm tendon and flipped it up and down around Hydra's neck.

"This head to the left... that head to the right... pass through the middle..."

"Tie a knot here... wrap it around there..."

Hydra was completely dumbfounded.

It felt its neck being pulled and wrapped uncontrollably.

A few minutes later.

The once mighty Hydra (now only nine remain) has become...

A huge, intricate Chinese knot woven from nine snake heads?

Or rather, it's a giant bow!

The nine heads were tightly bound together, pressed against each other, and their mouths could not be opened, only muffled groans could be heard.

Its massive body lay limp on the seabed, like a broken ball of yarn.

"Perfect!"

Jiang Li clapped his hands, looked at his masterpiece, and nodded in satisfaction.

"This is much neater! It looks much better, like a work of art."

"And that way you can't bite people randomly, and it saves some space."

The surrounding Deep Ones were dumbfounded.

The S-class mythical creature... was tied in a bow?

Is this the boss's skill? Is this what they call "tidying up one's appearance"?

That's insane!

"Alright, stop standing there."

Jiang Li greeted him.

"Ergou, drag this thing to the back of the boat and hang it with that whale. From now on, this will be our 'live meat storehouse.' We can cut off whichever piece we want, and then let it grow back."

Hydra: "Waaaaah..." (Kill me! Please!)

It shed tears of humiliation.

As the gatekeeper, it never imagined that it would be captured in this manner.

……

With the watchdogs out of the way, the Black Pearl could finally swagger into Atlantis.

After passing through the whirlpool, the water ahead suddenly opened up.

A magnificent city enveloped in a giant bubble appeared before everyone's eyes.

The city was composed of countless luminous crystals, white stone pillars, and golden domes. The streets were wide and clean, teeming with strange marine life. At the city's center stood a towering trident-shaped tower, its summit radiating a sacred light that illuminated the entire deep sea.

Atlantis Inner City.

Wow! So beautiful!

Wang Ergou was leaning against the window, drool dripping down his face.

"Boss, this place looks even richer than the Dragon Palace! Those pillars seem to be made of jade!"

"It's really good."

Jiang Li nodded as well.

"And the fish in the city... they all look very fat."

His gaze pierced through the bubbles, landing on the [Seahorses] swimming around in the city and the [Crystal Crabs] climbing the walls.

"Qiang, lead the way! Let's go to the palace! We need to talk to the Queen!"

Tiger Shark Man A-Qiang was now completely convinced.

Even Hydra was tied into a bow, who in this world can stop this man?

"Yes, boss! The palace is right below that tower!"

……

The Crystal Palace at Atlantis.

Queen Hela sat on her high throne, her face ashen.

Just now, she sensed the Hydra's presence... gone? No, it was sealed away!

Moreover, it was sealed away in an extremely shameful way!

"Who exactly is that man?!"

Hela gripped the trident tightly, her knuckles turning white.

"Your Majesty! Something terrible has happened!"

A guard swam in in a panic.

"That black ship... it stormed in! It didn't go through the main entrance, but instead... smashed through the defensive barrier!"

"And...and they're even broadcasting it..."

"What broadcast?" Hela gritted her teeth.

The guard said, trembling:

They were shouting: "High prices for old appliances, old spaceships, old gadgets! Also: Deep Blue Seafood Restaurant mobile stall is now open! Freshly made spicy snake heads! Buy one get one free!"

"Snap!"

The crystal goblet in Hela's hand was crushed into powder.

"This is outrageous!!!"

"Send the order! Awaken the [Abyss Priests]! Activate [Poseidon's Wrath]!"

"I'm going to turn him into fish food in my city!"

however.

At the very moment she gave the order.

"Boom—"

The palace gates were kicked open by a tremendous force.

A man wearing shorts and carrying a skewer of roasted snake heads (Hydra heads) swaggered in.

"Oh! Everyone's home?"

Jiang Li looked at the merman nobles filling the hall and smiled like an old man visiting relatives.

"I'm sorry, I didn't bring any gifts, just some homemade kebabs."

He presented the string of snake heads, which emitted a strange fragrance, to Queen Hela.

"Come, Your Majesty, have a taste? It'll get fishy when it's hot."

Hela looked at the head that once belonged to her strongest guardian beast, now sprinkled with cumin and chili powder, skewered on steel bars...

Her mental state completely collapsed.

"You...you..."

"Don't be shy, this is a local specialty from your own village."

Jiang Li took a bite, his mouth oozing oil.

"It smells so good!"