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

Jianghai City, Deep Blue Plaza.

With Jiang Li's domineering declaration of the "Global Revitalization Food Festival" taking effect, the entire city seemed to be injected with a powerful stimulant—or rather, an adrenaline rush.

Although it was late at night, the square was still brightly lit and bustling with people. The air was filled with the unique aroma of hot pot from the Dreamland, a blend of divine blood and otherworldly spices. This aroma was like a giant hook, luring everyone's soul and stomach.

Meanwhile, in the top-floor office of Deep Blue Seafood Restaurant, an emergency strategic planning meeting concerning the future of the Earth (and the menu content) is being held.

"Hey you, Miss Su, don't just stand there, make a note of this."

Jiang Li sat cross-legged in the boss's chair, toying with the silver spoon (Silver Spoon) that had just made a great contribution, and gesturing wildly.

"Since we're going to hold a food festival, the venue is a big problem. Although our square is not small, if a few giants that are tens of meters tall come, we definitely won't have enough room to maneuver."

He stood up, walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, and pointed to the boundless East China Sea in the distance.

"I want to reclaim land from the sea."

"Reclaiming land from the sea?" Su Qingge paused, looking up at the man whose thoughts were jumping around. "Mr. Jiang, that's national territorial waters, the approval procedures..."

"Approval my ass! The world is in complete chaos right now, who has time to manage illegal buildings?"

Jiang Li waved his hand and said domineeringly:

"Besides, I never said we should fill it with soil. Didn't we bring back so many 'laborers'?"

"Ergou! Go and drag that giant out of the sea! Make sure it's awake! Give it two big shovels and make it build me a platform in the ocean! Consider it its pre-dinner exercise!"

"And those moon beasts, though they've been skinned, they're still strong. Let them do the bricklaying! We're going to build a 'Pantheon' at sea!"

"Yes, boss!"

Wang Ergou accepted the order and left. Not long after, a huge roar and the miserable howls of monsters came from outside (that was the foreman Lei Meng waving his whip).

After arranging the venue, Jiang Li turned around, his expression becoming slightly more serious.

"Next, we'll send out the invitations."

"Since it's a dinner invitation, we need to be polite. We can't let people think we don't know the proper etiquette."

He picked up a specially made black card from the table, made of the skin of a giant abyss whale, and then took out a brush that was soaked with divine blood (the blood of the ancient god of the dark side of the moon).

"What should I write about?"

Jiang Li pondered for a moment, then picked up his brush and began to write.

There were no fancy words or polite small talk.

There was only one line of large characters, exuding both murderous intent and extreme allure:

To the ingredients sleeping in every corner of the earth:

It's dawn, time to get up.

DeepBlue Group cordially invites you to Jianghai City for an ultimate feast about "who eats whom."

[Note: All who come are guests (and the food is served); those who don't come... will be delivered to their door.]

[Signature: Your Nightmare Head Chef – Jiang Li.]

After finishing writing, Jiang Li blew on the still-wet bloodstains with satisfaction.

"These characters are vigorous and powerful, exuding a sense of hunger! Perfect!"

"Hey, you brain-eater, come here!"

Jiang Li moved the glass jar containing Mi Go's brain to the table.

"Boss, what can I do for you?" A buzzing sound came from my brain.

"Can't you send signals? And across all frequency bands?"

Jiang Li affixed the bloodstained invitation to the glass jar, then gently touched the silver key in his hand to the electrode interface on the brain.

"I'll borrow your brain for a bit, and then I'll use this spoon that can open up dimensions."

"Send this invitation to everyone!"

"To whom should it be sent?"

"Send this to the whole Earth! Send it to the deep sea! Send it to the underground! Send it to those old fogies who are still dreaming!"

"I want them to come here just by smelling the scent!"

"As you command... Activate mental broadcast amplification... Connect to the Silver Key dimensional portal..."

"Buzz—!!!"

An invisible ripple of consciousness, yet containing a massive flow of information and the rich aroma of hot pot, erupted instantly from the center of Deep Blue Plaza.

This ripple ignored physical distance, ignored the barriers of rocks and seawater, and even penetrated the barrier between dreams and reality, spreading wildly to every corner of the earth.

……

Deep in the Atlantic Ocean, Iha Ensley.

This is a city of deep-sea diver, located deep within an underwater rift. Countless half-human, half-fish deep-sea diver are praying around a colossal statue of Dagon.

Suddenly, all the Deep Ones stopped moving.

Their perpetually open fish eyes suddenly widened, and their nostrils (if they had any) twitched wildly.

An indescribable taste entered their minds.

That's... the smell of provocation?

Is it the scent of divine blood?

Is it still the scent of the man who used to eat them like sashimi?

For those who don't come in person... we'll deliver to your door.

This threatening statement echoed in the minds of every Deepdiver.

"Gaga!" (Blasphemy! This is blasphemy!)

The Deep One priest brandished his golden trident in anger.

"Roar—" (The Father God has awakened! Make him pay the price!)

The seabed is boiling.

Countless deep-diving forces began to assemble, riding mutated sharks and sea monsters, and surged out of the rift, their destination—the East!

……

Egypt, the Black Desert.

The black inverted pyramid, which had always been hidden, was emitting an eerie glow tonight.

Deep within the pyramid, a handsome yet sinister-looking man in a black robe holds a glass of red wine, gazing at the line of blood-red words that appear in the void before him.

Nyarlathotep (Black Pharaoh Form).

"Heh heh heh... This kid really dares to do it."

He chuckled softly and downed the glass of red wine in one gulp.

Sending out mass invitations? Are they trying to gather all the monsters and freaks on Earth for a party?

"However... this time it's not just those small fish and shrimp that have awakened."

His gaze was fixed on the distant south, on that frozen polar region.

"That 'Sleeping Beauty' has a terrible temper when she wakes up."

"Jiang Li, I hope your pot... is big enough."

……

Antarctica, 47°9′S, 126°43′W.

This place was originally a white wasteland frozen year-round. But now, the earth is trembling violently, and the millennia-old ice sheet is shattering like glass.

A magnificent black stone city, beyond the limits of human imagination, is slowly rising from the deep sea and beneath the ice, accompanied by nauseating green slime and ancient runes.

R'lyeh.

The abode of the sleeping god.

The architecture there completely defies Euclidean geometry, filled with distorted angles and bizarre curves. Any mortal who glances at it will feel dizzy and lose their senses.

In the very center of the city, the massive temple gates that pierced the clouds slowly opened with a sickening scraping sound.

"Well……"

A low, murmured sound, like a dream from the depths of hell, came from the crack in the door.

Immediately afterwards, a mental storm powerful enough to drive all the psychics in the world mad swept across the globe.

【Cthulhu】

The top of the Great Old Ones, Lord of R'lyeh, the sleeping god.

It woke up.

To be precise, it was awakened by both "craving" and "anger".

In its dream, there was originally a beautiful chaos and destruction. Suddenly, an extremely domineering smell of spicy hot pot rushed into its nose, followed by the arrogant broadcast from the human named Jiang Li.

It's dawn, time to get up.

Is this human talk?

Is this the attitude one should have towards a great Great Old One?

"roar--!!!"

The temple gates were wide open.

A gigantic, green claw covered in scales and slime reached out and gripped the temple's doorframe. Then, a bloated, massive, mountain-like body slowly emerged.

Its head resembles a giant octopus with countless wriggling tentacles; its back has a pair of underdeveloped bat wings; and its body is like a giant green jelly filled with gelatin.

It stood atop the highest point of R'lyeh, its enormous, malevolent eyes fixed on Jianghai City in the east, across half the globe.

"Who...is...cooking...food...?"

Its voice echoed on a spiritual level, carrying the grumpiness of someone just woke up and an endless hunger.

"I...am...hungry..."

"Bring...the...chef...to...the...place..."

As its will descended, a slightly smaller (but still over a hundred meters tall) monster, somewhat similar in appearance to it, emerged from the seawater behind it.

Those are its offspring—the Star Familiars of Cthulhu.

"Go...and bring...the...food...back..."

"Yes, Father God..."

The Star Familiar spread its enormous wings, stirring up a bloody wind, and transformed into a green shooting star, hurtling towards the east.

……

Jianghai City, Deep Blue Plaza.

Jiang Li, who was directing the Guge giants to reclaim land from the sea, suddenly felt a tickle in his nose.

"Achoo!"

He sneezed loudly and rubbed his nose.

"Who's talking about me? It must be a customer who's getting impatient."

He glanced at the distant sea horizon.

The once calm sea was now surging with eerie waves. The clouds in the sky had turned a somber, dark green, as if a super storm was brewing.

"Boss! Something terrible has happened!"

Liu Wei, who was in charge of radar monitoring, ran over, sweating profusely, his tablet computer shaking.

"What happened? Did the pot explode?" Jiang Li asked calmly.

"It's not a pot! It's the radar! The radar readings are off the charts!"

Liu Wei pointed to the huge red energy cluster on the screen that was approaching at supersonic speed.

"A biological reaction of S-level or higher has been detected! The energy level is extremely high! And it carries strong mental pollution radiation!"

"The target is heading straight for us! Contact is expected in ten minutes!"

"S-rank?"

Jiang Li's eyes lit up.

"The food's served so quickly? It's only been a short time since we handed out the flyers!"

He immediately perked up and stuffed the duck leg he hadn't finished eating into his mouth.

"Quickly! Notify the kitchen! Prepare the ingredients!"

"Lei Meng! Bring out that giant pressure cooker we use to stew whales!"

"Old Wo! Stop slacking off! Get the fire burning brighter! We've got a big job coming up!"

"Ao Bing! Da Huang! Come with me to the door to greet the 'distinguished guest'!"

"yes!"

……

Ten minutes later.

On the East China Sea, strong winds blew and torrential rain poured down.

The black waves rolled and churned, reaching heights of tens of meters.

Amidst the towering waves, a massive green shadow burst forth from the water.

It has an octopus-like head, a bloated gelatinous body, and wings on its back that, though tattered, can create a hurricane with every flap.

【Star Families】.

Cthulhu's vanguard.

It hovered in mid-air, looking down at the tiny, newly reclaimed artificial island (the Pantheon banquet hall construction site).

"mortal……"

Its sound was like muffled thunder, with a nauseatingly wet and slippery feel.

"Was it you... who awakened the great sleeping lord?"

"Is it you... who dared to try and feed on the gods?"

"Confess your soul... Kneel down and repent..."

"Repent my ass!"

A loud shout interrupted its pretentious chanting.

Jiang Li stood at the bow of the [Golden Black Pearl], holding a pig-slaughtering knife in his hand, with the golden dragon Ao Bing and the giant dog Da Huang standing behind him, exuding an aura of power.

"I thought it was the main character arriving, but it turns out it's just a food delivery guy?"

Jiang Li looked the Star Clan member up and down, then curled his lip in disdain.

"It looks similar to that giant octopus head, but it's much smaller; it's shrunken."

"but……"

His gaze fell upon the countless thick tentacles of the Star Familia.

"These tentacles look quite plump, and that green skin... it must be rich in chlorophyll? Or seaweed extract?"

"Whatever! Since we're here, we might as well eat!"

"Ao Bing! Don't just stand around! This guy is amphibious just like you, go spar with him!"

"Remember! Don't damage the tentacles! They're the main ingredient for teppanyaki!"

"Yes, sir!"

Ao Bing, who could no longer contain himself, roared to the sky.

"roar--!!!"

A burst of golden light erupted.

A five-clawed golden dragon, a hundred meters long, soared into the sky, carrying the supreme majesty of the East Sea Dragon Clan, and charged straight at the green monster.

"Where did this ugly monster come from! Daring to play in the water in front of me, the Crown Prince?"

"I'll beat you to a pulp!"

"boom!"

The golden dragon and the green Star Familia collided violently in mid-air.

One is the divine dragon of the East, and the other is the old clan of the West.

This is a head-on collision between mythical creatures from the East and West!

The Star Clan clearly underestimated the fighting power of this Eastern dragon. Its supposedly powerful mental pollution was completely ineffective against Ao Bing (dragon's might has its own purification effect), and although it had many tentacles, Ao Bing's dragon claws were much sharper.

"Sizzle—"

In a single exchange, Ao Bing tore off one of the Star Familia's thick tentacles with a single claw.

"good!"

Jiang Li shouted from below.

"Catch! Don't let it fall into the sea!"

He swung the silver spoon in his hand.

"Taking over the space!"

Before the severed tentacle even hit the ground, it was directly transported into the enormous pressure cooker.

"Awooo—!!!"

The Star Families roared in pain.

It never expected that this human wouldn't run away, but would instead wait there to have its limbs cooked!

"This is outrageous!"

It wanted to retaliate, to unleash forbidden magic.

But Big Yellow had already teleported behind it and bit down on the base of its wing. Vovados's green fireballs rained down on its face like a barrage of bullets.

In addition, Ao Bing confronted him head-on.

This was a brawl with no suspense whatsoever.

Less than ten minutes.

This Star Familia, which came in a menacing manner to "demand justice," has already been torn to pieces.

Its tentacles were cut off and used for teppanyaki, its wings were torn off and used for braised dishes, and its gelatinous body was cut into pieces and used to make jelly.

Finally, only a bald octopus head remained, which Jiang Li stomped on the ground.

"Go back and tell your eldest son who overslept."

Jiang Li patted the slippery head with the back of his knife.

"This little 'appetizer' isn't enough."

"Want to get revenge? Let it do it itself!"

"Remember to wash them thoroughly! Especially the sand in those suction cups!"

After saying that, Jiang Li kicked it back into the sea.

"Get out!"

The bald head thrashed about in the sea for a couple of moments, then, filled with humiliation and fear, it dived into the deep sea to escape.

……

In Jianghai City, the night sky has returned to calm.

But everyone knows that this is just the calm before the storm.

Jiang Li stood on the construction site of the half-finished "Banquet Hall of the Gods," looking at the rolling sea in the distance, a hint of anticipation on his lips.

"The appetizers are served, so the main course can't be far behind, right?"

"R'lyeh's takoyaki... I've been looking forward to it for so long."

"Ergou! Stop counting the money!"

"Announcement to the entire city! Starting tomorrow, Deep Blue Plaza will be hosting a 'Giant Takoyaki' tasting event!"

"We'll show that sleeping god what it truly means... that food is the most important thing for the people!"