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

Above Jianghai City, the sky was no longer the familiar black or the deep blue of dawn, but had turned into a nauseating, viscous dark green.

As Cthulhu activated the [Great Dream Technique: Reality Overlap], the physical laws of the entire world seemed to break down in an instant.

The towering skyscrapers began to twist and bend like softened candles, transforming into bizarre spirals that defied Euclidean geometry; the hard asphalt roads turned into writhing black swamps, and the streetlights darted about like stick figures with legs. The air was filled with the salty smell of the deep sea and low, guttural murmurs that could drive an ordinary person mad in an instant.

"I can't take it anymore... I think that traffic light is smiling at me..."

"Mommy, why is there a giant octopus dancing ballet in the sky?"

Although the diners in the square were still holding takoyaki, many of them had begun to experience severe hallucinations, their eyes were unfocused, and some even started kowtowing to the air.

This is the most terrifying aspect of the Great Old Ones—spiritual pollution. In their realm, reality and nightmares are indistinguishable.

However, in the heart of this collapsing world, there is a "pure land" that remains steadfast.

That's the [Golden Black Pearl] floating in mid-air, and the artificial island below that was just reclaimed from the sea.

"Hey Big Octopus, your interior design is terrible."

Jiang Li stood at the bow of the ship, looking at the distorted scene around him, and shook his head with a look of disgust.

"You've made the buildings look like twisted ropes, and the roads like a muddy mess. Is this performance art? Or a distorted aesthetic sense?"

He was surrounded by a faint golden light, which was the rule shield of the [Source of Gluttony]. Any mental tentacles that tried to invade his brain were "digested" the moment they came into contact with this shield.

Cthulhu hovered atop the spire of R'lyeh, his enormous, malevolent eyes fixed on Jiang Li.

"An...ignorant...insect..."

Its sound exploded in everyone's minds, like fingernails scraping across a blackboard.

"This...is...the...real...universe..."

"Your...reason...is...a...shackle..."

"Open...your...heart...to...be...a...part...of...me..."

As it whispered, the surrounding space distorted even more violently. Countless translucent green tentacles reached out from the void, trying to drag the Black Pearl into that eternal abyss of nightmares.

"Become a part of you? Dream on!"

Jiang Li sneered and raised the [Master of the Gate's Franchise] (that shiny little pendant) in his hand.

"On my turf, there's only one rule—'eat'!"

"Brainy! Activate maximum power broadcast!"

"Since it wants to turn the world into a dream, then I'll change its dream... into a 'gourmet anime'!"

"Open it for me—[Culinary God Realm: Reality Anchored]!"

"Buzz—!!!"

The pendant emitted a dazzling seven-colored light, but instead of fighting against Cthulhu's dream, it forcibly inserted a new piece of "logic code" into the dream.

The "backdoor" provided by Yog Sothoth is not just about teleportation, but also about the right to alter the rules of spacetime!

The next second, something amazing happened.

Those distorted buildings suddenly changed their appearance in Jiang Li's view (and in the area covered by his rules).

The curved building turned into... a giant, perfectly twisted fried dough stick?

The softened road surface turned into... flowing black sesame paste?

The strange runes flying in the sky turned into... falling scallions and cilantro?

"See! I told you so!"

Jiang Li pointed to the huge green tentacle that was reaching out in their direction.

"This isn't a nightmare tentacle! This is clearly a freshly pulled, ready-to-be-cooked—a premium deep-sea squid tentacle!"

"Ergou! Tell everyone! Don't be afraid!"

"In dreams, everything is edible!"

Jiang Li's voice was so seductive that it even drowned out Cthulhu's whispers.

The diners in the square, who were on the verge of going crazy, suddenly focused their unfocused eyes when they heard the word "eat".

"eat……?"

"Fried dough sticks? Sesame paste? Squid tentacles?"

Human appetite is one of the most primal and powerful instincts etched into our genes. When fear is replaced by appetite, nightmares cease to be frightening.

"It looks... really like squid tentacles?" a foodie muttered to himself, drooling.

Cthulhu was stunned.

It sensed an absurd willpower resisting the laws of its dreams. It wasn't courage, nor faith, but... pure hunger?

These insects are drooling over it, the Great Old One!

"presumptuous!!!"

Cthulhu is enraged.

Its massive body slammed forward, and thousands of thick tentacles cascaded down like a green waterfall. Each tentacle was covered with barbs and suckers, and it lashed out at the Black Pearl with destructive power.

"Perfect timing! I was just worried we wouldn't have enough to go around!"

Jiang Li shouted and leaped off the bow of the boat.

He did not fall from the air, but instead walked on the air (or rather, on the rules of the dream), as if on flat ground.

"Silver Spoon! Transform!"

The silver spoon in his hand swelled in the wind and instantly transformed into a giant silver shovel that was forty meters long!

"Break it...!"

Jiang Li gripped the giant shovel with both hands and swung it fiercely at the tentacles flying everywhere.

"Space Cutting & Mass Demolition!"

"brush--"

A flash of silver light.

There was no sound of flesh tearing apart, but rather a soft sound of spatial displacement.

The dozen or so enormous tentacles at the very front were cleanly severed the moment they touched the silver shovel!

Moreover, the cut was extremely smooth, and thanks to the spacetime sealing ability of the Silver Key, not a single drop of blood leaked out, perfectly locking in the moisture of the meat.

"Splash! Splash! Splash!"

A dozen or so green tentacles, as thick as train carriages and tens of meters long, slammed heavily onto the artificial island below.

"Old Vordt! Ignite it!"

Jiang Liren shouted in mid-air.

"receive!"

The fire master Vovados, who had been waiting on the island, had now transformed into a true "Hellfire." He completely ignited the furnace containing the [Krtugia Red Oil Base], turning the entire island's ground a dark red.

"Zzzzzzz—!!!"

When those enormous tentacles landed on the scorching ground, they produced a deafening, sizzling sound.

Instantly, white smoke rose up.

An aroma of teppanyaki, a hundred times stronger than the previous takoyaki, swept through the entire dream space like an atomic bomb explosion.

"ah--!!!"

Cthulhu let out a cry of pain.

That's its flesh! Its sacred and inviolable body!

Now it's actually being grilled like a teppanyaki grill?!

"That...damn...cook..."

Cthulhu wanted to retract the remaining tentacles, but how could Jiang Li let the duck that was about to be eaten fly away?

"Dahuang! Ao Bing! Hold it down! Don't let it get away!"

"roar!"

Ao Bing transformed into a golden dragon and tightly coiled around Cthulhu's main body.

"Woof!"

Using teleportation, Dahuang specifically bites the tentacles that try to retract, and once it bites, it won't let go, dragging them into the pot.

Jiang Li, on the other hand, was like the busiest teppanyaki chef, wielding a 40-meter-long shovel, tumbling up and down on the artificial island.

"This is too thick! Cut it!"

"This one's a bit overcooked! Fry it a little longer!"

"Lei Meng! Brush on the sauce! Brush on that 'millennia-old aged seafood sauce' I found in the Cadas warehouse!"

"Yes, boss!"

Lei Meng, leading a group of Deep Ones (now kitchen helpers), carried spray guns that looked like fire hoses and frantically sprayed sauce at the tentacles on the ground.

"Sizzle—"

The dark brown sauce poured over the scalding tentacles instantly released an irresistible, caramelized aroma.

Cthulhu, who was still going berserk, froze for a moment when he smelled this scent.

This...this tastes like its own flesh?

Why... does it smell so good?

In its chaotic mind, a trace of self-doubt even arose: Am I really that delicious?

While it was still in a daze, Jiang Li had already prepared the first batch of "grilled squid tentacles".

"It's cooked! Cut it into pieces! Distribute it!"

With a swing of his giant shovel, Jiang Li sliced ​​the enormous tentacle into countless chunks of flesh the size of cars, which then flew automatically toward the diners in the square.

"Come on, come on! Boss K is giving out perks! One piece for everyone! Eat it while it's hot!"

"Eat this piece of meat, and you'll wake up laughing in your dreams!"

The diners were already craving it.

Seeing the flying chunk of meat, he didn't care about any of the mystical claims and started biting into it.

"Wow! This texture! It's even more bouncy than rubber!"

"It's so flavorful! This sauce is amazing!"

"I feel incredibly powerful! I can even understand what the fish are saying!"

As more and more people ate Cthulhu's flesh, a massive "food-craving belief" began to gather in the air above the plaza.

This belief clashed head-on with Cthulhu's "Nightmare Realm," and began to gradually erode and assimilate that green dream.

The originally eerie and terrifying R'lyeh phantom has begun to resemble... a giant seafood market?

Those distorted runes look more and more like a menu the more you look at them.

Cthulhu was horrified to discover that its power was being weakened!

Its authority of "fear" is being replaced by the authority of "appetite"!

"No...this...no...it's...impossible..."

It wanted to rebel and wanted to unleash the Great Dream Spell again.

But at that moment, Jiang Li, carrying a pig-slaughtering knife and riding on Ao Bing's dragon head, rushed in front of it.

"Nothing is impossible!"

Jiang Li looked at Cthulhu's enormous octopus face and gave him a smile that was even more benevolent than that of a demon.

"Krystal, the tentacles are almost gone."

"Next, shouldn't we try...brain?"

"I've heard that octopuses are incredibly smart; eating them will definitely boost your brainpower!"

Cthulhu looked at the black blade gleaming with cold light in Jiang Li's hand, then at the huge, steaming iron plate island below.

It chickened out.

It really chickened out.

It slept for tens of thousands of years, and when it finally woke up, before it could destroy the world, more than a dozen of its tentacles were cut off and used as teppanyaki. Now people want to open its skull and eat its brains.

"I...I'm not playing anymore!"

A powerful mental fluctuation emanated from it.

Cthulhu actually dispelled the Great Dream spell on his own!

The distorted scene around them instantly returned to normal, and the dark green sky turned back to black.

The city of R'lyeh, which had been suspended in the air, seemed to lose its power and crashed into the sea with a loud rumble.

"I want to go home...I want to sleep..."

Cthulhu turned to dive back into the sea, ignoring Dagon who was still in the pot.

"Hey? Don't go!"

Jiang Li panicked.

"Since you're already here, have some food before you leave! If you really can't, you can leave your two wings here too! Grilled wings are amazing!"

He raised the silver spoon, intending to "scoop" Cthulhu back.

But Cthulhu was determined to escape this time. It detonated a temple in R'lyeh and, using the recoil from the explosion, transformed into a green light and instantly disappeared into the deep sea, thousands of meters below the surface. It then used its divine power to seal off all the surrounding sea areas, determined not to come out no matter what.

"Tsk, it runs faster than a rabbit."

Jiang Li put away the spoon with some regret.

"Well, at least we left behind a dozen or so tentacles, that should be enough to sell for a while."

He glanced at the sinking city of R'lyeh, then at Dagon (the Father God), who was stewing in the pot until he was tender and flavorful.

"The young one ran away, but the old one is still here."

Jiang Li landed back on the ground and came to the huge pressure cooker.

Lei Meng just happened to lift the lid of the pot.

"boom--"

A plume of white steam shot into the sky, the aroma so rich it was almost intoxicating.

Inside the pot, the two-hundred-meter-tall giant goblin had been stewed until its bones were soft and its flesh was tender, the broth was milky white, and a layer of golden oil floated on the surface.

"The fish is ready!"

Jiang Li was overjoyed.

"Come on, Er Gou, bring the big bowl!"

"Tonight's main course—[Deep Sea King Soup]!"

……

This night is destined to be recorded in history.

For the first time, humanity has directly repelled the awakening of the Great Old Ones, and in an extremely outrageous and delicious way.

In Deep Blue Square, tens of thousands of people gathered around the giant pot, drinking the divine soup and eating grilled squid tentacles, their faces beaming with happiness.

In other corners of the world.

Those ancient gods and their kin who were originally restless, after sensing that Cthulhu's tentacles had been cut off and Dagon had been stewed, all chose, without prior agreement, to continue sleeping.

"That's terrifying..."

"That Asian man is terrifying..."

"It's safest to sleep... there's no cook in my dreams..."

A global crisis was quelled by a hot pot meal.

……

The next morning.

Jiang Li lay on the sofa in the office, patting her round belly with a satisfied expression.

"Boss, you're famous! You're absolutely famous!"

Wang Ergou rushed in with a stack of newspapers in his hand.

"Major media outlets around the world are reporting on last night's spectacular event! Several heads of state have sent congratulatory messages and expressed interest in booking our 'Ancient God Package'!"

"As expected."

Jiang Li calmly waved his hand.

"By the way, where's Brain Flower? Let it calculate the profits from this trip."

"income?"

Migo's brain projects a report.

"Boss, after deducting the costs of land reclamation and seasoning consumption, last night's net profit was... 130 billion."

"Furthermore, we harvested eighteen S-grade ingredients called 'Cthulhu Tentacles,' a whole S-grade ingredient called 'Stewed Dagon,' as well as a large number of Deep One miscellaneous fish."

"Not bad, not bad."

Jiang Li nodded.

"Sufficient funds, overflowing food warehouses."

"It seems it's time to move on to the next step of the plan."

He stood up, walked to the huge world map, but his gaze went beyond the map and looked towards a more distant place.

"The gods on Earth have almost finished eating (mainly because they were all scared away)."

"It's time for our Deep Blue Group to be upgraded again."

"Upgrade? Where?" Wang Ergou asked.

Jiang Li took out the black card given to him by the Black Pharaoh from his pocket, and then took out the franchise pendant given to him by Yog Sothos.

"Earth is just a starting village."

"True delicacies lie in the stars and the sea, in those more ancient and indescribable dimensions."

"I've heard that at the center of the Milky Way, there's a gathering called the 'Feast of Azathoth'?"

"That place is home to the most powerful ancient gods in the entire universe."

"Let's go over there... and set up a stall!"

"Setting up a stall? In front of Azathoth?" Su Qingge gasped.

"Yes! We'll sell our 'Iron Plate Cthulhu'!"

A burning flame of ambition blazed in Jiang Li's eyes.

"I want the whole universe to know that Deep Blue Seafood is not only delicious, but also... filling!"