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

The Library, the Place of Oneness, at the End of the Forbidden Books Section, a Vortex of Truth.

When the Treant (World Tree Ark) came to rest at the edge of that enormous black vortex, all sound, light, and even the concept of time vanished.

This is the ultimate backstage of the universe.

Ahead, above the enormous "bathtub drain," floats a scene that defies description in human language.

That is not a living being.

It was a mass of... [an aggregate of billions of radiant spheres].

Countless spheres of varying sizes, radiating an iridescent glow, gather, split, rotate, and merge in the void. They overlap, yet remain independent. Within each sphere, the past, present, and future of a dimension are reflected.

And at the very center of these spheres.

There is a huge eye (or some kind of core radiance) that seems to see through all cause and effect.

He is Yog-Sothoth.

Titles: One Who Unifies All Things, Key to the Gate, Omniscient One.

Of course, in Jiang Li's eyes, He was in a rather... leisurely state.

Because that radiant sphere was soaking in the ink vortex below, just like taking a bath, and occasionally it emitted a comfortable humming sound.

The all-knowing fish that everyone has been searching for is being kept in one of the largest spheres of light, swimming around like a pet.

……

"This is difficult."

Sun Wukong scratched his head, gripping and loosening his golden cudgel (the mosaic had been removed).

"This thing... it's all round, so slippery, where do you even aim at it?"

"and……"

Wukong's fiery eyes flickered twice, and suddenly tears streamed down his face.

"I, Old Sun, can't see through it."

"Just one look, and my brain is flooded with memories from hundreds of millions of years... It's a headache!"

Tang Sanzang also closed his eyes and kept chanting the Heart-Cleansing Mantra.

"Amitabha."

"One should not look directly at the truth."

"Benefactor, the size of this being is beyond the scope of this humble monk's comprehension."

"This is not Buddha, this is simply... the law of cause and effect itself."

……

Just when everyone was at a loss.

"I knew you would come."

A grand voice, not through the air, but through the timeline, resounded simultaneously in everyone's past, present, and future.

The luminous sphere undulated slightly.

"Jiang Li".

"Sun Wukong".

Nezha.

"Tang Sanzang".

"Er Gou" (Second Dog).

He pronounced each person's name accurately.

"You came for that fish."

"You ate fried bookworms in the waste paper area, fried Silent Ones in the spiral staircase, bought equipment in the market, and ate squid ink pasta in the forbidden book area."

"I know all of this."

"even……"

Yog Sothos's sphere flickered.

"I know what you're planning to do next."

"The monkey wants to poke the third ball on my left with a stick."

"Nezha wanted to burn my lower body with his fire-tipped spear."

"And that cook..."

"You'd like to invite me... for tea."

……

The entire room fell silent.

Wukong's raised staff froze in mid-air.

"Holy crap?"

"I haven't even moved yet! How does He know?"

"Because He is all-knowing."

Jiang Li walked onto the deck, his expression calm, even with a slight smile.

He was not discouraged by being seen through.

instead.

He pulled out the newly purchased "concept-level kitchenware" set from behind his back.

"Since you know everything."

"Then I'll... stop hiding it."

Jiang Li placed the Klein pot on the deck.

"Your Excellency, the Key to the Gate."

"Since you know I wanted to invite you for tea..."

"Then do you know...?"

"What will this cup of tea taste like?"

……

"smell?"

Yog Sothos's billions of spheres flashed simultaneously.

"I know the arrangement of all the molecules in the universe."

"I know the electrical signal feedback of all taste buds."

"Whether it's the particle soup at the edge of a black hole or the quantum foam of the microscopic world."

"In this world..."

"There's no flavor I don't know."

"Yeah?"

Jiang Li smiled.

He opened the Maxwell's Demon refrigerator.

Several items were taken out of it.

"For the omniscient one."

"What we already know is that it's boring."

"I think……"

"You've been soaking in this bathtub for countless eons, you must be... incredibly bored by now, right?"

Yog Sothos fell silent.

The surrounding ink vortexes stopped spinning.

Clearly, Jiang Li had hit a nerve.

Omniscience means no surprises.

For Him, watching a movie means knowing every pixel of the ending before it even begins; eating a meal means knowing the entire digestive process before it even enters the mouth.

This kind of suffering is unimaginable to ordinary people.

……

"so."

Jiang Li rolled up his sleeves.

"This cup of tea today."

"I don't sell flavor."

"I'll sell..."

"【unknown】."

"I want to make a cup..."

"Even you can't predict what the next bite will taste like..."

"Schrödinger's Bubble Tea".

……

Cooking begins.

Location: The deck of the Treant (also the edge of the Vortex of Truth).

Step 1: Tea base (a chaotic base color).

Jiang Li did not use ordinary tea leaves.

He threw the Klein pot (which was open inside and out) directly into the ink vortex below.

"scoop!"

A pot of black ink filled with forbidden knowledge was ladled up.

"This is the tea base."

"Bitter, profound, containing the truths of all things in the world."

then.

Jiang Li added a [Forgotten Grass] (a specialty of the Waste Paper District).

"Used to neutralize the bitterness of knowledge."

"Let the truth become... a little obscure."

Step Two: Milk (The Gentleness of the Milky Way).

Jiang Li looked at Nezha.

"Nezha! Go to heaven!"

"Give me a handful... [Galaxy Stardust]!"

"I want the finest, powdery nebula dust!"

"Okay!"

Nezha flew into the sky, and with a flick of his Universe Ring, he brought back a large cloud of white, shimmering stardust.

Jiang Li poured the stardust into the ink tea.

"Stir!"

Black ink blends with white stardust.

It turned into... [grayish chaotic milk tea].

It spins in the pot, like a miniature universe.

……

Step 3: Pearl (the key variable).

This is the soul of this tea.

Since the other party is an aggregate of spheres.

Then we should use a sphere to entertain Him.

Jiang Li took out the [Time-Space Rice] that was left over from the old hot pot party.

There's also [Abyss Brown Sugar].

And... the random thoughts he extracted from his own dreams.

"twist!"

Jiang Li's hands flew across the water.

The Gluttony Godhood is in operation.

He rubbed out black, round... [pearls (boob queens)].

Each pearl contains a sealed [random event].

Some pearls are sweet (a sweet dream).

Some pearls are acidic (caused by lemon extract).

Some of the pearls are spicy (angry).

Some pearls... might explode in your mouth (prank).

"These pearls."

Jiang Li pointed to the bouncing black balls in the plate.

"It is in a state of quantum superposition."

"Before it gets bitten through."

"Even I don't know what it tastes like."

"This is... [the unknown taste]."

……

Step 4: Shake well (the process of entropy increase).

Jiang Li brought over a giant shaker (actually, he had cleaned the book burner's fuel canister).

Pour in the milk tea.

Place the pearl inside.

Add void ice blocks.

"Great Sage! Time for a mission!"

"Use your hand speed of 13,000 revolutions per second!"

"Shake it for me!"

"Hehe! Watch this!"

Goku took the giant shaker cup.

The muscles in both arms are bulging.

"Swing! Swing!"

Boom boom boom—

Wukong shook the machine wildly.

The pearls, milk tea, and ice cubes inside underwent countless microscopic fusion and fission processes during the high-speed collisions.

Countless parallel universes are born and destroyed within the cup.

"alright!"

Jiang Li accepted the shaker cup.

A glass (actually a bucket) of gray, iridescent liquid containing floating black pearls was poured out.

……

[Dish Name: Schrödinger's Bubble Tea - Special Offer for the Omniscient One]

[Level: Unobservable]

[Description: Tea made with the ink of truth, milk with galactic stardust, and pearls with random quantum thoughts. Every sip is a challenge to "omniscience."]

[Taste: You never know what the next pearl will taste like. It could be the sweetness of first love, the bitterness of heartbreak, or even the pain of getting your finger caught in a door.]

[Effect: Grants the drinker a brief sense of the unknown (i.e., pleasure). Breaks the lock of causality.]

……

Jiang Li was carrying the bucket of milk tea.

We walked to the very front of the deck.

Facing that vast, radiant sphere.

"Lord Yog Sothos."

"It's afternoon tea time."

"Please... take a breath."

Jiang Li deliberately inserted a thick straw (which was transformed from the Golden Cudgel, with a hole drilled in the middle).

……

Yog Sothos's billions of spheres seemed to be stunned.

His "all-knowing eye" scanned the bucket of milk tea.

He saw the ingredients.

But He... couldn't figure out the taste.

Because those pearls... are alive.

Even at the moment they are observed, they are constantly changing their properties.

"interesting."

"I can't see through it at all."

Yog Sothos trembled.

A tentacle (or rather, a straw) made of light reached out.

It was inserted into the milk tea bucket.

"Slurp—"

A tremendous, sucking sound, like a black hole devouring a galaxy, rang out.

Half a bucket of milk tea vanished instantly.

Along with dozens of enormous quantum pearls, they were absorbed into Yog Sothos's body.

……

The entire audience held their breath.

Everyone stared at the enormous ball of light.

one second.

two seconds.

Sudden.

"Pop!"

A pearl was bitten open inside Yog Sothos's body (in a certain dimension).

That was a... wasabi-flavored pearl.

"Buzz!!!!!!!!!"

Yog Sothos's sphere instantly turned emerald green.

It began to tremble violently.

"This is...exciting!"

"This is... the taste of tears!"

Followed by.

"Pop!"

The second pearl broke.

This is a... [Popping Candy Flavor] pearl.

"Crackling and popping—"

Yog Sothos's sphere began to flash wildly, like a disco ball.

"numb!"

"shock!"

"My dimension is dancing!"

The third one... the fourth one...

Sour, sweet, bitter, stinky (like stinky tofu), spicy...

Each time a pearl is bitten open.

Yog Sothos experienced a completely new and unpredictable surprise (or shock).

"Hahahaha!"

This all-knowing and all-powerful key to the gate.

This ancient god has not shown any emotion for billions of years.

It actually... let out a laugh.

Although the laughter shook the surrounding space to the point of collapse, it was indeed laughter.

"Delicious!"

"Fun!"

"I...don't know what the next one will be!"

"This feeling..."

"marvelous!"

"Is this... [expectation]?"

……

The whole bucket of milk tea was finished.

Yog Sothos's brilliance became softer than ever before.

He was like a child who had just finished school and had his first sip of iced cola.

Satisfy.

Feeling comfortable.

"cook."

"You win."

Yog Sothos's voice softened.

"You have broken my curse of omniscience."

"You've given me a taste of... the long-lost unknown."

"In exchange..."

One of the orbs of light slowly drifted over.

Inside that sphere of light was the very same [Omniscient Fish].

"This fish is yours."

"besides……"

Yog Sothos spat out another... small ball of light.

That was part of His body.

Or rather, it is a miniature Yog Sothos (a pearl clone).

"This is for you too."

"Set it...into your fishing rod."

"after."

"No matter what dimension you are in, no matter what timeline you are on."

"If you want to."

"Anything is fine... open the door leading here."

"certainly……"

"The premise is..."

"Next time you come, remember to bring... a large one."

……

"make a deal!"

Jiang Li took the ball of light and the bubble containing the fish.

Overjoyed.

This is not just a fish.

This is a... [master key]!

"Ergou! Receive the goods!"

"Alice! Prepare to return to port!"

……

Jiang Li carefully placed the bubble containing the Omniscient Fish into the Klein pot (to keep it there temporarily).

The little goldfish was blowing bubbles in the pot.

Each bubble reveals a truth.

"Is this the all-knowing fish?"

Wukong came over and took a look.

"It doesn't look like anything special."

"Could you make... squirrel-shaped mandarin fish?"

"Don't!"

Jiang Li quickly stopped him.

"This fish is inedible."

"At least not now."

"It's... a GPS navigator."

Jiang Li watched the bubbles the fish were blowing.

One of the bubbles displays an extremely blurry coordinate system, full of geometric beauty.

It is also... the ultimate battlefield of [mechanical ascension and the suffering of flesh and blood].

……

"Alright, everyone."

Jiang Li embedded the miniature orb of light into the handle of the Abyss Fishing Rod.

hum!

The fishing rod is instantly upgraded.

It has become... [Key to Time and Space: Chaos Fishing Rod].

Afternoon tea here is over.

"We should go..."

"Next place."

"That place..."

Jiang Li looked at the coordinates given by the Omniscient Fish.

His eyes became deep.

"I've heard about the iron there..."

"It tastes even better than meat."

……

The Tree Demon slowly started up.

It carries a wealth of knowledge, upgraded artifacts, and that crucial omniscient fish.

Saying goodbye to Yog Sothos, who was still savoring the taste of milk tea.

They rushed into the new stargate.