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

Jianghai City, Old Wharf.

The fog seemed thicker than usual today, carrying a faint salty, fishy smell and... a barely perceptible sulfurous odor.

At the dock, Fatty Wang was anxiously waiting with all the vehicles he could muster in his life—a full fifty heavy-duty refrigerated transport trucks—lined up in a long line.

Although he was a big shot in Jianghai City's underground black market, his palms were sweaty at the moment.

"A billion yuan order... My goodness, where did Mr. Jiang get his supplies this time?"

Fatty Wang wiped the sweat from his forehead and kept looking out at the sea.

Ever since receiving Jiang Li's call saying "Get ready to receive the goods, large quantity and plenty," he has been in a state of mixed excitement and fear.

Just then.

"Ugh—!!!"

A deep, long whistle pierced the fog; it was the Black Pearl's unique engine sound, like the roar of a behemoth from the abyss.

Immediately afterwards, the sea began to shake violently, and the water level rose visibly, as if a moving island was approaching.

"They're here! They're here!"

Fatty Wang shouted excitedly.

The massive black ship broke through the fog and slowly sailed into the port.

However, when the outline of what was being towed behind the ship gradually came into view, everyone on the dock held their breath.

That was a mountain.

A mountain of flesh made up of silvery-white scales, blood, flesh, and broken bone fragments!

Although only half its body remained (even so, it was still several hundred meters long), it still exuded a terrifying pressure that sent shivers down one's spine. Even in death, it was still an S-class ancient god at the top of the food chain!

The enormous dragon scales reflected a cold, chilling light in the sunlight; each scale was the size of a millstone. The broken spine resembled towering stone pillars. The dark red dragon blood stained half of the harbor's waters, and the heat emanating from it caused the surrounding seawater to boil and steam.

"Thump!"

Wang Pangzi's legs went weak, and he knelt directly on the ground.

"Dragon... Dragon..."

He stammered and could barely speak.

Although Jiang Li had previously said he was going to fish for dragons, he thought it was an exaggeration, or that he was fishing for some kind of large sea serpent with dragon blood.

Who would have thought that this was a real dragon!

And it's the legendary abyssal dragon that can destroy the world!

"Hey! Fatty! What are you kneeling there for? Get the goods!"

Jiang Li stood at the bow of the boat, holding a large megaphone and shouting.

"These loaches were too big to fit on the boat, so we had to tow them back. It almost killed me!"

He complained as he directed the crew to begin untying the ropes.

"Big Yellow! Stop playing in the water! Come up and help push it! This thing is stranded!"

"Woof!"

Big Yellow popped its head out of the water, its body growing several times larger, and like a bulldozer, it pushed the dragon corpse toward the shore.

"Boom!"

The severed dragon corpse was pushed onto the shallows, collapsing half of the dock's walkway.

Jiang Li jumped off the boat, walked up to Fatty Wang, and patted his fat face.

"What's wrong? Are you so happy you've gone crazy?"

"Mr. Jiang... Mr. Jiang..." Fatty Wang stammered, pointing at the mountain of flesh, "This... this is... that order?"

"Yes! The loach meat is really good. I've tried it, and it's even more chewy than that electric eel I had last time!"

Jiang Li said proudly, "Hurry up and have your people weigh it! Have you contacted the buyer yet? Tell him to transfer the money as soon as possible. I'm in a hurry to go back and cook for Xiaoyu."

"It's been made contact...it's been made contact a long time ago..."

Fatty Wang swallowed hard, took out his phone, and dialed an encrypted number.

The owner of that number is a butler from a mysterious family in Kyoto, and also the mastermind behind the billion-dollar bounty on dragon meat.

"Feed? Butler Liu? The goods...the goods have arrived."

"Arrived? How much? Is it enough for 100 jin?" An arrogant voice came from the other end of the phone. "If it's too little, my old man won't accept it."

Fatty Wang glanced at the mountain of flesh that blotted out the sky, and his lips twitched.

"Um... Butler Liu, you'd better send more cars... This quantity... is a bit too large."

"How big? A thousand pounds?"

"Uh...maybe a few thousand tons."

There was a full ten seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.

"Fatty Wang, are you kidding me? Thousands of tons of dragon meat? Did you slaughter the Dragon Palace of the East Sea?"

"You...you'll see when you come and see for yourself."

……

Two hours later.

Several helicopters bearing special badges roared down onto the open ground near the dock.

An elderly man with a full head of silver hair, dressed in a Zhongshan suit, walked over, surrounded by a group of bodyguards in black. He was "Butler Liu," himself an A-level expert.

He came with a critical and skeptical attitude.

But when he saw the half-dragon corpse lying across the dock, he froze on the spot, and the two walnuts in his hand crushed with a "crack".

Even after death, the terrifying dragon's might remained, suppressing the bodyguards so much that they dared not approach within a hundred meters.

Only Butler Liu, with his A-level strength, managed to get close enough to reach them.

His hands trembled as he stroked the silvery-white dragon scale, which was larger than a shield, feeling the vast divine power contained within it.

"This...this is S-rank...no,this is an ancient dragon species close to a god!"

Butler Liu's voice became shrill with excitement, "Is there really... is there really someone who can hunt down such a being?!"

He suddenly turned his head and looked at Jiang Li, who was sitting on a stool and eating an apple.

The young man looked ordinary, even a bit lazy, and there was no spiritual energy fluctuation on his body.

But in Butler Liu's eyes, this was no ordinary person.

This is clearly an ancient ferocious beast in human skin!

"You... are you Mr. Jiang?" Butler Liu bowed deeply, bending at a ninety-degree angle, his attitude extremely respectful.

"it's me."

Jiang Li finished eating the apple and casually tossed it (precisely landing it in the beak of a passing seagull). "You're here to buy meat? Do you have enough money?"

"Enough! Absolutely enough!"

Butler Liu immediately produced a black card with gold lettering. "This contains a deposit of one billion! We'll settle the rest at the highest market price! This dragon corpse... we'll take it all!"

"You want them all?"

Jiang Li frowned. "That won't do. I need to keep some for myself, and I also need to give the employees benefits. I'll cut you...half."

"half?!"

Butler Liu's heart was bleeding.

Losing even a tiny bit of this divine item would be a huge loss!

But he dared not speak out against his anger.

"Fine, fine! Half it is! You decide!"

Jiang Li nodded in satisfaction, picked up the pig-slaughtering knife, and walked to the dragon's corpse.

"Watch closely, I'm cutting the freshest slices for you!"

He swiftly brought down the knife.

"Sizzle—"

The dragon scales and skin, which even missiles couldn't penetrate, were sliced ​​open like tofu under the butcher's knife.

Butler Liu's pupils dilated in shock.

What kind of swordsmanship is this? What kind of power of rules is this?

[Master Butcher's Skill in Carving an Ox - God-like!]

Jiang Li skillfully cut the dragon meat, each cut precisely avoiding the bones and tendons. The cut pieces of meat had perfect texture and were even slightly pulsating.

"This tenderloin is for you, it's tender!"

"This piece of pork belly is for you too, it's a good mix of fat and lean!"

Soon, hundreds of tons of dragon meat were cut up and loaded into refrigerated trucks.

Butler Liu led the convoy away, thanking them profusely. Before leaving, he insisted on giving Jiang Li a supreme offering token called "Kyoto Ye Family," saying that he could walk sideways in Kyoto from now on.

Jiang Li casually tossed the tag to Da Huang: "Here, I'll make you a dog tag later."

Big Yellow: "Woof!" (This brand has good quality materials; it should be good for teeth grinding.)

……

After handling this big deal, Jiang Li looked at the extra billion (or even more) in his account and was overjoyed.

"Now I'm financially free!"

He kept the finest dragon liver, dragon heart, and several tons of top-quality dragon meat, which Fatty Wang transported back to the cold storage of [Shenlan Seafood Restaurant].

The leftover scraps were all given to the believers who had gone through the hardship.

These cultists, each clutching a dragon bone bigger than themselves, wept like children.

"Bravo, Captain! This bone broth should be enough to help me break through to A-rank, right?!"

"I'm going to make this dragon hide into a suit of armor! A family heirloom!"

Having arranged everything, Jiang Li hummed a song and drove his Unimog home.

……

Royal Dragon Bay, Villa No. 13.

Jiang Xiaoyu has no classes today and is doing a puzzle on the carpet in her living room at home (using those Abyss Gold Coins).

"Little Fish! Look what good stuff I brought you!"

As soon as Jiang Li entered, he proudly pulled out the [Dragon King's Eye] as if it were a treasure.

The fist-sized bead was completely transparent, and its interior seemed to contain a vast starry sky, with countless stars slowly rotating within it, radiating a dreamlike light.

S+ grade core! The key to the abyss!

But in Jiang Li's hands, it was just a nicer glass ball.

Wow! So beautiful!

Jiang Xiaoyu's eyes lit up instantly. She put down the gold coins in her hand and took the beads.

"Brother, is this a crystal ball? It looks like there are really stars inside!"

"Yes! A deep-sea crystal ball! I knew you'd like it!"

Jiang Li chuckled and ruffled her hair. "I found this at the bottom of the sea. It looks pretty shiny, so you can play with it. Or maybe when I'm rich in the future, I'll get you a scepter and make you a magical girl or something."

"Hehe, thanks bro!"

Jiang Xiaoyu played with it with great affection.

The moment her hand touched the bead, the Dragon King's Eye, which had been so violent and capable of devouring souls, suddenly became incredibly docile.

The starry sky inside spun faster, as if cheering and resonating with the mysterious golden light within Jiang Xiaoyu's body.

An invisible barrier opened up around her.

[Acquired: Starry Shelter (S+ Rank Defense)]

[Gained: Access to the Abyss (All Abyssal creatures cannot attack the holder)]

Jiang Xiaoyu was completely unaware of this; she only felt that the bead was warm and comfortable to hold.

"By the way, brother, in the two days you were gone, Sister Su came to see you several times."

"Su Qingge? What does she want with me?"

Jiang Li was about to go to the kitchen to make sashimi with dragon liver when she heard this and stopped in her tracks.

"I don't know, she seemed to be in a hurry, but I told her you went out to sea, and she left."

"Okay, I'll go ask in a bit."

……

Dinner time.

The dining table was laden with a full dragon banquet.

Stir-fried dragon liver, stewed dragon tendon, braised dragon ribs, dragon blood curd...

The fragrance was so rich it was almost overwhelming, and the entire villa was enveloped in a golden, ethereal glow.

Su Qingge was also called over.

She stared blankly at the table laden with these legendary dishes.

"This...this is..."

She picked up a piece of dragon liver with trembling hands.

The slices of liver were as thin as cicada wings, with a jade-like luster.

It melted in her mouth, and a cool yet immense energy instantly washed over her consciousness.

"boom!"

Su Qingge felt her mental power surge instantly, and the previously vague S-level bottleneck actually showed signs of loosening at this moment!

"Nidhogg...this is Nidhogg's liver?!"

She roared inwardly.

The ancient dragon aura that the monitoring bureau detected a couple of days ago disappeared... it turned out to be... this meal?!

"Miss Su, don't just stand there, eat more. This stuff will get fishy when it gets cold."

Jiang Li enthusiastically served her a bowl of dragon's blood tofu, saying, "This is a good thing, it nourishes the blood and improves complexion!"

Su Qingge ate mechanically, her awe of Jiang Li reaching an unparalleled level.

After finishing his meal, Jiang Li wiped his mouth and asked, "By the way, Miss Su, I heard from Xiao Yu that you were looking for me?"

"Oh? Oh, yes."

Su Qingge snapped out of her daze, her expression turning somewhat serious.

"Mr. Jiang, things may be a bit unsettled lately."

"What's wrong? Is it going to be war again?" Jiang Li asked.

"No," Su Qingge shook her head, "It's about... your 'spoils of war'."

She lowered her voice: "Those alien technologies (Mi-Go equipment) you gave us last time, although we tried our best to keep them secret, the news still leaked out. Now, many forces, both domestic and foreign, are eyeing Jianghai City, and they're eyeing... you."

"Especially that Black Tower organization. They are the world's largest underground arms dealers and technology plunderers. I heard they have already sent the 'Purgers' team, which is on its way here."

"The Cleaners?"

Jiang Li raised an eyebrow. "What do you do? A cleaning company?"

Su Qingge: "..."

"No, they are assassins who specialize in stealing high-tech items and... killing people to cover their tracks."

"Oh, so he's a robber."

Jiang Li remained calm. "I know robbers well. That Zhao Shao from last time, and that cult leader, weren't they all just easy targets?"

He stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the pitch-black night outside.

"Since they want to come, then let them come."

A hint of coldness flashed in Jiang Li's eyes, but a hopeful smile appeared on his lips.

"Perfect timing. My shop is short a few security guards, and that car is also missing some parts. Hopefully, they can bring some 'good stuff' over."

at the same time.

On the highway outside Jianghai City.

Several fully armed black armored vehicles were speeding by.

Inside the carriage sat a group of elite warriors wearing exoskeletons and wielding heavy energy weapons.

Their helmet displays were locked onto the coordinates of Villa No. 13 in Yulong Bay.

"Target confirmed: codename 'Chef'."

"Mission: Recover all alien artifacts and eliminate witnesses."

"Cleaning begins!"