I created the Old Gods and Outer Gods in America.

The thing in the mirror is not a person.

It was a monster pieced together from various insects.

Centipedes, maggots, worms, millipedes, and various arthropods and mollusks are intertwined together, with only half of each one's body integrated into the main body, while the other half is exposed and slowly wriggling.

A centipede about the length of a palm peeks out from its "head" position, its legs moving meaninglessly in the air. Next to it, a clump of maggots is wriggling and trying to squeeze into the crevice, but it doesn't quite make it in; it just gets stuck there, its white body swelling and contracting.

The entire surface of the shape is not smooth at all; it is all in motion, like a pot of porridge that is slowly boiling.

"This is...me?"

Yorn's consciousness froze for a full three seconds.

He controlled half of a centipede's body, slowly stretching it towards the "face," if this thing could still be called a face.

The centipede's legs touched the surface of its body, which felt moist and soft. Several maggots shrank back in fright at its touch.

Are you kidding me!

Jon's consciousness was churning wildly. At this moment, he understood many things that he couldn't understand before.

Why do some fragments move quickly while others move slowly? Why are some fragments large while others are small? Why do some easily go around the table legs while others always bump into the corner of the wall?

No, it was never a body fragment.

From the moment he heard that whisper, his body had completely transformed into an insect.

mouse?

If it were really a rat, that would be better.

At least a rat is a complete mammal. Although its appearance may not be pleasing, it is at least a normal creature. If it's lucky, it might even get dyed blonde or have a black and white color scheme and become the main character in one of those very profitable big IPs.

But what about him now?

A lump of flesh, teeming with maggots and centipedes stuck together.

Jon sighed deeply in his heart.

Then he discovered something even stranger: he didn't feel disgusted at all!

If a normal person saw such a disgusting mixture of maggots, they would feel like they hadn't eaten at all if they didn't vomit up their dinner from the night before.

But now, looking at the wriggling mass of worms in the mirror, he didn't feel disgusted at all.

There wasn't even any physical discomfort; it was as if he were looking in an ordinary mirror, and what was reflected in the mirror was just an ordinary version of himself.

In other words, he is now changing not only his body, but also his mental cognition.

Jorn remained silent for a long time.

Of course, despite the silence, the surface activity never stopped.

"Forget about all that, at least I'm still alive."

Jon quickly let it go and stopped dwelling on such a trivial matter.

He moved away from the mirror and crawled back under the sofa. His movements were smoother than before, probably because after accepting his form, he could control it less awkwardly.

However, Jon has a new problem.

His current body only has about twenty fragments, but he has sensed that there are probably tens of thousands of fragments, though he hasn't counted them carefully.

If all those things were combined together...

Yorn tried to imagine the scene.

A humanoid figure fused together by various maggots, each worm with half of its body exposed and wriggling, its entire surface densely covered with twisting limbs and wriggling soft bodies.

He stopped imagining.

If anyone else took one look, they'd probably kneel down and vomit.

"Alright, stop thinking about it. Let's get our bodies back first."

Yorn refocused his attention, sensing the insect fragments scattered throughout the city.

There are too many of them, and they are spread over a very wide area. Some have climbed several blocks away, and some have even crawled deep into the sewers. It would probably take more than a few days to gather all the fragments together.

"Um?"

Just as his scattered consciousness was perceiving fragments, a fly brought back an unusual message.

The fly flew so far that it was no longer in the city.

This place feels very damp.

The air was filled with a strong, salty smell, not the fishy smell of a seafood market, but a more primal, deeper scent, like the aroma emanating from the body of some large marine creature.

You can even hear the sound of the waves.

This should be a small room near the sea.

The fly was in a crack in the wall in the corner of the room, with a very good view.

There were other things in the room, and more than one.

They were walking, their heavy footsteps making a pattering sound on the wet ground.

Yorn focused his attention, controlling the fly to turn its head toward the source of the sound.

Fishman.

The moment he saw it clearly, Jon's consciousness jolted.

When he used to surf the internet, he had certainly read those urban legends about fish-men, such as "half-human, half-fish shadows appearing at the dock late at night" and "the disappearance of fishermen suspected to be related to intelligent marine creatures." He always treated them as entertainment during his leisure time and never took them seriously.

But after experiencing the extraordinary war firsthand and being turned into a bunch of insects, he began to believe.

Those murlocs—no, judging from the bits and pieces of information passed down from some insects before—seem to be called Deep Ones by some people.

Through the senses of flies, Yorn tried to hear the voices of the Deep Ones.

"Marcus told us to hurry back; it seems the boss is preparing for the next battle."

A rather hoarse voice spoke quickly, as if urging someone on.

Another voice followed, this one lower and more husky, carrying a clear hint of doubt.

"What's going on?"

"I didn't hear the details clearly, it was something like dismantling a well? Anyway, we'll find out when we get there."

"Demolish the well?"

"Yes, I also heard that the boss wants to build a city."

A third voice chimed in, its tone full of confusion.

"Wait a minute, what's the connection between building a city and demolishing wells?"

"I already said I didn't hear the details clearly, we'll find out when we get there."

Yorn was a little stunned.

Although he didn't understand most of it, he couldn't make sense of the combination of words like "dismantling the well" and "the next battle".

But there was one thing he heard very clearly.

"Build a city!"

If we consider the survival habits of these deep-sea dwellers, then the cities they build certainly wouldn't be on land, but rather...

Underwater!

Jon suddenly felt as if he had heard some incredible news.

As Jon was still pondering, an aura of death suddenly enveloped his entire body.

He looked up and saw that a droplet of water had condensed on the finger of one of the Deep Ones and was aiming at him.

What's going on?

I didn't do anything, and I was found out already?