Journey to the Cthulhu World

Morty had never realized that this grandpa he had met actually had a bit of a Pokémon Master streak.

After lying dazed in bed for a full three days, he finally recovered from the Mega Fruit's side effects.

Just as he was preparing to embark on a new adventure,

his mom and dad called both him and Grandpa into the living room, their expressions grave.

"Dad, you keep taking Morty out on adventures. His grades have already..."

Hearing that same old argument again, Grandpa rubbed his forehead helplessly. A thousand curses for his son-in-law rose in his heart.

Anyone with half a brain could tell Jerry was stirring things up behind the scenes.

He just couldn't understand it.

You were such an idiot yourself, yet you insisted on making your son walk your idiotic path and live some so-called normal life?

If I remember right, you, Jerry, have been unemployed for a long time already!

A middle-aged man who had been out of work for ages and still couldn't find a job, living entirely off his wife, daydreaming all day long, and now you wanted to drive me out?

If my own daughter weren't protecting you, I'd have let you taste the Rick-style Iron Fist long ago!

Mm! Hard as steel!

And you couldn't even afford to get a key copied, yet you had the nerve to say I was holding your son back?

But Grandpa wasn't the type to swallow his anger when faced with this kind of bullshit.

You wanted to argue with me?

Fine! Bring it on!

Let's see whose skull is harder!

But seeing the serious look on his daughter's face, Grandpa opened his mouth, then shot a sidelong glance at Morty, who was pretending to be part of the background.

He said that if he could get Morty an A on one test within the week, without cheating,

would they stop interfering with his business?

Dad, who absolutely didn't want Morty going on any more adventures, said no! Never!

But Grandpa didn't care what Jerry thought.

He looked at his daughter.

The person who truly called the shots in this family had always been Beth, not Jerry.

"If he gets an A, then at most three times a week!"

"Ten times!"

"Four times!"

"Nine times!"

Hearing the two of them haggle over how many times he could go on adventures each week in the future, Morty's mouth twitched violently.

To be honest, he really wanted to drop out and happily roam around with Grandpa.

But if he said that, Mom would definitely...

So he would endure it for now. Once he figured out how to upgrade the Mr. Meeseeks Box, he could climb the tech tree step by step until he could make a Portal Gun himself.

Then he could truly return to the open sea.

In the end, the number of outings was cut down to one.

But Morty also had to get an A on a test within a week!

"Alright, Morty, let's go to the garage and study how to read!"

After taking Morty into the garage, the moment the door shut, Grandpa's expression changed. He said they needed to make another trip to the Cthulhu World.

He didn't mention getting an A on a test within a week at all.

Morty, who had no fondness for those giant octopuses, asked why they had to go back.

Last time, that family of four had been trying to kill them. Were they going back now just to offer themselves up on a platter?

"Morty, do you know how exceptional my DNA is?"

Morty silently glanced at the tightly shut door, as if he could see Mom sitting on the sofa outside, already arguing with her husband.

Yeah, very exceptional.

At least when they weren't fighting, those two were practically unmatched among all humanity when it came to tearing into each other.

After Grandpa gave him a light knock on the head,

Grandpa said earnestly, "Precisely because my DNA is so exceptional, I always leave no seeds behind when I pass through the flowers. But this time, one slipped through. That's pretty awkward."

Morty: "..."

"And that was in the Cthulhu World. Do you know how terrifying a child an Old One could produce after combining with my DNA?"

Morty: "So I'm going to have a Cthulhu uncle or aunt?"

Grandpa: "..."

After falling silent for a second or two and resisting the urge to kick Morty straight into the Cthulhu World to deal with the problem alone,

Grandpa opened a portal.

"Elders first." Morty didn't dare be the first to return to the Cthulhu World.

"So damn slow! A bunch of people with octopus faces is enough to scare you like this?"

Only after Grandpa strode through the portal did Morty follow him in.

The moment he entered this Cthulhu World,

the perpetually gray sky gave him the same suffocating feeling as always. But what was even more surprising was that out in the distant ocean,

several giant octopuses covered in wounds were staring fixedly at them.

The moment they arrived, they ran into the Cthulhu family of four.

After silently praising Grandpa's portal technology for becoming increasingly precise, Morty began listening to the two sides ramble on.

The gist was nothing more than that this child had to be eliminated.

Because you lot, who either slept all day or pretended to be mysterious, had no idea just how exceptional Old Rick's genes were!

After taking a brutal beating from the Galactic Empire, the Cthulhu side had also realized that there were countless beings in the outside universe more savage than them.

Last time, Grandpa had merely cut off one tentacle while they were asleep. That had already been pretty considerate.

So the two sides stood politely by the shore and negotiated.

As for Morty, he did what he always did.

Whenever Grandpa wasn't paying attention, he would sneak off to look around nearby and see if there was any loot he could bring back.

Mm, but he needed to be more careful this time.

That little statue he had brought back last time had cursed him for days. He had nearly died.

Sneaking forward along the coastline,

Morty soon came across a villa-sized wooden house.

It had two stories, a two-hundred-square-meter garden out front, and a swimming pool behind it filled with dead leaves.

He pushed open the decrepit wooden door before him.

The inside was dim, and the rotten wooden floor looked like it would break through with one hard stomp.

Fortunately, Morty was still a little kid and didn't weigh as much as an adult. Combined with his deliberately light steps, he made it safely to the living room.

The moment he entered the living room and saw the family portrait on the wall, his expression twisted into a knot.

That was impossible!

Cthulhu Rick, Cthulhu Morty, Cthulhu Beth, Cthulhu Jerry, Cthulhu Summer—a complete family portrait.

It raised a thick layer of goosebumps all over Morty's body.

This world had a Grandpa too?!

Only then did Morty realize that the layout of this room was practically identical to his own house!

Which brought up the question.

Where had the Rick and Morty of this world gone?

Based on the nearly identical layout between this place and his home,

there should be a door beside the dining room leading into the garage. Morty walked over, grabbed the handle, and pushed the door open...

The sight before him left him utterly stunned.

Fuck! This wasn't nearly as simple as it seemed!!!

We never told them our names last time, so how did they know Grandpa's full name?!

Because this world's Grandpa was actually planning this!