Cthulhu World

A nauseating, lightless flesh cocoon...

Its restricted images—images that would get banned from every website in a second—constantly tested Morty's mental endurance.

But he did not retreat or go back to ask Grandpa for help.

Instead, he forcibly controlled his body, suppressed his fear of unknown danger, and marched forward with unwavering resolve.

Since he had already decided to use the intelligence boost from the Mega Fruit to modify the Mr. Meeseeks Box and eventually break away from Grandpa,

how could he back down just because of a few disgusting sights?

Of course, he was not an idiot.

Ever since he had been cursed in the Cthulhu World last time, Grandpa had implanted an all-purpose defense device beneath his skin. (It did not defend against Old Rick.)

Whenever he encountered danger, nanobots would immediately surge out from inside his body and construct a wall in the air.

Then they would send Grandpa a distress signal.

So Morty gathered his courage and walked forward.

Then something unexpected appeared before him.

The flesh cocoon was empty!

No... they were all empty!

Then where had the people who were supposed to be inside...

gone?

Morty did not think their... flesh cocoon plan had failed.

On the contrary, the smooth inner walls of the cocoon showed that the creature nurtured inside had successfully left it.

Which meant...

Maybe Cthulhu Rick and the others have already left, or maybe they're still in this world...

Or maybe they've been right in front of us all along?

The Cthulhu family of four?

At that possibility, Morty could no longer stay still.

During the three days he had spent bedridden, he had gritted his teeth and studied the Cthulhu Mythos again.

As the most iconic figure in the Cthulhu World,

Cthulhu alone had three sons and one daughter with the female Great Old One, Idh-yaa.

Besides that, he had several other children with other Great Old Ones.

As the vanguard of the Cthulhu World's population boom plan, how could Cthulhu possibly have only two children?

Could it be...

Morty, who only wanted to run away from Grandpa's side and had never intended to get him killed, immediately hurried out of the house and ran back the way he had come.

At that moment, Grandpa and Cthulhu Benc were leaning against the coastline together. Each held a bottle of beer as they raised their heads to gaze at the moon—or rather, at Azathoth...

This buddy-buddy scene only lacked a little barbecue spread between them.

Seeing that things seemed to be going well, Morty slowed down and tried not to look too anxious.

This is the first time I've seen Grandpa make friends like this. I never expected that, despite making countless enemies, he'd be so good at getting along with fathers-in-law...

The thought that this guy really was Cthulhu Benc, and that Cthulhu would become his Grandpa's father, made Morty feel deeply uncomfortable.

But then he thought about the possibility that the pregnant one might be Cthulhu Summer, or...

Fuck me...

If I had another chance, I'd rather go to the Warhammer World and hack at Greenskins shirtless than ever come to a world like Rick and Morty...

This is way too fucked up!!!

After throwing those increasingly Rick-like thoughts out of his head, Morty quickened his pace again.

When he reached Grandpa's side, he signaled that they should move aside and talk in private for a moment.

Clearly drunk and having a great time, Grandpa waved his right hand grandly. What was there that could not be said in front of Brother Cthulhu?

Did Morty really consider him an outsider?

Morty said, "Isn't he an outsider...?"

He looked up at the three-hundred-meter-tall Cthulhu Benc beside Grandpa.

That octopus face, paired with its vaguely curious expression, made Morty feel that once this was over, he should just burn that copy of Cthulhu Mythos...

Because even the author of that book probably had not expected

to see Grandpa and Cthulhu drinking and singing together one day...

Seeing that Grandpa was truly having too much fun drinking, Morty could only lower his head, lean close to his ear, and quickly describe his discovery in an extremely quiet voice.

The moment Grandpa heard it, his eyes widened!

He looked as though he had never imagined that this world might have a Rick too!

Seeing Grandpa's usual poker face—the expression that remained indifferent before any storm—suddenly change like this,

Morty's heart skipped a beat.

Had he guessed right?

The next second, Morty saw Grandpa put down his beer bottle, make an excuse, and scrape a little skin debris off Cthulhu.

He put it into the analyzer he carried with him to examine what this guy was really made of.

Morty could only silently give Grandpa a thumbs-up in his heart for analyzing someone's body tissue right in front of them. He could find no other way to express his admiration.

The three-hundred-meter-tall Cthulhu was standing right beside them.

And you just analyzed him???

But when Morty looked up, Cthulhu did not seem particularly bothered. Combined with the data the analyzer identified at light speed,

it confirmed that the one before them really was Cthulhu Benc.

Morty's raised heart had barely begun to settle when Grandpa dealt him a heartfelt Rick-style smack to the top of the head.

"Don't use something like this to scare me next time! I almost died of high blood pressure on the spot!" Grandpa warned angrily.

"How is that my fault...?"

Morty began defending himself.

"When we came here last time, we were in the deep sea, Cth... Cth..."

Feeling Cthulhu's eyes turn toward him, Morty immediately changed his wording and glossed over the matter. Then he said,

when they had come here last time, they had never found this little house at all.

He had wandered around just now, found the house, and seen the family portrait. How could he not panic?

Especially since the creature in that flesh cocoon might already have hatched and left it.

"Huh? You're only telling me something this important now?"

Grandpa dashed toward the little house, with Morty close behind. Cthulhu also ran after them.

As he ran, Morty glanced at the three-hundred-meter-tall giant and mocked him in his heart.

Why the hell are you joining in?

But Morty quickly learned why Cthulhu had followed them after accidentally "overhearing" their conversation.

"This wooden house!!!"

"Rick Sanchez!!!"

"It was him! That's right!"

Seeing that Cthulhu was clearly emotionally unsettled, Morty quietly asked Grandpa what the two of them had talked about while he was gone.

"What did we talk about? Alibis, obviously!"

"I've been through countless women and never used protection, yet I only have one daughter to this day. If you, my grandson, were willing to use even your little toe to think about it, you'd know it's already very difficult for me to have any more descendants!"

"So after talking just now, I found out that 'I' went to see Cthylla twice that day."