The Problem Isn't That Big

The thing Cthylla was carrying in her belly terrified the grandfather-grandson pair, along with Cthulhu.

Morty, who had never seen anything so vicious, wanted to back out. But Grandpa disagreed. He seemed to have made up his mind to ruin Cthulhu Rick's plan in this world.

So, at this moment, the whole affair seemed to have returned to Grandpa's control.

Yet Grandpa, who had just been shouting about fighting and killing, directly handed the initiative back to Morty again.

"This is your adventure. You make the call. Since you want to be so independent, this shouldn't be a problem for you, right?"

Pale-faced, Morty gave Grandpa a long look.

What the fuck! This is already a problem that needs Grandpa Rick to step in, and you're dumping it back on me?

You control-freak maniac!

Just now, you were the one yelling beside me that if this problem wasn't handled properly, it would immediately turn into some huge, earth-shattering disaster.

But just because I showed that I wanted to escape your claws...

You actually dumped a massive problem that could affect countless universes right onto me.

So I'd realize that my abilities aren't enough to shoulder greater responsibility??

Bullshit! You disappeared for twenty years—what the hell do you know about responsibility?

[Fuck! This afro-haired old bastard!]

The words asking Grandpa to take charge circled around Morty's mouth before he swallowed them back down.

Morty refused to accept this. He truly didn't believe he couldn't handle it!

After burying the scene he had just witnessed deep in his memory and forcing himself to calm down, Morty frowned and sank into thought.

His adventure had gone wildly off course.

The problem wasn't that big.

Cthulhu Rick's plan, however...

That was a huge problem!

If the child in Cthylla's belly was born, it would surely be something even more terrifying than Azathoth.

A true, singular god that stood above the entire Cthulhu World.

That child had to be aborted!

But Morty was also worried. How could Cthulhu Rick have failed to leave any safeguards around such an important child?

Was he really so confident that Cthylla would not encounter any trouble during this time?

Hiss!

For a moment, whether to make a move against Cthylla became a thorny question.

But there was no need to act on that issue right now. It could be dealt with later.

Finding Cthulhu Rick, on the other hand, could begin immediately.

Knowing that Cthulhu had plenty of lackeys, Morty asked him to send Deep Ones and Star Spawn to try their luck searching across the sea and land.

He himself returned to the cabin to continue talking with the AI.

When Morty returned, the AI Cthulhu Rick inside the incubation cocoon spoke in an unhurried tone. "I figured Rick might not want to get involved in this. After all, no Rick has much sense of responsibility. But you, Morty, are special."

"When we first met just now, the courage and calmness you showed proved that you're an outlier among Mortys."

"Even though you had that Rick use missiles to blow me up, your uniqueness makes me grateful. Have you ever considered switching sides and joining me?"

Before Morty could respond, Grandpa, who had come with him but was outside, immediately became unhappy.

Trying to poach my guy right in front of me?

Wasn't this AI going too far?

"Hey! Stupid AI, are you sure you want to piss me off? You little shit!"

The AI Cthulhu Rick did not care about Grandpa's threat in the slightest. He continued focusing on Morty.

Only this time, he stopped talking about poaching him.

Instead, he directly brought up the child in Cthylla's belly and where the previous owner of this house had gone.

"You took the scanner earlier. You must have seen the child in Cthylla's belly, so you've probably guessed some of the truth, right?"

"That's right. What you saw really is one of Rick's grand plans."

"A child conceived through Cthylla, combined with Rick's bloodline, has an extremely high chance of producing a world-ending monster."

"But his goal is not to destroy the world. He intends to use the madness-inducing sounds of the Cthulhu World and, through a series of sound modifications, spread them to countless universes."

"Ultimately, he wants to control the entire multiverse."

Hearing this grand ambition to conquer the multiverse, Morty found it both unfamiliar and oddly familiar.

On one hand, he felt that something like this happening in Rick and Morty was simply too ridiculous.

After all, everyone knew Grandpa was famously carefree and laid-back.

He would even build a robot to spread butter on his bread for him.

Conquer the multiverse?

Are you sure you didn't pick up the wrong script?

On the other hand, the countless universes and their countless different Ricks reminded him...

If there could be the dumbest Grandpa, why couldn't there be a Grandpa who wanted to conquer the multiverse?

What he could not understand was...

AI Cthulhu Rick, why are you telling me all this so openly?

What exactly are you plotting?

Morty's question was quickly answered.

"Ask the one outside: if something he created out of laziness wanted to break free of his restraints and gain freedom, do you think he would destroy it?"

Morty said, "Uh..."

Cold sweat instantly broke out across the back of Morty's head.

Thinking of how Grandpa had cultivated him over the past six months...

Morty felt that when the time came and he wanted to run away...

It probably would not be as simple as leaving behind a note.

He would have to rack his brains to hide somewhere Grandpa would never think to look.

"So the reason I told you about Cthulhu Rick without concealing a single thing is that simple."

"Once he realizes I'm out of control, he will definitely destroy me, because I know too much about him."

Those pointed words made Morty temporarily forget about running away. Instead, he asked how they could find Cthulhu Rick.

"It's not a big problem. There are plenty of clues he left behind in that book in your hands."

"Besides, even if that child is born, it will need time to grow. Once it leaves the Cthulhu World and cannot obtain this world's energy, it would be like a child growing without nutrition."

"So that Rick is still in this universe."

"He will not tolerate things slipping beyond his control before the child is born."

"Especially you two. Last time, you made a move against Cthylla before he could, and afterward, he cursed the two of you out in front of me—especially the one outside—for a full half hour."

After that long explanation ended, Morty confirmed a few more details before officially leaving the cabin.

Outside, he opened the Book of Eibon and began searching for clues within it.

Beside him, a mysterious smile flickered across Grandpa's face. He winked several times toward the cabin, then returned to looking completely unconcerned.

Inside the cabin, the AI Cthulhu Rick sighed helplessly to himself.

[Following that old master schemer, famous even among Ricks... who knows how long you'll last...]