A Single Cry of "Father-in-Law"

As the saying went, when people who had shared major history met again,

their hearts were always a raging sea, while their faces were usually calm and breezy.

But Morty and Cthulhu were different.

The moment they met, they exchanged a barrage of friendly greetings.

"Hi! Morty, where's that grandpa of yours, whose integrity is like ten-year-old fermented shit? I've got projects on three planets I want to discuss with him."

"Even though I'm happy you insulted him, as his grandson, I still have to defend that black-hearted worm. I won't allow you to slander that festering, rotten bastard!"

After those greetings, they discovered that they both hated Rick.

Cthulhu found Morty much more pleasing to the eye.

Having someone they both hated really did make them kindred spirits!

Come, come, come!

I'm several billion years old this year, and I only have a few precious daughters. But you, kid, seem to have some backbone.

So I'll give you a chance.

Whichever one you like, you can marry!

We don't bother with bride prices or dowries and all that.

But as a generous father-in-law, I'll give the entire Deep Ones race as a dowry for you young couple to live off!

Morty: "..."

Though Cthulhu was so bold that he directly offered an entire combat race as a dowry,

if Morty just nodded, every ship on Earth would have to pay him a hefty toll to sail across the seas starting tomorrow.

But the looks of Old K's daughters truly challenged the limits of human aesthetics.

After tactfully declining the Lord of the Seven Seas' grand gift,

Cthulhu, who wanted to return to Sothoth Star, said,

"Kid, have you heard of Sothoth Star?

Come! I'll prepare an oxygen mask for you, and we can chat as we travel!"

The moment he heard Cthulhu was going to Sothoth Star,

Morty panicked internally.

If you go there and happen to see AI Rick, along with that dead ex-wife on the snowy mountain in the distance, wouldn't you be so furious you'd cough up blood on the spot?

No! No!

Even if you're going, you have to... at least wait an hour before setting off!

So after thinking for one second, Morty decided to temporarily sacrifice himself for this world's future and called out to stop Cthulhu.

"Big bro! No! My father-in-law! Please wait!"

"Hmm?"

Stopped by Morty calling him "father-in-law," Cthulhu turned around in disbelief, his octopus face filled with shock.

Because...

Who said Cthulhu didn't have the age-old problem of unmarried children?

Those brats and girls of his had all been single men and women for several hundred million years, hadn't they?

As the head of the family,

Cthulhu sometimes worried himself sick too~

The few hairs he had left on his head had all fallen out from worrying.

Now that Morty had suddenly called him father-in-law,

Cthulhu figured he should talk things over with Morty first. Then he could take this good news, along with Morty, to see his wife.

At that moment, Morty still didn't know that Cthulhu was merely living apart from his wife rather than divorced...

He rubbed his hands together, brought out everything he had learned in his life, and began an extreme tug-of-war with Cthulhu.

"Ahem! Well, although I'm interested and have some thoughts, but..."

"It's fine! Having thoughts is enough! As long as you have thoughts, no matter how great the difficulty, with me as your father-in-law, I can settle it all for you!"

Looking at the smile on Cthulhu's face, brimming with the air of a "bold father-in-law,"

Morty internally screamed that things were bad.

Fuck!

Where was the grandeur of a Cthulhu world?

Why had this whole vibe already started turning into a family melodrama???

Seeing Morty suddenly fall silent,

Cthulhu said that since he had nothing else to say, they should go meet his future mother-in-law!

Morty: "You two didn't divo... break up?"

Cthulhu: "Divo... break up? How can you use those worldly human notions to judge the history of our relationship?"

Morty: "..."

Realizing that Cthulhu seemed to care quite a bit about that woman,

a thick layer of cold sweat formed on the back of Morty's head.

Because those two were obviously still doing great!

And that meant that once Cthulhu discovered his wife was dead, this matter today... conservatively speaking, it wouldn't end until an entire star system's planets had been smashed to pieces.

And civilization would have to restart eight million years later.

So the instant Morty noticed Cthulhu intending to move, he tried to grab... ahem! Call out to Cthulhu.

"Wait! We haven't decided which daughter it'll be yet! How about we decide who I'm marrying first, then go see my mother-in-law!"

Hearing that, Cthulhu felt it seemed reasonable enough, but doubts had already begun forming in his heart.

Was this hesitant little fellow really Rick's grandson?

He had only considered Morty because Rick was so formidable, and because of Rick's genes and good family upbringing.

Otherwise, if he truly didn't care about any of that,

he could have simply married his daughters off to anyone.

Why would he have kept them unmarried until now?

Morty: "Jerry! Come out and take a beating!"

Though he wanted to hurry to Sothoth Star, Cthulhu patiently brought Morty back to the city of R'lyeh.

Here, Morty finally met all of Cthulhu's offspring.

Ghatanothoa, Ythogtha, Zoth-Ommog, Cthylla, Nctosa, Nctolhu, Shaurash-Ho, T'ith.

Among them, Cthylla, Nctosa, and Nctolhu were daughters.

The rest were sons.

But they were Great Old Ones, after all!

They basically all looked like assaults on the limits of human aesthetics.

So it really wasn't easy to tell the men from the women.

Standing some distance away was Cthulhu's cousin Hastur. However, compared with his true name, his nickname was far more recognizable.

He Who Must Not Be Named, Lord of the Deep-Space Starry Sea—the King in Yellow!

Looking farther back...

Kassogtha, Kituhanai, Hnarqu, Ktarga, and Cthulhu's other siblings were all here as well.

Clearly, before coming here, Old K had used some method to notify these family members in the Old Cthulhu's Happy Family group.

So everyone had come.

Not only had they come, but what gave Morty an even bigger headache was this.

Cthylla was born to Cthulhu and Idh-yaa.

Meanwhile, the twins Nctosa and Nctolhu were born to Cthulhu and Kassogtha.

So even if Morty was only pretending he wanted to marry one of them,

he couldn't possibly choose Cthylla, who had slept with both Rick and Rick!!!

Wouldn't that be disgusting?

But if he chose one of the twins...

Their biological mother was right here...

[Sigh! I suddenly understand why Rick likes to kill without cleaning up afterward.]

[Because I really want to run away right now too...]

[Was having too much sense of responsibility really unsuited for surviving in this day and age?]

Seeing Morty arrive at his home and continue keeping silent and withdrawn, Cthulhu became a little unhappy.

You were the one who said you wanted to marry one.

Then after arriving here, you were the one who didn't speak for ages and looked ready to back out at any moment.

You probably thought Cthulhu was easy to bully, didn't you?

You're not your grandpa. Do you really think you can keep me under control???

Noticing the atmosphere in the seawater growing increasingly heavy, Morty immediately interrupted his thoughts and devoted all his energy to choosing himself a wife.