Buy Him a Universe

When Rick took the initiative to solve the grounding issue and whisked him off on an adventure at light speed, Morty had assumed that, with things moving so fast, the next adventure would definitely be the same old horny routine.

Because the focus of these recent events seemed to have revolved around getting naughty.

All Morty wanted to say was, stop putting him through this...

He really couldn't take much more.

One more time, and he would turn into a beast on the spot, pounce on someone, and give them a good fucking.

But it seemed he had overlooked Rick's most defining trait: his spontaneity...

Because sometimes, Rick really just did whatever popped into his head.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"

"What the hell is this place?!"

Morty stood on a bustling street. No matter how loudly he cursed, the pedestrians around him seemed to have lost their hearing and basically ignored his existence.

Even if Morty shoved someone or simply punched them in the face. Essence Book Pavilion

Those people, whose expressions were practically frozen, were like NPCs in a game, ignoring every stimulus from the outside world.

They looked exactly like walking corpses.

As for Rick...

At a Starbucks in the distance, decorated like a saloon from a Western film, Rick was freely drinking coffee.

Look at the way he drank coffee as if he were downing liquor.

Though he looked as bold and heroic as some ancient wanderer, Morty was starting to find this adventure a little boring.

Coming to another world just to drink coffee—wasn't that a little too idle?

Did they have that much time?

With that time, wouldn't it be better to get their hands on a few divine artifacts?

He hadn't even managed to bring back the Reality Instrument from Cthulhu World a few days ago.

The more he thought about it, the more cheated he felt... Sorry! He shouldn't have mentioned Rick's mom!

In any case, the Reality Instrument was a devastating weapon against soul-based lifeforms.

The ultimate shield of the physical plane.

A brilliant treasure created by a civilization at the height of its development.

And he had missed it just like that.

Morty's heart truly ached.

After standing on the street for a while, he found it unsettling that such a busy street did not even have the sound of a car horn. So he headed toward Starbucks.

He pushed open the door and entered the store.

The line that had originally formed was completely occupied by Rick at the front.

He kept placing orders, and the employees kept making coffee for him. No one behind him showed any impatience. They simply waited quietly, and no one left.

It was as if, if the wait lasted a day, a year, or a thousand years, they would continue waiting without the slightest emotion.

"Rick, what are you doing?"

"Did you come here to drink coffee?"

"I traded one adventure for a new rule, and the first place you bring me is to drink coffee?"

Rick, who had been taking huge gulps of coffee, slowly put down his paper cup after hearing Morty's words. After making way for the NPCs behind him,

he picked up a napkin, wiped his mouth, and said to Morty with the same tone he always used, slightly disdainful, "You and I have been adventuring across all kinds of universes all this time. We've done countless crazy things."

"But all that stuff was gunfights, car chases, solving this problem, solving that problem. You only know about the Galactic Empire."

"So today, I've finally decided to open the door to another world for you!"

"A multiverse in the truest sense of the word!"

Morty, who had been absentmindedly feeling that this adventure was boring as hell, could hardly believe what Rick had just said.

Or rather, a multiverse in the truest sense of the word.

What the hell was that supposed to be?

So all that killing and arson across different universes had been like living in the Wild West.

And now they were returning to civilized society?

Sorry! He thought that kind of freedom was far better than following order!

Murderous, arson-loving thugs were obviously far more fun than hypocrites who hid daggers behind their smiles...

"What do you think this place resembles?"

"Everyone has no soul. They're just products on an assembly line, or maybe a game."

Rick pointed around them and posed a question. Morty answered without hesitation.

But what happened next made Morty's eyes widen.

Rick took something resembling a TV remote from his jacket pocket and pressed a few buttons. The world before Morty's eyes began to change!

All the pedestrians stopped walking.

All the cars went from full speed to a dead stop.

Even the clouds in the sky stopped moving.

It was as if everything that had been operating in orderly fashion could be controlled by that tiny remote.

"People, cars, clouds... Is this a planet controlled by a program?"

Rick had originally wanted to be a little mysterious, but Morty's words immediately made him a little unhappy.

As a Morty, when Rick was showing off, if you didn't play along, that was a violation of Morty First Law!

He really ought to go back to Morty School for retraining.

Learn how to say, "Oh my God! Rick! You're amazing!"

By then, Morty had already guessed that this world probably had some obvious purpose. He lowered his head and put on an innocent expression.

Rick had been hoping Morty would play along for him.

But when he actually saw that "innocent" face, Rick still could not help feeling disgusted.

"Cut it out! Aren't you embarrassed acting so childish?"

"Hm?"

"Since there's the Rickest Rick, the Mortiest Morty, and the Dumbest Rick, then naturally there's also the Most Mature Morty. Since you're already as mature inside as an adult, why keep pretending to be a child?"

When Morty first heard Rick's words, his heart turned cold.

He thought his true identity had already been exposed.

But what Rick said next seemed to provide the perfect explanation for his abnormality.

The Most Mature Morty!

That seemed to explain why the strange things he sometimes did did not fit Morty's character at all.

Because... he was mature!

[Fuck! That old schemer has definitely seen through my identity. He's doing this on purpose!]

As that thought flashed through his mind,

the expression on Morty's face gradually became serious as well.

Since Rick had already said this much, bringing out his lousy acting skills again would just be insulting himself, wouldn't it?

Besides, Rick did not seem to intend to cross that final line and say it outright.

As long as there was still room to maneuver, he should show a more adult side of himself to cooperate with Rick and keep this act going.

"Fine. Since you've already guessed it, what do you want?"

Rick chuckled when he heard that, then pointed at the sky.

A massive spaceship flew over the blue sky, which had been frozen as though someone had pressed pause.

It was two kilometers long, with a streamlined design and crescent-wave patterns. White was its main color, gold its secondary color, and a pure silver planet was emblazoned on the underside of its hull.

"Come on. To settle Rick down, I've decided to buy him a universe!"