Inside the banquet hall, the crystal chandelier, a symbol of civilization and order, finally crashed to the ground under the pull of countless tentacles.
Crash— Shattered crystals rained down like diamonds, yet failed to illuminate the stench and chaos filling the room.
"Kill him! He's the best sacrifice!" Captain Davy Jones's tentacles danced wildly, his voice no longer human, but a slippery hiss, like a mollusk crawling across its vocal cords.
At his command, hundreds of guests, now fully "Deepborn," opened their fanged maws and pounced on the still-steaming tea table from all directions.
"Truly lacking in manners." Seventeen stood before the table, one hand behind his back, his posture as upright as a pine tree.
Faced with the overwhelming mass of flesh and slime, not a ripple appeared in his purple eyes.
He slowly raised his exposed right arm, the Starry Sky Arm.
There was no earth-shattering energy eruption.
He simply extended his index finger and lightly drew a vertical line in the void.
[Spatial Cutting · Precision Operation Mode.] *Buzz.*
An extremely thin black line appeared out of thin air, as if a paper cutter had sliced across a canvas.
The dozen or so fish-man monsters charging at the forefront suddenly froze.
Then, their bodies, following that black line, smoothly and effortlessly… shifted out of place.
The upper body slid to the left, the lower body remaining in place. The cut was as smooth as a mirror; even before blood could gush out, it was sealed by the spatial rift.
There was no smell of blood.
Only an extreme, cold industrial aesthetic.
"This is the first batch," Seventeen said calmly, like a chef preparing ingredients.
He then drew a horizontal line.
*Swish—* That was a severing at the waist.
A diagonal cut.
*Swish—* That was deboning and skinning.
He stood there, not moving an inch.
His black and gold mechanical hand waved elegantly in the air, like a maestro conducting a symphony.
And those hideous, terrifying monsters were the notes under his baton, dismantled, fragmented, and reduced to their most basic organic matter in this performance of death.
In the short time it takes to drink half a cup of tea.
The banquet hall was piled high with neatly arranged mountains of flesh.
Not a drop of blood splattered on the pristine white tablecloth, nor on Seventeen's impeccably tailcoat.
Seventeen took out a new handkerchief, wiped his clean fingers, then turned and bowed slightly to Shen Qingqiu, who was sipping tea.
"Madam, the cleanup is complete."
"However… the quality of the ingredients was too poor; I suggest they be destroyed."
Shen Qingqiu put down her teacup.
She looked at the dismembered limbs on the floor, a hint of appreciation in her eyes.
"Your knife skills have improved."
...
"You...what are you?!" Captain Davy Jones collapsed to the ground, the only surviving "seafood."
Looking at the demonic couple before him, his brain, corrupted by the Old Ones, finally felt a long-forgotten fear.
Even monsters from the abyss kill by tearing and devouring.
How could they...turn slaughter into an art performance?
"Us?" Shen Qingqiu stood up, her skirt brushing the ground.
She walked to the captain, looking down at the man with the tentacled face.
"We are...discerning diners."
"No! This is impossible! Humans cannot possess such power!" The captain suddenly let out a shrill roar.
He abruptly pulled a black conch shell covered in barnacles and seaweed from his robes.
"Since mortal power cannot kill you..."
"Then let the Father God judge you!!"
He blew the conch shell.
A deep, resonant sound, seemingly piercing the ship's steel hull and reaching thousands of meters below the seabed.
The entire "Prometheus" began to tremble violently.
This wasn't the vibration of the engines.
This was… the sea boiling.
A deafening roar— The black water outside the window exploded.
A colossal wave, hundreds of meters high, crashed against the porthole.
Within that wave, a massive, suffocating shadow slowly rose.
It had a mountain-like body, countless thick tentacles waving in the air, each tentacle covered in enormous eyes. Its head resembled an octopus, yet possessed a blasphemous majesty.
[The projection of the Great Old One, Dagon, has descended.]
[Global Sanity check…forced to zero.]
An indescribable, terrifying pressure instantly enveloped the entire ship.
The feeling was like an ant facing an elephant about to trample it.
It wasn't just fear, but a despair and surrender at the genetic level.
"Hahahaha! Look! This is a god!" The captain knelt on the ground, kowtowing fervently, "Before this magnificent body, you are but dust!"
The enormous octopus head slowly approached the banquet hall's floor-to-ceiling window.
A huge, yellow eyeball stared intently at Shen Qingqiu and Seventeen through the glass.
"Mortal…"
An ancient, obscure syllable exploded in their minds.
Shen Qingqiu's face paled slightly.
Even with her strong mental power, facing a creature from this dimension, her body still felt an instinctive discomfort.
"Qingqiu." Seventeen immediately stepped in front of her, his star-shaped right arm blazing with light, attempting to create a spatial shield.
"Don't look into its eyes! That's a source of mental pollution!"
But Shen Qingqiu pushed him away.
She took a step forward, facing the enormous yellow eyeball directly. "Seventeen, don't be nervous." She tidied her slightly disheveled hair, her smile widening.
"It asked me what I am?" Shen Qingqiu pulled out the rusty **[Bronze Fragment]** from her bosom.
"Then tell it." She held up the fragment.
The seemingly ordinary bronze piece, upon contact with that ancient aura, suddenly erupted with a dazzling cyan-gold light, as if enraged.
[Heretical Divinity Detected.]
[Civilization Library - Permission Unlocked.]
[Simulated Divinity: Ancient Mythology - Nuwa the Sky Mender.] Buzz—!!!
The space in the banquet hall suddenly distorted.
In the eyes of the captain and the monster, the tiny woman in the purple dress had changed.
Behind her, a colossal, towering image of a snake-bodied, human-headed deity appeared.
The image was solemn, sacred, and filled with an ancient, desolate aura.
She didn't have those sticky tentacles, nor disgusting eyeballs.
She possessed only one light.
A light called **"Civilization" and "Order"**.
Under that light, all chaos, distortion, and the indescribable became filthy grime.
"A mere octopus..."
Shen Qingqiu spoke.
Her voice was no longer female, but had become as grand as a bell, echoing between heaven and earth.
"Dare to call yourself a god before the pantheon of Chinese gods?"
The bronze fragment in her hand transformed into a phantom of a sky-mending stone radiating multicolored light.
She made a "smash" gesture towards the enormous monster outside the window.
"Go back!" Boom—!!!
That wasn't a physical attack.
That was a conceptual attack.
It was the suppression of "disorder" by "order."
The arrogant projection of the Ancient Ones outside the window, upon seeing that divine form, revealed a...anthropomorphic fear in its enormous yellow eyeballs.
It sensed it.
It was a power older, more advanced, capable of completely erasing its very existence.
"Awooo—!!!" The monster let out a bloodcurdling scream.
It dared not resist; it was fear etched into the very core of the food chain.
It brandished its tentacles, retreating frantically as if electrocuted, creating towering waves as it plunged into the deep sea.
It fled a thousand times faster than it had come.
The sea instantly returned to calm.
The mist dissipated.
The long-awaited moonlight shone on the sea.
In the banquet hall, deathly silence reigned.
Captain Davy Jones remained kneeling, but he was no longer fanatical; instead, he trembled violently, as if witnessing the most terrifying scene of his life.
His god… had fled?
Frightened away by this woman…?
"Monster… monster…" The captain stammered, pointing at Shen Qingqiu.
"You are… the real monster…" Shen Qingqiu put away the bronze fragment.
The divine image behind her dissipated, and she transformed back into the delicate noblewoman in her Lolita dress.
She walked up to the captain and used her folding fan to lift his chin.
"A monster?" Shen Qingqiu chuckled, her eyes radiating an arrogant disdain for all living beings.
"No."
"I am… the administrator."
"And you…" Her folding fan snapped shut.
*Snap.*
"Just my targets for cleanup." Seventeen stepped forward.
He looked at Shen Qingqiu's back, the red light in his eyes long gone, replaced by deep infatuation.
That brief burst of divinity had given even this faithless AI an urge to worship.
"Deal with her." Shen Qingqiu turned away, no longer looking at the captain who had already suffered a mental breakdown.
"This ship is too filthy, I don't like it."
"Yes, sir." Seventeen raised his foot and crushed the captain's head.
Like crushing an insect.
…On the deck.
The storm subsided, the moon shone brightly, and the stars were few.
This terrifying instance, titled "Call of the Deep Sea," had become a farce under Shen Qingqiu's absolute suppression.
The two stood at the bow of the ship.
The sea breeze ruffled Shen Qingqiu's long hair and skirt.
"Seventeen." Shen Qingqiu looked at the bright moon.
"Have you ever wondered why those monsters are afraid of me?"
Seventeen stood behind her, draping her coat over her shoulders.
"Because you are stronger than them."
"No."
Shen Qingqiu shook her head.
She stretched out her hand, looking at the delicate lines on her palm.
"Because of the unknown."
"For humans, the deep sea is the unknown, hence the terror."
"But for the monsters of the deep sea..."
She turned to look at Seventeen, her eyes gleaming with wisdom.
"We, who come from another dimension and possess rules they cannot comprehend..."
"are the truly indescribable."
"In the eyes of ants, humans are Cthulhu."
"In their eyes, I am... an evil god." Seventeen nodded, seemingly understanding.
He didn't care about the debate between gods and demons.
He only knew...
He reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder.
That right arm, which had slaughtered countless stars, now gently clasped her fingers.
"Whether you are a god, a demon, or a monster." Seventeen's voice was deep, moist with the sea breeze.
"As long as I'm under your skirt."
"I'm willing to be that... most loyal ant."
Shen Qingqiu smiled.
She reached back and touched his face.
"Fool."
"An ant has no right to kiss me."
She turned around, in the moonlight, on the bow of that now empty ghost ship.
She kissed his lips.
[Dungeon cleared.] [Rating: SSS.]
[Title Acquired: Nightmare of the Old Ones.] The system notification sounded, but it no longer mattered.
In this bizarre and boundless world,
they were each other's only reality, and their only salvation.
Distinguishing gods from demons, they were devoted followers.
That night, the deep sea was silent, only love resounded deafeningly.