"What? I transmigrated into a capybara!"
Staring at his reflection in the pond, Ye Xiu struggled to calm down.
How could this happen?
All he'd done was stay up all night playing Honor of Kings.
But when he opened his eyes, he'd found himself in a wasteland.
And after transmigrating, Ye Xiu wasn't even human anymore.
How could this happen?
Just as Ye Xiu was wrestling with the situation,
a mechanical voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have successfully bound the Swallowed Star System. You can level up by devouring.]
Well, all right.
The Swallowed Star System?
Had he been reborn in the world of Swallowed Star?
No wonder this place looked like a wasteland.
The air was thick with a rotten, bloody stench.
It clearly wasn't a place humans could live.
But as a capybara, did he even have the ability to hunt?
As Ye Xiu agonized over it,
a cat suddenly meowed behind him.
Then a Shadow Cat, nearly as big as Ye Xiu's capybara body, leaped into view.
It was one of the lowest-tier Beast Soldiers in Swallowed Star.
They were supposed to roam in packs, but today he'd run into one that was alone.
It was obvious this mutated cat was hungry.
It was planning to make Ye Xiu its dinner.
Just then, the system prompt appeared again.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have discovered your first prey and successfully activated the starter gift pack.] [Ding! Congratulations! You have unlocked the Black Hole Engine. It can devour anything, with an initial diameter of 15 centimeters.]
What?
Was this a skill?
A black hole?
It could devour absolutely anything.
That was ridiculously overpowered!
"Meow!"
The Shadow Cat across from him didn't have a system.
When it saw the silly "big rat" sitting perfectly still,
it started drooling.
Then it pounced straight toward its prey's plump backside.
There was so much meat there, in big, chunky portions.
One bite, and all that juicy flavor would be incredible!
But just as the big cat was about to reach the capybara,
its target seemed to have finally composed itself.
The next moment, something incredible happened.
The capybara raised its head.
The space behind it suddenly warped,
and a swirling vortex of energy appeared out of nowhere.
It was a black hole.
A mini black hole.
As it opened, Ye Xiu suddenly felt a strange connection to it.
He could use his will to turn the black hole in any direction and make it absorb a specific target.
"Whoosh!"
"Meow!"
By the time the Shadow Cat realized something was wrong,
it was already too late.
A powerful suction force poured out of the tiny black hole, barely 15 centimeters across.
Before the cat could react,
its paws flew toward it against its will.
Its nearly two-meter-long body was dragged along with them.
The sight was surreal.
As it flew through the air,
its eyes were wide open, and it nearly scraped across the capybara's forehead.
Damn!
That was close!
But the strangest part was yet to come.
First, the cat's paw was sucked into the black hole.
Then its body seemed to be compressed by some terrifying force.
Its relatively massive frame was squeezed until it looked like a twisted dough stick.
Then it was sucked in piece by piece.
The Shadow Cat's blood and bodily fluids were forced out,
but they didn't spray everywhere.
The black hole soon drew them in too, like a warped stream of water.
At the same time,
Ye Xiu suddenly felt his whole body grow warm.
A strange sense of fullness appeared in his stomach.
It was as if he'd absorbed every last bit of the monster's cells and energy.
Amazing!
The process looked complicated,
but in reality, it took less than five seconds.
The entire Shadow Cat had been devoured.
Once everything had settled,
the system prompt appeared again.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have completed your first devouring. Your initial stats are as follows.] [Name] Ye Xiu [Race] Mutated Giant Rodent [Level] High-Tier Beast Soldier [Skill] Black Hole Domain (30 centimeters)
Without that system notification,
Ye Xiu might not have realized that after devouring his first target,
the black hole behind him had grown to 30 centimeters in diameter.
So devouring monsters not only made me feel full, but also expanded the black hole.
Not bad!
I like this!
As his confidence grew, Ye Xiu's mind slowly cleared.
As a transmigrator, he began recalling the lore of Swallowed Star.
Capybaras were also a peak race in Swallowed Star.
Wasn't the legendary Extreme King Heavy Arrow King a creature just like this in human form?
Still,
Ye Xiu had a long way to go before reaching that level.
First, he had to survive in this city overrun with monsters.
As he thought about what lay ahead,
a wolf howled nearby.
"Awooo!"
Then a huge shadow leaped right over Ye Xiu's head.
It looked like a wolf-shaped monster.
There was a large wound on its hind leg, like a gunshot wound, and blood dripped from it.
It seemed to be fleeing for its life.
That thing...
Could it be the Silver Moon Fierce Wolf?
Relying on his memories and the glimpse he'd caught out of the corner of his eye,
Ye Xiu suddenly recognized it.
At the same time, a sense of danger came over him.
Who had wounded the Silver Moon Fierce Wolf?
Acting on instinct, Ye Xiu charged toward the dilapidated buildings nearby.
He deliberately hid downwind, too.
It was clearly the right choice.
Before long, a series of heavy footsteps sounded outside.
A dozen or so fully armed humans came rushing over, carrying all sorts of weapons.
Some had guns, others carried greatswords or heavy blades...
They were clearly tracking their prey.
"Where did it go?"
"There's blood on the ground. Everyone, spread out and search!"
"Groups of three. Don't let that beast catch us off guard!"
Human martial artists?
They were well trained. In groups of three, they stood back to back in tight formation, searching every possible hiding place with caution.
The bloody stench in the air came not only from the Silver Moon Fierce Wolf, but also from the martial artists, who had lived by the sword for years.
"Over here! The blood trail leads inside the abandoned factory!"
A burly man holding a giant axe growled.
The team immediately changed direction and cautiously advanced toward the factory entrance, not far from Ye Xiu's hiding place.
Just as the leading man stepped into the factory's shadow,
"Awooo—!"
A howl filled with pain and fury tore through the silence!
The silver-gray figure sprang out from behind a massive support pillar inside the factory like a ghost!
It moved so fast that only a blur remained!
Its target was the burly man with the axe!
"Watch out!"
A nearby martial artist carrying a shield and a war blade reacted instantly. He lunged forward and raised his shield to block.
"Clang!"
Before you continue