Staring Contest? When Pybara Meets Babata

"Oh? Are you telling me there's a passage underwater?"

This was different from the scene in the original work where Luo Feng dug a hole to enter the underground.

Babata had pointed out a different path to Pybara.

It was the deep pool where the tentacle monster had previously resided.

Beneath it seemed to be a massive funnel-shaped tunnel.

It was likely the path of an underground river, modified by the power of these extraterrestrials.

Pybara's other scientific name was the capybara.

As the name implied, this guy was even more agile in the water than on land.

Coupled with the special genes he had just devoured from the tentacle monster, he could now hold his breath underwater for days and nights without any issue.

Furthermore, after successfully advancing to the Emperor-level monster rank, his need for oxygen had become negligible.

"Since you want to see me so badly? Then I'll reluctantly come and pay you a visit!"

Pybara stared at the deep, dark pool.

Feeling the surging Emperor-level power within his body, along with the newly acquired Super Regeneration and Water Affinity, he felt full of confidence.

He no longer hesitated, his round body darting into the icy pool water like an agile torpedo with a splash.

Underwater visibility was extremely low, but for Pybara, who possessed powerful spiritual energy and Water Affinity, this was not a problem at all.

He clearly sensed that deep at the bottom of the pool, there was indeed a massive, funnel-shaped tunnel entrance with clear signs of artificial excavation.

It was dark and profound, leading to an unknown destination.

"This is the place!"

Pybara paddled his limbs, diving rapidly until he reached the tunnel entrance.

The entrance was piled with silt and rubble, clearly having not been maintained by "anyone" for a long time.

"Perfect, time to test the power of the new Black Hole!"

With a thought from Pybara, a terrifying Black Hole with a diameter of 30 meters instantly unfolded behind him!

However, this time, he did not fully unleash the devouring power, but instead exercised precise control.

He focused the devouring range primarily on the blocked area of the tunnel ahead.

"Hum—!"

The pitch-black vortex acted like a massive underwater excavator head, slowly pushing forward.

Wherever it passed, the thick silt, hard rocks, and even the metal debris settled within were ruthlessly decomposed, compressed, and transformed into basic streams of matter to be devoured the moment they touched the Black Hole's force field!

[Ding! Devoured basalt, energy +1]
[Ding! Devoured sedimentary silt, energy +0.1]
[Ding! Devoured G-grade metal fragments, energy +5]

The system notifications rang out like a scrolling screen; although the energy provided by each item was minimal, the sheer quantity made up for it!

Moreover, Pybara's goal was not the energy, but to clear a path!

Under the terrifying efficiency of the 30-meter diameter Black Hole, the blocked tunnel ahead was cleared and widened at a speed visible to the naked eye!

The silt and rocks vanished, revealing the smooth metal tunnel walls behind, which were etched with distinct energy patterns.

Pybara was like a super-enhanced version of a groundhog, except his method of "digging" was to simply make the matter in front of him "disappear"!

He maintained the Black Hole, advancing forward at a steady pace.

Whenever he encountered particularly hard rock layers or alloy gates, he only needed to slightly increase the devouring power to pierce through them easily!

The entire process was quiet and efficient, without any massive commotion, save for the faint "hissing" sound of matter being annihilated.

This method of operation looked primitive.

The efficiency wasn't particularly high, either.

But to Babata, this scene was yet another series of shocks.

"How can this be? Have the monsters on this planet already evolved a higher intelligence than humans?"

On the surface, this looked like a simple digging process.

But the sense of direction displayed by this mammal, and the logic behind digging downward, all pointed to one fact.

That was that he had locked onto a specific location.

However, thanks to its stealth technology, the Meteor Starship was completely undetectable by any human technological means.

The only way to find its precise location was through the secret markers Babata had set up beforehand.

In other words, that guy currently digging tunnels could perfectly understand those markers.

And it had treated them like road signs on a highway!

It was simply inconceivable.

Could a Capybara really possess that level of intelligence?

When the Capybara "swallowed" the final thick alloy gate separating the interior from the exterior with its Black Hole, the scene before it suddenly opened up.

It had entered a colossal underground space.

There was no water here; the air was dry and clean, permeated with an ancient and cold metallic scent.

In the center of the space, a massive, dilapidated, yet still radiating a heart-stopping pressure, dark-colored spaceship floated silently—the Meteor Starship!

And beneath the ship, on a strangely shaped metal platform resembling a throne.

A small "girl" about 1.5 meters tall, dressed in black robes with fair skin.

She had a pair of large red eyes and two sharp horns growing from her head.

She was sitting with her legs crossed, one hand propping up her chin.

With a gaze mixed with extreme curiosity, scrutiny, and a hint of disbelief, she stared fixedly at the Capybara that had just "broken through the wall."

It was the intelligent lifeform, Babata!

"This guy just appeared like that?"

The Capybara was also stunned.

It looked at the Babata who was identical to the description in the original work, then looked at the giant, imposing spaceship.

For a moment, the human-like entity and the beast just stared at each other from a distance, eyes wide.

A strange and awkward silence permeated the air.

Babata's red eyes, like the most precise scanners, scrutinized the Capybara up and down, thoroughly and carefully.

The round, furry body, the short limbs, the face that looked harmless and even a bit cute, and...

The pitch-black Black Hole behind it, which had quietly retracted but still retained traces of spatial fluctuations.

She truly could not connect this creature, which looked like a high-tier pet, to the "monster" that had been rampaging outside, devouring Wood Bud Crystals like candy.

And had even used its bizarre Black Hole to forcibly "dig" through the rock layers to find this place.

"Ahem,"

In the end, it was Babata who broke the silence, clearing her throat.

She tried to appear inscrutable, but her youthful, childish voice carried an irrepressible sense of wonder.

"Are you... really just a Capybara?"

The Capybara tilted its head, its dark, bright eyes blinking, and then it transmitted a clear thought via mental power.

"Genuine and authentic, a local specialty."

The corner of Babata's mouth twitched slightly.

"...Local specialties don't use Black Holes to dig tunnels, nor can they read the spatial markers I left behind."

"Oh, you mean those energy signs that looked like road signs?"

The Capybara continued to respond with mental power, its tone sounding very "innocent."

"I felt like there would be good things if I followed them, so I came over. I guess I wasn't wrong?"