"You really are a cunning creature, but I like you!"
Looking at the adorable yet powerful Capybara before her,
Babata wore a little devilish smile.
Her eyes darted around, as if she were plotting something.
According to the original story, Babata wanted to find a successor to the Falling Ink Star Inheritance.
But this successor had to meet one strict requirement.
They had to possess powerful Spiritual Force.
Although the Capybara before her had been selected,
he still fell a little short.
At the moment, he wasn't humanoid, and he had no Spiritual Force inheritance.
It seemed he didn't meet that strict requirement.
But Babata had definitely brought him here for a reason.
"You lured me over here. You didn't just want to chat, did you?"
Although he could tell that the other party wasn't entirely sincere, Capybara wasn't in a hurry.
Because he already knew where she was.
The spacecraft before him couldn't take off anymore.
So he didn't have to worry about Babata escaping.
Besides, he didn't want to resort to violence just yet.
After all, Babata could offer him far more than a few Wood Bud Crystals.
The greatest thing this little devil could do was guide Earth's civilization into the universe!
Whoever could control Babata would have a chance to become an ultimate powerhouse!
"Don't rush. Look, I brought you here to treat you to something delicious!"
Sensing that the adorable creature before her was getting impatient,
Babata immediately produced a huge pile of Wood Bud Crystals, as if by magic.
There were at least a hundred of them.
Capybara's attention was instantly caught.
But that was all.
She didn't offer to make him Hu Yanbo's disciple.
And she didn't show him the three massively wealthy accounts the Falling Ink Star had at the Universe Bank, either.
What was this?
Did she want to raise him into a guard dog?
Capybara might have looked adorably innocent,
but as someone who had crossed over, he knew exactly what was going on.
"Well? Do you like them? If you're willing to stay and help me guard the spacecraft, I've got even better things for you later!"
Clearly,
Babata had badly misjudged the intelligence of the monster before her.
She still thought she could win him over with food,
just like that Tentacle Monster outside.
All it took was a regular supply of food and a steady stream of temptations to control it.
"Is there anything else? I'm getting a little tired of eating this stuff."
Sure enough, Capybara wasn't so easy to fool.
Compared to Hu Yanbo's three Universe Bank accounts, this was just a little snack.
"Hm?"
Seeing Capybara's seemingly innocent gaze, which actually held a hint of scrutiny and amusement, Babata's heart skipped a beat.
This little guy didn't seem so easy to fool!
"What? You don't like these?"
Babata forced an even "kinder" smile, trying to hide the schemes in her heart.
"Then eat these first. I'll go prepare you a feast!"
She snapped her fingers. A robot immediately glided over and pushed the hundred-odd Wood Bud Crystals in front of Capybara.
Then Babata started to turn away, as if she really were going to prepare something even better.
"Wait."
A clear mental message stopped Babata in her tracks.
Her body stiffened. She slowly turned around, still smiling.
"What is it, little guy? Is there something else?"
Capybara didn't touch the Wood Bud Crystals right away. Instead, he leisurely ambled over to the pile.
He pawed through them a few times, then raised his glossy black eyes to look at Babata.
"Babata, let's be frank.
You didn't bring me here just to find a... watchdog, did you?"
The thought he sent with his Spiritual Force was calm, yet carried an undeniable penetrating force.
"You know what I can do, and you've seen my potential.
Do you really think you can tie me down here with a few Wood Bud Crystals? Isn't that... a little stingy?"
The smile on Babata's face began to falter. Her red eyes flickered a few times, and she gave an awkward laugh.
"Haha, how could you be a watchdog? You'd be a guardian!
A glorious guardian of the spacecraft! And these are just a little welcome gift..."
"Oh? A guardian?"
Capybara tilted his head, a trace of mockery in his thoughts.
"Guard this spacecraft, which crashed fifty thousand years ago and whose master has already fallen?
Then what? Guard these Wood Bud Crystals until the end of the universe?"
He took two steps forward. His body was round,
but the pressure of an Emperor-Level Monster and the faint Black Hole fluctuations behind him put Babata under considerable pressure.
"Babata, you've been waiting for fifty thousand years.
You're waiting for a true successor, someone who can inherit Senior Hu Yanbo's legacy and perhaps even avenge him someday.
Not a... pet penned up by the front door, right?"
Capybara's words were like needles, piercing straight through Babata's little scheme.
She had indeed taken a liking to Capybara's potential and unusual nature.
But because he wasn't human, she'd hesitated to hand over the Core Inheritance.
She'd only wanted to tempt him with benefits at first, so he would become the spacecraft's guardian.
With her thoughts laid bare, Babata's little face flushed red and then pale.
She was both furious and embarrassed at being seen through. "You!
How do you know my master's name? And what do you mean by revenge... What exactly are you?!"
"What I am doesn't matter,"
Capybara said calmly.
"I just want one answer from you. Will you pass on the inheritance or not?"
Well, damn!
He was really that direct?
Babata was at a loss.
"You—you're being far too unreasonable, and you don't meet the inheritance requirements!"
Babata really was loyal.
And she was obviously angry.
Deep down, she seemed to have a vague sense that she'd invited a wolf into the house.
It was easy to invite a god in, but hard to send one away.
But Babata had a strategy of her own.
She flashed through the air and vanished.
As an intelligent life-form, Babata could make short-range instant jumps through space around the spacecraft.
But Capybara didn't pursue her.
Instead, he strolled over to the pile of Wood Bud Crystals.
He opened the Black Hole behind him and swallowed them first!
"Heh. You want to hide? Where do you think you can go with me right here?"
Capybara was confident now.
Wood Bud Crystals became less useful as he absorbed more of them.
But something was better than nothing.
Once he had absorbed them all,
he would reach the peak of the Emperor-Level Monster stage. His strength might even rival that of the Thunder Dragon Emperor in the sea.
After finishing them off, the Black Hole behind Capybara had grown to over fifty meters in diameter.
It was time to end this game of hide-and-seek with Babata!
"Whoosh!"
The underground space was already cramped.
On top of that, the fifty-meter-wide Black Hole exerted a tremendous pulling force.
The enormous spacecraft sitting underground began to shake uncontrollably.
Under the Black Hole's pull, even its old metal hull started to warp.
"Hey, hey, what are you doing?"
Feeling this terrifying threat,
Babata's voice came from inside the spacecraft.
She sounded panicked.
The little girl should be able to tell.
If she refused, the Black Hole behind Capybara could swallow their entire spacecraft!
What could she do...?
Before you continue