"Roar!"
Although it noticed the little brown-and-yellow animal charging toward it,
the enormous bear clearly didn't take him seriously.
The difference in their size was simply too great.
That little thing was like a tiny steamed bun. It wasn't even remotely the sort of prey the bear hunted.
Even when the capybara started running and a nearly one-meter-wide black hole appeared behind him, the bear still didn't pay it any mind.
"Roar!"
A hint of almost human disdain even flashed through the Giant Rock Black Bear's scarlet eyes.
It casually raised a foreleg as thick as a stone pillar, bringing it down with a vicious gust of wind that could crush anything in its path.
It swung at the reckless "steamed bun" charging toward it, along with the insignificant black speck behind him.
In its simple mind, that single blow would be enough to smash its opponent—and the ground beneath him—to powder.
But the instant its massive paw entered the one-meter-wide black hole's range, everything changed!
This was no longer mere suction. It was an absolute force of restraint and annihilation, as though it had come from the depths of the cosmos!
"Wuuuung—!"
Space let out a strained wail. The Giant Rock Black Bear's rocky fur and muscles, tough enough to withstand a missile strike,
began to crumble and peel away the moment they touched the black hole's field, like soft earth meeting a rapidly spinning drill.
They weren't being pulled apart. They were being directly disintegrated and devoured!
"Roar?!!"
The disdain in the Giant Rock Black Bear's eyes was instantly replaced by sheer terror and pain!
It let out the most piercing, ear-splitting roar it had made since the battle began!
It tried to pull back its foreleg, only to realize in despair that this power didn't merely devour—it also restrained!
Its foreleg seemed welded inside invisible shackles.
It could only watch helplessly as its flesh and bones vanished into the unfathomably deep, pitch-black vortex, as though being fed into a grinder.
And the terrifying force of disintegration and consumption was rapidly spreading from its foreleg toward its torso!
"Grr... Roar!"
Ye Xiu felt the feedback from the black hole: an unprecedented torrent of energy, surging like a mighty river!
A ruthless glint flashed in his wide eyes as he poured every last bit of his energy into the black hole behind him!
"Wuuuung!!!"
The black hole spun even faster, its diameter expanding at a visible rate!
One meter one, one meter two, one meter five!
The terrifying gravitational field abruptly intensified. The Giant Rock Black Bear's enormous body, weighing dozens of tons,
was dragged off its feet and pulled uncontrollably toward the black hole!
As it flew through the air, its seemingly indestructible body twisted and compressed like dough kneaded by an invisible giant hand,
warping in defiance of the laws of physics!
The crack of breaking bones rang out in a dense barrage. Blood and fragments of internal organs were caught by the gravitational field before they could even spray out,
turning into spiraling streams of matter that were devoured by the black hole.
The sight was almost surreal.
A beast as massive as a mountain was forcibly compressed and stretched in midair, until it became a twisted "stream of matter."
Howling in despair, it was swallowed whole by that pitch-black opening, barely one and a half meters across!
[ Ding! Successfully devoured Lord-level Giant Rock Black Bear! ]
[ Converting energy... ]
[ Host level increased: Primary Lord! ]
[ Life level has undergone an evolution! ]
[ Black Hole Domain diameter increased: 3 meters! ]
[ Detected extractable gene fragments [Giant Rock Black Bear · Enhanced Defense/Earth Affinity]. Extract and fuse? ]
A torrent of energy, more vast and pure than any he had ever absorbed before, erupted inside Ye Xiu like a tsunami!
He felt every cell in his body cheering, tearing apart and rebuilding itself as it underwent a fundamental transformation!
His bones grew denser and harder, while his muscle fibers filled with explosive strength.
A faint metallic sheen shimmered across his fur.
An imposing aura, surpassing that of a beast general, radiated involuntarily from his round body!
Primary Lord!
He had now entered the ranks of the top predators in this area!
"Extract! Fuse everything!"
Ye Xiu didn't hesitate.
A weighty, mountain-like strength flowed into every part of his body.
At the same time, he felt a strange connection forming between himself and the ground beneath his feet.
It was as if he could draw on faint earth-vein energy and even influence the surrounding soil and stone to a certain extent!
A black hole with a three-meter diameter!
That meant a qualitative leap in the range and power of his devouring!
"Phew..."
Ye Xiu exhaled a long plume of white mist, its breath scorching, and savored the surging power within him.
His gaze turned toward the distant horizon.
Lord level was only a new beginning!
Meanwhile, Zhao Ruo and Janet had just gathered the courage to rush over and "fight alongside him."
Now, they stood completely frozen in place, mouths agape, their beautiful eyes filled with shock and bewilderment.
What had they just seen?
That Lord-level Giant Rock Black Bear, the one that had left them feeling utterly hopeless...
Had been... had been "eaten" by the capybara they'd thought was going to "sacrifice himself to protect his master."
With a black hole that had grown bigger... he'd eaten it?
Just like that... eaten it?
The short spear nearly slipped from Janet's hand. She murmured, "God... what did I just... see?"
Zhao Ruo's mind was just as blank. All the emotion and tragic resolve she'd felt before
had now turned into a huge question mark and an indescribable sense of absurdity.
Were we... worried about him just now?
Having completed his advancement, Ye Xiu slowly turned and looked at the two stunned, beautiful battle goddesses.
He habitually tilted his head and gave them a friendly look.
The strange thing was,
even though he had become a Lord-level creature,
his body was about the same size as before.
From the outside, he still looked just as adorable.
But the two women facing him were anything but calm.
Janet even trembled a little in fear, and her right hand instinctively came to rest on Zhao Ruo's shoulder.
If they hadn't just witnessed this battle between monsters,
the two young women would probably still have thought the capybara in front of them was a weak creature.
"Kaka, c-could you just stay right there?"
Zhao Ruo finally couldn't take it anymore, either.
She held out her right hand in a gesture for training a dog.
Across from her, Ye Xiu looked at the two women's expressions and sighed softly.
Ugh, it was all because I was too cool just now!
So he stayed where he was, staring at the two young women with a blank look.
The two sides remained at a standoff for a short while.
Then the capybara shook his head and slipped into a nearby thicket.
What could they do?
It was hard for any normal woman to stay calm after seeing something as terrifying as that, wasn't it?
But not long after the capybara disappeared,
the two young women exchanged uncertain glances.
"Did we misunderstand him? He..."
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