From the Abyss Invasion to the Blasting Star.

Deep in the Eastern Ocean, at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Su Muyu has located the position where the abyssal behemoth burrowed into the seabed magma layer, which is a slowly erupting underground volcano.

Through the murky seawater, dark red lava flows can be faintly seen flowing in the crater, like the breath of a sleeping behemoth.

“It went down from here.” Su Muyu’s voice was transmitted to everyone’s ears through the communicator. “I can sense the residual energy, right at the entrance of that cave.”

Outside the underwater volcano, after being cooled by seawater, an irregular downward-facing cave was left, which is the entrance left by the abyssal behemoth as it burrowed into the ground.

Judging from the size of the opening, just as Lu Heng had previously deduced, the part of the abyss behemoth's body that escaped was about 100 meters wide and probably even longer.

Lu Heng's divine source armor gleamed faintly in the seawater as he stared at the volcano, his brows furrowed: "This beast is more cunning than we imagined."

Xie Shi'en said in a solemn tone, "It seems we need to go into the magma layer to take a look."

Lin Zeyu adjusted the pressure adaptation device on his sniper rifle, complaining, "Are you kidding me? Lava must be thousands of degrees hot!"

"To be precise, the magma temperature here is between 1300 and 1400 degrees Celsius."

Xie Shi'en calmly added, his mental energy forming a protective layer in the seawater: "My mental field can isolate the high temperature of the magma for a period of time, but it is unlikely to find the abyssal behemoth in such a short time."

"If it's just in the shallow magma layer, that's fine, but I'm afraid it'll hide in the Earth's core." Lu Heng's Divine Source Armor can last longer, but it can't penetrate too deep into the mantle.

Lin Zeyu asked in confusion, "This thing can hide inside the Earth's core? How high is the temperature inside the Earth's core?"

Recalling the battle in the Abyss Demon Nest, Su Muyu replied, "The highest temperature in the Earth's core can reach 5000 degrees Celsius. As for whether the Abyss Beasts can hide inside, it's hard to say."

"Among the superhumans who entered the Abyss Demon Nest before, many possessed fire-based skills."

"Judging from the battle, the Abyss Behemoth's outer skin is almost immune to fire damage, and fire skills can only damage its tentacles."

"I've also tried solar wind, which can scorch the surface skin of the abyssal behemoth, but it's difficult to damage the flesh beneath its skin."

"From this perspective, it's perfectly fine for the abyss behemoth to burrow into the lava."

"As for whether it can enter the Earth's core, in my judgment, I think it can burrow into the Earth's core, but it cannot extend its tentacles to hunt in the core area."

"From this perspective, the abyssal behemoth should be able to hide in the Earth's core, but it cannot hide for long periods of time. It will spend most of its time in the mantle region."

While the group was discussing, the staff group at the war zone headquarters also gave their analysis, which was similar to Su Muyu's judgment.

The Earth's subsurface structure is mainly divided into three parts, from the outermost layer inward: the crust, the mantle, and the core.

The Earth's core is divided into a liquid outer core and a solid inner core.

However, once we reach the Earth's core, there is no need for further discussion.

The Earth's core is more than 3000 kilometers away from the surface. Finding a giant abyss beast in the core is beyond the capabilities of current human technology.

Even for the Sykes civilization, this would have been very difficult.

While the abyssal behemoth does have a high resistance to fire, it doesn't mean it can survive in a magma environment for an extended period.

After all, there is a fundamental difference between hiding for a short time and surviving for a long time.

Lu Heng kept the communication channel open, listening to the discussion of the theater staff group, occasionally interjecting with a comment:
"I think the question we should be considering now is, what is the purpose of the abyssal behemoth coming to Earth? It's impossible for it to come to our world and hide in the Earth's core; that would be meaningless to it."

The theater staff members all agreed with this view, and what needed to be done now was to analyze the Abyss Behemoth's purpose.

The theater staff invited scientists specializing in biological behavioral logic to analyze the behavior of the abyssal behemoth and draw some preliminary conclusions.

First, the first point.

As living beings, they certainly possess survival instincts. Judging from the battles that took place in the Abyss Demon Nest, the Abyss Behemoths possess hunting instincts.

In other words, the abyssal behemoth needs to eat.

So the question is, what do the abyssal behemoths eat?
This question is not difficult to answer.

Because many superhumans escaped back to Earth, the Academy of Sciences has extracted cell samples of the Abyss Beast from these superhumans.

With a simple analysis, the main components of the Abyss Behemoth's flesh and blood can be determined.

Creatures that obtain nutrients through hunting all have one thing in common: their own material composition is similar to that of their food.

From an elemental perspective, their compositions are similar.

After all, abyssal behemoths need to obtain nutrients from food, and the absorbed nutrients become part of their bodies.

Therefore, the Academy of Sciences has reached a conclusion on the analysis of the cellular components of the abyssal behemoth.

Based on the logic of biological behavior, this abyssal behemoth needs to obtain food no matter where it hides.

The best food is the creatures of Earth.

More accurately, it refers to humans.

Animals from Earth can certainly be eaten.

However, for creatures of the abyss, creatures containing source energy are clearly more delicious and contain more energy.

Therefore, human beings with superpowers are more palatable than ordinary animals.

Of course, the Abyssal Beast doesn't just eat people; it also eats Astral Merchants, Ancient Trees of Knowledge, and any creature that can provide energy.

The reason for choosing Earth is quite simple: Earth has a large population.

The population of Earth is seven billion, the Elf race has 30,000, the Dark Iron Dwarves have 100,000, and the Siren race has less than 200,000.

A quick calculation will show that the combined numbers of races like elves, dark iron dwarves, and sirens are less than a fraction of the human population.

A colossal abyss beast, if it wants to be well-fed, knows without a second thought which world to choose.

If the Abyssal Beast's goal in entering Earth was to hunt, then it couldn't possibly stay hidden in the magma layer forever; it would definitely have to come to the surface to hunt.

After the theater staff reached this conclusion, they immediately issued an emergency order to countries around the world to be vigilant against possible attacks.

……

The Abyss Nest incident is no secret to the general public on Earth.

The stargate that appeared a few days ago has already caused a sensation around the world. Some ordinary people who are not afraid of death have even passed through the stargate and seen the terrifying scene inside the abyss.

Of course, someone whose mind is not clear has no chance of survival.

The Abyss Nest incident caused a sensation and made all of humanity aware of the existence of the Abyss Beast.

Now, an even more terrifying piece of news has been released, sending chills down the spines of all humanity. The abyssal behemoth from the Abyssal Demon's Nest has escaped to Earth and burrowed underground.

This means that this abyssal behemoth could emerge from anywhere beneath your feet at any moment and drag you underground to devour you.

This kind of crisis, which could occur at any time, is terrifying.

Of course, most people only feel numbness in their feet, not to the point of despair.

After all, the population of Earth is too large, seven billion people, which means that the chance of being eaten by the abyssal behemoth is one in seven billion.

Of course, the abyssal behemoth can't eat just one at a time, but that's not important.

For most ordinary people, being preyed upon by a giant abyss beast in a short period of time is a low-probability event.

However, looking at this matter from a long-term perspective, it's not that simple.

If the abyssal behemoth truly takes root beneath Earth and grows into a terrifying creature covering millions of square kilometers, then Earth will become its prey.

……

The theater command had been discussing operational plans, but could not find an effective one for the time being.

The world beneath the magma has always been an unexplored realm for humans, let alone a place to search for a monster within it.

Lin Zeyu pondered for a moment and said, "As long as I see it once, I can pinpoint its location. Now it's just a matter of when it appears."

He possesses the upgraded Witcher's Mark, which allows him to pinpoint the target's location and determine the exact direction and distance, even if the target burrows underground.

But there's a prerequisite: the abyssal behemoth must appear at least once.

"I'll send the Azure Phoenix in to take a look first. If we can track it down, it will be much easier."

Su Muyu closed her eyes, and the Azure Phoenix appeared behind her, spreading its wings made of energy.

As she formed hand seals, the Azure Phoenix transformed into a streak of light and plunged into the volcano's crater.

Time ticked by, and everyone waited for Su Muyu's detection results.

This will directly affect subsequent actions.

"The residual energy left by the abyssal behemoth is still quite clear, and I can track it, but I'm afraid the distance is too far." Su Muyu reported the findings of her investigation while controlling the Azure Phoenix to travel through the lava.

The Azure Phoenix is ​​made of energy and is not afraid of the high temperature of magma, so moving in magma is not a big problem. It's just that the resistance is much greater than that in air, so the speed of movement is relatively slow.

For other types of perceivers, the high temperature of magma greatly hinders the extension of their perception.

After Su Muyu mastered [Spatial Control], her perception could extend strictly through spatial media, and she would not be affected even in magma.

About ten minutes later, Su Muyu's expression began to tense up.

Lu Heng grabbed her shoulder and asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

"I think I've found it. Wait! Ah!"

Su Muyu exclaimed in surprise, suddenly opening her eyes with a look of astonishment on her face.

"What's wrong?" Everyone gathered around to ask.

"The Azure Phoenix was scattered by its outstretched tentacles. The situation may be more troublesome than we expected. I think I can see it splitting apart." Su Muyu's tone was somewhat solemn.

"Split?"

Those who heard this answer showed expressions of surprise.

Although Lu Heng was somewhat surprised, he didn't find it strange: "We should have realized long ago that this thing has tens of thousands of mouthparts and tentacles, and it doesn't have just one brain. If it has multiple brain structures, then it's not strange that it splits into multiple individuals."

This latest intelligence was also relayed back to the theater headquarters, and the staff group, who were discussing the operational plan, all gasped in shock.

Originally, there was only one target to deal with, but now there are more than one.

No one knows how many of these abyssal behemoths can split into. If there are hundreds or thousands of them, it will be difficult to completely eliminate them.

Lu Heng's expression was very serious. He answered Qi Jinghui's call and said, "I want to talk to a scientist in the field of biology."

Qi Jinghui turned on the speakerphone and said, "Speak, we can all hear you."

Lu Heng asked, "I want to ask, based on the cell samples of the abyssal behemoth, can we determine the type of food this thing eats?"

Qi Jinghui added, "Commander Lu means that he wants to ask whether the abyssal behemoth must climb out of the ground to eat."

After discussion, the biological behavior logic research team in the think tank came to a conclusion: "Based on cellular composition analysis, the diet of this abyssal behemoth is mainly organic matter."

“The underground, especially the magma layer, is mainly composed of inorganic matter, so we believe that this abyssal behemoth’s feeding behavior must indeed take place on the surface.”

Upon hearing this answer, Lu Heng asked again for confirmation: "In other words, it can be confirmed that abyssal behemoths cannot grow and develop in the magma layer, right?"

The biology team replied, "Yes, that's exactly what we think. From a biological behavior perspective, if this abyssal behemoth can obtain nutrients or energy from magma, then it doesn't need to appear on the surface at all; it could simply reside in the core of a planet and become one with the entire planet."

Lu Heng nodded and said, "If that's the case, the situation isn't too bad."

The biology team added, "The information we just heard is that the abyssal behemoth is splitting. This is a form of asexual reproduction, and normally, such behavior would place a huge burden on the organism, including but not limited to restricted movement and reduced combat effectiveness. Therefore, we believe that now is the best time to take action."

Lu Heng also thought of this: "Okay, I will try to attack the abyssal behemoth and hopefully solve the problem in one blow."

Su Muyu released the second Azure Phoenix and said, "I still remember the approximate location, but I don't know if it will move."

"Let's keep chasing them and find them first." Lu Heng said, activating his Divine Source Armor and jumping into the underwater volcano first.

Su Muyu controlled the Azure Phoenix to follow, flying ahead to lead Lu Heng along the previous path to find the Abyss Beast.

As expected, the abyssal behemoth did indeed change its location.

The Azure Phoenix chased all the way back to the previous location, but found no abyssal behemoth. It then activated its senses again and followed the residual energy.

Lu Heng followed behind the Azure Phoenix, swimming forward quickly.

The Divine Source Armor insulated the magma from its intense heat, but its energy consumption was rapid.

Before one is promoted to demigod, it is impossible to travel through lava for an extended period of time.

Now that I've been promoted to demigod, all my skills and class abilities have been significantly improved, and I can stay in lava for a very long time.

After chasing for more than ten minutes, the Azure Phoenix suddenly stopped, indicating that it had found the Abyss Beast and was very close.

Lu Heng held his breath, drew his Aurora Blade, and prepared for battle. (End of Chapter)