  Two-dimensional (2D) moir\'e materials have emerged as a highly tunable
platform for investigating novel quantum states of matter arising from strong
electronic correlations and nontrivial band topology. Recently, topological
flat bands formed in 2D semiconducting moir\'e superlattices have attracted
great interests. In particular, a series of topological quantum phases,
including the long-sought fractional quantum anomalous Hall (FQAH) effect, have
recently been experimentally observed in twisted bilayer MoTe2 (tMoTe2).
However, the microscopic information of tMoTe2 moir\'e superlattice and its
electronic structure is still lacking. Here, we present scanning tunneling
microscopy and spectroscopy (STM/STS) studies of the tMoTe2 moir\'e
superlattice, with twist angles ranging from about 2.3{\deg} to 2.8{\deg}. We
developed a contact-STM mode to apply pressure on tMoTe2 and observed a phase
transition from band insulator to metal of tMoTe2 under pressure at the charge
neutrality point. STM imaging reveals a pronounced in-plane lattice
reconstruction with periodic strain redistribution in the tMoTe2, which serves
as gauge fields for generating topological moir\'e bands. Importantly, the
electronic states of the low-energy moir\'e flat bands primarily concentrate at
the XM and MX regions as revealed by STS imaging. Such spatial distributions
are nicely reproduced by our first principal calculations with a large-scale
basis, suggesting the low-energy moir\'e flat bands are formed through the
hybridization of K valley bands of the top layer and K' valley bands of the
bottom layer. Overall, our findings provide compelling real-space evidence of
electronic structure under pressure and topological flat bands of tMoTe2,
paving the way for further STM/STS investigations of correlated topological
states within the topological flat band in gate-tunable tMoTe2 devices.
