"ROOOAAAARRRR—!!!"
The ear-shattering roar sent a violent gust hurtling straight toward Hoolay.
Instantly, terror seized every fiber of Hoolay's being. His breath caught, his massive frame rigid with uncontrollable panic. His fur flickered from white to yellow, then to red, rapidly cycling through colors like neon lights. When it finally returned to white, it was no longer his youthful, glossy fur but a brittle, aged white.
His once-proud fur now hung in dry, withered patches like an elderly wolf at death's door.
In the next instant, every strand was blasted away by the fierce wind, disintegrating into dust midair. Left completely bare, Hoolay's skinny, rib-protruding figure became comically pathetic.
But Hoolay was still the Warleader of the Borisin. His savage bloodlust and violent pride, combined with the seething Moonmadness, boiled completely out of control. His eyes burned scarlet, blazing with indescribable brutality.
Beneath his feet, dark crimson shadows spread in a thick, viscous layer.
Burning everything he had, Hoolay roared defiantly.
"RED MOON ASCENDS—!!"
Though the crimson moon couldn't restore his lost youth, it surged strength back into his body. His muscles swelled monstrously, veins bulging like writhing dragons. Terrifying power surged through his claw, saturated with bloody intent, as if ready to tear the entire Shackling Prison apart. He swung mercilessly toward Jerry!
The sheer force of the strike unleashed a devastating shockwave, pinning Jiaoqiu, Xueyi, Huohuo, and nearby Borisin helplessly against the walls.
"This is bad," Xueyi muttered urgently, struggling to move forward, but the crushing pressure instantly forced her back. She turned desperately to Jiaoqiu and Huohuo.
"We cannot let that mouse die! Without it, no one here can contain Hoolay. Do either of you have something—anything?!"
Jiaoqiu opened his amber eyes slightly, quickly assessing the scene. Feixiao was undoubtedly stronger than Hoolay, yet even Feixiao had failed to deal with the mouse back in the Divine Foresight. But back then, Feixiao had never used his true strength due to the constraints of the Xianzhou.
Even if the mouse was extraordinary, could it truly withstand Hoolay's unrestrained full force—a strike so fierce even Feixiao would have to face it carefully?
If the mouse failed here, as Xueyi said, no one would be left to stop Hoolay. If he escaped into the already chaotic Luofu, it would spell disaster.
Jiaoqiu's thoughts raced anxiously. Teeth clenched, he raised his feather fan, igniting a flame in preparation—
But the oppressive force instantly slammed him back, extinguishing the flame entirely. Panting harshly, he muttered bitterly, "Impossible... I can't exert any strength at all…"
Jiaoqiu glanced desperately toward Huohuo, whose condition was even worse. Her tail flattened pitifully against the wall, clearly useless in this crisis.
"We can only pray that mouse's mysterious strength can somehow withstand that strike…"
All eyes locked fearfully onto the giant scarlet claw descending toward Jerry, unable to even breathe.
Yet the next instant, their anxiety vanished, replaced by utter astonishment.
Shrrkk—!
The terrifying, unstoppable crimson claw completely disappeared the instant Jerry reached out casually, grabbing a single claw-tip.
It simply vanished, utterly and entirely.
The crimson aura dissolved instantly; the overwhelming force vanished without a trace. Even the roaring shockwave ceased abruptly. Huohuo, Jiaoqiu, Xueyi, and all the Borisin dropped unceremoniously to the ground.
It looked as if Hoolay, rather than unleashing his full strength, had politely extended his claw for a friendly handshake.
Yet none felt this absurdity more clearly than Hoolay himself.
His devastating strike had vanished effortlessly—he knew exactly what that implied. He desperately wanted to retreat, but his body was frozen in place by that tiny mouse gripping his claw-tip. He couldn't even twitch.
Only his eyes darted about frantically, as if Jerry was gripping his entire body instead of just a single nail-tip.
This defied all logic! He had thought the woman wielding the ice sword was Luofu's strongest guardian.
But now, fresh out of the Shackling Prison, he encountered a mere mouse whose power was impossibly deeper and more unfathomable. Had the Xianzhou truly become this monstrously powerful?
Yet thinking further, none of the figures before him were actual humans of the Xianzhou—they were Foxians and mechanical constructs. Could the Borisin who came to rescue him have tricked him too?
No—no, that's impossible!
Hoolay forced himself to focus. Once out of here, he'd slowly unravel the truth. He cautiously convinced himself the mouse still hadn't seriously harmed him. Perhaps it was all a mere bluff; even if injured, his regenerative ability granted by the Red Moon would quickly—
But his thoughts abruptly ended, his world spinning violently.
BOOM—!!!
As casually as an ant flinging an elephant, Jerry lifted Hoolay by the tip of his claw, hurling him brutally into the ground with staggering force.
Xueyi, Jiaoqiu, and Huohuo, who'd just dropped from the wall and had begun rushing forward, froze dumbfounded.
The Borisin also froze, terror chilling them to the bone, rendering them immobile.
Absolute silence fell.
Only Jerry, consumed with rage, continued mercilessly flinging Hoolay about.
BOOM—!!!
BOOM—!!!
BOOM—!!!
Each impact felt like an earthquake shaking the entire prison.
Hoolay's jaw flattened, half his head collapsed inward, internal organs shifting violently—yet not a drop of blood spilled out.
After three successive slams, Jerry spun Hoolay in the air like a hula hoop before tossing him fiercely.
CRASH—!
Hoolay crashed into the wall—but rather than cracking, the wall stretched elastically like rubber, briefly flattening him into a wolf pancake before springing him back onto the floor.
Before Hoolay could even recover, Jerry zipped instantly before him, produced a huge mallet from behind his back, and slammed it viciously into Hoolay's jaw.
CRUNCH—!
Hoolay's teeth scattered everywhere, littering the floor.
Watching from afar, Yevenko winced—not for Hoolay, but for the mess on the prison floor. Quickly scampering forward, he pulled from his diaper a broom and dustpan far larger than himself, hastily sweeping all the scattered teeth into it.
Then he pulled open Hoolay's mouth like a drawer, dumped the teeth back inside, and shut it neatly. Checking briefly that all teeth were perfectly restored, Yevenko nodded in satisfaction and stashed the broom and dustpan away.
CRUNCH—!
Jerry promptly swung again, smashing all Hoolay's teeth right back out.
Yevenko scratched his head, blinked, and quickly rearranged the scattered teeth into a small airplane, immediately hopping aboard and soaring into the air.
Then, Yevenko began bombing Hoolay from above, dropping teeth-bombs directly onto his swollen face.
Whoosh—! Whoosh—! Whoosh—!
Jerry helpfully pried open Hoolay's mouth, letting every tooth-bomb explode directly inside.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
When finished, Hoolay's swollen face became unrecognizably pig-like. Yevenko parachuted safely back down using his diaper.
With a last sliver of consciousness, Hoolay cracked open one swollen, bruised eye.
"Damned… mous—"
BAM—!
Jerry punched him again mid-sentence, instantly knocking him out.
Luckily, Jerry counted as a special summon, meaning Yevenko's [Exploration Value] soared rapidly. But to squeeze out every last point, Yevenko climbed onto Hoolay's swollen face and weakly punched the already-shut eye repeatedly.
Pop… Pop… Pop…
The sound was pitifully faint. His points rose slowly, but at least they rose—he was only a tiny mouse, after all.
If only he could transform into Jerry himself, his [Exploration Value] would truly skyrocket. Though, if he really became Jerry, could he even use that form? Tom's CPU might crash trying to figure out whether he was master Yevenko or his eternal nemesis Jerry.
Seeing Hoolay thoroughly unconscious, relief flooded Xueyi and the others—they could recapture and secure him once more.
Only Modo's expression darkened ominously, his eyes filling entirely with ghostly green. He whispered grimly to himself,
"Hoolay must escape again and cause more chaos."
"Worthless fools—I'll have to step in personally."
Modo immediately seized a nearby Borisin, pouring destructive energy and an eerie cyan flame into it, then hurled it high into the air toward Hoolay.
BOOM—!
It exploded violently, raining destructive black flames that quickly engulfed the area, killing several Borisin instantly. Amidst the chaos, a flicker of cyan fire slipped discreetly into Hoolay's unconscious body.
"Gather close!" Jiaoqiu urgently called, creating a fiery barrier.
Watching carefully, Jiaoqiu murmured anxiously,
"Destruction? So Luofu's troubles aren't just Abundance… This has become far more complicated."
Beside him, the Tail sniffed curiously, "Strange, why do I smell Yaoshi nearby?"
Its idle remark instantly sharpened Jiaoqiu's gaze, suspicion landing squarely on Modo.
Meanwhile, Yevenko and Jerry found themselves engulfed in black flames. Casually, they started tap-dancing atop the fire.
Abruptly, Hoolay rose zombie-like, eyes flickering with cyan fire, shambling toward Modo, heedless of the flames licking at him.
Realizing his exploration points were escaping, Yevenko chased frantically, only for the flames to burn off his diaper. Blushing furiously, he crab-walked sideways, swiftly vanishing off-screen.
Jerry charged forward angrily with his hammer, but flames burned off his pants, leaving him in bright red underwear. Muscles instantly deflated, he grinned sheepishly and scuttled sideways out of frame too—though he promptly peeked back in to wave goodbye.