Cirrus: ?
He tilted his head up, scrutinizing the girl before him who looked utterly innocent, and couldn't help but feel a twinge of doubt: How had he been caught so off-guard by this silly-looking kid?
With the neural reaction speed of this body, he shouldn't have been this sluggish, right?
Bailu paid no mind to what he was thinking, scooping him into her arms and ruffling him wildly. "Hehehe, little guy, you're so smart—you even brought me a playmate! As a reward today, you get an extra cabbage!"
"Ha—!"
Faced with Bailu's words, Cirrus was utterly baffled and instinctively bared his claws, hissing at her—
Smack.
Bailu grabbed Cirrus's claw in one hand, grinning: "Little guy, wanting to shake hands with me means you like me, right? If you like me, come home with me then. Come on, don't squirm."
With that, Bailu stuffed the struggling Cirrus into her pocket, saying as she did: "Eh? Why does it feel like it won't fit? Whatever, little guy, bear with it—my pocket's a bit small..."
After stuffing Cirrus, Bailu turned to Mok Tok and, under his panicked gaze, pocketed him as well.
...
Meanwhile, at Sushang and the others.
"Good work. I'll give each of you a bonus when we get back."
Qingque walked up to Sushang, smiling.
Sushang's eyes firm, she extended one hand: "Long live General Qingque!"
Xueyi's tone flat as ever: "Qing, que, Gen, er, al, long, live!"
Hanya paused for two seconds, then suddenly shouted: "...Decree of the Ten Lords, hereby inscribed!"
"Hey hey hey, what's this about?"
Jing Yuan startled at Hanya's line and hurriedly stepped forward, blocking the two Generals. "Miss Hanya, please look carefully—we're not escaping prisoners; we're friends of the Generals."
Qingque waved her hand. "Let me explain. These three are prodigies and my capable deputies, but fate plays tricks—they were incomplete souls before meeting me, and there's nothing I can do about it."
"Miss Hanya's language system in her brain has some defects, causing her words to not match what's happening and lag behind a bit."
Hanya nodded stiffly at the group: "...Long live General Qingque!"
Jing Yuan and the other two sighed sympathetically: "Sigh, that's tough."
"Miss Xueyi's original body was already destroyed, so she had no choice but to upload her consciousness to the Jade Abacus terminal and 'return to the living' in a puppet body. But due to flaws in the technology, Miss Xueyi's speech style leans mechanical."
Xueyi cupped her hands in greeting: "Gree, tings, to, Fei, xiao, Hua, i, yan, two, Gen, er, als."
Jing Yuan and the other two sighed sympathetically: "Sigh, you must keep pushing forward."
"And Miss Sushang... due to certain reasons, once she uses her power, she burns her own memories. If she's not careful, she'll stay in a dazed state indefinitely."
Sushang nodded in salute: "Sushang greets Generals Feixiao and Huaiyan."
Hearing this, Huaiyan frowned slightly and asked: "If using power erases memories, then why did Miss Sushang just now...?"
Qingque sighed helplessly: "Because she always forgets this setting of hers."
Jing Yuan and the other two sighed sympathetically: "Sigh, so everyone's out here living life to the fullest."
—"Ah!"
At that moment, a sharp scream from nearby suddenly drew everyone's attention. Jing Yuan's expression changed instinctively, and he hurried toward the source first.
He was no stranger to that voice—it was Bailu, whom he had specially tricked... invited to hold the fort.
Had she run into some danger?
A few seconds later, Jing Yuan spotted Bailu around a corner. She was squatting on the ground with a mournful face, drawing circles dejectedly.
In front of her, Mok Tok lay limply on the ground, body still twitching.
"Bailu, what's wrong?"
Hearing the voice from behind, Bailu turned and, seeing it was Jing Yuan, burst into loud sobs: "My pet Borisin mutated—it turned into this huge thing! I didn't control my strength properly, and now it's dying waaah—!"
"Old Jing, I'm scared!"
Jing Yuan: ...
So... you're not the one hurt, right?
"Whoa, such a big Borisin."
Qingque and the others caught up, exclaiming involuntarily upon seeing Mok Tok. Though Borisin of this size were fairly common, they were rare in the Shackling Prison.
"No..."
Just arriving, Feixiao unconsciously furrowed her brow. Her intuition told her something was off in the air—a scent a bit like... the Hoolay they'd just seen?
With that thought, she immediately asked Bailu: "Miss Dragon Girl, besides this Borisin just now, did any other Borisin pass by? The kind that's pure white and huge in size."
Bailu shook her head: "Mm... no, I only saw one little white mini Borisin, but it just ran off."
A mini Borisin?
As Feixiao puzzled over this, the Mok Tok on the ground suddenly laughed. "...Hahaha, Lord Hoolay... Lord Hoolay has escaped!"
Hearing this, everyone's faces changed. Feixiao stomped her foot on his head: "What did you say?"
Mok Tok's voice weak: "I said, Lord Hoolay has finally escaped."
"Reborn into this life, I've finally held you three damned Generals back, buying Lord Hoolay time to flee—hahaha..."
"I'll even tell you this: Lord Hoolay has already blended into the many Borisin on the Luofu. With my disguise special-effect pill, unless you inspect every Borisin on the Luofu, finding Lord Hoolay will be like a needle in a haystack!"
"Not to mention Lord Hoolay has a Heliobus ally helping him—you lot won't catch him!"
"..."
Qingque scratched her head, pulled out a phone, checked for a bit, then said casually: "Ah, found it. This guy's heading toward Central Starskiff Haven. If we chase now, we can still catch afternoon tea. Let's go."
Who was he kidding? For a heavy criminal like Hoolay, how could they not implant a tracker in his body?
Did anyone really think this little issue could stump them?
"Central Starskiff Haven..."
Jing Yuan paused, then still pulled out his phone and dialed a familiar number.
...
"What? Hoolay really escaped?"
Upon hearing this news, Stelle felt as if she'd been struck by lightning. No way? What had they done to the Borisin in this version—turned them into roadside strays? And they still let Hoolay escape?
You've really turned the Shackling Prison into Hoolay's old home—come and go as he pleases.
But it was Jing Yuan's request, after all. Stelle thought it over and agreed: "Alright, we'll keep an eye out here for you. But I have to say, if Hoolay really looks like a normal Borisin, I might not recognize him."
Jing Yuan: "I've sent you the coordinates—receive them."
"Sigh, being a good person sure comes with a lot of hassle..."
Stelle opened the location, and in the next second, her gaze froze solid.
This direction... why did it seem to be heading straight toward her?