"Awooo…"
The freakish undead dog was hit squarely by the massive fireball, and its outstretched right paw was immediately charred black. However, this freak didn't seem like the other undead dogs; it actually had some sense of pain. The freakish undead dog howled in agony as its right paw was burned, which immediately lifted Michael's spirits, and he was just about to pursue the victory when an unexpected event occurred.
Michael never expected that despite the freak's barking, its right paw that was swinging towards him didn't retract at all. With a strong burnt smell, it was suddenly right in front of him. With a loud "bang," it struck him solidly on the head, sending Michael flying like a spinning carousel. He crashed into a Santana 2000 parked nearby, creating a large dent in the passenger door, which made all the women gasp in shock.
"Michael…" A-Xue screamed heart-wrenchingly, completely disregarding the threat posed by the freakish undead dog, and charged straight towards the opposite side. For a moment, everyone was so shocked that they forgot to shout.
To block the wind, the Cheetah car and the 2000 were parked relatively close to each other, and the girls had gathered around the seemingly safer Cheetah car. Therefore, to reach the 2000, they had to go around the freakish undead dog. However, A-Xue, who was eager to check on Michael, had a blank mind, her eyes only focused on Michael's motionless figure lying on the ground, blood flowing from his mouth and nose, completely oblivious to the undead dog that was almost twice her height.
Seeing a thin and frail figure run past it, the freakish undead dog was clearly taken aback. It probably didn't expect that a human woman would dare to run past it like that. It wasn't until A-Xue was almost at Michael's side that the freakish undead dog remembered it should attack.
However, just as the undead dog's paw was raised, Jack's attack arrived. Three rapid-fire special bullets whistled towards the freakish undead dog's head. Bang, bang, bang—a series of explosions erupted, as if someone had thrown three rotten tomatoes at the undead dog's head. Three bursts of red blood mist exploded, and the freakish undead dog's head was nearly knocked off balance, a large patch of its scalp was torn away, revealing the white bone inside. However, it merely shook its head, and its expression became even more ferocious.
"Aww…"
The freakish undead dog let out a heart-wrenching howl. Although the bullet shot by Jack didn't cause it much harm, the pain from three large-caliber bullets hitting its head was not to be ignored. This made it go completely mad, and instead of seeking revenge on the instigator Jack, its basketball-sized paw, glinting coldly, struck directly at the nearest object beside it—A Xue, who was crying while lying on top of Michael.
"Oh no!"
Jack's heart sank. He never expected that his special bullet would have little effect on the zombie dog. He wondered if it was because the zombie dog was a mutation and not a hell creature. The special bullet, which usually had a strong restraining effect on hell creatures, was not much better than an ordinary bullet. By the time he thought of any remedy, it was already too late. He could only watch in horror as the creature's claws came down, down...
"Dare to touch my girl!"
The massive claws came crashing down like a mountain. Michael, who was in a semi-conscious state, suddenly roared with red eyes, pulling the crying girl behind him and raising his own claws to meet the attack.
There was no way a hasty counterattack could match the ferocity of the opponent's strike. Unsurprisingly, Michael's retaliation had little effect; he was smashed into the ground like a wooden stake shaped like a dog, his limbs buried, and even most of his body was pressed into the earth, unable to move.
"Michael..." A-xue let out a piercing wail, recklessly throwing herself onto Michael's body. At this point, Michael had completely lost consciousness, with hot blood flowing from his eyes, nose, and ears, gradually pooling into a small puddle on the ground.
Seemingly satisfied with its full-force strike, the mutant zombie dog's crazed look faded slightly. However, it seemed unaware that there was still something moving on the ground. A glint of ferocity flashed in its eyes as its massive paw lifted again, aiming for A-xue's frail body once more.
...Why can't I move?
The mutant zombie dog was horrified to find that its claw, which it had swung out, could not move. It felt as if its paw was being held up by the air, and no matter how much strength it exerted, it couldn't advance an inch. It was only a few dozen centimeters away from the girl's body, yet it felt as if an invisible wall had suddenly appeared between them, causing its once unstoppable claw to feel a sense of helpless defeat for the first time.
"Oh my, what a big little puppy! Such strength, even our arrogant little Michael was flattened!"
Not far away, Jack was smacking his lips, looking at the struggling zombie dog in the air with a mocking expression. His right hand was raised as if to lift the zombie dog, and if one looked closely, they would notice that the air between him and the zombie dog was twisting at a crazy speed, emitting wisps of white lines. A large amount of air seemed to be compressed, desperately gathering under the zombie dog's claws.
The simple brain of the zombie dog made it continue to struggle against the wall of air, but soon it sadly realized that no matter how hard it tried, it was utterly futile and could not shake the power of its opponent. Upon hearing Jack's leisurely remarks nearby, even with its limited brain capacity, it understood that everything must be related to this human.
Finally, the zombie dog gave up its obsession with the wall of air and turned to glare fiercely at Jack. However, this glare startled itself. It noticed that the human man standing not far away had somehow changed drastically from before; his deep black eyes had turned blood red, a color that instilled a chilling fear. His previously somewhat resolute face had become sinister and feminine, and his entire demeanor seemed to have undergone a dramatic transformation, no longer resembling a flesh-and-blood person but rather a cold, emotionless shell. Although he was smiling, it was a sinister grin that felt eerily devoid of reality, as if he were merely a terrifying, emotionless corpse.
The zombie dog clearly sensed a strong feeling of threat from Jack. It began to feel fear; this man's body concealed a chilling power filled with brutality, merciless slaughter, and a sense of destruction. Just sensing it was enough to make it shiver.
The zombie dog recoiled, its limited intelligence telling it that if it didn't leave now, it might not be able to escape at all. It lowered its head and let out a series of threatening low growls, its crouched body poised to pounce at any moment. However, despite its fierce appearance, its limbs were inadvertently retreating slowly, step by step... Just as it was about to back off the edge of the dirt slope, Jack finally made his move.
"You think you can just walk away after hitting my dog?"
Jack's eerie face showed a hint of disdain as he lazily extended both hands towards the zombie dog that was about to escape. Suddenly, the veins on Jack's forehead bulged, and his blood-red eyes seemed ready to pop out of their sockets. He slowly squeezed his outstretched hands inward, causing a large amount of air to gather in his palms, directly condensing into a white mist.
The mist was so thick that it couldn't disperse, swirling in Jack's palms like boiling water. In the blink of an eye, the mist transformed into the shape of a large dog, clearly resembling the zombie dog that was about to escape, with limbs and a tail that were strikingly lifelike, almost identical.
Then, a terrifying event occurred. As the white dog formed in Jack's palm, the zombie dog at the edge of the dirt slope became as if it had been hit by a paralysis spell, unable to move an inch. Its facial muscles twitched violently, and its large, deep brown eyes were filled with fear, while its trembling limbs indicated that it was in extreme pain.
The zombie dog looked at Jack, who wore a mocking smile, in terror. The calm demeanor of Jack clearly indicated that he held the power of life and death over it. Every muscle in its body began to tremble more violently, and its bones cracked like firecrackers. With each passing second, the pain in the zombie dog's eyes intensified until all its suffering turned into a plea for mercy. However, Jack, with an indifferent expression, remained unmoved and simply said, "It's too late," before suddenly bringing his hands together.