Huang Yi offered a faint smile but remained silent. A cup of coffee, a glass of beer—treasures in the eyes of other criminals, were indifferent to him. With the Golden Ring, he no longer needed any other benefits.
The rain in Rose Prison had been falling for three days straight, persistent and intermittent.
During these three days, Huang Yi spent most of his time in his new cell. He didn’t share a room with anyone else but was assigned a single cell with a large window that overlooked the distance—one of the best single cells in the general prison area, specially arranged by Lei Shen as a token of his gratitude.
That night, like usual, Huang Yi entered The Second World. He had already reached level 14 and with a few more kills today, he could level up to 15. His size, too, had reached a bottleneck through his efforts and was now as big as the mother cat, unable to grow any larger no matter how much more he ate.
"Meow~" Just as he logged on, Huang Yi heard the cheerful call of the Little White Cat, followed immediately by something soft pouncing into his arms—it was his sister, the Little White Cat.
Meanwhile, the mother cat was lying on the ground, sleeping lazily, not waking up.
"Meow-meow~" The Little White Cat affectionately rubbed against Huang Yi in his arms a couple of times, her big watery eyes staring at Huang Yi, playfully blinking, her tail swaying from side to side.
Huang Yi understood the Little White Cat wanted to play the game of leaping through the forest again. He said nothing and simply picked her up by the neck with his mouth, swiftly reaching a tree branch, then leaping to another, bounding from one tree branch to another in the forest. His body was incredibly swift, even more agile than a monkey, and soon disappeared into the depths of the forest.
Ever since Huang Yi first took the Little White Cat leaping through the trees, she had fallen in love with this game, pestering him to play almost every day.
"Meow~" The Little White Cat couldn’t help but let out a joyous cry, being carried by Huang Yi over tree branches, the wind whistling past her ears, the whole world swiftly retreating as if she had taken flight, weaving through the moonlight scattered among the forest.
Finally, Huang Yi stopped on the branch of a locust tree, gazing down below.
Underneath the branch was a group of wild boars, large in size but lacking in agility—a rather suitable prey. Huang Yi was just a bit short on Experience Points for leveling up to 15, so he decided to do some level grinding here.
Huang Yi placed the Little White Cat in a hollow of the branch to ensure her steadiness, then leaped from the branch, like a cannonball, and struck a wild boar, his claws slicing two gashes in an instant...
The herd of wild boars was suddenly startled, all charging at Huang Yi, but his body was exceedingly agile, darting up and down to easily dodge the attacks of numerous wild boars.
The agility of the Spirit Cat was top-notch, and Huang Yi had made significant progress over these days, easily killing fierce beasts without even needing to activate the Eye of Time.
Now Huang Yi seldom activated the Eye of Time anymore. The night when the Little White Cat came into being, he had fought for too long with the Eye of Time always on, depleting his Energy Value to just over 1700 points. The Energy Value increased very slowly, and it was his trump card, not to be used lightly unless absolutely necessary.
Huang Yi’s swift form moved left and right under the moonlight, so fast it was almost indiscernible. The Little White Cat stayed obediently on the branch, gazing admiringly at Huang Yi below. In her tiny world, her mother was the gentlest in the world, and her brother the most formidable.
Ten minutes later, Huang Yi killed the last wild boar, and a golden light arose from him—he had finally reached level 15!
It was then that he heard a System Prompt:
[System Prompt]: Your Agile Cat Form has fully matured and will now begin Metamorphosis into the Beast King, which will take one hour.
As the prompt sound faded, Huang Yi felt a sharp pain all over his body, as if some inexplicable energy was reforming his physique. Suddenly, he lost control of his body and fell stiffly to the ground!
"Meow~" Little White Cat, seeing this, hurriedly ran down and began to lick Huang Yi with her tender little tongue.
At this moment, Huang Yi was completely unable to move, he couldn’t even make a sound, and had no control over his body whatsoever.
Now, it was a perilous jungle night, and lying motionless here, his chances of survival were slim.
Little White Cat saw Huang Yi lying motionless on the ground and became frantic. She opened her little mouth, trying to pick him up, but she was too small and lacked the strength, failing after several attempts.
"Meow meow!" Little White Cat cried out anxiously, circling around Huang Yi twice before dashing toward the dense jungle where her mother was. Her tiny figure soon disappeared from Huang Yi’s sight.
Huang Yi was worried; Little White Cat had never been alone in the forest before, and it was a long way from here to where her mother was, at least a ten-minute journey. He didn’t know if Little White Cat would be able to arrive safely.
Moonlight filtered through the leaves, sprinkling the jungle floor in patches, as the creek babbled on. From afar, occasional roars of beasts could be heard, signifying lurking dangers.
Little White Cat ran with all her might, the pale moonlight casting upon her delicate figure, eliciting pity. She had only been born recently and hadn’t exercised rigorously like Huang Yi, so her constitution was very weak. The forest was dense with underbrush and brambles, and in no time, she was covered in scratches, her delicate body marked with tiny wounds oozing with blood, staining her beautiful white fur.
She had never stayed alone in the forest before, but this time she ran toward the direction of her mother as if she had forgotten all the dangers, determined. She passed through the dense jungle, crossed the babbling brooks, and leaped over deep ravines. No longer was she afraid of the sounds of birds flapping their wings, nor the brambles with their sharp thorns. Her fragile heart seemed to suddenly grow stronger.
Perhaps the best way to become strong is to have someone you want to protect.
...
As time ticked by, the dark night in the forest was filled with a chilling atmosphere. Huang Yi was worried, unsure if Little White Cat had safely reached her mother.
And there he was, motionless on the ground, which spelled more danger than safety. If a wild beast were to come now, his death would be certain.
Huang Yi decided to log out first to avoid the danger.
System Prompt: You are currently in a special situation and cannot log out normally. If you force a logout, your character will become uncontrolled, which is extremely dangerous. Please choose carefully.
The system’s cold voice shattered Huang Yi’s illusion, leaving him no choice but to quietly wait for the metamorphosis to end.
Just at that moment, the jungle in front suddenly rustled, and through the gaps, flickering scales that reflected the cold moonlight became visible.
Following that, a cobra slowly slithered out, its small eyes fixed unwaveringly on Huang Yi, its forked tongue flickering incessantly.