The surrendered Clara (Moon Rabbit) was locked up.
The Moon Rabbits that followed her were also imprisoned. To prevent them from biting through the cell and escaping, their rabbit paws and feet were all bound with tape, but even so, they were still wriggling and struggling.
“Chirp chirp!”
Clara tried to calm them down.
However, without language, simple calls could not soothe them, and the current situation left these Moon Rabbits extremely uneasy…
Would they feel like they were about to die?
Would they resent her?
No, if they hadn’t escaped with her, they’d already be used as fodder to cultivate Rabbit Soldiers.
By leaving with her, they had, at the very least, managed to live a little longer.
Besides, she never had any obligation to be responsible for their lives in the first place.
Clara tried to find reasons to make herself feel better, but the more she thought about it, the harder it became to accept.
Perhaps, affected by the Moon Rabbit Combat Form, she had developed complicated feelings for these rabbits.
[After using the Moon Rabbit Combat Form for so long, has my heart started to lean toward the rabbits as well?]
The Combat Form truly did affect the mind.
A person’s soul was intangible, while the body was the tangible vessel.
Even back in the warehouse, she couldn’t bring herself to kill the Moon Rabbits that were skipping rope around her.
Although these creatures were artificially created, they were still living animals. Their actions were not out of malicious intent, but simply for survival.
If there were a way to control their numbers and increase their intelligence—perhaps leaving an imprint on Shenyuan like the Homunculi—maybe it wouldn’t be impossible…
After all, there were plenty of non-human intelligent beings in this world.
[Oh? Are you considering how to gain Shenyuan’s recognition for them?]
It was just a thought. In the end, it was probably impossible, right?
On the Moon, Moon Rabbits already had a terrible reputation. The “Fourth Calamity” was one of the most notorious evil organizations, and the improved Moon Rabbits they produced would only be despised by all.
The Moon Rabbits beside her were still struggling, but only Clara lay quietly in the cage.
Outside the cell, guards stood on duty with guns in hand.
Even if it was a surrendered Moon Rabbit, it was too unsettling to leave them unguarded.
Still, they had been thrown in here for quite a while now—why hadn’t that mole shown up yet?
He sure had patience. Had he already discovered her true identity?
[Impossible. All your indicators are the same as a normal Moon Rabbit. Unless he prepared identity verification for every single Moon Rabbit, there’s no way he could know you’re a fake.]
Maybe the mastermind didn’t care what the Moon Rabbits thought?
Clara pondered this possibility.
If so, the guards might just shoot her and the other Moon Rabbits and be done with it. There wouldn’t even be a need for the mastermind to show up in person to deal with the traitors of the group.
[Hmm, not impossible.]
That would be truly bad.
[For now, you’re still safe. Just stay quietly in the cell.]
Having turned herself in and been captured, Clara couldn’t communicate with the Moon Rabbits beside her, let alone speak. So there probably wouldn’t be any interrogation, either.
Bored, Clara shrank into a ball on the ground, curling up into a fluffy white puff.
Life wasn’t easy; even a bunny sighs.
Just as Clara was considering simply lying down and sleeping until tomorrow to figure things out, footsteps echoed outside the cell.
A woman with long gray-white hair, escorted by two bowing and nodding guards, stepped into the security department’s holding cells in high heels.
Miss Laby?
Still awake so late at night, she really did seem busy.
So even something like a Moon Rabbit surrender had to be handled by her?
It seemed her job at the resort wasn’t just reception, after all.
Wait, could she be the mole?
Was she the Moon Rabbits’ queen?
Thinking of this, Clara perked up.
Although her impression of Laby had been good so far, it didn’t rule out the possibility that she was the mastermind. After all, she was the first to arrive upon hearing of the Moon Rabbits’ surrender.
To avoid suspicion, Clara began flailing and struggling on the cell floor like her fellow rabbits, trying to blend in.
“So, you say they surrendered waving a white flag, right?”
Laby asked, and the security guard who brought her nodded.
“Yes, they suddenly showed up waving a white flag.”
“What they represent probably isn’t the will of the entire Moon Rabbit group… Maybe limited resources and living space have caused some Moon Rabbits to consider defecting.”
“Heh, I didn’t expect these beasts to be that clever,” the guard echoed.
“They’ve been playing hide-and-seek with us all day. Your security team couldn’t even catch their tails—can’t you tell they have intelligence?” Laby said, eyeing the little balls of rabbit fluff.
“Which one was waving the white flag?”
Uh-oh, she was about to get singled out.
Clara tensed up, but the guard just scratched his head.
“Uh, I don’t know. We’d have to check the footage. They all look the same—I can’t tell which is the leader.”
What do you mean “the same”?! I’m obviously the cleaner one!
“Can’t tell them apart?”
Laby pointed at herself and said, “Then pick this one. Tie it up and pack it for me—I’m taking it for a check-up.”
Huh? Why me?
“The whitest one, you mean?”
“Yeah, this one looks the cleanest. The others are all filthy.”
That’s your reason?!
The security guards didn’t object. They opened the cell and two of them went to bandage Clara up.
Their way of dealing with Moon Rabbits was simply to make sure they couldn’t bite anything.
However, as the guards grabbed Clara, the other Moon Rabbits scrambled over, trying to bite the guards in protest.
But the guards just kicked them away.
One even had its nose kicked bloody, while another curled up in the corner of the cell, twitching.
These guys… seem pretty loyal.
Clara felt her inner balance waver.
Once she was all packed up, unable to move at all, Clara was handed over to Laby.
Even though she was the size of a dog and not light, Laby hefted Clara with one hand to test her weight, showing remarkable strength.
“Well, I’ll take her to the infirmary for an examination.”
Why would a Moon Rabbit need an examination?
Though the reason sounded odd, the guards didn’t stop her.
One only asked, “Miss Laby, should we tell Hero Company about this?”
“Of course, but let’s wait until morning. It’s too late now—no need to disturb their rest.”
Laby carried Clara out of the security department and casually tossed her onto the back seat of a tour cart.
She then drove toward the infirmary.
“A traitor among the Moon Rabbits? I thought you were like the Swarm, all hive-minded…”
Seemingly thinking Clara could understand, Laby even asked:
“So, are you a product of natural evolution, or an artificially added variable?”
This question seemed to have a deeper meaning.