Clara utilized Psycho’s data to conceal her presence as she made her way back to an air-raid shelter that wasn’t even marked on the map.
She planned to wait until she reached the vicinity of the entrance before transforming into a Rabbit Soldier. Once she sneaked inside, she would wander through the accessible areas to see if she could find the Mother’s whereabouts.
If she truly couldn’t find her, she would seek out the Blue Cavalier first and find a way to move together with him.
As a special individual, he should have the opportunity to come into contact with the Mother or Psycho.
**[Nyx has a question.]**
“Just ask. Why are you being so polite with me?”
**[Why did you release the Moon Rabbit combat bodies again?]**
“To appease those rabbits’ mental states.”
**[As long as we obtain the Mother’s data, their thoughts are unimportant.]**
“Those Moon Rabbits followed me during the escape, you know? Since they followed me and managed to survive, they should be treated differently from the other Moon Rabbits!”
**[Strictly speaking, those are cockroaches.]**
‘Then that makes me one now, too…’
Reaching the entrance, she found a corner and transformed into a Rabbit Soldier.
Clara stretched her uncomfortably strong limbs and naturally walked into the air-raid shelter.
Just as she entered, she encountered another squad of Rabbit Soldiers leaving the shelter to perform a mission. Although no greetings were exchanged, she didn’t attract any unwanted attention.
Rabbit Soldiers didn’t have the habit of greeting one another anyway.
…Good, the disguise is perfect!
**[It is not a disguise.]**
**[You are currently a Rabbit Soldier.]**
**[The data combat body is perfect and no different from the original. It is nearly impossible for them to see through your identity; at most, they might find your behavior slightly abnormal.]**
Whether the Fourth Calamity intended it or not, the low communication efficiency of the Moon Rabbits became the best cover for Clara to blend in.
Heh, this is so easy!
Just as Clara’s steps became light and she felt a bit self-satisfied, another Rabbit Soldier walked toward her.
“Ji, jichu!”
It called out to Clara, then pointed at itself and then at the entrance of the air-raid shelter.
Clara tried to interpret the gesture.
‘Does it want me to go with it?’
**[Evidently so.]**
This Rabbit Soldier seemed to have a mission and was preparing to conscript Clara to go out and execute it with him.
‘Are you kidding me? I just got back!’
Clara was naturally unwilling. She waved her hands and shook her head, pointing toward the interior of the air-raid shelter.
She signaled that she had just finished a mission and needed rest.
However, the Rabbit Soldier did not accept Clara’s explanation. It reached out, grabbed her arm, and tried to pull her outside.
Its attitude was very forceful.
In the end, Moon Rabbits had no time for rest.
Even if they had just completed a task, as long as a new mission was assigned, they had to go.
How inhumane. The Fourth Calamity was even better at exploiting employees than the Hero Company.
No, they didn’t even view the Moon Rabbits as people.
Left with no choice, Clara had to shake off the Rabbit Soldier’s arm and quickly run deeper into the shelter.
After rounding a corner, Clara leaned against the wall and waited naturally. When the Rabbit Soldier caught up, Clara pointed further down the passage. The soldier actually took the bait and chased deeper inside…
*Jichu~* It didn’t recognize her at all.
The appearance of Rabbit Soldiers was almost identical. Clara only needed Nyx to adjust the length of her fur, and she could perfectly disguise herself as a different Rabbit Soldier.
Just like her time as a Moon Rabbit, as long as she mastered the rules here, Clara could thrive. After all, the intelligence of these rabbits couldn’t be described as very high.
If she couldn’t outplay a bunch of silly rabbits who couldn’t even speak, then Clara would have lived her life as a human in vain.
Next, she wasn’t conscripted by any other Rabbit Soldiers going on missions, but Clara still couldn’t wander freely around this underground shelter.
Normally, Rabbit Soldiers on standby remained in the barracks within the rabbit holes.
The Rabbit Soldiers staying on the upper levels were basically there because they had received orders to stand guard, or they had tasks that required them to enter or exit.
…No one would wander around with a mindset of browsing a grocery store like Clara. Doing so actually attracted the attention of other Rabbit Soldiers.
**[Abnormal behavior.]**
‘Forget it, I’ll just go straight to the Blue Cavalier!’
Having made up her mind, Clara walked in the direction she remembered.
The Blue Cavalier was a special combat unit guarding the door of the Great Rabbit warehouse.
As a former hero, he was clearly stronger than the average Rabbit Soldier, so it was reasonable for him to guard the important Great Rabbit warehouse.
Oh, he’s there — he’s there!
Clara felt a bit excited.
The Blue Cavalier still stood before the door, like a motionless door god.
When she came before, she had been carried in the hands of a Rabbit Soldier, so she hadn’t had the chance to properly observe the Blue Cavalier after his reincarnation as a Moon Rabbit. She had only vaguely felt that something was different.
But looking closer now, she realized there seemed to be quite a few differences.
First was the hair, which had become slightly longer.
Originally, it was about the length of a typical male idol’s hair, which was already considered long for an average man.
But now, the side hair even covered the earlobes, with the ends falling against the side of the neck. Atop the head sat a pair of light blue rabbit ears that matched the hair color.
**[Look closer. Doesn’t this look familiar?]**
‘Familiar?’
With Nyx’s reminder, Clara squinted her eyes and scrutinized the figure.
**[How about now?]**
Nyx modified Clara’s visual display, covering the Blue Cavalier’s head with a cartoon rabbit head.
In Clara’s eyes, the Blue Cavalier became a weirdo with a rabbit’s head, but it was precisely this result that made Clara realize the truth.
“So that’s who she is!”
Although the head was different, Clara had indeed seen the reincarnated Blue Cavalier before; one could even say she had witnessed the reincarnation with her own eyes.
The miracle witnessed at the pollution treatment center last night — the fluid gel that the Moon Rabbit fed to the Great Rabbit — was the Blue Cavalier’s soul… It was the vessel for the soul.
So that was it. After becoming non-human, human souls could be stored inside the body, and then by sending those souls into the Great Rabbit’s belly, human-shaped puppets could be born.
‘But why is it a female?’
**[Who knows? Perhaps it was caused by the Mother’s aesthetics or sexual orientation.]**
‘The red, green, and blue three brothers couldn’t all be women too, right?’
‘Is that really the Blue Cavalier?’
‘I’ll go see if I can communicate with her.’
**[Be careful. If you get hit, retreat.]**
After observing secretly for a while, Clara decided to quietly approach the Blue Cavalier (♀) to take a look.
The Blue Cavalier stood with her back to the warehouse door. As Clara approached with small steps, how could she not notice?
“Jichu~”
Clara greeted her, but the latter did not respond. She simply stared straight at her.
If she tried to force her way into the Great Rabbit warehouse behind her now, she would most likely be attacked, wouldn’t she?
**[Try to touch her. If she doesn’t react, find a way to extract her data.]**
As Nyx spoke, Clara reached out a furry rabbit hand, attempting to touch the cheek of the Blue Cavalier (♀).
However, just before contact, a voice other than Nyx’s suddenly echoed in her mind.
“Return to the ‘barracks’ and stand by.”
It was a woman’s voice, laced with loathing.
This “instruction” carried a compelling force that was hard to refuse.
Clara unexpectedly turned around and left the warehouse, heading toward the tunnels leading downward.