Since Clara was still alive, Blue Cavalier’s expression was quite unsightly.
As a rebel who had sought death to prove her resolve, her resistance to orders in front of so many Moon Rabbits was far from a warning. It was, in fact, provocative and inciting.
“Mother, this Moon Rabbit is far too dangerous. Let me handle the execution personally.”
“No, her existence is of great research value.”
Labi seemed to be in a fairly good mood as she continued, “Lock her up. I want to take her back to the Fourth Calamity later.”
“Yes…”
Blue Cavalier’s face soured. Not only had he failed to clear himself of suspicion and extinguish the spark of rebellion, but he had also practically fanned the flames.
“Let’s continue elsewhere. Everyone, follow me.”
Labi led the three rabbit-headed girls out of the Rabbit Hole, her difficult-to-walk-in high heels clicking as she returned to the bomb shelter.
Blue Cavalier and Anya followed, with the former carrying Clara (Moon Rabbit) in his hand.
Meanwhile, Clara (Original Body) was already inside the bomb shelter. To avoid detection by Blue Cavalier, she quickly transformed into the appearance of a rabbit soldier and temporarily removed the Networking Firewall she wore on her head.
She felt a bit nervous, yet she was unexpectedly calm.
Perhaps having sensed something from the spirits of the Moon Rabbit rebels, Clara’s mind cleared quickly after her initial impulse.
‘The undercover Minister is finally acting like an undercover agent.’
From here on, she would be fighting alone.
Labi led the group into a relatively tidy basement. Then, Blue Cavalier dropped Clara (Moon Rabbit) and took the initiative to wipe the mud off Labi’s high heels.
Labi even found the time to check her appearance. It was clear she was quite confident in the current situation.
And she had no reason not to be. Every member of the Sigma Series had been reincarnated as Moon Rabbits. From anyone’s perspective, the Hero side, with only Clara left, had no chance of victory.
“Now then, shall we modify our new friends?”
As Labi spoke, she walked toward the three girls—including Sista—who still had rabbit heads even after their reincarnation.
One couldn’t tell who was who just by looking at their heads.
Clara (Moon Rabbit) watched from the corner.
‘Clara, the fact that only their heads are still rabbits might mean they haven’t been brainwashed at this stage.’
That was Clara’s guess as well. The fact that their heads were still large rabbits explained why they looked so dazed. Leaving only the head unchanged was clearly for the convenience of the brainwashing process.
And brainwashing was exactly what Labi was about to do.
It was a method of twisting the Soul and manipulating memories. This room was clean and lacked any brainwashing equipment, so was brainwashing a special ability Labi possessed as a Mutant?
She was likely an executive of the Fourth Calamity, on the same level as Ps·ycho.
‘Do you remember the recording from BB-0027?’ Nyx asked. ‘Before Anya was attacked, she was alone with Labi for a while. Although it wasn’t on camera, Labi might not have left then. Instead, she likely waited for the Moon Rabbits to attack and reincarnate her, then completed the brainwashing on the spot.’
The recording hadn’t been long, which meant the brainwashing process probably wouldn’t take much time either.
In other words…
If she acted in the middle of the brainwashing, she might be able to bring the three of them back to the team.
‘Yes, but without their Exoskeleton Armor, their strength will be significantly reduced.’
This was an opportunity—an opportunity to use Ps·ycho’s authority to turn the tide.
As the mother body that gave birth to the Moon Rabbits, Labi was at the top of the Hive Consciousness control tower. Although both Blue Cavalier and Clara currently had authority, Labi could likely revoke it with a single thought.
Therefore, Clara only had one chance.
The brainwashing was about to begin.
However, Labi needed to transform first.
To be precise, she had to release her mimicry. Just as Ps·ycho had hidden her horns to pose as an ordinary human at the Fan Meeting, Labi’s current human appearance was also a mimicry.
The subtle protrusions on her head suddenly began to swell, expand, and elongate. Rather than rabbit ears, those furry yet fleshy feelers reminded Clara of parasitic flatworms.
“Whew~ keeping these hidden is truly suffocating.”
Labi let out a long sigh of relief, like someone suddenly loosening a tight belt.
Those feelers were longer than rabbit ears and drooped backward, resembling strange twin-tails.
Then, the seemingly harmless pendulous feelers suddenly split open, revealing rows of sharp teeth.
…Were those actually mouths?
Because she was “Predator,” she had to have two mouths on her head?
Nyx seemed to recall something and explained, ‘Remember the state of Blue Cavalier’s body when he died? At the time, his Exoskeleton Armor had bite marks on it, but the size didn’t match a Moon Rabbit’s mouth. Thinking about it now, he must have been attacked by Labi.’
Although Blue Cavalier had chased Ps·ycho deep into the rainforest, the one who actually killed him was Labi.
Her transformation complete, Labi opened her large mouths and, with her back to the subjects, swallowed two of the rabbit heads in one gulp.
Did… did she eat them?
The way she welcomed new friends was by eating them?
The mouthparts gripping the two heads did not let go. They simply held them inside, wriggling continuously.
Through the eyes of the Combat Body, Clara couldn’t tell what was happening inside.
She held them in her mouth for three or four minutes. When she spat them out again, the original rabbit heads had completely transformed into normal human heads.
One red-haired, one green-haired.
Although the impressions of Red Star General and Verdant Echo were visible, their features and jawlines had become softer. Combined with the female Moon Rabbit bodies, they no longer looked out of place.
Otherwise, even if they were handsome men, it would have been somewhat revolting.
Was this plastic surgery?
Or…
Had she bitten off the rabbit heads and then birthed new heads to attach to them?
“Mother…”
Like Blue Cavalier, they addressed Labi as “Mother.”
‘The flexibility of those two mouths is incredible. They aren’t just weapons or mouthparts; they’re likely wombs as well… The large rabbits and the first batch of Moon Rabbits were all spat out from those mouths.’
Eat the enemy, then give birth to them.
Pr·edator possessed a truly bone-chilling ability.
‘Once we deduced her ability was giving birth to subordinates, we should have expected a scene like this.’
By comparison, Ps·ycho, who was also an executive, seemed much more normal.
Was the brainwashing complete now?
Because she couldn’t figure out Labi’s ability, Clara had missed the opportunity to interrupt the brainwashing.
Or rather, she hadn’t known when to take action.
The process of brainwashing and modification had nothing to do with the Hive Consciousness. Since it was Labi’s own ability, it was difficult for Clara to time it.
Since those two were Red Star General and Verdant Echo, the remaining rabbit head was Sista.
If she interrupted too early, the head might not be fully formed, which would endanger Sista’s life.
But if she interrupted too late…
Most importantly, if she rushed in now, would she have any chance of winning against their coordinated attack?
While Clara hesitated, Labi’s large mouth had already clamped onto Sista’s rabbit head.
‘Whatever!’
Clara timed it in her heart, estimating when the head should be finished.
Clara (Original Body) pushed open the door and walked in under everyone’s gaze.
And then…
*Slap!*
She gave Labi a resounding slap across the face.
Then, while everyone was still in a state of utter shock, she forcibly yanked Sista out of Labi’s mouthparts.
Here hoping the others will be fine.