Clara, with Nyx’s help, quietly opened the guest room door and slipped out.
Just going out in the form of a Moon Rabbit, Clara already felt like she was committing a crime.
However, the night air was so fresh, without the heat of the day, and she could see sights different from those in the daylight. Clara’s mood instantly became much lighter, and she couldn’t help but sigh with emotion:
“Ji, ji jiu~!”
Having turned into a Moon Rabbit, of course she couldn’t speak.
Although this Moon Rabbit combat body had been created that evening, this was the first time she had moved so freely.
Especially after freeing up her main body’s memory usage in the brain, Clara could now link almost all of her consciousness to this tiny avatar.
Nyx, are you still there? Clara thought silently.
【Of course, Nyx is always with your spirit.】
You said before, no matter what happens to this combat body, my main body won’t be affected, right?
【Yes, but since this is remote control, you may feel some dissonance.】
So there’s a delay, huh? Is this like playing a game?
Even if she died, it wouldn’t affect her main body—in a sense, it really was like a game.
Thinking of this, Clara relaxed.
Alright! Then as pre-battle reconnaissance, let’s go look for any undiscovered rabbit holes!
I’ll just limit my range to the guest room area~
Due to the resort staff being unreliable and inefficient, the hazard removal work had been slow, and the resort’s underground was already riddled with holes.
Clara had no doubt that there were still other rabbit holes around the guest room area.
But how should she find them?
Just grab a random passerby Moon Rabbit to ask?
But where would she even find a passerby Moon Ra—
“Ji?”
So there actually is one?!
As if drawn by her call, a pair of rabbit ears poked out, peeking curiously from behind a roadside bush. Its red eyes blinked as it observed her.
What a strange coincidence.
“Ji jiu!”
Clara couldn’t understand the Moon Rabbit’s speech.
Or rather, it couldn’t be called speech at all, just emotionally charged cries.
This passerby Moon Rabbit seemed to be beckoning her to come over?
Nyx, can you translate?
【No, this isn’t really a language.】
If she couldn’t communicate, she couldn’t ask questions. The language barrier was still a pain.
But if she followed it, maybe she could find the location of their lair.
Compared to Clara’s clean fur, this passerby Moon Rabbit was filthy.
Although it didn’t smell, it was obvious it had been rolling in the dirt; its fur couldn’t be called white anymore.
Just as Clara thought the Moon Rabbit would lead her back to its nest, it suddenly came closer, wiggling its nose as it sniffed Clara’s scent, even moving close to smell her breath from her mouth and nose.
Wh-what kind of ritual is this?!
“Knock!”
But then, it opened its three-petaled lips and let out a sharp, violent cry.
Clara didn’t understand what it wanted to convey, but it seemed very agitated.
【He seems angry, maybe because you smell like a human.】
Well, she had been “hugged by a human” right before coming out.
So, do Moon Rabbits identify each other by scent?
“Ji jiu~”
Clara didn’t know what to say, so she just made a sound according to her mood.
But just like that, the Moon Rabbit seemed to forgive her.
Can it understand what I said?
【It probably sensed your intention to seek forgiveness.】Nyx was apparently not sure, either.
The passerby Moon Rabbit turned and left, even waving at Clara to follow.
This meant Clara should go with it.
After only a brief hesitation, Clara hopped forward on all fours, following behind the upright-walking Moon Rabbit.
【Moon Rabbits don’t walk like that; you should stand up like it does.】
Nyx began coaching Clara on the correct way to walk.
But soon, Clara was following the Moon Rabbit into a rabbit hole.
The burrow was low; the leading Moon Rabbit had to crouch down on all fours, glancing back now and then to check if Clara was keeping up.
That guy’s actually pretty considerate?
The tunnel was narrow and winding; after only a few steps, she saw a fork.
Even so, the lead rabbit kept moving forward along a set path with her.
Nyx.
Clara just thought the name, and Nyx replied:
【Nyx has already mapped out all the routes of the rabbit hole.】
At times like this, Nyx was indeed reliable.
Clara knew that, by herself, it would be impossible to remember such a complicated labyrinth of tunnels.
But as a super AI, Nyx could even draw real-time maps, outlining a complex, three-dimensional representation of the rabbit burrows, and determine the corresponding surface locations.
As they went deeper, the rabbit holes widened; the tunnels were broad enough for four rabbits to walk side by side, and in the surrounding branches, other Moon Rabbits could be seen from time to time.
None of them paid Clara any attention, each busy with their own affairs.
Some were eating, some were transporting food, and some were… engaged in two-rabbit activities.
Clara started to worry—would any of these rabbits try something indecent with her?
By the way, was the passerby rabbit male or female?
“Ji jiu.”
They seemed to have arrived at their destination; the passerby rabbit led her into a spacious underground chamber.
The ceiling here was so high that even a short human could stand up straight.
Why did they dig such a big chamber?
The whole underground of this resort was being turned into Swiss cheese by them.
Is this the Moon Rabbits’ main base?
What was she supposed to do next?
Clara felt lost, but the passerby Moon Rabbit just dashed away.
Clara had no choice but to keep observing the chamber.
In the center was a stone platform, about the size of an operating table.
On it lay a much larger Moon Rabbit, almost as big as a sheep.
The other Moon Rabbits kept bringing it food—some kind of meat from an unknown creature.
It seemed this Moon Rabbit’s status was extraordinary.
Just as Fran had said before, all the Moon Rabbits they’d encountered so far were the lowest-level “worker rabbits”, but above them there were definitely other Moon Rabbits with different responsibilities.
What did this emperor-like fat Moon Rabbit do?
As Clara pondered this, the passerby Moon Rabbit returned.
And handed her a large chunk of meat.
“Ji……?”
Clara thought it was for her to eat, feeling that this rabbit guy was quite considerate.
But just as she was about to take a bite to prove she was a Moon Rabbit, the passerby rabbit smacked her on the forehead and pointed at the big rabbit on the stone platform.
Oh, so she was supposed to deliver the food.
So they’d found her a job.
Clara stood upright, picked up the chunk of meat, and walked toward the platform.
But before she could feed the meat to the big rabbit, that massive body began to change.
….
“Ji?!”
Clara had stumbled upon a monumental secret.
Freaky.