From their conversation and tone, Qi Yuan judged that they were still young.
Wanting to lie flat and be spoiled at such a young age, could you sleep soundly at your age?
Back then...
Ah, he had also slept until the sun was high up in the sky before getting up.
Well, that's fine then.
Why did this group of students come out into the wilderness instead of staying properly in the city?
Isn't the word "endure" popular anymore?
He had thought that those who had mistakenly entered the Fusion Zone should be the Patrol Team clearing out monsters in the wild, which is why he strolled over leisurely.
"I'm with the Patrol Team, why are you all here?"
Although there was no evidence, Qi Yuan instinctively wanted to distance himself from whatever mischief they had just done.
"..."
This group of actual bunnies were startled, their enthusiastic discussion instantly silenced.
After a few seconds, they switched to discussing something else.
"I knew there's no such thing as a powerful mutant rabbit, it's a superpowered person."
"Ahem... We were rude earlier, sorry about that."
"Thank you for saving us."
A few of them awkwardly echoed, just moments ago they were boasting about capturing a "divine beast."
Someone nodded halfway through but suddenly exclaimed.
"Wait, if he had the Transformatio-type superpower, then where did that lightning come from?"
Their expressions changed, the steps they had taken towards Qi Yuan froze in place.
A superpowered being that could speak and appeared as a rabbit, but didn't have a Transformatio-type superpower, the only possibility that fit...
A monster!
A rabbit-like monster!
Judging from its ability to instantly kill a multitude of low-level monsters, this rabbit monster was at least a Mid-level Monster.
The air stilled, they stood frozen in place.
This group of youths didn't know whether to play along with the rabbit monster's act, or simply turn and flee.
With their abilities, the chances of successfully escaping were too low.
Just as they were at a loss, a voice sounded. The voice belonged to Luo Feng, and it seemed they had found their backbone.
"Thank you very much for saving us, but why do we see you as a rabbit?"
This rabbit could easily kill them, so Luo Feng was inclined to believe it was a superpowered person.
Qi Yuan had simply helped them out of convenience, but if he could gather some intelligence about the palace while at it, even better.
Their earlier cacophonous rabbit squawks only made their already foolish behavior seem more idiotic.
He had nearly thought this group had been so scared that their brains short-circuited, ready to turn and leave.
Now that a sane person was talking to him, Qi Yuan was willing to communicate.
"It's because of the special rules in this Fusion Zone."
Explaining in detail would be too troublesome.
It would involve questions like why the rabbit I see isn't actually a rabbit, and why the rabbit you see must be a rabbit?
Not only is it convoluted, but it would also waste time. It's better to gloss over it with a vague sentence.
"So we're under an illusion?"
Luo Feng immediately recalled how they had inexplicably lost their companions, surrounded by rabbits.
Perhaps they hadn't actually wandered off, but were under an illusion that made them think the people around them were rabbits.
So when they fled, their companions had concernedly followed.
That would explain it.
No, your companions just wanted to catch a suddenly appearing rabbit.
As Qi Yuan thought to himself, he replied, "No, it's a rule of the Transformatio-type."
As for who had transformed, he would leave that for them to figure out.
He was now curious whether they could change back after leaving the zone.
The rabbit version of Luo Feng nodded seriously, not expecting such a rule.
His companions, including the Feng Family's elder, had all turned into rabbits, but he had misunderstood when trying to inform them.
"Thank you for your explanation."
Luo Feng politely expressed his gratitude, his limited experiences leading to the current situation.
"What will you do next?"
The others heard the conversation between Luo Feng and Qi Yuan, some parts clear, some parts vague, but the last sentence didn't matter whether they understood the preceding parts or not.
After that experience, they finally understood why their family was so eager for them to become high-level superpowered individuals.
When they gathered to face monsters, danger lurked everywhere.
But for him, dispatching monsters took merely an instant.
"Explore this palace a bit."
Since he was just idling either way, and couldn't leave the Fusion Zone.
Qi Yuan clearly understood the intent behind the question, but he couldn't take the initiative to offer, or the responsibility would fall on him.
"Can we follow behind you to find our previous companions?"
Luo Feng concisely stated their request.
He didn't ask the Patrol Team to protect them, nor did he insist on becoming Qi Yuan's companion.
Although they would be traveling the same path as Qi Yuan, the underlying implications differed.
This person was quite articulate.
Following behind him meant Qi Yuan could choose to ignore them at any time.
Qi Yuan didn't mind, nodding in agreement, and adding a caveat to prevent the little bunnies from not leaving once they found their people.
"If you find your companions and want to leave, feel free to do so."
A group of rabbits expressed their gratitude, trailing behind him.
Free from the threat of danger, they finally had the mind to admire the palace.
"Did your teammates get separated from you?"
Along the way, Luo Feng struggled to find a topic, his companions huddled behind like a group of quails.
Logically, they should be cautious and avoid making noise to attract monsters, but the rabbit Patrol member before them didn't seem to need such precautions.
He didn't seem like a Patrol Team member urgently rescuing and clearing monsters, but rather someone leisurely sightseeing.
That aura of absolute confidence in his abilities was something Luo Feng hadn't even seen in the Feng Family elder.
"No, I'm acting alone."
So far, exploring this palace hadn't yielded anything particularly noteworthy.
Aside from becoming increasingly cold, magnificent and the items becoming more exquisite, it didn't seem much different from ancient architecture to Qi Yuan.
Although he knew it wasn't any different, it was because he couldn't discern those differences.
After exploring for so long, Qi Yuan had lost interest in the palace.
Qi Yuan's succinct reply left Luo Feng struggling to continue the conversation, so he could only talk about himself to avoid appearing like he was prying for information.
"We were brought out here by the elders in our family for field experience."
"Then the Fusion Zone suddenly manifested, and our family elder told us to stick close to him. But when we realized everything around us had turned into rabbits, we thought we had gotten separated and ran off."
"Field experience?"
Qi Yuan recalled his own brief mountain training experience.
"Yes, to broaden our horizons in the wild."
I see...
Qi Yuan pondered, suddenly realizing that his younger brother was also around that age. It was time to let him experience the storms of life, instead of cosplaying the Monkey King at home all day.
"Besides field experience, what else do you all do?"
"Study martial arts and combat, as well as learn about various types of monsters."
Luo Feng spoke openly, as this wasn't confidential information.
Their family's focus was on cultivating high-level superpowered individuals, and they attended private schools with a significant portion of their curriculum dedicated to combat.
Qi Yuan recalled his own academic journey, following the standard curriculum until high school senior year.
For ordinary people like him who awakened superpowers, they would transfer to the superpowered classes.
Although he had never experienced the superpowered classes in elementary and middle school, he had learned about the combat-oriented high school classes from those around him.
What Luo Feng described was the curriculum of the high school combat classes.
And if he wasn't mistaken, this group of rabbits appeared to be around middle school age.
Damn rich people, this was basically getting a head start at the starting line!