The other rabbits gradually gained courage and joined the conversation.
"We have a combat ranking every year."
"I've heard that the higher grades even have wilderness survival training, and the rewards include custom battle suits."
"It's true, Ma Yuanwei said his brother once..."
The person speaking last trailed off, their voice getting softer and softer, as they recalled Ma Yuanwei being devoured by the monsters before their eyes, sending chills down their spines.
This wasn't out of sympathy for Ma Yuanwei, but the first time they clearly felt the terror of monsters eating humans.
Now they realized one more thing.
The squad leader, Elder Ma, was from Ma Yuanwei's family.
They belatedly felt afraid that Elder Ma might cause trouble for them, as well as his brother.
Although Ma Yuanwei's abilities were nothing special, his brother was indeed a rare talent.
Even though Ma Yuanwei's death was his own fault, they had no evidence.
They couldn't help but pray not to encounter Elder Ma, as it was quite alright just to follow the rabbit patrol officers.
"Hm?"
They arrived at the inner palace, and Qi Yuan pushed at the door, but it didn't budge an inch.
Qi Yuan tried a couple more times, realizing it wasn't a matter of strength, but some kind of restriction.
"Step back."
He warned the little rabbit kits.
As he spoke, a cluster of starlight as sharp as sword glints shone from his palm, and he applied his Reconstruction Superpowers to the door.
The door still didn't budge.
Next, Qi Yuan tried a few more methods, but none had any effect.
This room was inanimate, impervious to his strongest Superpowers.
Fortunately, he wasn't a stubborn person, and giving up was also an option.
There was more than one restricted room, so they wandered through the entire area before resting in the main hall.
Qi Yuan sat on a chair, propping his chin with one hand.
With a clear view, the neat and tidy palace hall.
He surveyed his surroundings, unable to find any glowing objects, yet the entire space was perfectly lit.
From what he could see so far, this Fusion Zone was somewhat similar to Sakura Island.
There were also many places that defied common sense, yet without much danger.
He contemplated in his mind.
He could return and inform others, letting professionals come explore, which would be better than his amateurish meddling.
Anything that could be done by others need not be stubbornly tackled by him.
...
In a desolate forest,
Qiao Bai was stunned, leaning against a dead tree.
His companions had mysteriously disappeared, and the area was filled with giant rabbits.
Just as he was about to retrace his steps, a giant rabbit pounced at him.
Its appearance resembled an unidentifiable creature with two rabbit ears growing on it. Qiao Bai immediately turned and ran.
He was just a multilingual translator!
Please spare him!
After a frantic escape, he slipped and tumbled down a slope.
He looked around in a daze, unable to discern the way back.
Qiao Bai limped forward.
The surrounding trees swayed in the wind, rustling.
He walked on for a bit, sensing something amiss - the leaves had mostly fallen off the trees, so how could there be such loud sounds?
Qiao Bai quickened his pace, then broke into a run without looking back.
After running some distance, he dared to glance back.
A group of mutant rabbits was fiercely pursuing him.
"Damn, why are there rabbits everywhere?"
The rabbits here were too bizarre for Qiao Bai to risk carelessness, so his legs moved as fast as they could go.
While fleeing, he still looked back at the situation behind him, cursing.
"Oh damn, these mutant rabbits must be poisonous."
The lead old rabbit's four legs flickered with lightning, leaping towards him.
The distance between them visibly decreased.
As the gap closed, lightning erupted from the rabbit's body, forming a whip that lashed out at Qiao Bai.
Qiao Bai rolled to dodge the first strike, using his hands and feet to slide across the ground, rolling outward.
The mutant rabbit's lightning whip kept coming, one, two, three, four strikes...
Relying on years of escape experience and the physique of a Superpowered individual, he barely evaded the first four attacks.
But the fifth strike, the lightning whip came at his face from a tricky angle.
He hurriedly raised his hand to shield his face, lamenting inwardly.
Hey, I earn a living with this face - no need for the old rabbit to be so jealous of my good looks, right?
Someone come save me!
Perhaps his plea was answered, or perhaps this final attack would endanger Qiao Bai's life.
The ground rapidly rose up to form a mud wall, blocking in front of Qiao Bai.
"Bang!"
The lightning whip struck the hastily formed mud wall, shattering it.
Splinters flew towards Qiao Bai, leaving a trail of minor cuts.
Having avoided disaster, Qiao Bai immediately crawled and scrambled towards his rescuer, expertly clinging to the person's leg.
"Are you okay?"
The person in a patrol uniform awkwardly lifted their leg, also having been separated from their squad.
They intended to return and find Bai Xi but ended up here instead, and now everything made sense upon seeing Qiao Bai.
"I'm fine."
After clinging to the leg, Qiao Bai's excitement subsided, and he immediately retreated behind the patrol officer to avoid hindering the expert's performance.
To be able to accompany Qi Yuan on the rescue mission to Sakura Island, this patrol officer's abilities were naturally formidable.
"Why are there rabbits all over this zone?"
The patrol officer muttered, but didn't stop moving.
They placed both hands on the ground.
Countless earth spears rose from the ground, piercing towards the lightning-wielding mutant rabbit.
The sturdy mutant rabbit pushed off with its powerful legs, agilely tumbling in midair to dodge, then used its lightning whip to strike the earth spears.
It forcefully battered a path, leaping towards them.
"Boom!"
The area behind the old rabbit collapsed, and the smaller rabbits following behind fell into the pit.
Qiao Bai wondered if he was seeing things - he saw panic and fury on the rabbit's face.
It hastily changed direction, heading towards the pit.
In the split second it turned, it slammed headfirst into a suddenly rising mud wall.
"Bang!"
The impact caused a dull thud, and the rabbit slid down the wall, dazed.
Its three-parted mouth opened and closed, making "gugu shishishi" rabbit sounds, as if accusingly.
The patrol officer turned to Qiao Bai for confirmation: "I can't help but feel like this rabbit seems to have the ability to think."
They had trapped the smaller rabbits to prevent them from escaping. The old rabbit was very close, but the officer wasn't afraid of this mutant rabbit.
The rising mud wall was meant to cut off its retreat.
But they didn't expect this rabbit to actually turn back to rescue the smaller ones.
As the officer finished speaking, they saw Qiao Bai lunge towards them.
Qiao Bai tackled them to the ground, a massive fireball flying over their bodies and melting a huge crater in the ground nearby.
After avoiding the attack, Qiao Bai and the patrol officer looked towards the attacker's direction.
Their eyes nearly popped out.
It was another rabbit!
Not far away on a tree branch stood a rabbit with pristine white fur and a single red streak of fur.