The miserable rabbit

Someone came in, opened the door, and waited there without speaking or moving. They seemed to have come for Lei Ouyan.

Lei Ouyan sat up and casually lifted the rabbit by his ears onto the table. The rabbit looked thoroughly traumatized. He lay motionless, letting himself be handled.

Amused, Lei Ouyan ignored him, got dressed, then turned back to warn him, "Don't wander off."

Hmph. What an arrogant, hateful human!

Qin Miaomiao felt as though he had met a faithless lover. His heart had been wounded, and his body would soon follow. Swearing never to speak to Lei Ouyan again, he stubbornly turned his head away.

Lei Ouyan patted his head. "You might die even faster outside. Understand?"

Dying outside would still be better than dying in a pot, right? Fine, you want to eat me, but why pretend you're doing me a favor? I already saw through that human skin to the monster underneath.

Fortunately, Qin Miaomiao couldn't speak right now. Otherwise, he could have muttered for over three hours, listing Lei Ouyan's crimes. There weren't enough words to condemn them all!

As a rabbit, however, all he could do was snort indignantly.

Lei Ouyan tidied himself up and left with the others. He didn't say when he would return, only leaving a basket of carrots that Remiya had prepared for the rabbit.

But who wanted carrots? As a human, Qin Miaomiao had been perfectly fine in every respect except one: he was a picky eater, and especially hated carrots. He stomped over and deliberately overturned the basket. His stomach chose that moment to growl traitorously, and... he twitched his nose. They actually smelled pretty good.

Qin Miaomiao looked around. Nobody was watching anyway. He picked one up and took a bite, then froze. Was this really a carrot? It was delicious!

Although Qin Miaomiao was human, he couldn't resist his rabbit instincts. He simply tucked in, only stopping when his belly was round and stuffed.

He slumped on the floor and looked around. Everything offended his eyes, every bit as detestable as Lei Ouyan. Then, perfectly demonstrating what happened when someone had a full stomach and nothing to do, Qin Miaomiao bounded everywhere, destroying everything he could. The books once neatly arranged on the shelves were scattered all over. He particularly wanted to gnaw One Hundred Ways to Cook a Rabbit to pieces on the spot.

But the destruction left him exhausted. Chewing up a book would take too much effort.

He settled beside the window. The nineteenth floor wasn't especially high, yet it felt close to the sky. The moon hung low, seemingly within reach. When the wind blew, moonlight swayed and tumbled down.

Qin Miaomiao reached out to catch it, suddenly feeling unbearably lonely and wronged. He wanted to cry, to go home, to eat his mother's cooking. He missed his big, warm, soft bed, missed Commander, missed his friends...

Friends?

Right! The class monitor!

Only then did Qin Miaomiao remember the class monitor's face flashing past earlier. It had only been a glimpse, but he was certain he hadn't mistaken him. He could find the class monitor! The class monitor would help and protect him. They could recognize each other and find a way home together!

At that thought, Qin Miaomiao wiped away tears that hadn't actually fallen. His ears stood up with excitement, but he soon discovered that apart from a window and a door he couldn't possibly open, the room didn't even have a vent. How was he supposed to escape?

On the nineteenth-floor windowsill, he tried looking down. One glance was enough to make him feel as though he had already begun falling.

Qin Miaomiao backed away a little and steadied himself. But when he looked back, the room was a complete wreck...

Who would have thought he would be the one to destroy his own chances of survival? After what he had done to the room, even if Lei Ouyan came home with a winning lottery ticket, one look at this mess would have him serving up hand-torn spicy rabbit.

So-a man could die, but never submit to humiliation! Better to fall to my death than end up in Lei Ouyan's stomach!

Determined, Qin Miaomiao gritted his teeth and jumped onto the windowsill. A gust of cold wind nearly made him slip. He clung to the window frame, shaken. He couldn't die before his mission even began. He hadn't even made it outside yet.

He took several deep breaths to compose himself. Tall buildings here weren't much different from those back home. There were decorative ledges on the wall that he could stand on, though they were very narrow. Several dozen meters to his right was a small terrace, resembling an outdoor café, with a few tables but no people.

Of course. It was the middle of the night, almost time for roosters to crow.

That was Qin Miaomiao's destination, but reaching it wouldn't be easy. He tried cautiously extending a leg, drawing it back, then extending it again. After repeating this several times, he lay flat and stopped moving.

Was he really going to accept being eaten by Lei Ouyan? Qin Miaomiao's mind had already begun rehearsing the scene: Lei Ouyan's face shrouded in shadow, only his eyes glowing eerily. He raised a knife, then brought it down.

God! No! Qin Miaomiao shook his head. As though Lei Ouyan were standing behind him with a raised knife right now, he moved his plump little legs, ignoring everything else and chanting silently: Braised, steamed, stir-fried, deep-fried...

For every method he thought of, he forced himself to take another step. After thirty-seven, he had actually almost reached the neighboring observation terrace.

Apparently, even as a rabbit, sometimes he had to push himself to discover his limits.

Qin Miaomiao let out a long breath. Only one step remained. He judged the distance and jumped straight across-landing successfully.

But with a crack, his still-unhealed leg protested again. Pain crept from his ankle through his nerves, striking straight into his skull.

It hurt like hell! Clutching his leg, he rolled several times on the ground. Then he looked back and abruptly stopped.

The wind had blown the curtains out of Lei Ouyan's window. They danced in the night like a waving hand.

Honestly, Qin Miaomiao felt rather pleased with himself. He looked at the route he had taken: so narrow, so high, so far, yet he had crossed it! He was more excited than if he had successfully completed the twenty-five-thousand-li Long March. He stood and straightened himself up like someone stepping onto a stage to accept an award, proud and moved, then waved back at the curtains. See you never!

With that, Qin Miaomiao flicked his ears and strode away, even humming a cheerful little tune: Say goodbye to all your troubles, say goodbye to that monster named Lei!

Qin Miaomiao found a corner and slept through the night. By the time he woke, it was noon the next day.

He slipped out and looked around. The nineteenth floor was busy, everyone absorbed in their own duties. Surely nobody would notice a rabbit like him.

Hugging the walls, he darted around like a rolling snowball. He searched several places without finding the class monitor.

That was strange. Why had he sensed Lei Ouyan and the mutants so accurately last night, yet felt nothing from the class monitor?

Was it because Lei Ouyan was a monster too? After all, even nowadays, nobody would want to eat a giant panda! Qin Miaomiao was utterly confident in this theory.

It never occurred to him that the nineteenth floor was a tightly guarded operational planning area, and that this self-important rabbit had long since been spotted.

Including by the class monitor he had been searching so desperately for-Li Weisen.

The surveillance room was unlit. Screens covered an entire wall, displaying every corner of the nineteenth floor, including the rabbit.

The light from the screens left Li Weisen's face half-lit, half-shadowed. A long cigarette still hung from his lips, seemingly never burning out. Arms folded, he asked, "That's the rabbit?"

"Yes, junior captain." The staff member beside him was a young woman with short hair, neat features, and a brisk manner. She was one of Remiya's assistants. As though emphasizing something, she added, "But the development and research teams issued a joint notice. All his test results were normal. He's a genuine rabbit, the kind we haven't seen in a century. That means he's protected by base regulations now. Unauthorized personnel can't harm him."

Li Weisen glanced at her. "What's that supposed to mean? You think I'd bother touching him?"

The girl smiled awkwardly. That was hard to say.

Li Weisen scoffed. He had no time to worry about why the development team had done this. His only goal was to repel the mutants and protect humanity's last territory. Everything else was superfluous.

"What good is a rabbit? Can he help humanity fight the mutants?"

The girl wanted to say something, but she was wary of Li Weisen and held her tongue.

Li Weisen asked, "Where's Lei Ouyan now?"

"Commander Damon is back. The first captain should be with him."

On the screen, the rabbit was heading straight for the base's conference room. But that area was different. It contained the only passage into NAT Base's core, along with Damon's office and those of the senior officers. Apart from a select few people, not even a fly could get in. Even a harmless rabbit would face certain death once the system detected him.

The girl grew nervous. "Junior captain..."

"What are you scared of? If he dies, all the better..." Then Li Weisen reconsidered. Since this was Lei Ouyan's rabbit, keeping him alive might not be a bad thing. He couldn't deal with Lei Ouyan, but surely he could handle a rabbit?

"Wait." His eyes narrowed. Suddenly, everything clicked, as though some new wicked idea had occurred to him. He might as well have had "conspiracy" written across his face.

"Junior captain..."

"Just try telling anyone."

Watching Li Weisen leave, the girl immediately called Chris. A meeting was probably underway, but Chris had told her to make contact in an emergency, so she called several times.

When the call connected, she spoke urgently. "Officer, the rabbit is heading toward the conference room. The junior captain is on his way there too."

"..." There was a long silence. Just as the girl began wondering whether the signal was bad, a cold, low male voice answered, "Mm. Understood."

She stared at the phone in confusion. Was that... the first captain?

The communicator had rung several times, but Chris had been reporting to Damon and couldn't spare it any attention.

Lei Ouyan was there too. As a central figure in the recent incidents, he naturally couldn't avoid involvement.

In the enormous conference room, senior officers occupied the principal seats around the round table. Damon sat at its head, both hands braced on the polished tabletop. His face was strikingly handsome, as though painstakingly sculpted by the creator, but his bearing was distant and commanding even without anger. Like an iceberg at sea, he was immaculate, yet bitterly cold and dangerous. People instinctively stepped aside for him. Only Lei Ouyan liked confronting him head-on.

Lei Ouyan hadn't taken a seat. He stood by the door, leaning against the wall with his arms folded, not listening, his brow furrowed with faint impatience. He looked exactly like a student sent into the hallway as punishment, wanting nothing more than for class to end.

Chris finished reporting on the rabbit. Damon offered no criticism and spoke slowly. "What happened with the mutant incursion into the Third District?"

The air seemed to draw into a taut wire. Nobody answered.

Chris steeled herself. "About that..."

"I'm asking Lei Ouyan." His tone was unhurried, but his gaze was a sword aimed at a vital point.

Lei Ouyan raised his head and looked over from a distance. Seemingly out of courtesy, he offered a brief reply. "No comment."

"Where is the rabbit now?"

Chris had thought he was dropping the matter. So he suspected a connection between the rabbit and the mutants?

"Why ask about him?" Lei Ouyan found it amusing. "You don't seriously think he has some sensory ability that lets him detect mutants?"

There was nothing strange about animals sensing danger. They were far less complicated than humans.

After all, that was how it had been when Earth first began changing. Birds scattered, beasts grew restless, and all the animals behaved abnormally. Only humans failed to realize that it was the beginning.

Knowing wouldn't have helped anyway. They were powerless to change it.

"He's just a rabbit," Lei Ouyan said.

"That would be best." After two seconds of silence, Damon said, "In that case, hand the rabbit over to the research team for now."

"No."

"Your opinion is irrelevant."

"I found him. Why should I give him to you?"

"Lei Ouyan!" Chris stopped him sharply. She felt he still had a child's stubborn streak, always wanting to contradict Damon. But it never ended well, and she didn't want that happening again.

Lei Ouyan didn't appreciate her intervention. He continued, "Or did you come back empty-handed this time, Commander? Not only did you fail to find your so-called way to save the world, you discovered our defenses can't even stop mutants anymore. So now you're pinning your hopes on a rabbit?"

"Lei Ouyan, get out!" Chris slammed the table and stood, throwing something at him. Lei Ouyan tilted his head and dodged. The object fell to the floor. It was Chris's communicator.

It had rung so many times, and she had no idea what was happening. This was the only way she could pass it to Lei Ouyan. She knew Damon would see through such childish tricks, but surely he wouldn't expose her at a moment like this.

Her scalp prickling, Chris glanced at Damon from the corner of her eye. He checked his watch and said nothing.

Chris took a deep breath. "Commander, allow me to give the report."

Lei Ouyan went outside and answered the communicator. A voice came through the receiver. At the same time, he spotted Qin Miaomiao twenty meters away in a straight line.

This area had two levels. Upstairs were the conference room, offices, and the only passage into the base's core. That restricted area housed the Spring Eye and was naturally riddled with security mechanisms.

Below was a buffer zone. The rabbit stood downstairs. One more step would trigger the area's defenses and slaughter him. But he stopped.

Qin Miaomiao knew nothing about security mechanisms or restricted areas. He had only stopped because he saw Lei Ouyan. Damn! How could I run into him here? There really was no escaping an enemy!

Forget moving forward. Qin Miaomiao turned and bolted.

Watching the rabbit flee in panic, Lei Ouyan gave a rare response. "Mm. Understood."

Then he added, "Thank you."

He had never actually intended to eat the rabbit. He had always thought this world was utterly desolate. Only with a rabbit in it had it begun to come alive.

"So you're the rabbit."

Qin Miaomiao was panting from his run and had just stopped to rest when he heard a familiar voice. He turned. Light and shadow parted like a rising curtain as a man emerged from the darkness, gradually revealing his whole face-the class monitor!

He had searched everywhere in vain, only to find him without any effort!

Tears welled in his eyes with excitement. Normally, he wasn't particularly attached to the class monitor and sometimes even found him annoying. But here in this strange land, the class monitor was his only family, closer than any blood test could prove. All the grief, fear, bitterness, and hurt of the past two days surged up together. The tears he hadn't managed to shed before finally appeared.

Class monitor, I missed you so much...

Almost forgetting he was a rabbit, Qin Miaomiao charged forward recklessly. But everything took a sudden turn. Before he could fling himself into the class monitor's arms and savor meeting an old friend far from home, the class monitor kicked him away.

Qin Miaomiao tumbled across the floor, only stopping when he hit something. After a brief moment of confusion, he remembered he was a rabbit. The class monitor didn't recognize him, so kicking him away was understandable.

But even a rabbit shouldn't be treated like that... He remembered the class monitor always going over to play with cats and dogs by the roadside. Why discriminate against rabbits?

As he pondered this, he sensed something wrong with the atmosphere. He looked back. Lei Ouyan! Why had that monster followed him again?

He jolted and tried to run, but Lei Ouyan caught him by the ears. His tone was flat. "Do you throw yourself at everyone?"

Qin Miaomiao couldn't be bothered with him. He stared pleadingly at Li Weisen, his only hope. Class monitor, save me! It's Qin Miaomiao! Miaomiao!

Naturally, Li Weisen couldn't understand what this wild rabbit was saying. He watched Lei Ouyan instead. That was the person who truly interested him.

Li Weisen's face was full of provocation. "You brought back a wild rabbit without permission and let him run loose, disrupting the entire base. Do you have any respect for base regulations?"

Lei Ouyan was unbothered. "Have I ever?"

"You!" Lei Ouyan always managed to enrage Li Weisen with a single sentence. He abandoned reason altogether. "Then this rabbit must be evidence that you're collaborating with the enemy! You brought him back to destroy the human base from within, didn't you?"

"If I wanted to destroy this place, I could do it alone. I wouldn't need a rabbit's help."

"So you really do want to destroy it!"

"..."

"Why aren't you talking? Admitting it, are you?"

"..."

Qin Miaomiao became increasingly certain this was the class monitor. After all, idiots this literal-minded were rare. He struggled even harder.

Then he discovered Lei Ouyan was staring at him. "Are you that afraid of me?"

Obviously! Qin Miaomiao was speechless. You want to eat me. What am I supposed to do, love you instead?

Lei Ouyan's gaze instantly chilled. He actually let go.

Caught completely off guard, Qin Miaomiao landed on the floor, dazed. Wasn't he supposed to take him back, chop him into pieces, and make an imperial banquet? Why had he let go and given him freedom?

Qin Miaomiao glanced back at Lei Ouyan. His face was expressionless, yet he resembled a block of ice, his coldness almost burning.

He must have let go by accident. Qin Miaomiao paused for several seconds. Seeing that Lei Ouyan still didn't move, he darted to Li Weisen's feet. He kept looking back cautiously, afraid Lei Ouyan might suddenly grab him again.

Li Weisen was impatient by nature and particularly disliked animals. He had intended to kick the rabbit away again, but stopped when he saw Lei Ouyan's expression. Lei Ouyan was always indifferent to everything. It was rare to see him so visibly unhappy.

So he deliberately said, "Your rabbit seems pretty fond of me."

Lei Ouyan pressed his lips together without answering.

Now Li Weisen was even more certain. He laughed twice, then bent down and grabbed the rabbit's ears. "Since your rabbit insists on sticking with me, I'll take him?"

"Suit yourself." Lei Ouyan tossed out the words and left without looking back. Watching him go, Qin Miaomiao inexplicably felt a little down too. Was this PTSD? He wanted to eat you, and you're still worrying about him? Stop being such a saintly little rabbit!

But Lei Ouyan really was gone.

Qin Miaomiao looked away, then jumped at the enormous face before him.

Li Weisen had leaned so close his eyes almost crossed. He examined the rabbit. "What did Lei Ouyan do to get you past three rounds of screening?"

Qin Miaomiao was speechless again. Because I'm not a mutant in the first place, okay? And are you blind? Those mutants are all hideous and disgusting. I'm a little white rabbit with soft, glossy fur. What part of me looks like one?

"But now that you're in my hands, you won't fool your way through again." Li Weisen lifted one corner of his mouth in a particularly sinister smile.

Yet faced with someone he had seen every day for two years, Qin Miaomiao sensed no danger whatsoever. All he wanted was to let the class monitor know his true identity. He firmly believed this was the class monitor.

Li Weisen produced a pill from somewhere and held it to Qin Miaomiao's mouth.

Not understanding, Qin Miaomiao hesitated, then opened his mouth. It was sweet!

The class monitor really was kind. He didn't even recognize him, but still gave him candy! Qin Miaomiao was delighted, but gradually his head grew heavy and dizzy. Before he could think any further, he passed out.

When Qin Miaomiao woke, he found himself locked in an iron cage. Outside it was an even larger "iron cage," with pitch-black walls covered in unidentifiable marks too old to distinguish. Behind him stood an immensely thick iron door, like an ancient city gate. The place gave him an indescribably eerie feeling.

Then he looked at Li Weisen. Sitting in front of him with his chair tilted back and his crossed legs propped on a table, he still had that seemingly permanent cigarette in his mouth. He watched the rabbit leisurely, as though waiting for a good show.

Class monitor? What's this about?

"Oh, awake already? Your body's purification ability really is impressive." Li Weisen blew a smoke ring, then glanced sideways at the report on the table. It did list the rabbit's purification ability as far higher than a human's. "That's how you conceal the mutant presence inside you, even fooling Lei Ouyan, isn't it?"

He stood and straightened his clothes and hair like a principal about to give a speech, then walked over to Qin Miaomiao. "I'm taking you home."

Home? At those words, Qin Miaomiao's ears shot upright. Had the class monitor recognized him? Could he really go home now?

No, something was wrong. Li Weisen lifted the cage and headed toward the iron door. Qin Miaomiao swayed inside it. He didn't know what lay beyond that door, only that the closer they got, the more oppressive the chill became. It was like approaching the gates of hell.

He looked up at Li Weisen, seeing only his jawline and the inscrutable smile at the corner of his mouth. It filled him with dread. Timidly, Qin Miaomiao called out in his heart, Class monitor.

But he couldn't hear him.

The iron door slowly opened. Compared with the shabby darkness outside, the interior was brilliantly lit. The glare dazzled Qin Miaomiao, and it took him a dizzy moment to see clearly. This seemed to be a laboratory, filled with equipment and people in protective suits. Everyone was busy with their own work, though Qin Miaomiao had no idea what they were doing.

Before them stood a huge transparent screen covered in diagrams and data Qin Miaomiao couldn't understand. Behind the screen was a curved glass wall. Only when they drew closer did he see the enormous facility beyond it, probably converted from an abandoned shopping mall. The building formed a ring, with an unknown number of floors stretching downward. Each floor contained numerous brightly lit spaces, with passages leading in every direction. Fully armed personnel occasionally walked past, but he couldn't see anything else. All he could hear were the overlapping howls of mutants.

Qin Miaomiao froze. Was this the mutant prison? Were countless mutants being held here as research specimens?

He looked at Li Weisen and suddenly understood what he had meant by "going home." Li Weisen thought he was a mutant and belonged among his own kind. That was why he had brought him here.

Was he going to lock him up here?

Qin Miaomiao felt as though he had plunged into an ice cellar. Only now did he realize: this wasn't his class monitor at all. He was merely a boy who shared his class monitor's face but lived in an apocalyptic world.

But it was too late to realize that now. Let me out!

Qin Miaomiao tried to run, but the instant his paw touched the cage, an electric current shocked him back. Li Weisen gave him a sidelong glance. "Only just thought of running now? A little late for that."

Let me out! Qin Miaomiao bared his teeth at him, but it clearly did no good.

"Not much ability, but plenty of attitude."

Li Weisen muttered under his breath. As he spoke, a somewhat older man approached them. There were wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, but he carried himself with gentle, refined composure. Beneath his white coat was a slightly worn blue work uniform, worn with exceptional neatness.

Even an arrogant rich kid like Li Weisen showed a measure of respect before him, taking the initiative to greet him. "Uncle Zhou."

Uncle Zhou glanced at the rabbit he was carrying. "Why did you bring him here?"

Li Weisen usually acted like a cocky brat, but on the rare occasions he was serious, he could look quite respectable. His expression solemn, he answered, "Although all of Remiya's monitoring results came back normal, our technology still has its limits, and mutants remain an unknown. If anything goes wrong with him, the entire base will be in danger. Better safe than sorry. I don't want to take that risk."

To Li Weisen, the rabbit was, at most, just a rabbit. The world wouldn't become any worse because of one rabbit, nor would it become any better.

He wouldn't allow anything to threaten humanity's safety.

Uncle Zhou smiled. "It would still be better to discuss it with the Lei Family siblings first. They're the ones who brought him back, after all."

"No need," Li Weisen said. "Since Lei Ouyan handed him over to me, he knew perfectly well what I would do. He tacitly agreed, because there's no other way for him to clear himself of suspicion."

"Is that so..."

Qin Miaomiao didn't notice Uncle Zhou's hesitation. He simply sat down in a daze, both ears drooping. He stopped struggling and stopped trying to escape.

He hadn't understood the rest, but he had understood one thing: Lei Ouyan didn't want him anymore.

Perhaps it was animal imprinting. Lei Ouyan had been the first person he saw after arriving here, so even though he was always threatening to eat him, Qin Miaomiao couldn't deny the affection he felt toward him. He had thought Lei Ouyan would like him too, just as he had liked the rain-soaked puppy he had picked up as a child.

But now he understood. To Lei Ouyan, he was merely a foreign species, a rabbit that might mutate without warning, like a time bomb that could explode at any moment. Lei Ouyan had already shown him every possible kindness by not killing him immediately. There was no reason he should like him.

Yet, for some reason, understanding that still left him feeling lost. At last, he tasted a little of what despair was like.

No one would come to save him anymore.

Even if he now preferred to become someone's meal, he couldn't so much as climb onto their plate.

A black cloth was draped over the cage. After being moved around several times, Qin Miaomiao had no idea where he was.

There was a click, as though a lock had opened. Half asleep, Qin Miaomiao jolted awake, unsure what had happened. He cautiously reached out a paw-no electricity! He pushed the cage open farther. But before he could even poke his head out, the cage sprang violently forward, flinging him straight out.

With a smack, he landed on all fours on a conveyor track. The track moved briskly forward, like a sushi conveyor belt. The fall left Qin Miaomiao dizzy. He had barely sat up when a guillotine blade dropped behind him, passing so close to his back that it shaved off a patch of fur!

He didn't dare imagine what would have happened if he hadn't sat up just then. Wouldn't his head already have been severed from his body?

Besides, his current situation left him no time to think. Seeing another blade about to drop, Qin Miaomiao rolled and narrowly dodged it again. But another obstacle came immediately afterward. He leaped over it, then jumped through a ring of fire and dodged a deep pit. Danger lurked everywhere, catching him off guard. If he hadn't experienced it himself, even Qin Miaomiao wouldn't have believed it. It was like playing a live-action version of Temple Run, brushing past death every second.

Qin Miaomiao was close to tears, but he had no way to stop. Gritting his teeth, he tried to calm down. Dodging forever wasn't a solution. He was only a rabbit, after all. Sooner or later, his strength would run out. The machines' wouldn't.

Qin Miaomiao looked up. If he kept running, he would enter a tunnel in about thirty seconds. Beside the tunnel was a ventilation opening, roughly a meter away.

If Qin Miaomiao jumped with all his strength and caught the edge, he could escape. But if he missed, an endless abyss awaited below. Certain death.

There was no time to think. Qin Miaomiao gritted his teeth. He would die either way, so he might as well take his fate into his own paws. He silently counted down from three, then used the conveyor belt's momentum and practically every ounce of strength he possessed to launch himself sideways.

Got it!

Qin Miaomiao clung desperately to the edge of the vent, then laboriously hauled himself up. At last, all four paws were on solid ground, and he could breathe a sigh of relief.

But where did this lead? Qin Miaomiao peered inside. The passage disappeared into darkness, with faint, delicate currents of air occasionally drifting out. He hesitated, then ventured a little farther in. The slightest sound made his fur stand on end, so he moved exceptionally slowly. But fate waited for no rabbit and showed him no mercy. As though someone had deliberately shoved him from behind, his paw slipped, and he slid straight down as if on a playground slide, landing on the floor with a thud.

This place resembled an enormous basketball court, completely empty except for the sleeping mutant in front of Qin Miaomiao.

It was Qin Miaomiao's first time seeing a mutant this close. It looked like a wild boar, but it had eight legs and a pair of antennae on its head.

He was losing his mind, but he didn't dare make a sound, terrified that this thing would wake up and swallow him in one bite. Besides, after all that running, he had barely any strength left. Now the fright had turned his legs to jelly.

Qin Miaomiao wanted to cry, but no tears came. God, did my life as a human go too smoothly? Is that why you had to turn me into such a useless rabbit and put me through all this to toughen me up?

It was too close. Qin Miaomiao could even feel the mutant's breath blowing through his fur like a hurricane.

He lay flat on the floor, using the last strength in his front legs to drag himself away from the creature. Ideally, he would find somewhere to hide.

Suddenly, something flashed before his eyes. A tiny white dot of light darted around on the floor, as if someone were playing a prank. Unable to suppress his animal instincts, Qin Miaomiao chased it for a couple of steps before finally forcing himself to stop. He looked up and saw a glass bottle embedded in the wall. Inside it, a little white blob was bouncing up and down.

It looked familiar. After a moment's thought, Qin Miaomiao remembered. Wasn't this the thing Lei Ouyan had brought back when they first met? What was it doing here?

The white blob seemed to recognize Qin Miaomiao too and struggled excitedly to get out. But a closer look showed that wasn't it at all. It was deliberately making noise, trying to wake the mutant. Qin Miaomiao inwardly cursed. A sudden gust of cold air swept over his back.

It really woke up!

Fine! Fury welled up inside Qin Miaomiao as he glared at the white blob. I might not be able to beat a human, but you think I can't beat you?

Fortunately, this mutant was the slow but powerful type. Having just woken up, it probably wasn't fully alert either. It raised a fist and brought it down toward Qin Miaomiao. It missed, but the rush of air from its descending fist was enough to send him tumbling.

The white blob gloated nearby, bouncing even more merrily. Inspiration struck Qin Miaomiao. He lured the mutant toward the blob, then seized his chance and jumped with the last of his strength.

Right on cue, the fist came down. With a bang, the wall shattered. The glass bottle fell and broke as well, and the white blob flowed out with the liquid inside.

But the surveillance camera's angle didn't show the white blob. All it captured was the broken wall and the rabbit sprawled motionless on the floor.

In the control room, Li Weisen stood before the surveillance feed, his brows knotted. His long cigarette was almost burned down.

Uncle Zhou stood beside him, hands clasped behind his back, and smiled. "As newly developed life-forms on Earth, the greatest difference between mutants and earlier creatures is their lack of intelligence. They have only rage and hunger. All they do is destroy and eat."

But clearly, this rabbit was different. He was even much smarter than an ordinary rabbit. He knew how to evade danger and think, and his behavior and responses were closer to a human's.

When Li Weisen didn't answer, Uncle Zhou gave a helpless smile, turned, and patted his shoulder. His voice was earnest. "You don't always need to cling so tightly to the past. You and he use different methods, but your goal is the same."

Why did everyone say that? Li Weisen was deeply irritated. Lei Ouyan had always scorned humanity's survival. He could even kill his own teammates. But protecting this place was the sole mission Li Weisen had been born to fulfill. Lei Ouyan didn't deserve to be compared with him.

Li Weisen clenched his fists, veins bulging faintly on his forehead. He was struggling to suppress something, as though he would have overturned the table already if the person before him hadn't been Uncle Zhou. In the end, he held it in. "Understood, Uncle Zhou."

"You should still let Ouyan know." Uncle Zhou understood the situation well. He stopped again at the doorway.

Lei Ouyan had let Li Weisen take the rabbit because the development division had issued a protection order for him. He had been certain Li Weisen wouldn't dare act rashly. He hadn't expected him to take his recklessness this far. Given what he knew of the two boys, Uncle Zhou shook his head. Lei Ouyan probably had no idea what was happening to the rabbit.

The mutant slammed a palm down, leaving half of Qin Miaomiao's body numb from the impact. The white blob was also jolted into the air, then drifted slowly down like a feather.

Qin Miaomiao also realized that the mutant and the blob weren't on the same side. That meant there were now three opposing forces holding one another in check. No, that wasn't right. One side was completely dominating the others.

If they wanted to defeat it, the other two would have to cooperate. Qin Miaomiao glanced at the white blob. He had thought he was useless enough, but this blob was even worse. All it could do was bounce around like a rubber ball.

Weren't you ferocious enough when you were chasing me before?

The mutant seemed tired. It paused briefly, then attacked again. Qin Miaomiao's potential seemed limitless. He had thought he was utterly exhausted, yet with his life at stake, strength appeared from somewhere. He jumped over, grabbed the white blob, and flung it forward. The mutant's attention was easily diverted. It chased after the blob, lunged, and crashed into the wall.

The blob fell to the floor and bounced twice.

Qin Miaomiao seemed to have found a temporary solution. He tried again, as though playing Frisbee with a puppy. Every time he threw the blob, the mutant lunged after it. But the difference in their sizes was like that between an elephant and a mouse; it couldn't catch the blob at all. It ended up either crashing into a wall or falling flat on its face.

Qin Miaomiao immediately grew smug, and even seemed to get hooked on the game. But happiness never lasted. The mutant finally realized something was wrong-or perhaps merely understood that it couldn't catch the blob-and naturally turned its attention back to Qin Miaomiao.

Qin Miaomiao was about to throw the ball again when he saw the mutant staring at him with its head twisted at an unnatural angle. He immediately froze.

He gave an awkward smile, trying to convey his friendliness, but the mutant wasn't having any of it. With a sweep of its long arm, it hurled Qin Miaomiao against the wall like a football, almost leaving a rabbit-shaped dent. But that wasn't enough. Clearly enraged, the mutant snatched up the blob, which was bouncing leisurely nearby, and threw it at Qin Miaomiao.

Qin Miaomiao slid down the wall and sat on the floor, dizzy and dazed, his consciousness already blurring. He had no idea what was flying toward him, nor the strength to dodge it.

But the next second, his throat caught. Something flew inside, like swallowing a tapioca pearl from bubble tea whole. Cold and soft, it slid down his throat and into his stomach.

What was that?! Qin Miaomiao thought that even if he wasn't beaten to death, he would choke to death.

The blob?

Qin Miaomiao jolted in alarm and tried to vomit it up, but it was too late. He had actually eaten the blob! What will happen? Will I die? Will I turn into a monster?

He had no time to consider it. The mutant was in a frenzy now. It charged over, grabbed the rabbit by a leg, and flung him to the other side.

Sure enough, what went around came around. Now it was his turn to be the ball.

Qin Miaomiao felt as though he had only one breath left. Yet as long as that breath lingered, he was forced to remain conscious of every jolt of pain and wave of dizziness. At last, he understood what it meant to be unable to live and unable to die.

This is too miserable, Qin Miaomiao thought. In just a few short days, he had written the entire tragic life story of a rabbit. He would have been better off being eaten. At least that would have been a quick death.

The Remia Laboratory had a special passage leading directly to the mutant prison. Rather than a prison, the place was more like an enormous specimen cabinet for their laboratory.

Captured mutants were confined there as experimental subjects for research.

That was Remiya's working environment. She dealt with different mutants every day, which was why she hadn't reacted at all upon seeing the mutant in the botanical garden.

The automatic door slowly opened, and Lei Ouyan entered in his combat uniform. The weapon he hadn't carried for some time was strapped to his back again. Whenever he looked like this, he seemed like a different person, radiating the chill of cold iron.

Remiya knew he had an urgent mission to attend to. "Sorry for making you come over at a time like this."

Lei Ouyan wasted no words. "When did it disappear?"

"This morning."

Remiya brought up the surveillance footage. They were talking about the blob in the glass bottle.

After bringing it back, Lei Ouyan hadn't reported it to Chris. Instead, he had handed it straight to Remiya. Just as he had suspected at the time, the blob wasn't a mutant but a product of human research. Its origins and purpose, however, were unknown.

Lei Ouyan had placed it in the specimen repository. To keep anyone else from discovering it, the glass bottle was stored in a special medium that allowed it to move within the repository's walls. Its coordinates changed once every hour, entirely at random.

Only Remiya and Lei Ouyan knew about this. The last time Remiya had seen it was two hours earlier, in Repository 829.

"What about Repository 829 now?"

"I just checked. Nothing unusual."

Lei Ouyan's brows drew tightly together. "What about the surrounding area?"

"The surrounding area..." At the console, Remiya rapidly pulled up the footage. There was nothing unusual anywhere.

"No..." Remembering something, she stepped into the elevator beside them. "Get in. Come with me."

They reached another floor. It looked no different from the control room above, except that it seemed older. A layer of dust had already settled over the console. Remiya switched on the equipment.

"Repository 829 is at ground level. Originally, there were no other repositories beneath it, but it was moved a while ago. Repository 73 is below it now."

As Remiya spoke, the space around them seemed to begin rotating, then abruptly stopped, as though it had changed direction. The wall before them resembled a sheet of ice gradually melting. The opaque layer vanished, leaving only transparent glass, and the scene inside came into view.

In an instant, a dark shape flew toward them. Then, with a smack, a rabbit stuck to the glass like a gummy candy. He looked barely alive, his fur stained with red blood and black grime, battered beyond recognition. Behind him stood a mutant with a vicious expression. It bared its claws and lunged at the rabbit.

Both of them froze. Neither had expected the rabbit to be here.

It happened almost instantaneously. Lei Ouyan raised his gun and pulled the trigger. A bullet shot through the glass as easily as through a sheet of paper, then struck the mutant squarely in the center of its forehead. The immense force carried it more than ten meters backward and pinned it to the wall.

At the same time, the glass separating them from the mutant abruptly shattered into pieces.

Qin Miaomiao fell to the floor. He could barely feel pain anymore, and his consciousness was hazy, yet he seemed to see Lei Ouyan. Just like the day they first met, he was cold and unapproachable, yet carried that trace of warmth unique to humans, giving Qin Miaomiao something to follow across any distance.

He had actually wanted to tell Lei Ouyan, You don't seem like a bad person.

Lei Ouyan lowered his gun and looked at the rabbit on the floor, his eyes icy.