Chapter Sixty-Three: The Bubble Bunny Operation—Kart Racing Rabbits (An Extra Chapter for Ten Thousand Rewards!)

Catherine stared in astonishment. “Black snow? Can you still call it snow if it’s black?”
Ling Mo only smiled without answering, motioning for Catherine to follow. The wind had died down, but the snowfall grew heavier, thick flakes swirling together and blanketing the land like tufts of cotton. In less than an hour, a thick layer had accumulated, transforming the once barren, ochre wasteland into a shimmering white expanse.

As they trudged through the snow, Catherine soon resembled a snowman herself. She brushed the snow off her clothes and complained, “Master, this outfit you gave me doesn't seem very warm, does it?”

“Nonsense,” Ling Mo replied. “How could shorts and a t-shirt possibly be warm? This outfit is made to resist energy attacks. Remember how the Phantom Wolf’s ‘Magic Light Piercing Cannon’ only left you with a scratch? You have this clothing to thank for that.”

“So it only resists energy. What about physical defense?”

“A martial artist has no need for physical defense,” Ling Mo replied disdainfully. “If you get physically injured, it only means you were being foolish.”

Catherine was left speechless by this bold statement. Huffing warm breath onto her frozen-red hands, she tried to change the subject. “You know, the weather might be terrible, but at least it has its upsides—it's so cold, I bet all the magical beasts are hiding away. The road ahead seems much less dangerous.”

“Who told you all the magical beasts were hiding?” Ling Mo shot her a glance and nodded toward the distance. “Look closely—what is that?”

Following his gaze, Catherine peered into the snowy landscape and noticed something unusual. About a dozen meters ahead, a translucent, pale-white ice sphere rolled across the snow, leaving a faint track that was quickly swallowed by the wind and snow. The sphere was about half a meter in diameter, and inside it, astonishingly, was a pure white rabbit! Its four short legs paddled rapidly within the sphere, like a little hamster in a bamboo cage. Expertly maneuvering the ice ball, the rabbit rolled it in a straight line up a nearby slope.

“Wow! That rabbit is so cute!” Catherine’s eyes lit up, and she couldn’t help but chase after the “rabbit ball,” observing it closely. This rabbit was slightly larger than normal; curled up, it wasn’t easy to tell, but it must have been over seventy centimeters long. Its fur was pristine white—a true “giant white rabbit." Its hind legs were much more developed than the front, giving it a powerful look, and its ears were noticeably shorter than those of an ordinary rabbit. Most striking of all was the thumb-sized, diamond-shaped red gem on its forehead, gleaming brilliantly in the snowy light.

After watching it for a while, Catherine hesitantly asked, “Is that… a Bubble Rabbit?”

“Yes,” Ling Mo replied, “it’s a Bubble Rabbit. Normally, they like to wrap themselves in bubbles they produce, but with this cold, the bubbles freeze, turning them into little ice rabbit balls.”

“No, no, no—the ball isn’t the point! Why is this Bubble Rabbit so big?! Normally, they’re only palm-sized!”

“This one is about the strength of a third-tier magical beast. It’s normal for it to be this size.”

“Holy crap!” Catherine couldn’t help but blurt out. Ling Mo glared at her in disapproval, so she quickly covered her mouth. After a moment, she lowered her hand and said, “Sorry, Master, I didn’t mean to—it’s just, this is really shocking.”

“I warned you before—after crossing the Thanatos River, even running into fifth-tier Bubble Rabbits shouldn’t surprise you. This is only a third-tier. Is that really worth cursing over?”

“…Some things, no matter how much you prepare, will still shock you,” Catherine muttered. “Mostly it’s just that the image of the Bubble Rabbit as a cuddly pet for little girls is so deeply ingrained, it’s hard to adjust to seeing such a fierce version.”

“Then you’d better start adjusting.”

“Oh…” Catherine nodded meekly. But after a few seconds, she couldn’t help herself. “Why is this rabbit running like a mad dog? And why does it wrap itself in a ball? Doesn’t it get suffocated in there?”

“It’s not just one, it’s many,” Ling Mo corrected her.

“Many? You mean there’s more than one of these giant rabbits?”

“Of course. Follow it, and hurry up! Once you cross that slope ahead, you’ll understand.”

Taking the hint, Catherine stopped talking. She checked her energy, adjusted her breathing, and began running after the “rabbit ball.” As the way led uphill and the ice was slick, the Bubble Rabbit wasn’t especially fast. It clearly knew Catherine was behind it, but didn’t bother to look back, its tiny legs scrambling furiously, mouth slightly open, drooling as it concentrated on nothing but running.

The hill wasn’t high, and soon Catherine reached the top. The moment her head crested the ridge and she saw what lay beyond, she forgot all about Ling Mo’s earlier rebuke and, along with the thousands of viewers in her streaming chat, blurted out another expletive.

Spread out on the sparkling white ice plain beyond, dozens—perhaps hundreds—of giant Bubble Rabbit ice balls clustered together! They were packed tightly on a small platform halfway down the slope, rabbit pressed against rabbit, ball against ball. Most crouched low with heads down, forepaws twitching in anticipation. A few dominant ones, eyes glowing bright red, glared about with fierce intent, as if daring the others to look at them. The most striking had a scar running down its left cheek, as if “super fierce” were etched on its brow.

How could there be so many?

Before Catherine could voice her question, the rabbits began to move. The last Bubble Rabbit had just reached the platform when, as if triggered by a signal, the others stopped staring each other down and swiveled as one, facing downhill, forepaws on the ground, poised to launch.

With a chorus of high-pitched rabbit cries from somewhere in the crowd, the rabbits all lifted their heads, and with one powerful kick of their sturdy hind legs, each ice ball shot downhill like a torrent of rabbits descending the mountain!

The spectacle of a hundred ice balls charging together was both awe-inspiring and slightly comical. From the determined looks on the Bubble Rabbits’ faces, it was clear they took the race seriously, but Catherine had to suppress a giggle. She asked, “Master, what on earth are these Bubble Rabbits doing?”

“Don’t laugh—this is the most sacred and solemn ritual of the Bubble Rabbit tribe.” Though he urged Catherine to stay serious, even Ling Mo’s face betrayed a smile. “Rabbits are more like humans than you’d think. Their mating isn’t bound by season. Whenever enough males in heat gather in one area, they meet at a designated spot for this very race. See that other slope across the plain, a few hundred meters away? In the middle of it is a Crystal Carrot. The male who pulls up the carrot wins the right to mate with the females.”

Catherine’s mouth dropped open as she tried to make sense of this peculiar animal custom. After a while, she recovered and asked, “So they just decide the winner like this? The fastest gets the best genes? Isn’t that a bit simplistic?”

No sooner had she voiced her doubts than reality contradicted her. The Bubble Rabbits rolling downhill quickly began to spread out. Some produced perfectly round bubbles that rolled smoothly, while the less skilled formed misshapen, oval ice balls, which tumbled wildly and sent their occupants flailing, legs kicking in all directions. Some spun off course before they even reached the bottom, rolling away helplessly and out of the contest.

“See? It’s not just about speed,” Ling Mo explained. “This first stage, the downhill run, tests their magical control. Only the most adept rabbit mages can keep rolling! And this is only the first round. The real challenge is the flat stretch at the bottom—the so-called journey of death!”

As if to prove his point, the leading rabbits hit the bottom and, picking up speed, began their dash across the plain. From beneath the deep snow, pure white foxes suddenly sprang out! Eyes narrowed as if smiling, they looked impossibly cute, and their movements were as agile as kangaroos. With powerful leaps, they shot into the air, forepaws pressed together, long snouts following, and dove towards the rabbit balls like depth charges.

With a series of crisp cracking sounds, any rabbit ball touched by the foxes’ sharp claws split open. The foxes then hooked the shell apart with nimble paws, shoved their long snouts inside, and clamped down on the rabbit within.

The entire maneuver was performed midair, graceful as a dance. As they landed, the foxes’ front halves and their captured rabbits plunged into the snow, leaving only kicking hind legs, fluffy tails, and puckered rear ends sticking out. After a muffled struggle, the rabbit was swallowed. The foxes emerged with their snouts wiped clean by the snow—no blood, nothing but the image of adorable, innocent white foxes.

(P.S. My apologies—only yesterday did a fellow author inform me that when receiving a reader’s grand reward, I should post an extra chapter. This is a belated bonus for “QAQ Hui.” I’m still a newbie and didn’t know—please forgive me!)