Chapter Sixty-Four: The Great Bubble Bunny Battle of Deception and Betrayal

Although a large number of Bubble Rabbits were intercepted, they were by no means completely wiped out—one could even say that less than half were lost. The cleverest individuals, in the very instant the foxes leapt, had the diamond-shaped gems on their foreheads suddenly flare with dazzling brilliance. The white foxes, whose eyes were locked on their prey mid-air, were caught completely off guard, momentarily blinded by the intense glare. Their pouncing accuracy was lost, and they ended up plunging headfirst into the snow, becoming literal inverted turnips.

However, these foxes were no pushovers. Although their ambush failed and their heads were buried in snow pits, their exposed hind legs and tails began to thrash and sweep about frantically, hoping to hinder the Bubble Rabbits’ escape. Yet, deprived of vision and with most of the rabbits’ scent blocked by ice spheres, their attacks were wildly inaccurate. Aside from a few unfortunate souls, hardly any rabbits were actually struck.

After all, the Bubble Rabbits who managed to dodge that attack were all seasoned veterans, their driving skills nothing short of extraordinary. Each one had its forehead “headlight” lit, their steps shifting in rhythmic cadence as they weaved through the sea of fox paws and tails, showcasing their remarkable agility. With a final, graceful drift, they slipped free of the fox pack and vanished into the distance!

This brief clash left Katherine utterly stunned, her mouth agape. “These rabbits are incredible! I swear, they roll better than I drive my magic flying car!”

Her words struck a chord in the livestream chat. An avalanche of gifts came pouring in. The latest version of the Magic Eye Sprite was truly remarkable, with all manner of animated effects for the gifts, each more dazzling than the last—a clear leap forward in expressive power:

“Viewer ‘Grand Prince of Belarus’ sends the streamer three Hellsfire! Comment: Damn, streamer, you read my mind!”

“Viewer ‘My Dad Is Wang Gang’ sends the streamer four Hellsfire! Comment: These rabbits’ driving skills are insane! Flashier than my stunts out past the Fourth Ring!”

“Viewer ‘Pompadours Are the Mark of True Delinquents’ sends the streamer a Chaos Meteor! Comment: I want to take these rabbits as my mentor! If I did, Fat Lai wouldn’t have a chance against me!”

“So jealous of pros who can drift! I’m still stuck without my license!”

“Don’t even start! I’ve failed the second part of the test three times! Who the hell made the rule that you can’t stop when reversing?!”

“Strongly agree! But I think the rule about not shifting straight to fourth gear during a low-altitude launch is even dumber!”

“Three road menaces have just been spotted!”

“The guys above are totally derailing the topic—is this really the time to discuss driving tests?”

“Exactly! Aren’t you all amazed? These are Tier Three magical beasts—Bubble Rabbits! Say it with me: Tier Three magical beasts! Bubble Rabbits!”

“I can’t believe they really exist! Earlier, I thought Professor Ling was just bragging!”

“When has Professor Ling ever bragged? Everything he says comes true!”

“Of course, it’s Professor Ling!”

“So many Tier Three Bubble Rabbits—I wish I could have one!”

“Viewer ‘Bunny Girl’s Biggest Fan’ sends the streamer ten Chaos Meteors! Comment: Streamer, do you remember me? Catch one for me! Two World-Annihilation gifts if you succeed—payment after delivery!”

“Viewer ‘Wealth Beyond Heaven’ sends the streamer ten Chaos Meteors! Comment: Don’t cut in line, buddy! How long have you followed Sister Kay’s stream? If she catches one, it’s mine first!”

“Viewer ‘Cutest in the World’ sends the streamer eleven Chaos Meteors! Comment: Oh look, now the hypocrite isn’t worried about the streamer’s illness?”

“Viewer ‘Wealth Beyond Heaven’ sends the streamer twelve Chaos Meteors! Comment: Damn you, you wretched witch! Haven’t you had enough? Still sniping with that passive-aggressive tone?”

“…”

Seeing another quarrel break out in the chat, Katherine quickly stepped in to mediate. “Calm down, everyone! That’s really beyond me! My strength’s been greatly reduced, and even if I could somehow catch a Bubble Rabbit in this frozen wilderness, I have no way to keep a Tier Three magical beast restrained for long. Of course, if you don’t mind them being dead, I could bring you a couple of Tier Three Bubble Rabbit… corpses.”

What use is a corpse? There’s no bragging value in that! The chat’s wealthy viewers fell silent, no one responding further. Seeing things quiet down, Katherine turned back to Ling Mo and asked, “Master, those leaping foxes—I wasn’t mistaken, were they ‘Snow Foxes’?”

“Yes, they’re Snow Foxes. Their most famous habitat is in the far northern tundra of the Beastman Empire, so they’re also called ‘Arctic Foxes.’ Why, have you seen them before?”

“Seen them? More than that! Just before I started streaming in the Magic Beast Rainforest, I ran into these creatures several times while adventuring in the Novorovian subarctic coniferous forests near the extreme north,” Katherine replied, her tone full of confusion. “The Bubble Rabbits before were understandable—though they’re cold-adapted, they can handle a temperate environment. But Arctic Foxes, with their thick pelts, are pure polar creatures, right? And the Magic Beast Rainforest is a true tropical rainforest. How could polar animals possibly live here?”

“I told you before: once you cross the Thanatos River, nothing in the Magic Beast Rainforest conforms entirely to common sense. From what I know, this hilly area we’re in is a place where, during the day, it’s a stony desert with temperatures above forty degrees, while at night it often drops below minus twenty. There’s so much dust in the air that as soon as there’s a touch of moisture, it snows heavily, and for a third of the year, the area is blanketed in snow. Even more astonishing, as soon as the sun rises, the temperature soars, and no matter how thick the snow, it all melts away in an hour or two, seeping completely underground.”

“But—but if that much snow melts and soaks into the ground, the surface should be really wet, right? How could it be a stony desert?”

“That’s because the water doesn’t remain on the surface at all—it’s absorbed into some mysterious place. This bizarre climate allows tropical and polar creatures to coexist: one is active by day, the other by night. Quite perfect, really.” Ling Mo had no desire to dig deeper into the origins of such weather. He pointed at the distant Bubble Rabbit horde. “Look over there. Those Bubble Rabbits are about to make a big move.”

Katherine quickly looked in that direction. The Bubble Rabbits who had just shown off their driving skills all slowed down after passing through the fox zone, especially as they neared the opposite slope—their pace now as slow as tortoises, as if waiting for something. The Snow Foxes didn’t turn to chase them, but instead focused on waiting for the slower group behind. The second wave of Bubble Rabbits clearly lacked the skill of the first; most were intercepted by the white foxes, only a few making it through the death zone.

Breaking free from the tangle of fox tails, the second wave of Bubble Rabbits suddenly found their view open—and were surprised to see that the first wave of champions hadn’t gone far! Instantly motivated, their four little legs spun like windmills, and in the blink of an eye they were catching up to the first wave.

Just as they were about to overtake them, the ice balls encasing the first wave of Bubble Rabbits all shattered at once, revealing the large, powerful rabbits within. With blank expressions, they turned to face their former companions. Both front paws stretched forward, lifting the oncoming second-wave rabbits and their spheres high into the air, launching them like cannonballs at the hill where the ice crystal carrots grew!