24 A Rabbit and a Flower

It didn't take long before everyone shifted their focus towards the African Continent and its newest attraction, turning the land the main protagonist of the world. All the influential figures of the world were now paying close attention to the place, be it presidents, huge corporations or secretive organizations. However, some people acted faster than others.

Near Reënboog Forest, behind the stationed army forces, a huge complex of buildings was being erected. Even though less than three weeks had passed since construction began, some of the imposing buildings were already completed.

Thousands of men worked 24 hours a week to finish this complex. Whoever was behind it wanted it done as soon as possible. From afar you could see the potential of the place: with an area of hundreds of square kilometers, it was bigger than some cities on the planet and the buildings ranging from skyscrapers to immense halls. The soldiers looked on with curiosity, few knew for sure what was the reason for this construction.

Was it some kind of resort? From a distance, the shape of a luxury hotel and structure for an immense swimming pool could be seen. Or maybe it was a military building? Some soldiers were able to see a glimpse of advanced technology equipment on the site.

In any case, the amount of money invested must have been astronomical and it generated no ends of discussion between the soldiers. They didn't come to any conclusions, but at least it was a nice distraction from their boring patrol duty.

Inside one of the finished structures, a few scientists were walking by with their white lab coats. Long clean corridors intertwined with one another, leading to many high technological rooms.

In another corridor, three men were walking side by side, led by a fourth, a scientist holding a clipboard in his hands.

"... and now that the labs are almost done, we can investigate this matter further." Explained the scientist, their steps echoing in the hallway.

"I hope it's worth it, this whole structure has already cost billions of dollars!" Said one of the men. He had short brown hair and a strong jaw and was approaching forty, but the black suit he wore still showed off his defined body.

"Fret not, James!" Added the man at his left. He was Japanese, with black hair, a smaller frame and glasses. "Me and our friend here from Diamond Pharma Labs chose some of the best scientists we had!"

The man he was referring to had dark brown eyes, a high nose and a large brown beard. Clearly, this was the group formed by James, Ethan and Sakuma Kisho, the leader of Robotics Alliance.

"Indeed, I dare to say they are the best in the world!" added Ethan with a rather arrogant smile. But that wasn't pure arrogance, because they owned the biggest industries in the world, they were capable of co-opting the best scientists on the market.

"I'll trust you with this…" James nodded, he had no other option. Besides not understanding the subject, he knew it was an opportunity he couldn't waste. Even if it cost him even more money, he would continue with the investment. "So what was so crucial that you made us run over?"

"We are getting ready to test the flower acquired in the forest…" Explained the man, enthusiasm was clear in his voice. "And we wanted you to see it first hand."

"Another thing that was over a million dollars…" James couldn't help but to murmur.

"Good, have you discovered something?" Asked Ethan, ignoring James complaints.

"Well, the energy levels contained within the flower are astronomical and not like anything we have ever seen. We couldn't identify what type of energy it is, but every time we try to extract it, it disappears." The scientist explained while scratching his head, this subject was driving his team crazy, in a good sense.

"Hmm, what about the frog?" Asked Sakuma, the head of Robotics Alliance.

"Another million dollars…" Complained James, softly.

"There have been quite similar results, it seems that the energy runs deep within the animal meat and bones and we cannot extract it. We are also investigating the genetics and found some anomalies but nothing extraordinary for now…"

Ethan waved his hand, indicating for him to continue.

"We managed to extract some of its scales and we are still testing its resistance. At the same time, we will try to see if the meat has any poisonous elements…"

"You didn't try to eat it, did you!?" Exclaimed Samuka, surprised.

"No, not yet…" Said the lead scientist while scratching his head, he seemed to be pondering that idea. "Oh, we've arrived!"

Without realizing it, they arrived in front of a large double door. Security was tight and the large metal door could only be accessed with a security code and digital scan. After the scientist opened it with his code number, the trio behind analyzed their investment closely.

They were like an eagle looking at its prey, nothing could escape their eyes.

Inside, they saw a large room where dozens of scientists were researching or investigating whatever was on their tables. The team assembled by Sakuma and Ethan consisted not only of biologists, but a multitude of professionals: engineers of varied areas, physicians, pharmaceuticals and others.

Many electronic devices and lab stuff filled the room, which James knew nothing about. However, what caught the group's attention was directly in the opposite side of the room.

Behind a wall of reinforced glass, there was a beautiful white flower with shades of blue in its petals. Next to it, a caged white rabbit stood.

Typically, rabbits tended to be calm and affectionate. But this one was furiously banging its head on the cage, clearly trying to reach the flower!

The group was stunned by that sight: the rabbit was going crazy! Even a trickle of blood was now running down its forehead!

"What the hell is happening!?" Sakuma exclaimed, adjusting his glasses to be sure of what he had just seen.

"As strange as it may seem, this is common. Every animal we place near this flower behaves like this. We don't know what will happen, so we thought it best to do this test with you here." Stated the scientist.

"That flower is really full of Qi!" said James. Being the only one present in the First Stage of Body Tempering, he quickly realized why the animal wanted the flower at all costs.

Since none of the group was adept at cultivation, they didn't say anything. Realizing they were ignoring him, James fell silent.

Soon afterwards, the main scientist walked in front of a computer.

"Test subject number one, named: A Rabbit and a Flower. Initiating protocol, now." The man typed something into his computer and pressed a button, immediately opening the cage.

Wasting no time, the rabbit quickly jumped towards the flower.

The group held their breaths as the rabbits chomped down the flower. With two big bites, it completely swallowed the white flower.

Seconds passed and nothing happened. The rabbit calmly stared at them.

Seconds turned into minutes but no one dared to say anything.

"That's all?" One scientist broke the silence after five minutes of waiting.

Just as he said that, James noticed something.

"No! Look carefully, the Qi around the rabbits is revolving like crazy! The animal is absorbing the Qi!"

Unfortunately for James, none of those present really knew what Qi was and they could only look at him waiting for an explanation. But before he could explain, James became even more flabbergasted.

"Holy shit! It is breaking through!" Even though he wasn't very experienced in cultivation, he was able to feel the difference in strength based on his son's development. Because of that, he couldn't help but to exclaim three times in a row. "First Stage of Body Cultivation! Wait.. Second Stage! It didn't stop… damn it, it broke through the Third Stage!"

Before they could think that James was going crazy, something even a blind man could see happened: The rabbit mutated!

The little bunny squealed in pain as the Qi revolved inside its body. Moments later, it scared the scientists shitless when it suddenly grew in size right in front of them! In mere seconds, the once small animal reached the height of one and half meter! But that was not the end of it, immediately afterwards a black horn grew on its forehead.

The rabbit looked around, its imposing single horn drew a small line at the opposite wall. It was sharp. The rabbit stopped screaming and got up, immediately locking his red eyes on the people around. For some reason, they could feel the anger in its small eyes.

BANG!

The not so small rabbit jumped and hit the glass wall with its new horn. The wall trembled, but nothing major happened.

As if waking up from sleep, all the scientists exclaimed and began to talk animatedly.

"Incredible!"

"I can't believe it!"

"Marvelous! Imagine the potential we have with this discovery!"

*BANG!* The rabbit jumped once again but nothing happened to the reinforced glass wall.

As the group chatted excitedly with their new discovery, James eyed the rabbit warily. Bit by bit, he noticed that every time it hit the wall the blow became stronger and stronger than the last.

[It is getting used to his new strength!] James realized. It was exactly the same thing to him when he first broke through.

"Shit! That thing is going to break free, we should get out of here!" Alarmed, James shouted.

The scientists looked at him weirdly.

"This glass is bulletproof, unless this rabbit's strength surpasses that of a pistol shot, we are safe." Explained the head scientist respectfully, yet many others held back their laughter.

Fortunately or not, James paid no heed to them because at that moment, the bunny took a few steps back. James noticed with horror a huge amount of Qi whirling near its gray horn!

Unfortunately, before he could warn them, the rabbit jumped with his might.

*BANG!*

*CRASH!*

The glass shattered into thousands of pieces. Collapsing at the same time, the scientist's excitement. For a moment, silence befell the room.

As the group looked at the rabbits' red eyes, they felt a shiver run down their spine. No one ever thought that a bunny could look so terrifying.

"RUN!" no one knew who said it, but everyone obeyed.

Unfortunately for them, it was too late.

The rabbit quickly leapt at the nearest man, who had no way of dodging it. The rabbit was too fast, its horn easily pierced the man's stomach and blood stained its once white fur red.

That sight was enough to make many of these scientists panic. They were not part of the army and had no training whatsoever. Unfortunately, the rabbit knew no compassion and another three were killed in an instant.

James, who was the first to notice the threat, grabbed Ethan and Sakuma by the collar and ran as fast as he could. Fortunately for the trio, they were not near the wall when it happened.

Now, they were hiding in another room. Avoiding making any noises.

The security alarm had been set off and shots rang through the corridors.

"Damn it, James! Why didn't you fight it? Aren't you already a First Stage Body or whatever?" Complained Ethan, yet his voice was low and soft, afraid that the rabbit would find them.

"That thing is way stronger than me! It should be around the Third Stage of Body Tempering, you should be glad that I saved you already!" James murmured, feeling wronged. At first they thought that he was crazy, but now they were complaining that he was weak!

"That's good enough, but we'll have to reinforce the security here…" Added Samuka in a somber tone. As if to confirm him, more screams echoed in the corridor outside.

They waited for around half an hour after the screams ceased and carefully went out.

What met them was a scene that looked like it was straight out of a horror movie: Blood was splattered on the walls, bullet holes everywhere, dead bodies with body punctures were sprawled in the hallways.

They held back for a moment before investigating the matter.

Fortunately, it seemed that the rabbit got bored or had enough killing and went out. After investigating the cameras, they saw that the beast went out directly to the Reënboog Forest, not without causing more deaths between the stationed soldiers.

Albeit unknown to them, a new threat had been born.