Infinite: Dawn Game

Chapter 911 Forget it? No way.

In an instant, all eyes of everyone/NPCs were focused on Yu Shijiu.

Anjie's hand was already on the prop weapon behind her waist. Chen Yi and Xu Han also tensed up, while He Lingling quickly scanned the surrounding environment, looking for an escape route.

Fang Youhua and Yang Hua stood still, the former maintaining her gentle smile, but a glint of unfathomable light flashed deep in her eyes.

The latter turned pale with fright and almost lost his balance.

Yang Hua wasn't afraid of anything else; she just felt a physiological fear when she saw that the mole's body shape was completely different from her own.

No one could remain unmoved when they see such a huge mole behaving "aggressively".

Yu Shijiu, who was being stared at by the mole, simply let out a puzzled "Ah," and then slowly stood up, meeting the mole's gaze.

"If I say it wasn't me, would you believe me?"

Yu Shijiu tilted his head, a smug smile on his face.

"I do not believe."

The mole laughed, revealing a mouthful of uneven, yellowish-black teeth. "My nose never makes a mistake."

As it spoke, it took a step forward, its enormous body causing the entire hall to tremble.

"Give me that claw, little boy."

The mole's voice softened slightly: "Then tell me how you chopped it down... Perhaps I can consider letting you leave more easily?"

The smile on Yu Shijiu's face slowly disappeared.

In that instant, he thought of many things, and in the end, he chose to slowly untie the strip of cloth wrapped around his left arm.

Thick, dark yellow hair was exposed in the candlelight, stretching from his fingertips to his shoulders; the hair that had grown due to pollution had even begun to creep up his neck.

Everyone present subconsciously looked at that arm... Beneath the hair, Yu Shijiu's contaminated skin appeared an unhealthy dark gray, and the wriggling sensation under the skin was more obvious, as if something might break through the skin at any moment.

A collective gasp filled the main room.

The old field mouse stared wide-eyed: "You...your arm, child, what did you do? Why has your arm become like ours?"

Its surprised expression didn't seem fake; it was genuinely puzzled and astonished as to why Yu Shijiu's arm had become like this.

The mole's small eyes suddenly lit up with a red light, and it asked with some confusion:

"What is this? Are you a field mouse too?"

For the first time, its voice carried an air of disbelief.

The creature standing in front of it is clearly a human, but why does it smell like one of its own kind? That's impossible.

The mole was puzzled and confused. It subconsciously looked at the old field mouse next to it.

The same puzzled old field mouse shook its head at it, bewildered, and said, "I don't know, I'm just a field mouse guarding my burrow and raising my young..."

As the two mice discussed, Yu Shijiu stretched his left arm, opening and closing his fingers, and whispered:

"Mr. Mole, do you still want to kill me?"

He looked up at the mole, his eyes burning with excitement.

"The claws are indeed mine; I found them, but I didn't cut them."

Mole: "..."

The mole's gaze fell on Yu Shijiu's furry left arm, and after hesitating for a few seconds, it shook its head.

"Since we are truly of the same kind, then let it go."

"That's what the mole said."

Just as he was getting excited and preparing for a back-and-forth battle with the mole, Yu Shijiu thought, "...?"

The excitement in Yu Shijiu's eyes faded almost instantly, and he asked somewhat confusedly, "What?"

What did he just hear? The mole said... Never mind?

What was settled?

Shouldn't the mole have immediately scratched itself with its paw? Why did it suddenly say "never mind"? Could it be because it said earlier that it had picked up that "paw"?

Yu Shijiu immediately panicked and blurted out, "Don't bother calculating, actually that claw was mine—uh? Uh oh oh oh?"

Xu Han quickly got up, swiftly covered Yu Shijiu's mouth, and awkwardly smiled as he bowed and scraped as he communicated with the mole and field mouse.

"Haha, really, dinner tonight is so delicious! Grandma Field Mouse, you're so thoughtful to make such a wonderful dinner for Mr. Mole's visit..."

"Haha, right? Right? It's so delicious..."

Xu Han's hand tightly covered Yu Shijiu's mouth, and he could even feel the other's struggle as she tried to open and close her lips and lower tongue.

Xu Han was so frightened that cold sweat broke out on his forehead. If Yu Shijiu really resisted, he wouldn't be able to control her. Right now, it was just that Yu Shijiu was unwilling to lay a hand on him.

Xu Han knew perfectly well that if this were in the previous game instances, he wouldn't even be able to touch Yu Shijiu's arm!

Caught between a rock and a hard place, Xu Han could only try to cover it up with even more exaggerated laughter and words.

"Mr. Mole, you see, my friend is just too excited. When he eats something delicious, he becomes a bit incoherent. Incoherent means, you know, he just says whatever comes to mind. Actually, he doesn't even know what he's saying. Please don't mind him, please don't mind him!"

As he spoke, Xu Han steeled himself and, despite the possibility that Yu Shijiu might elbow him, continued to cover the other's mouth and refused to let go.

Yu Shijiu made muffled "uh-uh" sounds as Xu Han covered her mouth, her wide eyes filled with accusation of "Why are you stopping me?" and lingering displeasure.

He Lingling, An Jie, and Chen Yi were initially startled by Xu Han's quick reaction of covering his mouth, but then breathed a sigh of relief. Their gazes, however, froze on Yu Shijiu's left arm.

Yu Shijiu himself probably didn't know that while he was shocked to find his mouth covered by Xu Han, the hair on his left arm was twitching slightly because of his owner's emotional fluctuations.

The three of them were not far apart, and they could even see the eerie sight of the hair falling down and standing up again from time to time.

Anjie and Chen Yi felt a chill in their hearts.

Judging from this situation, Yu Shijiu's level of contamination has definitely increased significantly.

As Xu Han made his ingratiating jokes, everyone saw the mole's reddish eyes dart around Yu Shijiu's furry arm and Xu Han's tense face several times. Its nostrils twitched habitually, and finally it snorted and actually looked away.

The four of them (including Xu Han) breathed a sigh of relief.

Chen Yi even secretly gave Xu Han a thumbs-up behind the backs of the old field mouse and the mole.

It means, great.

Xu Han, whose legs went weak just looking at the towering mole, was speechless.

No...really no...Brother Chen...don't give me a thumbs up...please help me...

"never mind."

The mole suddenly spoke, its voice returning to its previous low and slow tone.

“Since we’re ‘of the same kind,’ and Mrs. Field Mouse’s guests, we won’t pursue this small matter, but…”

The mole paused, then glanced meaningfully at the old field mouse beside him:

"Mrs. Field Mouse, the composition of your 'guests' is becoming more and more diverse."

Upon hearing this, the old field mouse quickly smiled apologetically: "It's all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding! The children are all good children, they just accidentally picked up something and got a smell from it... Come on, sit down and keep eating, the food is getting cold!"

While the old field mouse and the mole were talking, Anjie seized the opportunity to step forward, seemingly to help but actually to forcefully push Yu Shijiu back into his seat. At the same time, she glared at him and whispered:

"Listen to Grandma Field Mouse, everyone sit down and eat."

Yu Shijiu pursed his lips, and unconsciously scratched the itchy spot on his neck with his left hand (the furry one), then paused.

He could feel his fingertips touching a patch of newly grown, fine down... the pollution was spreading upwards.

He lowered his eyes and stopped arguing. He just kept poking at the mushy stewed vegetable roots in his bowl with his spoon, radiating a low-pressure atmosphere of "I'm bored and annoyed".

What kind of storyline is this guild tournament dungeon? There's not even anything good to eat... The food Old Field Mouse gave them wasn't even as good as the breadcrumbs their foster mother brought out every day...

As Yu Shijiu pondered, he suddenly sighed, feeling that his fate was truly too bitter.

He was feeling both annoyed and helpless.

Seeing that Yu Shijiu kept his head down and didn't say anything, and that the mole, after being comforted by the old field mouse, continued to sit down and eat, Chen Yi and He Lingling exchanged a glance and both breathed a sigh of relief.

For a brief moment, they almost thought a conflict was about to break out prematurely.

However, the mole's inexplicable tolerance of its "kin"... while puzzling, at least temporarily eased the crisis of conflict between the two sides.

As for Xu Han... Xu Han sat down with a thud, his legs shaking, his heart pounding, and he had the feeling that his blood was rushing to the top of his head.

Good heavens... he really is just a simple, very simple and weak—no, a very weak and powerless supportive grandmother! Shouldn't a wet nurse be cowering in a corner, not moving at all?!

Fang Youhua, still standing, smiled as if the tense scene at the dinner table was just a trivial interlude during the banquet.

She even stepped forward and, with a meek and submissive demeanor, refilled the mole's and the old field mouse's empty bowls with that murky "fruit wine."

Yang Hua lowered his head, trying to hide his racing heart.

She didn't understand why Yu Shijiu had tried to provoke her, and she didn't understand why the mole suddenly said to forget it.

Could it be that what Fang Youhua meant by "the marked scent" and "the same kind"... refers to Yu Shijiu's current state? Then what about Fang Jie...?

Yang Hua thought of a possibility that sent chills down his spine and was a little afraid to look at Fang Youhua.

The banquet continued in an even more eerie atmosphere.

The mole seemed to have truly lost interest in Yu Shijiu and turned back to drinking with the old field mouse, the topic circling back to Thumbelina.

It gestured with its large paws, describing the "spaciousness" and "wealth" of its underground mansion, implying how "blissful" Thumbelina would be if she married it.

The old field mouse chimed in, praising the marriage as "perfect" and "well-matched."

"This is simply blissful," the old field mouse said enviously, nodding his head. "No good girl would refuse such a marriage proposal."

"..."

Thumbelina, who was being glanced at every now and then, turned as pale as a sheet of paper and trembled like a leaf in the autumn wind. In her immense panic, she could barely hold onto the wooden spoon in her hand.

Thumbelina repeatedly cast pleading glances at Anjie and He Lingling, but in this situation, the latter could only silently respond with veiled looks that told her "don't be afraid."

Anjie's palms were slightly sweaty.

As she listened to the two rodents discussing Thumbelina as if she were a piece of merchandise, a sudden surge of suppressed, intense hunger mixed with nausea welled up in her stomach.

When no one was paying attention to her, Anjie quietly reached into her system backpack, found the remaining half of an old book, tore off a corner, and stuffed it into her mouth under the cover of the elaborate bowls and spoons on the table. She chewed mechanically, using the rough texture of the pulp to suppress the spasms in her throat caused by hunger.

...I have to do something.

Anjie swallowed the pulp in her throat. Looking at the despairing look Thumbelina occasionally cast at her, the dangerous thought in her mind became clearer and clearer—Yu Shijiu might be right, following the rules might mean never escaping this cycle.

Destruction, violence... perhaps it really is the only chance.

He Lingling's brain was working at lightning speed.

The mole's acceptance of its "kin," Yu Shijiu's accelerated contamination, the old field mouse's apparent control over everything but actually its subtle attempt to please the mole, the strange healing speed of the swallow's wound, and Fang Youhua's unsettling calmness... all these fragmented clues collided in her mind.

She suddenly remembered what the "Thumbelina with Long Hair" had said before she disappeared:

"...No South...it's all fake...the next husband..."

An even more terrifying thought surfaced in her mind.

If "marrying the mole" is one link in this underground cycle, then could "being taken away by the swallow to marry the king" be the starting point of the next cycle?

The so-called "warm south" may never have existed; it is merely a sweet and illusory bait that lures "Thumbelina" from one cage to another.

Therefore, the key to breaking the cycle may not just be disrupting this "blind date," but rather completely destroying this "marriage" mechanism dominated by the old field mouse, and destroying all the "husbands" waiting to receive the "gifts" (Thumbelina)...

He Lingling's gaze involuntarily drifted to the mole drinking "fruit wine," then quickly returned to its original position.

The mole's size is so different from theirs that they don't even seem to belong to the same species... It's too difficult.

The disparity in strength, the unfavorable environment, and the unpredictable nature of Fang Youhua—who knows what she'll do or what she'll want to do...

He Lingling had a bit of a headache.

She suddenly understood why Yu Shijiu said to stop thinking and just go for it.

Just then, the swallow, which had been barely noticeable and huddled in the basket on the haystack by the fireplace, suddenly stirred slightly.

It was very slight, almost like an illusion.

However, Yu Shijiu and He Lingling, who had been paying close attention to Yanzi's condition, simultaneously noticed this subtle movement.

The hair on Yu Shijiu's left arm stood up.