Infinite: Dawn Game

Chapter 896 Trafficking

"...In the end, each 'Thumbelina' was given by the old field mouse as a 'gift' to the mole to be his 'bride.'"

He Lingling paused for a few seconds after saying this, clearly realizing that what she had said was somewhat alarming.

If that's how she sees it... then Thumbelina is really quite pitiful...

Yu Shijiu was the first of the four to react. He looked down at the worn-out bracelets he had thrown on the table, his eyes flashing.

"So these bracelets are the belongings of all the previous 'Thumbelinas'? Does that mean they were the last one who failed to escape?"

Yu Shijiu asked.

He Lingling was silent for a few seconds, then nodded: "That's what I think, otherwise I would find it hard to understand why Thumbelina's emotional changes were so extreme yesterday afternoon."

She herself had seen strange NPCs with abnormal emotional changes before, but Thumbelina's situation was truly a first.

"..."

This deduction sent chills down the spines of everyone present.

"So what do we do now?" Xu Han's voice trembled. He was frightened by He Lingling's deduction and subconsciously looked at Yu Shijiu.

"Field mice aren't good people, swallows aren't good people, moles aren't good people either... and Shi Jiu's arm is contaminated..."

Xu Han felt his mind was in a mess. He thought this guild competition dungeon was too dark—whose memories were these game dungeons extracted from?

After Xu Han said that, the group forgot about Thumbelina's possible "scattered" state and looked at Yu Shijiu's arm at the same time.

Yu Shijiu himself didn't care. His excited nerves were calmed down a bit by He Lingling's horrifying deduction, but his excitement at facing danger was even stronger.

"I am fine."

Yu Shijiu moved his hairy arms and could feel a strange sense of power and a slight sense of loss of control at the same time.

"My arm is a little itchy," Yu Shijiu said nonchalantly, "and... I think I can feel the movement of those 'claws' a little."

As he spoke, he listened carefully to the sounds around him, under the increasingly unpleasant gazes of the other four.

“There are a lot of them in those claw-shaped burrows, no, a lot, a great many.”

As if to confirm his words, the candlelight on the walls of the main room suddenly dimmed for a moment.

"..."

A brief silence fell over the main room, broken only by the occasional crackling of the candlelight and the endless, rustling scratching sounds from the depths of the cave.

"I...I heard the sound too."

To liven up the atmosphere, Xu Han chuckled a few times.

No one paid any attention to his awkward attempt to ease the atmosphere with laughter. He Lingling's words just now felt like a heavy stone pressing on everyone's hearts.

Even the seemingly clear rescue objective—helping Thumbelina and Swallow leave the old field mouse's house—is now shrouded in a heavy layer of uncertainty.

Chen Yi couldn't help but start to have wild thoughts—if even their "escape" might be part of a dungeon loop... then would their leaving the cave really be of any use?

Won't it just repeat the ending where Thumbelina marries the next NPC?

Anjie's gaze moved from the hair on Yu Shijiu's arm to the bones and bracelet he had placed on the table, and finally settled on the swallow in the corner that seemed to have fallen asleep again.

After a moment, Anjie spoke with a dry voice, expressing the same concerns that Chen Yi had.

"Lingling, if your speculation is true... then the story ends with the swallow taking Thumbelina away to Lilliput, until she marries the king... is this truly 'saving her' and us, or is it sending her into another prepared 'wedding cycle'?"

"...I'm sorry, Sister An, I didn't know."

He Lingling shook her head honestly, her fingers unconsciously stroking the straw bracelet that Yu Shijiu had brought back.

"But we now have enough information to piece together a terrible story."

He Lingling: "First, the old field mouse used the 'gratitude of taking her in' and food to control Thumbelina and make her obedient, 'nurturing' her into a 'gentle bride' who meets the requirements of all creatures, and finally giving her to the mole as a gift... But Thumbelina marrying the mole is just one of the 'endings' in the burrow. It seems that the old field mouse has never succeeded so far - don't forget, there are so many skeletons in the burrow. I think every Thumbelina has thought about escaping and leaving this place."

...but without exception, they all failed.

The price of failure is also simple and brutal—the field mouse may starve or beat Thumbelina to death if it thinks its carefully cultivated "bride" is unqualified, and so on.

Chen Yi took a deep breath, trying to sort out all the current clues.

"Therefore, the old field mouse, the mole, the swallow, and perhaps even the king of Lilliput, all developed a desire to possess 'Thumbelina,' the main NPC character..."

"The word 'desire' isn't quite right, Brother Chen."

He Lingling frowned and continued, "Compared to what you call possession or desire, I'm more inclined to think this is a horror fairy tale with a core of 'human trafficking,' 'mind control,' and 'repaying kindness.'"

At this point, He Lingling paused for a few seconds before continuing:

"Also, as I've told you before, I believe this instance is adapted from Fang Youhua's memories."

The group looked at He Lingling.

"The biggest reason is that... Fang Youhua was also trafficked before."

He Lingling's expression became somewhat complicated as she spoke: "...However, she has some memory problems now, and has almost forgotten about being abducted."

This is something He Lingling learned through observation from various sources.

From the moment she entered the game instance until now, Fang Youhua's behavior has been far too "clueless and ignorant".

It doesn't seem like she's aware that this copy is adapted from her own memories.

The group looked at each other for a moment, but ultimately chose to ignore Fang Youhua's past experience of being abducted.

Anjie: "If you forget about it, then forget about it. It has nothing to do with us. As long as we win, that's all that matters."

“Yes,” Yu Shijiu said nonchalantly, “Sister An is right, as long as we win, that’s all that matters.”

Chen Yi nodded, looking troubled.

"Yes... After all, the memories that are chosen to be altered are not good ones. Let's just focus on the competition and not discuss other people's private affairs too much."

Xu Han scratched his head and changed the subject: "...Well, isn't our most important thing right now to figure out what to do next?"

"..."

He Lingling's gaze towards the group was somewhat complicated. After thinking carefully, she followed the topic and continued to speculate:

"So far, it seems there's the woman's head in the swamp, and the female monster that helped Sister An..."