Infinite: Dawn Game

Chapter 970 A Blessing in Disguise?

"Lin Hai!"

Anjie and Chen Yi had the same thoughts. She turned to look at Lin Hai, her voice icy.

"This is what you call 'purification'?!"

Lin Hai's face turned ashen.

Clearly, he didn't expect things to turn out this way.

"These residual pollutants... are more... more predictable than I imagined..."

Lin Hai took a deep breath and explained:

"They are not merely crystallizations of simple negative emotions... They also contain... the 'pleasure' and 'excitement' that madman felt when he killed... I'm sorry, I didn't expect that while they were strengthening the contamination in Yu Shijiu's left arm, they were also contaminating his mind..."

"What's the point of saying all this now!"

Anjie was so angry that she wanted to rush up and tear Lin Hai to pieces and eat him.

"You should quickly find a solution to your suggestion—"

"Captain An."

Mulanzhi interrupted her, pointing her Emei dagger at Yu Shijiu, and said gently:

"The only way now is to kill him."

"no!"

An Jie, Chen Yi, Xu Han, and He Lingling shouted at the same time.

Xu Han, with an angry expression that said, "You're all definitely not good people," gritted his teeth and said:

"Damn it! You guys did this on purpose! You planned this all along! We've been tricked! Sister An, Brother Chen! We've been fooled by these shameless people!!!"

Xu Han was furious. He knew that the people in "Echo" were cunning!

Unfortunately, these people are all soft-hearted, kind-hearted, and compassionate! That's why they believed their lies!

"Especially that one with stars in his eyes who's all pretentious—"

Mulanzhi interrupted Xu Han.

Mulanzhi said, "So you want to see him completely turn into a monster?"

Ma Ming and Li Ye gripped their knives tightly at the same time, their eyes meeting.

Their faces turned pale, especially after seeing Yu Shijiu's current half-human, half-monster body.

Lan Zhi is right... It's not like we'll actually die, it's just for the sake of clearing the game—

"There is another way."

The driver, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke.

"..."

Everyone felt a chill run down their spines and turned to look at him at the same time.

The driver had stopped sobbing. He turned around completely, his tear-streaked face displaying an eerie calm.

He looked at Yu Shijiu, who was half-human and half-monster, and then at the horrific wound on Chen Yi's shoulder. Suddenly, a crack appeared on his weathered, numb, and sorrowful face.

"I've been thinking about it..."

"I've been thinking about why I didn't hear anything behind me that day..."

The driver's voice was very soft, but it was exceptionally clear in the quiet carriage where no one else spoke.

"Then I remembered...it was me, it was my ears..."

He raised his hand, pointed to his ear, and his eyes were red-rimmed.

“I had hearing loss during that period… it was very serious, I didn’t dare to say anything… I didn’t dare to tell the company, I didn’t dare to tell my colleagues, I didn’t dare to tell my family… I was scared… I’m so old… if I told them, where would I find such a stable job… I have children and elderly people at home who depend on my salary to support them…”

The driver closed his eyes and his voice grew softer and softer.

"So I kept telling myself it would be okay, that I could just keep lying for a few more years until I could retire. Anyway, I've been driving this road for so many years, as long as I'm careful, nothing will happen..."

"At first... I really didn't hear it..."

The driver's hazy gaze slowly fell on Yu Shijiu's hideous left arm.

"This pollution...this pain and despair...all originated from that tragedy, but what truly made them exist in this car...was my escape."

He slowly stood up and gently took off the faded red hat from his head.

"It's me...it's me who's been running away from the truth of that day...running away from my cowardice and mistakes...that's why this pollution has stayed here, repeating itself over and over again..."

"..." Xu Han was stunned. His gaze subconsciously turned to the seat where He Lingling was—and he saw He Lingling with her eyes slightly open, quietly watching the driver get up and get out of the driver's seat.

Xu Han: "..."

Did He Lingling already know?

No way... how did she know?

Xu Han's thoughts suddenly stopped.

He suddenly remembered the conversation between He Lingling and Yu Shijiu not long ago, and instantly understood what was going on.

Shi Jiu also guessed that the driver had a problem with his ears?

...Wait a minute, if that's the case, doesn't that mean the only stupid people are himself and Brother Chen and Sister An?

Anjie: "..."

She felt the hairs on her body stand on end for no reason, as if she were being watched by something.

But when she turned around and looked in the direction of the illusion, she only saw Xu Han's eyes darting around.

...It must be an illusion.

Anjie withdrew her gaze and continued to look at the driver.

She wasn't the only one; everyone except Yu Shijiu, who was still fighting against the source of pollution, was watching the driver who was walking this way step by step.

This was the first time the driver had left his seat. Mulanzhi subconsciously turned to look at Lin Hai, feeling somewhat irritated.

Brother Lin's current condition is not good. If he loses control of the mental barrier that is suppressing Yu Shijiu, who among them will be able to control Yu Shijiu?

Yu Shijiu was already incredibly lethal; if he were to actually come out...

Mulanzhi lowered her eyelids, concealing the murderous intent in her eyes.

It's just a guild battle instance. I don't know what those "alive" people are thinking. Even if they teamed up to kill Yu Shijiu, he would just resurrect in town. Is it necessary to stop them?

They could clear the game simply by killing Yu Shijiu, who had absorbed all the residual pollution. Did these four people even understand that?

But despite her thoughts, Mulanzhi made a preliminary assessment of her side's fighting strength, and her peripheral vision fell on Anjie, who had been guarding behind Chen Yi and Yu Shijiu.

Currently, apart from the woman who hasn't activated her talent skill, the remaining three are no longer aggressive. If…

"Lanzhi".

Lin Hai's voice suddenly rang out behind Mulanzhi.

Mulanzhi's turbulent thoughts instantly returned to her senses. She lowered her eyes, quickly gathered her mind, and turned to walk to Lin Hai's side.

"Brother Lin."

"Don't let your mind wander too much."

Lin Hai coughed several times, swallowed the metallic taste churning in his throat, and said something.

Mulanzhi's heart sank, but on the surface she seemed puzzled, asking in confusion:

"Brother Lin, what did you say?"

Lin Hai looked quietly into her eyes. "Lanzhi, don't treat others like fools."

Upon hearing this, Mulanzhi felt a chill run down her spine. She tried to turn her head away in fear—*swoosh!*

The not-so-thin fabric on her back was slashed by the sharp blade, and the cold tip of the blade pressed against her skin.

"Lanzhi!"

"what you do!"

Li Ye and Ma Ming cried out in alarm, both wanting to come over, but Lin Hai stopped them.

"Don't come any closer."

Lin Hai coughed and sighed, "It's no use coming over."

Li Ye and Ma Ming froze on the spot.

“Mulanzhi,” Anjie’s icy voice drilled into Mulanzhi’s ears, “watch your eyes and your hands.”

"...Captain An," Mulanzhi's throat tightened, "Are you misunderstanding something—"

"My eyes are not blind, and my senses are not bad either."

Anjie interrupted her, "Mind your own business, or I won't hesitate to kill you first."

After saying that, she thrust the short blade forward with a little force—the flesh was torn open by the blade tip, and a sharp pain came from her lower back, causing Mulanzhi to groan involuntarily.

Ma Ming and Li Ye, who were standing nearby, were horrified. They wanted to go forward but were stunned by Lin Hai's gaze and didn't dare to move.

Lin Hai's head was throbbing with pain.

He knew Mulanzhi's personality; she usually appeared gentle and quiet, but in reality, she was a stubborn person.

The kind of person who is as stubborn as can be.

Sometimes Lin Hai couldn't understand how Mulanzhi developed such a stubborn and single-minded personality.

If he could still keep things under control, and Mulanzhi listened to him—Mulanzhi would probably have been killed by a group of people long ago!

Anjie didn't bother with Mulanzhi anymore, sheathed her short blade, and turned back behind Yu Shijiu and the other two.

After seeing the blood, Mulanzhi became much more obedient, covering herself with her drafty clothes and taking several steps back.

The driver finally arrived at their side.

Anjie didn't stop him; she just stood there, gripping the dripping blood from the short blade.

The driver acted as if he couldn't see their "fight" at all, not even glancing at An Mu and his companion.

Lin Hai's mental barrier had no effect on him; he simply passed through it and stopped in front of Yu Shijiu, even ignoring Chen Yi standing beside him.

"It must hurt a lot."

The driver looked at Yu Shijiu's face, contorted by pollution, and said softly:

“These ‘dirty things’...should not be your responsibility.”

After saying that, he stretched out his hands and directly grasped Yu Shijiu's mutated left arm, which was covered with a dark red keratin layer.

"you--"

Xu Han was startled and tried to get up to stop her, but He Lingling stopped her.

"Wait...he's here..."

He Lingling's dark pupils were fixed on the driver.

Within her vision enhanced by the "Ghost Eyes," she saw the driver begin to emanate a faint, pure white light.

The light was faint, yet it gave He Lingling a strange, warm feeling.

The driver had no intention of harming Yu Shijiu; he genuinely wanted to help her.

He Lingling pursed her lips. "Don't touch him. He really wants to help Shi Jiu."

Her voice was neither too loud nor too soft in the area, but loud enough for everyone to hear clearly.

As the driver gripped Yu Shijiu's left arm, the dark red, polluted streams beneath the hair seemed to be deliberately drawn out, slowly flowing from Yu Shijiu's left arm and back into the driver's hands.

"Is he...absorbing pollution?"

Li Ye muttered to himself in disbelief.

"No...it's not absorption..."

The light swirled violently in Lin Hai's small pupils, and his eyes became somewhat blank. "He is... he is bearing the burden of pollution."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone saw that the driver's fatigue deepened rapidly, his wrinkles increased at a visible speed, and his hair began to turn gray.

But his hand holding Yu Shijiu's left arm remained steady.

"Sorry……"

The driver looked at Yu Shijiu as if he were talking to someone who had long since disappeared.

“I should have stopped the car that day… I should have done something… I’m sorry… really… I’m so sorry…”

In an instant—

The driver's old red hat moved on its own even without wind, floating between the person and the NPC.

Beneath the brim of his hat, amidst the driver's graying hair, several deep, long-healed, old scars were faintly visible, revealing the bone.

That was left on his head when a passenger who was in a panic and trying to leave hit him with something during the shoving.

He kept it hidden, covering it tightly with a hat, burying it, along with the trauma and fear, deep in his memory.

And now, he himself has revealed this fear.

The fears he revealed mingled with the dark red rivulets, transforming into viscous, dark red fluids that flowed up the driver's arm, eventually... all disappearing into the old red hat floating in mid-air.

The old red hat absorbed all the dark red fluid, and the color of the hat body seemed to have deepened a bit, but it was no longer the filthy blood color of before, but a somber dark red, as if it had solidified too much sorrow.

Then, the red hat slowly floated off the driver's head and gently landed on his knees.

The driver stared blankly at the red hat on his knee, then looked up at Yu Shijiu.

The numbness and grief that had been building up on his face for years slowly melted away.

Tears streamed down her face. This time, they were no longer suppressed sobs, but loud wails, filled with belated, heart-wrenching regret and pain.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... I really didn't hear you... I'm so sorry..."

He repeated it over and over, his sobs growing louder and louder.

As the driver cried out, more and more dark red contaminants flowed from Yu Shijiu's left arm and into his body.

After the pollutant was sucked away by the driver, the dark red keratin layer on Yu Shijiu's left arm finally began to fade, and the thin streams wriggling under the skin gradually subsided.

The strange events have stopped.

Even... it's starting to reverse.

The swollen left claw began to shrink. Although the fur was still thick, it no longer writhed wildly, and the dark light at the claw tip completely dimmed.

Yu Shijiu himself staggered forward as the source of pollution was sucked away and he suddenly lost his strength.

He knelt on one knee, his right hand gripping the ground tightly. His left paw, which had been sucked away from the source of pollution, hung limply at his side. The wound on his entire left arm was a bloody mess, with blood gushing out.

Xu Han's eyelids twitched uncontrollably as she watched, and she braced herself to walk towards him.

But the very next second as he took a step forward—the inhuman beast claw on Yu Shijiu's left arm suddenly began to degenerate, its yellow and black fur falling down to reveal… intact human arm skin underneath.

His arms were pale and thin, with the slender joints typical of a young man. Apart from a few shallow, rapidly healing red marks from the straps, they had no other inhuman features.

Xu Han was so shocked that his pupils widened to bulge: "..."

An Jie, Chen Yi, He Lingling, Lin Hai, and Mu Lanzhi: "..."

What's going on here?!

Yu Shijiu actually turned misfortune into blessing—the driver single-handedly sucked all the contaminants off his arm!