Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 101

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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101
“Tian Fei, does China repay its saviors with arrows?”
I sent Bae Na-young behind me.
“I appreciate that much. But you were too greedy. Demanding two cities for something like this? You’re insane.”
There was no gratitude in his tone whatsoever.
“Then you should have just refused the conditions. Stabbing me in the back? And you call yourselves a great nation? Your actions are pathetic.”
“Shut your mouth. You’re a citizen of a parasitic nation that clings to the great China.”
“If it weren’t for citizens of the nation you despise, Beijing would be burning to ashes right now, you incompetent bastard. And do you have the ability to capture me? You couldn’t even catch the Succubus Queen?”
“Without her brainwashing ability, we would have had no problem defeating such a monster with our own strength.”
Hundreds of hunters lined up beside Tian Fei, who was engaging in mental gymnastics. At minimum B-rank, most were A-rank. With Tian Fei’s S-rank power and this much military force, physically defeating the Succubus Queen would have been feasible. But that was only assuming the Succubus Queen lacked her brainwashing ability. No matter how many they gathered, they would have been brainwashed and killed each other.
And now he intended to raid me like a monster with that same force.
“So this was your plan from the start.”
“Give up. If you surrender, I’ll give you an easy death.”
“Me? Die? Come at me. I don’t know about the others, but you’ll die by my hand.”
As I growled, Tian Fei flinched.
“Let’s see how much longer that mouth of yours can keep running.”
Tian Fei drew his bowstring.
“But didn’t you do insufficient reconnaissance?”
“What?”
“Do you know who’s standing behind me?”
“Bae Na-young?”
“You know her. Remember Bae Na-young’s Blind skill? You must have investigated when you kidnapped her in North Korea.”
“You’re going to curse all these people? We have healers too.”
“That was when Bae Na-young wasn’t S-rank.”
“What?”
Bae Na-young’s growth had been overshadowed by my story and wasn’t widely known, but from their reaction, it was clear China didn’t know either.
Centered on Bae Na-young, a wave of violet energy erupted outward, engulfing every hunter in its range.
“Ah… I can’t see! What is this?! Where am I?!”
“Stop attacking! These are our allies!”
“Who the hell is this?!”
Slash!
A hunter, startled by contact with a comrade, deeply slashed through his ally’s torso.
“What is this…?”
Only Tian Fei could see the current situation. Not because he was an S-rank hunter with a strong mental barrier, but because Bae Na-young hadn’t placed the curse on him from the start.
“You didn’t expect the hunter you kidnapped to become S-rank? You won’t die peacefully.”
As all the hunters he’d brought became blind, Tian Fei broke into a cold sweat and retreated.
I walked forward while Bae Na-young floated through the air, her feet dangling, approaching him.
Whoosh!
A massive arrow flew toward Bae Na-young.
Clang!
Bae Na-young’s shield unfurled before me, deflecting the attack. While it couldn’t withstand a direct hit, the wedge-shaped shield dispersed an S-rank hunter’s assault with minimal mana expenditure.
“…”
Realizing that explosive arrows or curved shots would prove ineffective against both of us, Tian Fei’s spirit form vanished.
“A skill that escaped from North Korea.”
“Yeah.”
Bae Na-young’s expression turned fierce.
Before, I couldn’t pursue while capturing the Axe Wielder, but now was different.
I enlarged myself and extended my hand to Bae Na-young, who used my arm as a springboard to leap onto my shoulder.
Crash, crash, crash, crash!!!
I charged forward, my body colliding with every car, bicycle, and motorcycle in my path.
“Hii…. Hieek!”
The one hiding in the alley between buildings saw me charging directly at him and concealed himself once more.
It appeared to be a short-range teleportation technique like those used by Empire humans. I’d thought his attacks were monotonous for an S-rank, yet he possessed such a skill.
I hurled my body toward the direction where I sensed his presence again. I traversed the rooftop and entered what appeared to be a department store.
He hid in shops and changed floors, but everything was transparent to me. I steadily closed the distance. I could see the vitality draining from his face with each moment as fear of death consumed him.
When he was merely dozens of meters away, he jumped again.
Such a skill has clear limitations. Either it has a daily restriction or it consumes enormous amounts of mana. That Tian Fei could use it so many times consecutively was only possible because he was S-rank.
Since the distance continued to shrink, this would likely be his final attempt.
Unable to flee further, he appeared behind Bae Na-young and unleashed an arrow.
Bae Na-young’s mana detection ability was superhuman, so she had a rough sense of where Tian Fei would appear. Before he even manifested, she threw a shield backward, and the arrow struck it, detonating. It was the technique used in North Korea. However, its power was twice as devastating as it had been then. It seemed he hadn’t been idle all this time.
Flames and smoke obscured my vision.
Thud!
Tian Fei, attempting to escape under cover of flames and smoke, looked down at his abdomen.
A hole pierced through his belly, and a blade was embedded in the wall behind him. I had drawn it from my hand and thrown it.
“Save… me….”
Tian Fei collapsed to his knees on the ground.
“Me? Why?”
“The Chinese Government won’t stay still….”
“They’re already not staying still, so what are you talking about?”
“I had no choice.”
“In what?”
“The government ordered it. What was I supposed to do? If I refused, I would die.”
The Chinese Government is famous for its strict control over hunters. That’s why Hong Long is forced to work as a hunter in China semi-involuntarily.
“It’s not just me who dies. What about my family? Please, forgive me just this once. I’ll take my family and escape, living quietly from now on.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“What?”
“You don’t even have a family.”
“…”
His expression showed he couldn’t fathom how I knew that.
“And you dare spout such nonsense while smiling whenever you kill someone.”
If I let this bastard live, he’ll hurt people on a whim in the future too. It’s a shame to lose an S-rank hunter, but there’s no benefit in keeping trash like this alive. I can just run through another Gate instead.
“You… bastard…”
I drew a blade from the back of my hand and sliced through the neck of the man trying to curse at me. Tian Fei’s head rolled across the floor like a ball.
He was dead, but outside I could hear hundreds of hunters whose curse had been lifted searching for us.
Bae Na-young pointed her wand toward the outside.
“Hold on, hold on. They’re only doing this because they have no other choice.”
“I appreciate your understanding.”
Hong Long pushed open the half-destroyed door and entered.
“Did you break free?”
“Thanks to you. But next time, could you go a bit easier?”
Hong Long rubbed his belly.
“Sorry about that. I wasn’t thinking straight. But… does coming here mean you want to fight?”
“I did receive orders to do so right after waking up.”
Our eyes met for a moment.
“But it happened so fast that I think I missed it.”
“Missed what?”
“How am I supposed to catch hunters who knocked me down in a single blow? The hunters below would just die for nothing.”
“You’re letting me go?”
“Before I came in, I told them I’d handle this side and to search elsewhere, so there should be time.”
“Why?”
“My family was in Beijing too.”
“So that’s why you came in first.”
“That’s right. Though I ended up getting caught instead. Human wave tactics are fun when you’re using them, but not so much when you’re on the receiving end. Hahahaha.”
Hong Long laughed awkwardly.
“Thank you. Later on… I’d like to treat you to a meal.”
If Hong Long let me go from here, he would face consequences. I couldn’t tell if they’d be light or severe, but his resolve to accept them was clear.
I felt Hong Long leave the building and the hunters move in a different direction.
“Now let’s really go back.”
Bae Na-young placed her hand on my shoulder, but my feet wouldn’t move.
“What’s wrong?”
“Even if there’s no choice, I’m worried about what comes next. The Chinese Government won’t just sit idle.”
If it came to all-out war, I didn’t think we’d lose. If I just picked off the leaders, they wouldn’t last long before collapsing. But in the meantime, Korea would turn into a sea of fire.
“Maybe you should just stay still?”
Bae Na-young smiled softly.
* * *
“I humbly request your assistance.”
The Chinese Diplomat bowed deeply. Director Baek Young-shin, who was usually arrogant, felt like a ten-year weight had lifted from his chest seeing the Chinese Diplomat come with such deference.
“Those brainwashed high-ranking Chinese officials, you say? Of course we should help fix that. Then, shall we discuss compensation?”
“W-what…?! Haven’t you already taken two provinces?”
“That was compensation for capturing the Succubus Queen and reclaiming Beijing. Now we should receive compensation for attempting to kill hunters Lee Ji-seok and Bae Na-young, Korea’s two S-rank hunters, and for undoing the brainwashing of Chinese officials. If you don’t have money, Heilongjiang would be nice.”
The vast majority of ordinary citizens naturally recovered from the brainwashing as time passed and returned to their daily lives. The real problem lay with the non-hunter Chinese officials who had remained close to the Succubus Queen and heard her direct commands for an extended period. They had regained consciousness, yet they drooled like idiots and couldn’t speak a word.
“We stand ready to assist you at any time. And frankly, possessing vast territory isn’t necessarily an advantage for China in the current situation, is it? Wouldn’t it actually benefit you to have Korea take control of two provinces?”
“…”
With so many hunters dead and Beijing in ruins, defending the northeastern regions was practically impossible.
If they didn’t contain the breach, monsters would continue spreading across Chinese territory in all directions.
Any further public resentment would only complicate the Party’s position.
“…I’ll report this to my superiors.”
The Chinese Communist Party’s response didn’t take long. The sum they demanded was astronomical, and with China on the verge of bankruptcy, Korea acquired Liaoning, Jilin Province, and additionally Heilongjiang.
It was far more land than the combined territories of North and South Korea. In this era, vast territory without the strength to defend it would only be a burden, but now that Korea possessed the power to hold it, and with life force spreading from the World Tree, the value of that territory would only increase exponentially.
Initially, the Chinese Government attempted to relocate the citizens of the three provinces to the mainland. However, with tens of millions of displaced persons in Beijing alone, relocating the population of three provinces proved impossible, so they granted citizens autonomy in their choice. Over 95 percent of the residents chose to transfer their nationality and become Korean citizens.
“Hmm… You’re planning to cherry-pick all the hunters, are you?”
The vast majority of the remaining 5 percent were hunters.
“What! It was entirely the hunters’ autonomous choice.”
“If you don’t hand over the hunters based on their active regions before the World Tree emerged, we’ll consider this matter settled. Oh, and hand over Hong Long and his family as well.”
“That… that! Do you think that makes sense?!”
“China attempted to kill hunters dispatched to your own nation, and now there’s nowhere else to turn for assistance but Korea, is there? Can you contain a Gate if one ruptures right now?”
Gates were already on the verge of rupturing in various locations, and with signs of seditious independence movements appearing in other regions, if China lost Korea’s support, the nation might well collapse within a few years.
China had no choice but to hand over the hunters. They consoled themselves with the fact that Hong Long rarely followed orders anyway, and most of them were low-rank hunters.
“Don’t worry. If there’s a Gate we cannot handle, Lee Ji-seok has agreed to roll up his sleeves and help. Of course, we’ll be taking the materials, though.”
The diplomat’s face turned ashen.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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