Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 134

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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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134
“Marcelo, wait a moment. Are you saying we should visit over a thousand craftsmen one by one?”
“Normally, I would post an announcement and spread word through rumors. However, if we’re searching for such a large quantity of rare materials, people will become curious. We need to keep knowledge of the Dragon Heart limited to as few people as possible.”
“But if we go searching and show them the list, they’ll find out anyway, won’t they?”
“I won’t show them the list. We’ll need to acquire items one at a time.”
“… How long will that take?”
“If we’re fortunate, we might find everything within two or three months.”
“I can’t wait that long!”
Jae-in had accumulated too many pending matters back on Earth.
“No, this is absurd! In such a massive Workshop city, you’re telling me there’s no inventory management system?”
“I can gather the communally managed items. However, the materials needed to process an Ice Dragon’s Heart include many rare components. The craftsmen of the Sleeping Fire Mountain Range often guard such things like treasures.”
“What about outside this mountain range? There must be places on the Western Continent that handle these materials, right?”
“These materials are things one encounters perhaps once or twice in a lifetime. I could send requests to the outside, but success is unlikely. With the war ongoing, it would take considerable time as well. This location, where craftsmen from across the Western Continent have gathered, offers the highest probability of finding what we need.”
Jae-in, who had been listening quietly, fell into contemplation. She had tried not to interfere with how the Mountain Range operated, but their methods differed so drastically from how things worked on Earth.
While respecting culture and customs was admirable, we couldn’t afford to waste months in our current situation.
“Marcelo, let’s create an inventory ledger.”
When the thirsty dig a well, they simply create one if it doesn’t exist.
“If we gather all the items you possess and record them, we can simply retrieve what we need when necessary.”
“I won’t reveal them. Difficulty in obtaining something means it’s valuable. The craftsmen hide their possessions carefully because they fear theft.”
“Hmm… but wouldn’t some people want to register since they could sell them?”
“I can try, but you shouldn’t hold great expectations.”
Marcelo posted an announcement on the bulletin board in a crowded area within the Valley.
He also visited a tavern where many people gathered to spread word about the inventory ledger.
“Hmph! Are you mad? You want us to reveal what we have?!”
After hearing Marcelo’s full explanation, a human craftsman shouted.
“Everyone has items or materials they want to sell, right? And things they want to buy too. If you tell us about those, we’ll act as intermediaries for you.”
Marcelo explained calmly to the agitated craftsmen.
“You should discuss it and trade only with people you can trust! If rumors spread in all directions, you’ll only attract thieves! The ones in this mountain range go mad over quality materials!”
Though they were insulting themselves, because it was true, all the craftsmen listening nodded in agreement.
“We’ll manage the ledger. No one else will see it. The seller and buyer don’t even need to meet.”
“No way! What should I trust you with! You might steal from us!”
The craftsmen were all stubborn people, and regardless of their race, they all had considerable temperaments.
When Marcelo mentioned the inventory ledger at several other taverns, the craftsmen responded with identical objections as if they’d received the same script. It meant they all thought alike.
Bae Na-young approached one craftsman who was angry at Marcelo. He was among those who had knelt before her previously.
“I’m asking you, please.”
“G-Goddess… Please don’t do this!”
When Bae Na-young lowered her head, the man who had been raging became flustered.
“We will manage everything you provide with utmost care so no one else learns of it.”
“Ahem… If the Goddess says so…”
At his goddess’s request, he registered his materials, prepared to lose them. Following his example, several others registered their privately owned materials. However, they still represented only a tiny fraction of all the craftsmen.
Bae Na-young arranged a space where she could speak one-on-one with her followers. The devotees of the Purple Goddess Sect, who revered Bae Na-young as their deity, came one by one to see her and presented gifts—or rather, tributes. In exchange, they informed her of materials or items they wished to buy or sell, which she recorded in her ledger.
This arrangement meant that no one except Bae Na-young could know who had registered which materials.
“The material we’ve been waiting for has arrived!”
Bae Na-young came and announced it loudly.
“Who is it?!”
Marcelo sprang to his feet.
“You can’t look at it.”
Bae Na-young hid the ledger behind her back.
“Pardon?”
“I promised not to show it to anyone.”
“Not even me?”
“No one but me can see it.”
“Then won’t this list become useless once the Goddess returns to Earth?”
“Well, later I’ll allow anyone who swears an oath to use this list.”
“An oath?”
“I can place a restriction on their mind so they can never tell anyone else.”
It was another version of brainwashing.
“I’ll do it.”
Marcelo stepped forward without hesitation.
“Are you sure about me interfering with your mind?”
“Because I trust the Goddess.”
Thanks to the ledger, materials were gradually procured. The sellers believed their goods were going elsewhere, never knowing who actually took them.
“Hahahaha, I’m buying! Today!”
“Where did that bastard get money?”
“That Goddess found him a buyer for his materials.”
“How long has it been since he registered?”
While some sellers remained quiet, others who received large sums began spending lavishly, and word spread quickly.
There were those selling materials, but far more wanted to buy. For items other than those needed for Blue Dragon Heart processing, I found buyers.
As transactions increased, everyone used the ledger and gradually tracked down the materials needed for Blue Dragon Heart processing.
“At this rate, we’ll be able to get everything, won’t we?”
Within days, the required materials list had many items crossed off.
“We can begin the intermediate work now.”
“That’s what Jerex needs to do, right?”
“…I apologize. I don’t wish to go.”
“It’s fine. I’ll bring the materials to Jerex myself.”
Jae-in brought the materials she had gathered to Jerex.
“Put it down.”
The process required first processing and synthesizing numerous materials, then using the results as materials again. The procedure was absurdly complex.
“Would you like me to help?”
“Hmph… This is not work a human can dare attempt.”
“I can do any chores you need.”
“Do as you please.”
Jerex walked to the wall lined with tools, tested several hammers in his hand, and finally selected one.
With hammer in hand, Jerex picked up one of the materials—a White Wyvern scale—and placed it on the anvil.
Jerex focused his concentration and brought the hammer down upon the scale.
“What?!”
Jae-in jolted from her seat in surprise. This material was supposed to shatter under sufficient impact, not bend—yet he was striking it with a hammer like that?
“What?!”
Jae-in gasped again, this time at the realization that the scale hadn’t shattered at all—its form had changed.
It wasn’t dented in the shape of the hammer; it had grown ever so slightly longer. The deformation was so minute that without her Appraisal skill, she would have missed it entirely, yet the material’s form had unmistakably shifted while preserving its essential properties.
“How… how did you…?”
“Quiet! If you’re going to chatter, get out!”
Jae-in clamped her mouth shut. Jerex’s gruff words meant nothing to her. What consumed her thoughts was how he had accomplished that feat. Her researcher’s blood burned with curiosity, so she quietly tidied the workshop while observing Jerex’s hammering technique.
I watched as Jerex continued striking the material. As his aura radiated from his body and the hammer fell, the anvil, Jerex himself, the hammer, and the material connected like a single circuit.
It appeared to be an impact, but it wasn’t. Jerex infused his aura into the material, gradually reshaping it while preserving its properties. Even the minute scratches were vanishing.
Entranced, I observed Jerex’s hammering while organizing the materials I had brought onto the shelves.
“You’re done—get out!”
Unable to resist Jerex’s insistence, I left the workshop, yet his hammering technique lingered in my mind.
“Marcelo!”
“Yes?”
Marcelo, who had been absorbed in the monitor screen I had left behind, turned his head.
“What did Jerex just do?!”
“Ah, you saw it?”
Marcelo sighed and removed his glasses.
“That’s the reason Jerex was able to defect.”
“Can’t other people do it?”
“Only Dwarves, who are beloved by earth and fire, can do it.”
“Other races can’t?”
“Humans cannot fly through the sky nor breathe underwater, yes? It’s the same principle.”
“But it’s possible.”
“Pardon?”
“Our President can do it. The… the love of earth and fire, as it were.”
Jae-in’s eyes gleamed. If she could master this, how much more could she accomplish?
“Will there be another reason for me to visit Jerex?”
“…You want to go again? Was he kind to you?”
“No! His language was quite harsh.”
“Then why…?”
Marcelo wondered if perhaps Earth humans had a different culture.
“I need to learn it.”
“That’s not something that can be learned.”
“We won’t know until we try.”
Ji-seok’s relentless spirit of challenge rubbed off on me as well.
From that point on, I took charge of everything—delivering materials, preparing Jerex’s meals, and cleaning the workshop.
While doing so, I also became involved in sourcing materials from other locations and designing and crafting the air conditioning unit.
“Are you alright?”
“Pardon?”
Marcelo grew concerned seeing the dark circles under my eyes stretched down to my jaw.
“I’m perfectly fine.”
“You’re barely sleeping at all.”
“I hardly sleep when I’m working anyway.”
Potion bottles lined the space beside me.
“And if I dig just a little deeper, I think I’ll have a breakthrough.”
“Really? Then finally I can kill that damned dwarf… Ahem…”
Marcelo’s true feelings slipped out for a moment.
“He’s not really a bad person. He’s just a bit rough around the edges.”
“… Are you an Angel, Jae-in?”
“An Angel? What a terrible thing to say…”
“Huh?”
Marcelo, unfamiliar with what an Angel meant on Earth, tilted his head in confusion.
We continued working, and despite Jerex’s notoriously difficult temperament, watching me quietly assist him gradually softened his heart.
“What do you want?”
“I want to learn by watching your techniques.”
I didn’t hide my intentions.
“Hmph! Dwarf techniques cannot be learned by mere humans! It’s a waste of time!”
There was a reason Jerex didn’t hide his techniques in front of me. He knew I couldn’t steal them anyway.
“It’s my time, so I’ll do as I please. Is there anything else you need?”
I polished Jerex’s toolbox until it gleamed. Thanks to that, the workshop sparkled.
“Hmph. Do as you like.”
Even while cleaning, my eyes never left Jerex’s hammer and anvil.
“Can all dwarves do what you do?”
“Hmph! How could that be?! Are all humans the same? Do they all have the same intelligence?”
“Then Jerex must be exceptional among dwarves?”
“That’s right. When I was in the Empire, I was a Flame Master.”
“I don’t know what that means, but it must be impressive?”
“Ha! It’s a title bestowed only upon the dwarf who handles fire better than any other. Only one loved most by fire itself can obtain such a title.”
“Then why did you come here?”
I kept the thought to myself—that he seemed perfectly suited for the Eastern Continent where so many were racist.
“…That’s none of your concern.”
The conversation ended, leaving only the sound of hammering and sweeping in the workshop.

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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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