Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 201

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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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201
Metalim, imprisoned within the cell, slashed at the wall with his hardened hand.
Clang!
Sparks erupted across the transparent reinforced barrier, leaving a long scratch in its wake.
“That’s quite sturdy, yet he’s damaging it so easily. Let me see.”
Jae-in observed Metalim swinging his blade, adjusting the monocle perched on her eye.
“Platinum.”
“Platinum? A metal?”
“Yes. It’s composed of nearly pure platinum. Fascinating. How does it move so quickly without breaking?”
Most of his body moved with fluid, human-like grace, while only his razor-sharp hand edges remained rigidly hardened.
“He doesn’t seem inclined to listen. Hold on.”
Jae-in left and returned, pushing a cart laden with a large container.
“If you don’t stay still, I’m spraying this.”
The metal man continued attempting to destroy the cell despite Jae-in’s warning.
“I had no choice.”
Jae-in connected the container to a pipe, and liquid began drizzling from the ceiling of the cell.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle…
Whatever the liquid was, a single droplet made contact and smoke rose—Metalim recoiled in alarm.
“What is that?”
“A highly acidic solution. It dissolves most metals. Platinum included.”
“You dare treat me this way and expect to remain unscathed…?”
His expression twisted with unbridled fury.
“Oh, Chairman, I warned you.”
“You should have answered immediately. Why did you come to Earth?”
“I have nothing to say to a lowborn creature.”
“Want me to spray some more?”
Jae-in extended the acid spray switch toward me.
“Put it away. Let’s keep him locked up and interrogate him slowly.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
A figure wearing thick Hunter-grade shackles entered the room.
Beep, beep, beep, beep.
The non-human detector Jae-in had created wailed an alarm, and simultaneously, a red laser pointer fired directly at the shackled figure’s chest.

“He surrendered at the city boundary and I brought him here.”
Yang Sang-heon had brought him.
“And you are?”
“I am Elchai Rhodium, a servant of the Metallanet Royal Family.”
Elchai’s wrists suddenly grew hot, melting the shackles away.
“My apologies. I cannot bear the touch of impure metals.”
In any case, shackles meant little to someone of such power.
“You said Metallanet? What brings you to Earth?”
“The explanation would take considerable time. Would you come with me instead? I shall show you directly.”
“I’ve already followed someone once. It’s not an experience I wish to repeat.”
“It seems my subordinates made a minor mistake. I’ve brought a gift as an apology and gesture of goodwill.”
Elchai gestured behind him.
Yang Sang-heon’s expression, having already examined the box’s contents, was ambiguous—neither the look of one beholding treasure nor one confronting danger.
I opened the box, and inside lay ingots of various metals.
Jae-in peered at them through her monocle.
“All the rare metals difficult to obtain on Earth are gathered here.”
She turned and mouthed to me, “These are expensive!”
“This is the Royal Family’s expression of apology.”
“A gift does not erase a mistake.”
“Ah, this is merely a portion of what we intend to offer. I alone found it difficult to carry everything. We’ve prepared fifty such boxes.”
Watching Jae-in swallow hard, I could tell the quantity was substantial.
“Will you accept our apology?”
Jae-in jabbed my ribs, eager to accept.
“Very well. Let us proceed. I’ll confirm your purpose on Earth and what manner of relationship you seek with us.”
“And please wear protective gear.”
“Protective gear?”
“We Metalim require no oxygen. The air below is oxygen-deficient and harmful to you. Moreover, it will be extremely hot.”
Jae-in distributed spacesuits one by one.
After everyone except me had donned their suits, I led the prisoner toward the abandoned mine from before. Director Baek Young-shin, Amy, Yang Sang-heon, and Jae-in accompanied us.
In the meantime, Elchai opened a door in the floor, revealing a staircase.
Elchai led the way, I followed, and the others came behind me.
“Elise, Sang-heon—if things go south, take only the Director and Jae-in and fall back.”
“Got it~”
“Yes.”
Sang-heon and Amy responded immediately, and Director Baek Young-shin and Jae-in nodded in agreement.
“… Couldn’t you at least offer some empty words about not abandoning me?”
“Come on, you’ll survive just fine on your own. Who’s worried about whom?”
“Who can beat Ji-seok~?”
Director Baek Young-shin and Jae-in nodded vigorously once more.
“I wonder if that’s strong faith or simply indifference….”
The corridor descended quite deeply underground.
“Welcome to Metallanet.”
After walking for some time, the corridor ended and a massive underground city came into view.
The underground city was no mere natural cavern. The walls, pathways, and buildings were all constructed from precisely cut stone and metal.
“This way, please.”
A carriage awaited us, and both the horses pulling it and the carriage itself were made entirely of metal.
The metal horses resembled those from Earth, but they had six legs and were considerably larger. Examining their souls, I could see they too were Metalim.
“Everything being metal must make it incredibly heavy.”
“Right? I really don’t like all this hard, rigid stuff~”
Jae-in and Amy boarded the carriage first.
“Oh my~”
Thick cushions had been placed on the seats inside the carriage.
“Our Metallanet citizens don’t require such things, but we prepared them in anticipation of visitors from the surface arriving someday.”
We rode through the city in the carriage. While not large enough to be called a metropolis, it was an enormous and remarkably complete city—so much so that its existence beneath my own land made me uneasy.
“We’ve arrived. This is the Royal Castle.”
As I descended from the carriage, I found myself before a magnificently constructed royal fortress.
The soldiers stationed at the Royal Castle wore no obvious armor, yet their souls and the quantity of mana within them made it clear they were formidable warriors.
“They’re all composed of expensive metals.”
Jae-in, recognizing the material composition of their bodies, whispered this observation to me.
I followed Elchai Rhodium inside.
Luminous stones were embedded throughout the Royal Castle, and with the floors, walls, and ceilings all made of metal, the brilliance was almost blinding.
“This might be somewhat overwhelming for the eyes of surface dwellers. We’ll make adjustments for that next time.”
“Please, come in.”
A young boy, sitting on the floor without a chair, extended his hand in a gesture inviting us to sit on the cushions prepared for us.
It seemed that not using chairs was the custom here. The Korean visitors found it unremarkable, but Amy, being from the United States, appeared somewhat uncomfortable.
“First, I wish to express my gratitude for accepting our invitation. I am Ban Adamant, King of Metallanet.”
“Adamant? You mean *the* adamant?”
“Indeed. As you’ve already noticed, our Metalim bodies are composed of metal. My body is made of adamant.”
In that instant, Jae-in’s eyes were consumed by greed.
“Jae-in, your eyes. Control yourself.”
“Ahem… My apologies.”
Jae-in wiped away the drool trickling from her mouth.
After exchanging brief pleasantries, we moved to the main discussion.
“King Ban, why have you come to Earth?”
“We fled from an unstoppable calamity.”
We all understood what he meant.
“The Destruction God.”
“Precisely. Our world was on the verge of being consumed, but our ancestors possessed knowledge of how to transfer from the core of our homeworld to the core of a planet in another dimension. So before the Destruction God could completely devour our world, we led the survivors through that passage.”
“Surely you’re aware that excavating such a space beneath another’s planet without permission constitutes an act of hostility?”
“I am truly sorry about that. However, would you be willing to hear our story?”
Elchai carried an air of bureaucratic detachment beneath his words, a tendency to regard others as beneath him—yet this young king displayed genuine contrition.
When I nodded, he began his account.
“Earth is not the first planet we have visited. My ancestors and I have led the people of Metallanet in flight across dozens of worlds over countless ages. We can only travel to planets on the brink of being consumed by the Destruction God.”
The young king’s expression darkened as he recalled the past.
“For this reason, most planets did not welcome the arrival of our kind. They already faced so many crises that they lacked the capacity to accept new inhabitants. Each time, conflict arose, we suffered losses, and we were forced to relocate.”
Migrants rarely found favorable outcomes, whether they possessed strength or not.
“After that, we lived quietly hidden in the depths below. The deep stone regions are places the surface dwellers never disturb anyway.”
“If you excavate such land, does it affect the surface?”
Director Baek Young-shin asked.
“It does not. We do not merely dig—we reinforce as we go. There is no possibility this space will cause harm to the surface.”
“Then why did you come to the surface?”
“To obtain things we cannot acquire below, I sent some of my people to earn money on the surface, which we then used to purchase goods.”
“What about the merchant?”
“He spoke, so I attacked him right away~”
I pointed to Bourbon, and Amy spoke.
“It seems my nephew was discourteous to the surface dwellers. Apologize at once.”
Elchai urged Bourbon forward.
“Uncle! Why do you bow to such lowly creatures?!”
“Bourbon, if you make another mistake….”
Elchai’s eyes gleamed with cold intensity.
“Ugh…. I apologize. I spoke carelessly. I also apologize for my crude behavior on the surface.”
The apology was clearly forced.
“Now then, the atmosphere has grown far too tense. There are endless possibilities for cooperation between Metallanet and the surface dwellers going forward. Would you not wish to discuss such matters?”
Elchai shifted the mood.
“Handle that with this person.”
I deferred to Director Baek Young-shin. I despised tedious negotiations.
Their demands were simple: permission to live beneath the earth, acquisition of necessary goods, and a desire to obtain magical stones through trade.
However, since the resources Metallanet would use for trade ultimately came from Earth, the price was negotiated down considerably. Yet they accepted the proposal without complaint.
“Finally, would you show us the mining site?”
“Of course.”
I followed Elchai and King Ban Adamant down a spiraling staircase carved into the depths.
“Our race surpasses all others in detecting and manipulating metals and minerals. We ourselves are metal, after all. I can guarantee that as we excavate, we will cause no earthquakes or damage whatsoever to the surface.”
As I moved deeper following Elchai, the brilliant, gleaming sensation from before gradually faded, replaced by the ordinary feel of a mine tunnel.
Though reinforced, the work was minimal—bare earthen walls remained exposed, and the passage was constructed only for the bare minimum of cargo transport, making it uncomfortable to walk and dimly lit.
“This is the mining site. Since we can sense the location of desired ore from a distance, our extraction is entirely efficient.”
Inside, Metalim of various forms worked excavating the earth. A bovine-shaped Metalim carried ore upward, while a mantis-like Metalim struck the wall with sickle-like hands.
Many Metalim worked in humanoid forms as well.
Their hands, digging into the ground, would deform and then reshape themselves to continue working. Their skin bore corrosion and damage, rough and uneven—they resembled people afflicted with illness.
“Their hands lack firmness?”
Director Baek Young-shin wanted to ask if the workers were suffering, but fearing rudeness, he phrased it differently.
“Ah, it’s quite common in metals that aren’t higher elements. Still, because we provide them work, they’re able to survive.”
Elchai Rhodium spoke with the confidence of an unscrupulous employer.
Ban Adamant, who had descended with us, was glancing around here and there, searching for something.
The workers continued their labor in silence, showing no reaction to our arrival.
Ban Adamant’s gaze fixed on a single point—he had found whoever he was looking for—and I followed his line of sight.

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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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