Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 218

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

218
As Jae-in declared that the faster one moved, the more land one would own on Mars, people’s minds raced with urgency.
“Do not forget. Simultaneous development of multiple outposts is prohibited. Only after a registered group completes work according to regulations at one outpost can they develop the next one.”
This was essentially a land-grab game played over Mars itself.
“You may mine directly, or you may hire Metalim to do it. Either way, the minerals extracted from the land you develop become your property. Good luck.”
The moment the meeting ended, the leaders of each faction rushed out.
“Move quickly! Quickly!”
Phillarion, king of the Tellus Elf Kingdom, bellowed at his elf warriors.
“Your Majesty, but the sandstorm….”
The sandstorms on Mars were so severe that anyone without a protective suit could not survive more than a few seconds. Such storms could persist for months on Mars, and right now one was particularly fierce.
“What good is magic if we don’t use it?! Block it with shields! Endure it!”
At the elder elves’ thunderous commands, the warriors reluctantly erected shields through their tears and propelled themselves forward with magic toward the outposts.
“If you don’t want to live forever in the shadow of the Newus king, you must secure vast quantities of Adamant!”
* * *
“Ore! Adamant! If the dwarves don’t claim it, who will?!”
Keldric, who had succeeded Dallobit as king of the Dwarf Kingdom Ailstobik after his death in the duel, shouted with fervor. The once-young technician now bore the unmistakable bearing of a true king.
“Pour every magic stone and moon stone into the engines! Don’t hold back! We’ll get back tenfold!”
“If those pointy-ears steal it from us, be prepared to shave your beards!”
The dwarf elders bellowed in the engine room of the mobile fortress, their voices strained with intensity.
What they rode in was a mobile fortress—a massive armored vehicle scaled up dozens of times over. The dwarves had disassembled it and brought it to Mars.
The age of Mars colonization had begun.
* * *
“Everyone seems rather eager.”
Naume Baldri walked across Mars as if taking a leisurely stroll. Using the power of spirits, she parted the sandstorm as if performing Moses’s miracle.
“Indeed.”
The plant-being Dryad walking beside her nodded in agreement.
“But why are they going so far away?”
“Perhaps they’re trying to claim even one more outpost?”
“I suppose. Let’s settle near our savior.”
Behind Baldri and the Dryad, former Ark residents and current warriors and technicians gathered from Luna City for Mars development walked in a line.
Thanks to Baldri parting the sandstorm and the Dryad generating oxygen to fill the surroundings, even ordinary people could walk at ease.
They loaded their belongings onto large pack animals and wagons brought from the Ark and slowly walked toward the nearest outpost.
The Luna City members held the philosophy that excessive scientific or magical technology only corrupted life, and that living without material goods brought happiness.
“Let’s mine only what we need.”
“Yes.”
The Dryad answered gently to Baldri’s words.
* * *
“Make America Great Again!”
“Again!”
“Are you gentlemen satisfied with being second?!”
“No, sir!”
“Don’t you want to become the strongest nation again?!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Then run!”
As Sam Nader, who oversaw the Mars development project, shouted, the Hunter units belonging to the United States boarded the aerial warship.
The latest aerial warship, reinforced with magic using America’s cutting-edge technology, was comparable in size to an aircraft carrier.
“Tsk tsk, foolishly rushing forward when Mars is so vast.”
“However, we consumed far too many magic stones transporting the aerial warship through the Gate.”
“We secure territory and own all resources generated there. This current investment is merely dust. Mars One, initiate operations.”
“Mars One initiating operations!”
“Anti-gravity magic circle activated!”
“Shield deployed!”
“Main engines online!”
The aerial warship Mars One lifted into the air.
Sam trembled with emotion at its magnificent presence.
“Launch!”
“High-speed movement commencing! All crew, brace for impact!”
“I’ll show Korea, which trusts only Lee Ji-seok, the true power of America.”
Mars One pierced through the Martian sandstorm and began flying at high speed.
Sam felt as though this vast Mars had already become his own.
* * *
“Everyone’s working so hard—it’s truly a pleasure to watch.”
Jae-in sipped her coffee at the ground level of the First Forward Base. An invisible magical force pushed back the sandstorm, forming a dome-shaped safe zone.
“Indeed.”
Director Baek Young-shin also leisurely enjoyed his tea time.
[Jae-in, I’ve arrived.]
A radio transmission came from Ji-seok.
“Roger~”
Jae-in activated the Gate generator, and Ji-seok opened a Gate and stepped through.
“Everyone, thank you for your hard work~!”
The joint forces composed of Rigen and the Korean Awakened Nation, receiving Jae-in’s greeting, entered the Gate carrying supplies.
For others, opening a Gate required a mage to go there first. And personnel to protect the mage had to go as well.
The Rigen and Korean allied forces simply waited, and once Ji-seok opened the Gate, they constructed new strongholds with abundant resources and manpower.
“Ah, easy, so easy.”
Jae-in sipped her coffee.
“It feels like I’m the only one working so hard….”
Ji-seok brushed the sand from his body.
“Haha, thanks to the Chairman working so hard, we’re ahead.”
“… Is everything done now? I should get going.”
Since distant locations were already connected, Ji-seok no longer needed to open Gates for them.
“Are you going to see Ji-ho?”
“No. I’m heading to the Demon Realm.”
“The Demon Realm?”
“If I leave him be, he’ll do nothing but play with his son. I’ve decided to take him with me.”
Eres, who had appeared without warning, clicked her tongue.
“…”
I had my reservations, but she wasn’t wrong, so I kept my mouth shut. Whenever I was with Ji-ho, time seemed to vanish.
“It seems you have a plan in mind, Eres.”
“On Earth, I cannot cultivate the strength needed to stand against beings more powerful than myself. However, in the Demon Realm, I can assist with your training.”
“How long will it take for you to return? Time flows faster in the Demon Realm, so you should be back soon, right?”
“That, I won’t know until I go.”
“Just as Jae-in is developing Mars, I must do everything within my power as well.”
“I will protect this place without fail. Leave it to me. You must return safely, yes?”
“Haven’t I always come back unscathed?”
I tapped Jae-in’s shoulder reassuringly as she worried.
Eres opened a Gate behind everyone. While Eres alone could not open a Gate to the Demon Realm, Valefor, the former Vampire Lord, cooperated from the Demon Realm side to create one effortlessly.
“My Lord.”
Valefor bowed respectfully.
“This humble one greets the Goddess of Darkness.”
He bowed even deeper toward Eres.
Eres had transformed into a tall, beautiful woman.
“I thought you could only use your power in Telus.”
“The Demon Realm is a cradle of darkness itself. Is it not natural that I reclaim some of my power here?”
Though her form had returned, she could not yet wield all of her strength.
“Let us depart. Time is of the essence.”
“Safe travels, My Lord.”
I followed Eres as she led the way, receiving Valefor’s farewell.
Our destination was the River of Souls and its waterfall.
“If we do this, we can withstand the Administrator’s thoughts, right?”
“Perhaps? How can I be certain of something I have never attempted?”
“Sigh….”
I didn’t want to do this, but if there was even a possibility, I couldn’t abandon it.
Looking at the river of the Demon Realm, I saw countless human faces—disfigured, melted, and mangled—crammed densely together. Even with my S-rank mental fortitude skill, a chill ran down my spine.
“The waterfall has a different flow of time….”
The last time I went to Heaven through the waterfall, I hadn’t known this. But the waterfall, connected to multiple worlds, had time twisted chaotically within it. It could flow slower or faster than the Demon Realm.
“Why repeat what I’ve already said? Are you growing fearful now?”
“I’m worried that when I get home, Ji-ho will have grown so much.”
“Worry changes nothing. Stop dawdling and go!”
Black energy erupted beneath Eres’s feet, hurling me toward the waterfall.
I took a deep breath as I plunged into the waterfall.
Last time I came to the Demon Realm, I instinctively blocked the influx of malice, but this time I opened my mental barriers completely, accepting everything into my body.
The purpose of this journey to the Demon Realm was to forge a body capable of withstanding the Administrator by harnessing the malice pouring forth from the wicked.
The malice swept through Ji-seok’s entire being.
Rage, despair, irritation, and desire coiled around his body.
‘Why must I do this? What has Earth ever given me? Shouldn’t everything work out once I regress?’
Unable to contain the fury rising to the crown of his head, Ji-seok burst from the waterfall.
“Eres! You damned incarnation of darkness, always grinding me down!”
“You emerged sooner than expected. But… damned?”
Darkness swung mercilessly downward, striking Ji-seok as he charged forward.
“Ugh….”
Flattened against the ground, Ji-seok tried to rise, only to be crushed ruthlessly by an enormous mass of darkness, as if a junkyard car were being compacted.
Battered by malice and shock, Ji-seok could form no coherent thoughts.
After being pummeled for some time, his body was ruined, but the malice had finally drained from him.
“From what I hear, that fool Gaff tampered with you, but I know your cockroach-like vitality well.”
Darkness seized the pulped Ji-seok and hurled him into the river.
Ji-seok felt rage, but it stemmed from more than just the malice.
He struggled to direct that rage not at Eres, but toward the Administrator.
“Should you land even a single blow on me, this training ends immediately.”
In those final words, he reserved a measure of anger for Eres as well.
* * *
The United States’ outpost on Mars’ surface, reminiscent of a mechanical empire, was under active construction.
It was far more than mere machinery. This Mars Forward Base, a concentration of cutting-edge technology infused with magic, demonstrated America’s determination to reclaim its position as the world’s strongest nation.
“Excuse me. Who’s in charge here?”
A blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl tugged at the collar of a burly American Hunter.
“Huh? What’s a kid doing here?”
Sergeant Johnson of the American Hunter unit surveyed his surroundings.
“I’m Alice, an inspector for the Mars Development Management Division under the Korean Awakened Nation. Please bring me the overall commander of this base.”
“Hahahaha, the little lady’s got jokes!”
Though her height now matched that of an adult woman, her youthful face betrayed her age entirely.
Alice understood why she was dismissed for being young, but it happened far too often, and it irritated her.
“Sigh….”
“I’ll help you find your home, little one.”
Sergeant Johnson guided Alice, whom he believed to be lost, to the administrative office.
Thinking she could reach someone higher up regardless, Alice followed quietly.

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