Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 220

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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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220
“Johnson, you damned bastard.”
Boris, Johnson’s fellow recruit from their enlistment, spat out the curse.
“…”
“Why am I suffering like this at the end of my service because of you?”
Boris and every member of Johnson’s squad swept the barracks with brooms and mops.
“Shut it. You wouldn’t recognize her if you saw her now either. She looked completely different from the photo.”
“The briefing said she deliberately used a photo that made her look older. You just didn’t pay attention because you’re careless.”
“…”
Johnson had plummeted from an A-rank soldier to being treated as a worthless interrogator in an instant for failing to recognize Alice.
“Sigh… When will this ever end?”
Boris gripped the mop handle and straightened his back. The cleaning duty the Commander had assigned was essentially an unofficial punishment—a hazing.
“How does this make any sense? We have advanced cleaning machines, yet he makes us find a mop and clean this massive place?”
“Will we ever finish at this rate? The building expands faster than we can clean it.”
The squad members gazed out the window. Half-assembled buildings continuously poured through the Gate and were assembled atop the outpost.
“The Elves and Dwarves source raw materials locally and build from scratch, right? How long will that take? Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
“If you have no money, you work with your body.”
The United States, leveraging its formidable capital, had opened a dedicated Gate and directly transported most materials from Earth. They had borrowed an astronomical sum, planning to repay the debt once Mars development and construction were complete, but the interest alone was mounting astronomically.
“Stop talking and get back to work.”
David, the model soldier type, mopped silently.
“Right. Let’s finish quickly and grab a beer.”
Boris gripped the mop handle with both hands again, but Johnson stood still, staring out the window.
“Hey, you bastard. We’re cleaning because of you—why aren’t you working faster?”
“…Is that a hand?”
Johnson pointed at the crimson Martian sky.
Boris looked up with an expression suggesting Johnson was spouting nonsense, then his face went rigid.
“It is a hand.”
A colossal crimson hand, roughly ten meters across, hung suspended in Mars’s sky. It was severed at the wrist, with no other body parts visible.
“Is it a hallucination?”
“The outpost has multiple layers of defensive magic, so it shouldn’t be.”
Johnson turned to make a report.
“But I should still report this—”
And the crimson hand clenched into a fist with tremendous force.
“Everyone down!”
The fist shattered through multiple layers of defensive magic like glass, penetrating into the outpost.
Without losing any speed, it plowed through the building and engulfed Johnson and his squad.
Johnson and Boris flattened themselves against the ground.
The fist passed over their heads and punched through the outpost’s steel and stone structures as if they were made of candy.
“C-Commander!!!”
“Emergency!!!”
In an instant, the entire base erupted into chaos.
“What… what is it?!”
Commander Sam burst out without even properly fastening his uniform.
“Enemy attack! They’ve breached the defensive barrier!”
“Damn it! Is it Tellus?! The Ark bastards? Or have Rigen finally made their move?!”
“It’s a hand!”
“A hand?”
Commander Sam looked toward the source of the commotion and saw a crimson hand smashing through the building.
“…We’ll identify it after we stop it! All Warriors and Mages, combat positions now!”
Despite the surprise attack, this outpost housed the elite first-rank Hunters of the United States.
Countless Hunters poured out within seconds, forming ranks.
Moving with the precision of a rehearsed drill, they unleashed mana-infused arrows, spears, and auras at the crimson hand.
The fist moved with such speed that most attacks became brilliant fireworks across the sky, though a few struck true.
“Direct hit!”
The struck hand erupted with veins bulging like heat radiating through flesh.
The crimson hand opened its palm and drew its fingers together, forming a blade.
“… Get down!”
Commander Sam, who possessed the same random short-term precognition as Akiko, shouted, and every Hunter flattened themselves against the ground.
The crimson hand traced a complete circle through the air.
A crimson line spread in all directions, severing everything at that height. The expensively constructed base was obliterated.
“Hyaaaah!!!”
A Hunter who had flown upward alone to evade brought his hammer down onto the crimson hand’s palm. It was Mac, an S-rank Hunter of the United States.
Boom!
The force of Mac’s descending hammer sent the hand bouncing off the ground, and flames erupted from it, engulfing Mac.
“What are you doing?! Buffs! Heals! Hit it with everything!”
Without buffs, the flames would be unbearable, but with an S-rank Hunter receiving buffs and shields from dozens of A-rank Hunters, it wasn’t an attack he couldn’t endure.
After that, it became a melee.
While Mac held its attention, other close-range Hunters from the base rushed in, and dozens of buffs and heals were cast on them from behind.
“Grab the thumb!”
“Get that pinky!”
They seized each finger one by one and battered the palm and back of the hand.
The crimson hand, now bristling with dozens of blades and spears, lost its strength and scattered into red particles.
“What exactly was that thing?”
“Commander! Where the hand disappeared, there’s a red sphere….”
“Don’t touch it! Does anyone have an appraisal skill?”
At the Commander’s order, a Technician from the Defense Company who had been hiding in the Workshop rushed out.
“Commander, this is… the Essence of Fire?”
“Essence of Fire? You mean that thing that came from Tellus?”
“Yes, sir. One of these can generate as much power as a nuclear power plant. Commander, may we use it?”
“…Communications! Cut all transmissions immediately!”
“What?!”
“Did you report the attack to the Mars Development Management Division?”
“Uh… not yet.”
“Cut all communications immediately. Lock down the base and ensure everyone maintains absolute silence about this incident.”
“But if this gets out, we could be expelled from the Mars Development program…”
“Do you understand the value of this object?”
“…”
“I’m saying that just a few of these would return several times what we’ve invested so far.”
“Ah…”
“Implement information control across all personnel in the unit. And Mac.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Assemble only A-rank and above Hunters and begin searching for any other… hands.”
Mac saluted the Commander and immediately signaled his unit with a sharp look; they moved in perfect unison behind him.
“The other team handles base repairs and reconstruction. Execute!”
At the Commander’s order, the Hunters moved with flawless coordination.
The Commander’s eyes had no room for the dozens of injured soldiers scattered about. His gaze fixed on one thing alone—the essence of fire.
“Send me to the Martian wasteland? I’ll show those Washington bastards what I’m made of.”
Commander Sam ground his teeth.
* * *
“Damn it! You said it was a hand!”
A US soldier searching around the forward base discovered something else in red instead of a hand.
“It’s coming down! Move!”
An enormous red foot rose into the air before slamming down hard against the ground.
Boom!!!
A shockwave erupted, and flames burst outward from the center of the massive red foot.
“Argh! Healer!”
“Damn it, the shield is like glass!”
The red foot’s attack pattern was simple, but its power was several times greater than the hand’s.
“The pattern is straightforward! Jump when it comes down!”
Mac steadied his unit.
“Wait… wait… three… two… one, jump!”
Following Mac’s signal, they leaped simultaneously to evade the attack, then struck back at the foot.
“Damn, it’s hard!”
Even as hammers struck it, the foot—far more resilient than the hand—didn’t budge, and a sweeping kick sent the Hunters flying like bowling pins.
“Let’s see if this stops it!”
Mac swung his hammer, striking just before the toenail of the smallest toe.
The foot had no voice, yet everyone present seemed to hear its scream, and they all flinched in unison.
Cracks spider-webbed across the red foot’s nail, and the toe bent backward.
“Got it!”
The Hunters rushed in and pummeled the foot as it recoiled in agony.
Even with S-rank Hunter Mac and dozens of high-rank Hunters at their disposal, it was no easy opponent.
“Damn it…. What a pain in the ass….”
Mac, his entire body singed by flames, spat out curses.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“But… is this really okay?”
Mac listened to the Commander’s words, but as a Hunter who idolized Lee Ji-seok, he didn’t want to defy him.
To betray a hero and idol, or to betray one’s homeland—it was not a decision one could make lightly.
“After all, we’re just hunting monsters, so there shouldn’t be any problem, right?”
“Right? These things have no reason anyway.”
Whether it was the hand from last time or this foot, they had no ears or mouths, so communication was impossible. Judging by how they attacked indiscriminately upon discovery, they were no different from monsters.
“But…. If a hand and a foot have appeared…. What comes next?”
“Director Mac. Don’t say such things. It’s unsettling.”
* * *
“Krkrkr…. With two essences coming in, I’ll be able to hold my head high when I return to the homeland.”
Commander Sam grinned widely as he looked at the two essences placed on the desk.
“General, may we file a report now?”
“Director Mac, is there any guarantee that two is all there is? Expand the search radius.”
“…Yes, sir.”
* * *
The Commander was a man who would grind through soldiers for his own advancement, and similar men naturally gathered under such a person.
“You have information about obtaining a fire essence?”
Phillarion, the king of the Elf Kingdom, sat arrogantly upon his throne and looked down upon Boris, who had come to sell information.
Since his defeat at the hands of Ji-seok, his contempt for humans had diminished somewhat, but his innate arrogance remained.
“That is correct, Your Majesty. If you provide a small information fee, I shall share the details.”
“Money?”
“What is more trustworthy than money?”
“We have no Earth currency, but we have mana stones.”
Phillarion gestured to the Attendant standing beside him, and shortly after, the Attendant emerged carrying a platter laden with mana stones.
The weight was considerable, causing the slender Attendant’s arm to tremble visibly.
“Will this suffice?”
“Of course.”
Boris’s mind was captivated by the gleam of the mana stones.
“The body of the Red Giant is drifting around Mars. The United States hunted down a hand and a foot, but we judge that there are likely other body parts remaining.”
“…. Did the US Military attempt to monopolize it?”
“As a mere underling, I wouldn’t know. However, if you search the surrounding area, you should be able to find at least a hand and a foot, shouldn’t you?”
“I understand. Now go.”
Phillarion waved his hand dismissively, and Boris, having placed the mana stones into a military bag, withdrew.
“The greed of humans is truly nauseating.”
The Orange-haired Elder clicked his tongue.
“What can be done? It is the nature of humans. Immediately form a search party and dispatch them in all directions.”
At Phillarion’s command, I organized search parties composed of warriors with strong fire attributes.
The Elves had succumbed to the temptation of the essence of fire and acted in violation of their contract with Rigen. Yet, blind to their own failings, they pointed accusatory fingers at Boris, denouncing him as a greedy human.
“Kekeke… Just a few more locations and I can finally retire.”
Regardless of what the Elves did or didn’t do, Boris departed the Elf Base and headed toward his next destination—the Dwarf Base.

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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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