Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 234

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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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234
“Baek Young-shin, couldn’t you simply dispatch someone from Korea?”
King Ban’s request was essentially a declaration of surrendering Metalim’s sovereignty.
“King Ban!”
Ridi cried out in surprise.
“Are you certain? Even if Metalim’s entire leadership were human?”
“Would that be so wrong?”
Ban didn’t truly mind either way. He’d never desired the throne in the first place, and it felt nothing but burdensome now.
“That cannot be! No matter how godlike Lee Ji-seok is to us, or how fairly those from Earth have treated us, we cannot so easily surrender an entire race’s sovereignty!”
“Ridi is absolutely right. Earth will provide active support as well. However, please select as many people as possible from Metalim itself. We do not wish for a structure where another race dominates Metalim.”
“Yes….”
Ban had far too many headaches to contend with.
“I raised my voice…. My apologies.”
Ridi bowed her head toward Baek Young-shin.
“Not at all. I understand your position completely.”
Both Ban and Ridi seemed utterly deflated.
“Shall we conclude for today?”
The atmosphere had grown too heavy to continue, so Baek Young-shin closed his documents.
“Baek Young-shin, thank you so much.”
Ridi and the hastily assembled Metalim officials bowed once more to Baek Young-shin.
All the nobles who had served as bureaucrats had been executed, leaving the Metalim in desperate need of assistance.
In such circumstances, Lee Ji-seok and the Korean Government—who neither manipulated them nor withheld aid—were saviors.
“Please don’t mention it. We’re all living together, after all. And it’s hardly without compensation.”
Korea provided consulting and material and human support, gaining first purchase rights to the ore. Though Korea and Rigen conducted their own mining operations, the ore extracted by Metalim was both more abundant and purer, making it far cheaper to purchase.
“It puts our minds at ease that you’re receiving proper compensation in return.”
After Baek Young-shin and the officials departed, only Ban and Ridi remained in the office.
“Ridi. Can I go down now?”
Ban, who had been consistently consuming Adamant, had grown considerably taller, yet his mind remained that of a child. Because Elchai had kept him as both hostage and trump card, he had learned neither what a king should know nor what an adult should understand.
“How could a subject dare obstruct the king’s path? Do as you wish.”
Having fallen for this trap several times before, Ban recognized it for what it was. If he went down to the mines now to play, Ridi would spend the entire day sighing with a disappointed expression.
“Ah, no. Right! I should be studying, shouldn’t I?”
Ban hurriedly found a book and opened it, unwilling to see the disappointment on the face of someone he loved.
Ridi watched him. Seeing someone she loved suffer was equally unbearable to her. And she had no desire to oppress Ban, who had endured nothing but suppression under Elchai for so long.
“…No. Go ahead. We can study again this evening.”
Ridi’s tone grew lighter.
“Ah…. No, I’ll study.”
“I’m serious. If you don’t go now, we can continue studying together instead….”
“Ah! I’m going! I’ll be right back!”
Ban seized this opportunity and bolted out at blinding speed—a velocity rivaling his battle with Mars.
“Using the Adamant Royal Family’s power merely to avoid studying….”
Ridi’s sigh deepened, though part of her secretly hoped Ban would stay behind.
She had sent Ban away, but when he returned, she would spend the entire day sighing.
“Your Majesty! You’ve arrived?!”
The moment Ban arrived, the Metalim working in the mine stopped their labor and welcomed him.
“Can I join in too?”
“Of course, Your Majesty.”
The Metalim’s method of excavating downward was straightforward. According to the plan, a vanguard team would first dig out the perimeter, then the main force would excavate and consume everything within the boundary. Finally, the rear guard would erect steel structures and reinforce the hollow spaces with walls.
“Let’s go!”
Ban dove into the earth first, sharpening his hands into shovel-like blades. His pace far exceeded even the seasoned Metalim workers.
“Are we really going to let only His Majesty work?! Come on, everyone!”
“Ooooh!!”
The Metalim were naturally drawn to earth rich with metals. Just as humans favored wood and water, they loved touching soil and ore with their hands.
Beyond their inherent nature, there was another reason the Metalim threw themselves into the excavation with such fervor.
“Found it!”
Not long after they began digging, a vein of flame ore was discovered, and the Metalim swarmed toward it.
They eagerly extracted massive quantities of the ore.
“Mmm~ this one looks delicious.”
As if eating freshly harvested aralia shoots, they brushed the flame ore clean and bit into it.
The hard flame ore shattered, and flames erupted. For a human, it would have melted their face, but for the Metalim, it was merely warm.
Flame ore served as an energy source for the Metalim, just like mana stones. Consuming it not only satisfied hunger but also provided a temporary boost effect that increased their strength—something mana stones could not do.
The Metalim laborers had endured long periods of starvation while working. Now that they could eat freely whenever they wished, their motivation was boundless.
Moreover, once their shift ended, they could melt down the extracted minerals and claim whatever elemental metals they desired.
“Life is worth living!”
“It’s all thanks to His Majesty.”
“And the Deity as well.”
“Ah, we haven’t forgotten.”
The Metalim enthusiastically expanded the Hub City.
Clang!
“Ugh….”
One Metalim, digging intently, struck something and cracked his hand. It was rare for a reinforced Metalim’s hand to fracture like this.
“Are you alright?”
Ban stopped his work and approached the injured worker.
“I’m… I’m sorry. Something incredibly hard appeared….”
“This is… Adamant!”
Another Metalim identified the mineral, which gleamed with golden dust embedded throughout it.
Though only dust was embedded and the purity wasn’t particularly high, it possessed enough hardness to fracture the hand of a Metalim with a steel body.
“Well done. Rest for the day.”
Ban handed a large piece of flame ore to the injured Metalim. Since he had discovered Adamant, he would receive a far more generous reward later than flame ore alone. The worker forgot his broken arm entirely and left excitedly.
“Tch… I’m jealous.”
“Damn it! I was just about to go there!”
Even as they all dismantled the ruins, they dug deeper with the faint hope that perhaps I might find something too.
Ban touched the Adamant vein. It was too meager to truly be called a vein, but when the substance in question was Adamant—the rarest metal in existence—quantity mattered little.
The Adamant melted and flowed into Ban’s hand like liquid. It was barely the size of a ping-pong ball.
While Metalim could manipulate elements other than their own, only the descendants of the Royal Family could handle Adamant with true mastery.
It was one reason Elchai hadn’t killed Ban. Any other Metalim would require considerable time and effort to refine it.
Ban returned to the Metalim Royal Palace, clutching his newly acquired Adamant.
“Ridi!”
“You’ve returned?”
Ridi was still battling with the computer. While skilled in combat, administrative work simply didn’t suit her. Yet she labored tirelessly for Ban and Metalim.
“Look at this!”
“My goodness…. You’ve found something remarkably large. You’ve done well.”
Ban set down the sphere, and Ridi swallowed the lecture and sigh she’d planned to deliver.
“Ridi.”
Though still slightly shorter than Ridi, Ban—no longer bearing the mark of boyhood—took her hand.
“Your Majesty…. You mustn’t do this.”
“Why?”
“I am of lowborn blood, am I not….”
“That’s all nonsense Elchai and those damned nobles invented. The First Royal Family never assigned ranks to their people.”
After Ban’s parents died, the aristocratic Metalim who seized power had implanted such concepts into the minds of the populace, and Ridi had been subjected to such indoctrination her entire life.
Though the nobles had vanished, the deeply rooted beliefs in her heart could not be erased in an instant.
“Do you dislike me?”
“How could that be? Are you truly without regret?”
“I don’t regret it. Just because I haven’t grown tall, do you think I’m still a child at heart? Have you forgotten I’m an adult?”
Ban simply hadn’t grown tall due to malnutrition and lacked maturity from lack of education. By both human and Metalim standards, Ban had long since passed the age of adulthood.
Now that he’d begun mining Adamant on Mars, his previously stunted growth would likely explode outward.
“Age and physical size do not make one an adult. You should focus on your studies first.”
Ridi subtly withdrew her hand.
“You’re not angry like you used to be?”
“…I will be angry.”
Ridi’s face flushed crimson as heat rose to her cheeks.
“I’m joking~”
Ban sat beside Ridi and read through the screen. The content was tedious, but with Ridi at his side, he found the strength to persevere.
The rosy aura that shimmered was not Ban and Ridi’s alone.
For the first time in their lives, many Metalim received abundant and varied food, and metals to aid their growth.
On top of that, they earned money and could freely purchase polishing compounds and waxes from Earth.
Wealthy Metalim with abundant time had little to occupy themselves.
With differing ideologies and lifestyles, Earth’s media held little appeal, and the Metalim naturally preferred simple living.
Male Metalim with money and time adorned themselves to satisfy their instincts.
“At this rate, even Celsi will come around, won’t she?”
One male Metalim was preparing to court Celsi, the object of admiration these days.
“Hey, didn’t you shine a little too much? Are you a mirror?”
Yet the brilliance was so excessive that without movement, they appeared as statues carved from mirror glass.
“I… suppose so?”
The Metalim couples born from such courtship rituals had predictable ways to spend their quiet nights.

When Metalim merged bodies with their mates, they could separate out offspring. The child could inherit the father’s traits or learn the mother’s. However, both parents required sufficient nourishment for this to occur.
Metalim had always suffered resource scarcity while fleeing across dimensions, which was why their population had never grown. Yet with adequate resources, Metalim reproduction could be completed in a single day.
On Mars, population growth exploded exponentially.
Metalim children required minimal childcare. They couldn’t be injured by collisions, and they needed no infant formula—merely refined minerals and affection.
Children multiplied explosively in every household, and their growth accelerated at an equally explosive pace.
* * *
“Wait… how long has it been since we built the Hub City? The population has doubled.”
“…I’m embarrassed.”
Ridi’s face flushed crimson.
“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I’m envious, actually. Earth’s population isn’t growing because people won’t have children. King Ban would be pleased.”
I stroked the Metalim child born between Ban and Ridi. Its slime form felt smooth, like touching a polished sculpture.
I wondered if this might be one of the souls I had harvested from Heaven and sent to the Lower Realm.
“By the way, where is Ban?”
“That is…”
Guilt flickered across Ridi’s face.

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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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