Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 245

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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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245
“You didn’t survive this long for nothing, did you?”
Even after swinging O-gun like a weapon and smashing the scorpion to pieces, O-gun’s carapace remained pristine, and his mind was far more intact than the other fighters.
Of course, the fact that I’d channeled my aura weakly to protect the surface of O-gun’s carapace helped, but other fighters had done the same and still shattered.
“Ahem. Though Chon robbed me of both my wealth and the ability to craft new carapaces, the carapace I originally made was nearly as durable as the Royal Guard’s.”
At my praise, O-gun swiftly grew arrogant.
The carapaces of Exos are truly remarkable. Forged in Cagron’s harsh environment, an Exos’s carapace wasn’t merely hard—it possessed the ability to deflect external force to a certain degree. Had it not, I would have long since escaped this world by unleashing my life force like poison.
“I owe my life to you, boss. But could you perhaps go a bit easier on me? I’ve never experienced a day as dangerous as today since birth….”
Rumble, rumble, rumble.
As O-gun complained, the Arena trembled. No—the ground outside the Arena, and then the very planet itself began to shake.
“What?! Why is this happening?! What is this?!”
O-gun flattened himself against the floor.
“What’s going on? Does Cagron not experience earthquakes?”
“Earthquakes?! What are earthquakes?!”
O-gun covered his head in fear, and the other fighters and spectators did likewise. They panicked at a phenomenon they’d never witnessed before.
People from Japan, accustomed to earthquakes, take minor tremors in stride. But those from lands without earthquakes fall into profound panic upon experiencing one for the first time.
Moreover, this earthquake was extraordinarily powerful.
With their superior physical abilities, Exos could evade the trembling ground and falling rocks, but this transcended such concerns.
Seeing everything around them shake awakened a primal, fundamental terror.
The Arena’s walls crumbled, the floor split open with deep fissures, and Exos tumbled into the chasms.
Exos scattered in all directions, and even Chon and Bae-sho, who’d been looking down smugly from above, panicked at this unprecedented phenomenon and hastily descended.
I, having endured countless earthquakes, remained unperturbed unlike them.
“But why is he perfectly fine?”
Os-na had wrapped himself in a barrier of black aura and hovered in the air, observing the chaos below with ease, as if watching an entertaining film as everyone fled.
“What a terrible personality….”
I considered using this opportunity to escape, but abandoned the idea because of Ar and Met. I’d confirmed during the Guard’s careless mistake of taking Met far away last time that distance brought me pain.
While I deliberated, the ground beneath O-gun cracked and gave way. I grabbed his arm and hurled him toward solid earth.
“Ahhh! Thank you! Boss!”
Even as he flew, O-gun expressed gratitude. The saying about keeping one’s mouth open even while drowning surely originated from someone like O-gun.
Since I’d abandoned any thought of escape, I swiftly rescued the other trembling fighters as well.
The earthquake, lasting just over a minute, finally ceased.
Those of us in the Arena’s center, unable to flee, suffered the least damage, while those in the stands endured far greater losses.
“How fitting.”
After being made to fight like a fighting dog for their entertainment, watching them suffer felt rather satisfying.
But I needed to find a way to escape soon. I had no intention of adapting to life in this world.
“Is there any method….”
* * *
“All fighters, come out. It is time for labor.”
“Damn it….”
The fighters received carapaces fitted with shovels instead of swords or hammers as weapons, and began equipping them with reluctance.
“Forced labor?”
I was racking my brain over escape plans when this came out of nowhere—forced labor?
“Yes, boss. The Tournament Arena collapsed, didn’t it? We’ll need resources to repair it, won’t we?”
“Gladiators do that?”
“Gladiators do it too. We’ll drag in other laborers and slaves as well.”
“Did you think you wouldn’t go? You’re going too.”
All of us gladiators, myself included, were dragged outside for the labor detail.
“Mine as much as you can! There will be rewards!”
“Damn weeds sprouted again.”
“Weeds?”
“Is this your first time seeing them, boss? I’m talking about this. This right here.”
From the parched earth, something resembling a withered twig jutted out about a hand’s breadth, twisted and gnarled.
“To extract resources from Cagron’s arid and hardened soil, you need many workers investing considerable time. But these vicious otherworldly plants gradually burrow into the earth, churning up the entire ground.”
“Then isn’t that good for mining resources? Why call them weeds?”
“Boss, you’re being dense. Once we mine it, does it become ours? Chon takes everything. These plants just make us do the labor for nothing—what else would you call that but weeds?”
“Fair point.”
Crack!
“Ugh….”
“Speak nicely. Speak nicely.”
Thanks to the plant’s roots taking hold, the earth had fractured, and I just needed to dig into those cracks.
“Be careful, sir. That’s poisonous.”
“Poisonous?”
“More than one or two people have died pulling these weeds.”
“Poisonous, huh….”
Nijir’s venom, Bae-sho’s scorpion poison—both contained life force. If one instance could be coincidence, but both toxins carried life force, then this one likely did too.
“Let me try pulling it.”
“This? Impossible. The roots burrow down tens of meters.”
“…But only this much came up above ground?”
“There’s no nutrients on the surface, so it digs downward.”
“Let me give it a shot. If it doesn’t work, so be it.”
I spread my legs and gripped the weed with both hands.
“Hnnnngh…. Hup!”
I drew in a breath, held it, and pulled with all my strength.
“Goodness. Your face is turning red, it’ll burst. I told you it won’t work…. Huh?”
With a metallic screech, cracks spider-webbed across the metallic soil around the weed.
“Wh—what?! Another earthquake! Earthquake!”
The cracks radiating from the root spread in all directions, and the earth trembled with them.
“Boss! Stop! Please stop!”
O-gun clutched his head against the ground and shouted. Everyone—guards, laborers, slaves, gladiators—threw themselves flat.
But I had no intention of stopping.
This weed. It was unmistakably from the world I came from.
The outer shell held almost no life force, but I could sense vitality coursing through the weed’s interior and roots, so I drew that power into myself.
“Hrrrraaaaaahhhhh!!!”
Boosting my strength with the life force flowing from the weed, I pulled harder, and finally the weed tore free from the earth.
O-gun’s words were no lie. Roots stretching dozens of meters, entangled with massive ore chunks, erupted skyward like potatoes being harvested.
“Ahhhhh! Take cover!!!”
Anything without wings must fall. The stones that had shot into the sky were dragged down by the planet’s powerful gravity, raining boulders upon the fighters and guards below.
“You crazy bastard of a boss!”
O-gun himself zigzagged frantically to dodge the falling debris.
“Didn’t see that coming.”
Thanks to my increased strength, the minerals launched high and fell with tremendous force.
After the chaos subsided, both the tremors and the stone rain ceased.
“Why? What?”
Everyone glared at me as if they wanted me dead.
“Is today’s work finished?”
“…Huh? I suppose so?”
“Hey, anyone injured?”
They’d taken some hits, but their thick carapaces meant even the slaves remained unharmed.
“To excavate it this quickly… I thought it would take days.”
“Doesn’t matter to us as long as we collect this.”
The fighters and slaves murmured among themselves, and the Guard lifted the stones that had been tangled in the roots.
“Hey, there’s still more below. Finish digging it out.”
With the weed uprooted and the hole exposed, the Guard peered down, and at his command, slaves and fighters were sent in.
“Don’t touch that. It’s poisonous.”
After brushing the ore from the long weed roots, I dragged them to the side.
“Boss… for us…”
O-gun spoke in a trembling voice, as if deeply moved.
The roots contained even more life force, so I’d warned them not to approach to avoid absorbing the remaining vitality. But there was no need to correct such a favorable misunderstanding. In truth, it was poison to them as well.
While everyone worked, I absorbed the life force from the roots.
From this single root alone, I accumulated nearly over 1% of my power—the same amount I’d painstakingly gathered during my ordeal on Cagron.
“Hmm?”
The moment I’d absorbed all the life force, the root crumbled, and at its center, I felt something hard.
“What is this…?”
A tiny seed, no larger than a fingernail. Unlike the materials that existed on Cagron, it was warm rather than cold, and it felt strangely familiar.
“Hey! Be careful! That one thing is worth more than your life! Anyone caught stealing it dies!”
At the Guard’s shout, I slipped the seed into my pocket and looked around. He continued watching the other prisoners, making sure they didn’t pocket any of the ore they were recovering.
“O-gun, what exactly is that?”
“Ah, that you ask? There’s material for building new arenas, and damned if there isn’t material for making prison bars. But what’s most expensive are those.”
“Those colorful ones?”
Kagrun was mostly black or gray, but the stones tangled in those roots each bore subtle differences—hints of blue, red, or yellow light.
“Yes. That’s a Rare Stone—premium sustenance. It forms underground, and it’s difficult to extract without this weed. Moreover, there are rumors that consuming it strengthens one’s power. Though I’ve never tasted one myself.”
“Is that so? Here.”
I handed over a single Rare Stone, its surface tinged with crimson light, which I’d kept hidden behind where I sat.
Sensing something different about it, I attempted to absorb it surreptitiously, but it didn’t work.
“Oh! Boss, if this gets caught….”
“If you don’t want to eat it, then don’t.”
“I… I’m grateful!”
O-gun crouched behind me and began gnawing at the crimson stone bit by bit.
“How is it? Does it taste good?”
“My strength… My strength is overflowing!”
He spoke with force, though he kept his voice low.
“L-look at this, please.”
O-gun carefully withdrew his arm from the carapace of his right limb to show me.
O-gun’s once-gaunt arm had become noticeably more muscular. From just a single stone.
“The effect is better than I expected?”
“Who would have thought fate would grant me the chance to eat a Rare Stone….”
“Want more?”
“How could we? The guards have already claimed them all.”
“Wait here.”
I approached the guards. They flinched, knowing my strength.
“Tell me, what’s the unit price for this weed?”
“We were only allocated this one. Even this alone required at least several days of labor.”
“Then you have time, right? Let’s go extract more.”
“…Why are you so eager to work?”
“Eager? What do you mean?”
I feigned innocence.
“Besides, if we extract this much, no one would notice if we took a few for ourselves….”
“Hmm….”
I murmured, and the guard swallowed hard. Because I’d given them delicious meals, the guards now harbored desires for even more palatable food.
“I can’t eat it myself, but if it’s really that precious…?”
At my words, the guard licked his lips.
The guards and fighters were pleased to have the chance to taste Rare Stones, and I was pleased to be able to absorb their life force.
“Understood. I’ll report this upward first.”
One guard retrieved a communication insect from his pocket and contacted Chon’s headquarters. He seemed quite desperate to convince his superiors—clearly, he wanted one badly.
“Permission granted! Let’s go!”
“Wooooo!!”
I herded the fighters, slaves, and guards toward the next location in a thunderous rush.

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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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