Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 246

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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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246
“Huh? Aike? What are you doing here? And what’s with all these slaves behind you?”
Tihir, the guard overseeing a different sector, tilted his head in confusion as he watched Aike and our group approach.
“We finished early, so I came to help out.”
Aike pointed to the leather pouches the non-combat slaves were carrying.
“Already?”
Behind the startled guard Tihir, I could see the fighters and slaves assigned to this sector hard at work. They were breaking up the earth near the weed roots using mining carapaces fitted to their hands and crude pickaxes.
But their strength and tools were insufficient to crack Cagron’s solid floor. At this rate, it wouldn’t be finished in a month, let alone a few days.
“Move.”
I shoved past guard Tihir and headed toward the weeds.
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?!”
“Just watch. I’m reducing your tedious guard duty, so you can thank me later.”
Tihir tried to stop me, but Aike blocked his path.
“Haaah…”
I steadied my breathing and grasped a fresh weed using the technique from before.
“Hnngh!”
As I pulled the weed, cracks spider-webbed across the ground, and an earthquake struck once again.
“Kyaaaah!!! That monster’s trying to kill us!”
The guards and slaves experiencing their second earthquake collapsed to the ground.
“Tsk tsk… cowards, the lot of them…”
O-gun, now on his third earthquake, suppressed his fear and looked down on the other guards and slaves with disdain.
“Come on! Get up! It’s coming soon!”
“Coming? What is?”
The Exos members lying prone opened their eyes wide at O-gun’s words.
“Hrraaah!”
Since I’d already absorbed the life force from the first weed, pulling this one was even easier.
Dozens of meters of weed root tore free and unfurled across the sky, while rocks scattered like stars embroidering the blackened heavens.
“Keep your wits about you!”
At O-gun’s command, everyone looked upward.
“Scatter!”
“That damned Outer!”
Our people, already accustomed to this, either hid beneath rocks or wielded flat stones like shields, dodging the falling debris.
“Kahahaha!!”
O-gun had completely overcome his fear of earthquakes and, energized from consuming the rare stone, bounded about with exhilaration.
“That lunatic.”
O-gun kept provoking me, and while I wanted to deal with him harshly, it was equally convenient that he was so useful.
As the earthquake and rockfall subsided, Tihir growled at me.
“That grotesque Outer bastard… I’ll teach you some manners…”
“Look at this before you say such things.”
Aike picked up a rare stone from the ground and showed it to Tihir, calming him down.
“Hmm….”
“You know how long it takes to excavate this much? Isn’t it better than watching the slaves toil away for days on end?”
“Well… that’s true, but….”
“It’s just time, isn’t it? This is several times the quota. A stone or two going missing won’t be noticed.”
“Gasp! Has Aike lost his mind?! If we get caught, Chon will kill us!”
“I know, I know. But what if we don’t get caught?”
Aike dangled the rare stone before Tihir, swaying it slowly. Though Tihir’s mouth said no, his head followed the rare stone like a dog chasing bait.
“Ah… no! Absolutely not…. Mmph!”
Aike shoved the rare stone into Tihir’s mouth.
“Aah…. No…. I can’t…. Crunch, crunch….”
But Tihir lacked the willpower to spit out the delicacy that had entered his mouth.
While I reclaimed the weeds’ vitality, O-gun skillfully distributed the rare stones he’d pilfered to the fighters, and the guards helped themselves to one each.
“Why aren’t you giving rare stones to those ones?”
The non-combat slaves simply watched without eating any rare stones.
“We gave them some, but they’re afraid. They say they’ll die if caught.”
“You’re not afraid?”
“Well, might as well live once as live twice, right?”
O-gun crunched away at a crimson rare stone as he spoke.
I rose from my seat and approached where the slaves’ rations were piled. Since there was no work anyway, the guards and fighters had left plenty of low-grade provisions while consuming rare stones.
“Uh…. Uh….”
The slaves thought I was stealing their food, but they could only watch me nervously without saying a word.
The vitality here was mere dust compared to the weeds’ vitality anyway. But since only they were receiving this treatment, I drained every last bit of their life force.
“Tsk, the boss has a good heart. Look, eat with gratitude. It won’t taste like usual.”
They looked confused by my words, but when they ate the rations after I left, their small eyes grew wide as saucers.
I pulled up the second weed and explored other areas, extracting several more weeds and recovering over five percent of my vitality. Just five percent, but considering my original power, that was enough to attempt something now.
The other four weeds didn’t yield the seeds I’d seen initially.
“Everyone… stand alert!”
The guard who’d been happily crunching rare stones suddenly jumped to his feet, and the other guards followed suit when they saw where his gaze was directed.
At the end of that gaze walked a figure crossing the barren land of Cagron. Though his frame was small like other Exos, his gait carried a composure unseen in any other Exos.
One distinguishing feature was his carapace painted brilliantly in crimson dye.
“B… Bae-sho? Why is he here?”
Any Exos living in the Colosseum would recognize that face.
“Beautiful indeed.”
“Y… yes?”
Guard Aike reflexively responded with formal speech.
“No… that… this won’t do….”
Could he stop someone as powerful as Chon? That was impossible.
But if he did nothing, he feared what Chon would do to him later. Unable to decide, Bae-sho passed by Aike and approached me.
“Beautiful and admirable indeed. The way you do not enrich yourself alone, but share with all—such virtue.”
Bae-sho, slightly smaller than Chon, looked up at me as he spoke.
I thought Bae-sho had come to retaliate for me killing his scorpion sorcerer.
However, despite being an Exos whose words and expressions were difficult to read, I sensed no hostility in his demeanor.
“That wasn’t exactly a noble purpose, though.”
“Hmm? Then what was it?”
“Chon would have disliked it.”
“Hehehehehehe!!! An amusing creature has arrived!”
His voice was remarkably powerful for his diminutive frame. Among the Exos, it seemed voice volume equated to power—both Chon and Bae-sho spoke with thunderous voices.
“Yet! Regardless of your intent, the result of your actions has benefited all! Such a being is necessary to me. Creature of another world, come to me.”
“From Chon’s slave to yours? I’m sorry, but I have no intention of remaining a slave. I’m leaving this place.”
“What. I had no intention of enslaving you. I will even help you return to your original world.”
“You know a way to return to the original world?”
“There was a human who crossed over before.”
“…Vito?”
“If you know, then the conversation moves quickly. That human is also with me now.”
I needed to deal with Vito and return to Earth, so there was no reason to refuse Bae-sho’s proposal, yet something felt off.
“Are you troubled? I will even remove the worm in your head.”
Bae-sho pointed at my head with his finger.
“I can kill this thing myself.”
“Really? Can a human survive even if their head flies off?”
“What?”
Bae-sho pulled an Ar from his pocket.
“Since I created it, I know it better than anyone.”
Bae-sho threw the Ar far away.
Then he pulled out a Met, placed it in his palm, and crushed it.
A sickening crunch and the Met’s final cry emanated from his hand. Simultaneously, the Ar exploded with a deafening boom, tearing a hole in the solid ground of Kagrun.
“Can a human survive if such an explosion occurs inside their head? An Exos would die.”
“…”
What would happen if my head turned to dust right now? I had experienced severe damage to most of my body countless times before. Even when my entire body was pulverized, I regenerated as long as my spirit body remained intact.
However, in this world where mana did not exist, my spirit body was hazier than a mirage, and my life force was only a fraction of its normal level. If my head flew off now, could I truly regenerate?
“Do not worry. I will save you.”
While I deliberated, Bae-sho drew steadily closer to me.
“Stop!”
From far away, an Exos bounded forward in massive leaps, his voice cutting through the air.
Considering the Exos’s body was as heavy as a chunk of metal and the gravity here was abnormally intense, such movement was no simple feat.
“Bae-sho!!!”
Rockrel descended in a parabolic arc from the sky, landing approximately ten meters behind Bae-sho.
Boom!!
Though Rockrel had landed, the impact was no different from a single fist-sized rare stone falling.
“You dare lay hands on Lord Chon’s property? Have you lost your mind?”
“Rockrel, has Chon’s hunting dog arrived?”
“How dare you, a practitioner of Saiha sorcery, set foot in Chon’s domain?!”
“Saiha? I merely discover and utilize the laws of this world.”
“By sacrificing the lifespans of slaves, no less?”
“Slaves? They are all devoted believers with unwavering faith.”
“Excuses are unnecessary. What will you do? Shall we settle this here and now?”
The stones surrounding Rockrel trembled with a deep, rhythmic rumbling.
I debated whether to merely watch them fight or take a side.
“Peace, then. I am one who desires tranquility and harmony.”
Before my deliberation could conclude, Bae-sho took a step back first.
“Human of this world. We shall meet again.”
Bae-sho glanced at me once, then walked away with unhurried grace, just as he had when he first appeared.
Rockrel merely glared at him without attacking.
And as Bae-sho moved further away, the stones scattered across the ground converged beneath his feet, transforming into a colossal centipede.
The creature’s countless legs moved with frantic speed as it fled the scene.
“Unlucky bastard….”
Rockrel clicked his tongue sharply.
“Outer. Chon’s mercy has its limits. Defy him, and only suffering worse than death awaits.”
Rockrel issued me a veiled threat.
“A wretch who can’t do anything without Meth sure talks big.”
As my life force surged back, I realized that the parasite in my head still made escape my fervent wish, and frustration boiled within me.
“Do you think you subdued me in our previous encounter?”
Rockrel ground his teeth audibly.
“Think? I actually did subdue you. Did I throw you too hard? Did you hit your head and forget?”
As I provoked him, the Guard who possessed the Meth synchronized with my Ar reached into his pocket and grasped it.
No matter how much I tried to bribe him, that clever bastard always kept his distance. He knew that if he came any closer, he’d die in a single blow from my hand.
“Right, right. When you’re powerless, you hide behind the parasite.”
I looked at the parasite and raised both hands in exaggerated surrender.
“In Chon’s chamber, no one is permitted to use their abilities.”
Rockrel clenched his teeth.
“Guard. Put the parasite away.
“What?! But….”
“Do not use it, no matter what happens.”
At Rockrel’s command, the Guard returned the parasite to his pocket, but he did not release his grip on it.
“Outer. I’ll teach you proper manners. Come at me.”
Rockrel flicked his fingers.
I was caught. Time to relieve some stress.

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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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