Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 267

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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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267
“Help from Earthlings? We’ll do whatever we can, but Earthlings can’t even come to the Spirit Realm, can they?”
[I’m not asking you to come directly. The colder and cleaner the water in lower dimensions, the stronger the Water Spirits become. Right now, Fire’s influence dominates Earth, and as the water grows polluted, Water’s power weakens.]
“Ah….”
The most commonly used coal and nuclear power plants both generate enormous amounts of heat. In the modern era, producing vast quantities of thermal energy for human convenience was an unavoidable reality.
And how polluted had the water become? Garbage, oil, and leaked nuclear waste poured into the oceans.
Amy had never directly caused environmental destruction, yet she felt a pang of guilt simply for being human.
“Could you send me to Earth?”
If purifying Earth was the key to winning this war, she had to find a way to make it happen.
[Sending you now while the war rages is impossible. However, I can arrange for you to speak with a Water Spirit Sorcerer.]
Arnabel turned to look at Dolphin. No words passed between them—only glances were exchanged.
Understanding Arnabel’s meaning from that silent exchange, Dolphin lifted a water droplet and used it to search for the most powerful Spirit Sorcerer on Earth.
“But, Spirit King, if we kill the Fire Spirit King, fire won’t disappear from Earth entirely, will it?”
[I have no intention of destroying the balance with my own hands. I will kill him, and when a new Fire Spirit King is born, I shall manage him to achieve harmony between Water and Fire.]
“Thank you so much!”
Amy wasn’t entirely certain she could trust the Water Spirit King completely, but for now, he was far more reasonable than the hostile Fire Spirits.
“Oh! My friend! I need to find Baldri!”
[You mean your small Spirit Sorcerer friend?]
“You know Baldri?”
[I do. The Water Spirits told me. Her attributes don’t align well with Water, so she doesn’t have deep connections with the Water Spirits.]
“…Do you know where she is?”
[She’s not in the Water Realm right now.]
The Water Spirit King knew everything that happened within the Water Realm.
[Since you were in the Fire Realm, that child must have fallen into the Fire Realm as well.]
“I need to find her….”
[First, recover yourself.]
Amy could not exist in this world at all unless she was inside the bubble the Spirit King had created.
Dolphin returned, and a cluster of water droplets followed behind him.
The water droplet resembled a screen, and within it, an elf with elongated ears was reflected. It was Phillarion, the King of the Telus Elves.
[Huh? I didn’t summon anyone. Why is a spirit here?]
A Water Spirit suddenly appeared before Phillarion, and he leaned in to observe it closely.
“Phillarion! You were on Earth! I’m so glad to see you!”
[Aren’t you Amy, the Hunter from the United States?]
Phillarion recognized Amy reflected in the water mirror floating in the air.
[But where did you sell your clothes?]
“Oh, right. Hehe.”
The electrification had worn off, leaving her completely naked.
[Ah, I forgot about human customs.]
Water seeped into the water droplet where Amy was, wrapping around her body and forming a one-piece dress made of water.
“Could it be a bit less transparent?”
Since the garment was made of water, everything beneath it was visible.
[This human makes quite a few requests.]
The color of the garment shifted to a deep navy blue.
“Your Majesty Phillarion. Where is Ji-seok right now?”
“Isn’t he at the World Tree?”
“Would you call him for me?”
“…You’re using me—the King of Elves and a great sorcerer—as a messenger?”
“Hurry, please. If I don’t relay this important information quickly, Ji-seok will be upset.”
“…That won’t do.”
Phillarion hastened toward the World Tree.
* * *
Using the communication channel opened by the Spirit King, Amy explained the current situation to Ji-seok.
“Amy, I’m relieved you’re safe above all else.”
“I really thought I was going to die this time~. But it looks like Baldri has been captured.”
“Can you rescue her?”
“I’ll try. And there’s something you need to do on Earth.”
“Just tell me.”
“Purify all the water.”
“Which water?”
“All the water on Earth.”
“…”
“It’s absolutely necessary for the Water Realm to win.”
“…I’ll try.”
The communication ended, and now it was time for each of us to do what we could.
“Contaminated water… Would removing the garbage be enough?”
Alice asked Ji-seok.
“As soon as I heard the explanation, Green began absorbing contaminants through the roots it spread. The problem is that the scope and amount of garbage are so vast that it’s taking far too long.”
“Then what should we do?”
“It’s tedious, but we’ll have to do manual work as well.”
I rolled up my sleeves.
* * *
Despite being called manual work, the Hunters didn’t actually pick things up by hand. In this age of magic, there were many techniques available to separate materials from the sea.
“Sister-in-law, the Manager went into hiding, right? But then why won’t the Gate close?”
Si-hwan asked Bae Na-young as he stacked garbage he’d retrieved from the sea onto a barge.
“The Manager went into hiding, but the devices he created beforehand continue to operate on their own.”
“It’s like a macro then.”
“A macro?”
“It’s something you use when gaming. But Sister, is this ever going to end? More is flowing down from upstream.”
Bae Na-young used separation magic to extract plastic, nets, and other debris from the sea, but black water flowed down from upstream once more.
“Should I… just blow it all away?”
Bae Na-young glared at the neighboring country carelessly letting trash flow downstream.
“Whoa, whoa. Please calm down. I’ll contact the Chairman.”
* * *
Ji-seok sent multiple requests to various nations. The contents concerned restraint in fossil fuel and nuclear power development, as well as regulations on waste emissions. Given the unprecedented nature of the demands, he promised substantial incentives including priority development rights, magic stones, and technology transfers.
However, the changes were minimal. While such difficult issues couldn’t transform overnight, the nations lacked genuine will from the start.
“The reason I called everyone here today is to once again urge the limitation of waste and heat source emissions.”
Ji-seok stood before representatives from dozens of nations.
“But if you’re telling us to shut down power generation immediately, where are we supposed to get electricity from?”
“Switch to alternative energy using magic stone power as a temporary replacement.”
“What about the costs? Who’s going to bear expenses that are dozens of times higher?”
“That’s precisely why I’m promising substantial support. Because it’s difficult. But if we don’t do this, Earth won’t last much longer.”
“That’s also… we don’t even know how long ‘much longer’ actually is, do we? And there’s the problem that Earth’s temperature could drop again.”
Even with a knife at their throats, money, money, money—that was always what mattered most to them.
Ji-seok’s head throbbed, and I pressed my temples firmly. Normally I left such matters to Director Baek Young-shin, but thinking of how he must have suffered through these meetings made me feel apologetic.
“How about we start by reducing waste emissions? Aren’t several nations producing far too much trash?”
The French representative glanced subtly at the Chinese representative as he spoke.
“China has invested more than any other nation in reducing waste emissions.”
The Chinese representative bristled and countered.
“Is that so?”
I looked at Jae-in, and she brought up the screen.
It showed trash flowing from the lower reaches of the Chinese River into the sea.
“Ugh….”
The representatives from other nations covered their mouths at the sight of the revolting waste.
“… Considering the population of China, that’s actually quite small.”
“Enough. If you don’t reduce it immediately, China will be excluded from development of the World Tree, Moon City, and Mars.”
“This is tyranny! Where is there such a law?!”
“Don’t you feel Earth getting hotter? It’s becoming more scorching by the day, and deaths from heat are occurring constantly in southern China!”
Thanks to the World Tree sunshade Green installed outside Earth, temperatures had temporarily dropped, but it was impossible to completely block the sun, so Earth’s temperature continued to rise.
“Then what about the West?! Historically speaking, the waste we’ve emitted is significantly less than the West’s waste. How are you going to handle that? Isn’t this just kicking down the ladder? Saying we shouldn’t develop because you’ve already developed everything?!”
The Chinese representative protested vehemently, his neck flushed.
“You’re right. Then the West should contribute some money too.”
“Excuse me?”
The French representative, who had been snickering at China’s predicament, made a dumbfounded sound at my words.
“That’s not wrong. Developed nations already dirtied everything first, and developing nations….”
“Ahem!”
As soon as I said developing nations, the Chinese representative cleared his throat loudly.
“Middle-income….”
“Ahem!”
“Ugh! Enough! We can’t prevent middle-income nations from developing just because they’re trying to advance.”
“Besides, can’t you prove how much pollution we’ve actually emitted?”
“It’s all done.”
Jae-in pulled up the screen, and each nation’s responsibility for the various pollutants appeared on the display.
“This is a world where magic and AI have developed to extreme levels. This sort of thing is simple.”
“Look at that! Didn’t the United States just dump radioactive material into the ocean?! They stood there with their hands behind their backs, and now look what we have?!”
The Chinese representative raised his voice triumphantly.
“Don’t you see garbage flowing out of the Chinese River right now?! The Pacific radiation is below safety standards! The water is drinkable, they say! Chinese representative! Can you drink that river water?!”
The American representative, stung by the accusation, pointed at the Chinese representative and shouted.
“I’ll bring you radioactive water—try drinking it! Go ahead and drink it!”
In an instant, it descended into chaos. The main argument boiled down to: I’ve done nothing wrong, and you’re the villains.
Crash!
Ji-seok slammed his fist down on the round table.
It was made of a special material designed to withstand even S-rank magic for a time, but a single blow from Ji-seok’s fist cracked it completely.
“There are insects.”
Silence fell over the conference room.
“Those damned insects, you see—they have no sense. No sense whatsoever. When something sweet is right in front of them, they only want to consume it, don’t they? They need to think ahead, but they don’t.”
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Ji-seok tapped the table with his index finger, and the representatives fell silent, their mouths firmly shut.
“Your quotas remain unchanged. If you cannot reduce them directly, Rigen will clean it up for you.”
If they didn’t clean it up, Rigen’s forces would enter their nations and do it themselves, and they would be billed for it. They couldn’t pay? There wasn’t a single country on Earth with the audacity to stiff Ji-seok on money.
“However….”
Crash!
“There are a hell of a lot of insects.”
“…”
“Let’s make Earth green. Green and beautiful. Together.”
“Yes….”
They all left the conference room with their spirits completely crushed.
The Indian representative clicked his tongue as he departed.
“If you can’t even win, why act so tough?”
“Shut up.”
The Chinese representative clenched his teeth.
“And what about you, India? Will the Ganges River be cleaned up?”
There were still many places in India without proper sanitation facilities. However, the damage from the extreme heat was severe, so India had no choice but to listen to Ji-seok.
If Ji-seok hadn’t provided shade with the branches of the World Tree, India would have already collapsed.
“…We’ll have to try.”
The Indian representative sighed and returned to his country.

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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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