Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 87

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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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87
The thug who’d tried to rob what seemed like an easy target—only to discover he’d laid hands on a monster—broke into a cold sweat.
“I’ll ask one more time. Where are the people in this area capable of kidnapping foreigners?”
“I… I don’t know.”
His eyes darted frantically—a lie so transparent that even someone without abilities could see through it.
“I see. So you don’t know.”

I nodded once.
Then, without warning, I swept a kick at his legs, and they bent in a direction legs were never meant to bend.
“Aaaahhhhh!!”
As his companion collapsed, the remaining thugs belatedly opened fire.
Even without armor, bullets meant nothing to my body. I grabbed a few and slammed them into the ground, hurled others against the walls.
“Where?”
I pressed my foot against the back of the man trying to crawl away on his shattered legs and demanded an answer.
“I… I don’t know.”
I applied more pressure with my foot.
“Tell me any place you suspect.”
The sickening crunch of ribs straining under the weight echoed through the air.
“Aaaahhhhh….”
“That should be enough, don’t you think?”
A man who’d been watching from the back stepped forward. Tall and well-built with sharp, distinctive features. His sun-darkened complexion and neat attire set him apart from everyone I’d encountered so far.
“I thought you wouldn’t show yourself?”
“I didn’t want to face an S-rank Hunter.”
The onlookers stirred at his words.
“…You know who I am?”
“Of course. Lee Ji-seok, the Hunter who recently became S-rank.”
“And you are?”
“Taho Espin. An unremarkable Hunter managing a small organization in Eastern Mexico.”
When Taho revealed his name, the crowd reacted with even greater shock than when I’d mentioned being S-rank.
Had he been hiding his identity? Either way, it didn’t matter to me.
“The location where my friends are likely to be.”
“Where did they disappear from?”
“The southern edge of the Resort area.”
“Your friends were taken outside the Resort?”
“They were taken at the boundary.”
“Hmm… Those capable of such an act… It’s likely one of Jacks Perez’s subordinates.”
“The location.”
“If you die in an incident like this, Mexico becomes even more isolated. And if Jacks dies, we can’t defend the southeastern Gate of Mexico.”
“So? I should abandon my friends?”
“Let’s resolve this peacefully. I’ll go retrieve them. Wait here quietly.”
“Why you?”
“I may be a Cartel leader now, but I was once a Police officer who protected citizens. I’m not doing this for Jacks Perez. I’m doing this for the Mexican people who live on this land.”
“Lead the way.”
“Telling you to stay here won’t work anyway…. I’ll handle the talking, so just stay quiet.”
“Got it.”
“Sigh….”
Following him as he led the way, a truck modified into an armored vehicle awaited us. Reinforced materials were layered across all four sides, allowing it to withstand attacks from even decent Hunters, and small windows positioned throughout enabled us to strike back. It reminded me of the vehicle I’d ridden in during my previous life to transport supplies.
Around the truck stood figures dressed like special forces operatives. Clad entirely in black bulletproof helmets and body armor, armed with heavy weapons, they looked convincing enough to pass as official state special forces agents.
They maintained far better discipline than the thugs I’d seen earlier, and their armaments were vastly superior.
“Get in.”
I boarded the vehicle as he directed.
The truck gradually moved toward the outskirts of the city.
“Why did you come to Mexico?”
“Tourism.”
“Really? All the way from Korea?”
“Is there a problem?”
“Well, nothing’s impossible, but…. I don’t understand.”
Seeing no need to elaborate, I gazed out the window and fell silent.
Taho Espin didn’t press further either. After about thirty minutes of travel, the truck stopped in front of a Warehouse on the outskirts.
“Taho Espin, are you insane?! You come here when Jacks Perez isn’t around?!”
A guard shouted. Simultaneously, a dozen men burst from the Warehouse, surrounded the truck, and aimed their weapons at us.
“I didn’t come to fight.”
Taho Espin raised both hands and stepped out of the truck.
“I think you guys took my friend.”
“Friend?”
“Yeah, didn’t you take an Asian couple near the Resort?”
“…It wasn’t us.”
“I’ll compensate you.”
“I said it wasn’t us?”
The man standing guard pressed his blade closer to Taho Espin’s throat.
“Julio…. I’m being respectful. Do you trust Jacks that little?”
“That’s right. You little bastard.”
“Enough. Stop.”
I stepped out of the truck. I could sense Hyung-bin and Ye-seul’s life force. It was far weaker than usual, but they were definitely here.
“Wait…. Just a moment.”
Taho Espin moved to block my path.
“What? Who the hell is this guy?”
“Damn it…. Julio! This is your last chance! Hand over the two people! I’ll give you a hundred thousand dollars!”
“Hmm…. Something’s off. I refuse.”
I extended all my senses, including life force detection, and meticulously scanned the surrounding hundred meters.
Numerous civilians were gathered inside the Warehouse. Their weak life force indicated they were neither security personnel nor Hunters.
There were a few who appeared to be Hunters, but only two stood near Ye-seul and Hyung-bin.
I shoved Taho Espin aside and walked toward the two of them, when Julio pressed a blade against my neck.
“Back off. Unless you want to die.”
“You kidnapped them?”
“…What?”
I smashed Julio’s head down with a crushing blow. Under normal circumstances, I would have handled this as peacefully as possible, but the lives of these two were incomparable to the lives of these thugs.
Simultaneously, I wrapped armor around my entire body and rushed toward Hyung-bin and Ye-seul.
They couldn’t follow my movements and couldn’t react at all.
Those within arm’s reach I dealt with directly, while those at a distance I eliminated with aura strikes.
As I burst through the wall, two assailants held blades to Ye-seul and Hyung-bin’s necks.
“Stop—”
I lunged at the two of them, snapped their necks, and hurled them against the wall.
Hyung-bin and Ye-seul were poisoned, but their lives weren’t in danger. I immediately infused them with life force.
Taho Espin’s expression grew somber as he witnessed the carnage.
“Why are you stopping me too?”
“I have no intention of throwing my life away. It’s just that I’m troubled by how to handle this situation.”
“This man Jacks Perez?”
“I’m telling you again, I’m not worried about killing him. That garbage deserves to die. But without his help, I can’t seal the A-rank Gate.”
“That’s not my concern. They kidnapped my friends.”
I enlarged myself, draped Hyung-bin across my shoulder, and had Ye-seul sit in my arms, leaning against my body.
“If you leave like this, what about the cleanup?”
“That’s not my problem.”
As I was about to leave, people emerged from the door behind us.
Beyond that door, hundreds of people were manufacturing and packaging white powder. They worked wearing masks that covered their entire faces, but their condition was poor—they were already addicted.
Those working inside ranged from young children to the elderly, with no distinction of age or gender.
“So this is the result of keeping that man Jacks Perez alive?”
“…There’s no other way.”
“There are many ways. You simply lack the resolve to execute them.”
“How am I supposed to handle a Gate with resolve alone?”
“There’s also the option of joining the World Hunter Association.”
There were cases where the World Hunter Alliance protected and managed the citizens of nations that had failed to defend themselves and collapsed.
“You want me to sell out Mexico?”
For the first time, Taho Espin showed hostility toward me.
“Is this what the country I protected has become?”
I pointed behind us.
“What meaning is there in a street where citizens lie intoxicated and children stab passersby with knives?”
“You’re an outsider. You don’t understand.”
Taho Espin gritted his teeth.
“You’re right, I don’t. But I know this is wrong. If there are those who were forcibly brought here, they’re free to leave now!”
When I shouted, the workers stared at me blankly.
“These people didn’t come here by force. They came because this is the only work available. If they don’t do this, they’ll starve to death.”
What a well-functioning country.
Beyond the people staring at me vacantly, a few others looked terrified.
“Besides, if they leave without permission, they’ll face Jacks Perez’s wrath directly, so even if they wanted to go, they can’t.”
I set Hyung-bin and Ye-seul down and leaned them against the wall.
“What are you planning to do now?”
“Is there another S-rank Hunter in this area besides Jacks Perez?”
“There’s only Jacks Perez in the Eastern region. Why are you asking?”
“Then it must be him.”
A man crashed through the building’s roof. The pale-skinned man with brown hair and black eyes had a machete and pistol strapped to his waist.
“Hiya… Taho Espin, are you attacking me? You told me not to sell drugs, so did you get high yourself?”
“I didn’t do it.”
“Looks like that bastard did it. I’m grateful you helped our guys who were getting beaten. But since you brought that bastard to our workshop, this is as good as your doing.”
Jacks Perez drew his pistol and aimed it at me.
“If your subordinates had just listened, this situation wouldn’t have happened.”
“Why would my subordinates listen to you, you crazy bastard?”
“Julio kidnapped a foreigner from the Resort. Wasn’t there an agreement not to touch the Resort?”
“…That bastard Julio crossed the line.”
Then Jacks Perez looked around.
“But something doesn’t add up. It looks like none of your group died, yet twenty of my men are dead?”
“Count correctly. I only killed three.”
“Really?”
“The one who put a blade to my neck, and the two who put blades to my friends’ necks.”
“Hmm…”
Jacks Perez looked around at his subordinates once.
“Fine. Since my subordinate made a mistake, I’ll generously let this slide.”
Jacks Perez holstered his gun, and I went back to pick up Ye-seul and Hyung-bin.
“Phew…”
Taho Espin wiped his forehead.
“I… want to go too.”
A skeletal child emerged from where the drugs were being made. Their complexion was already poor, clearly from heavy drug use.
“Where does this kid think they’re going?”
Jacks Perez glared at the child.
“If I stay here… I think I’ll die.”
Though the child felt Jacks Perez’s killing intent, they seemed so close to death that it barely registered.
“Shut up and get back to work.”
“They want to leave, so why are you making a fuss? Come here.”
I extended my hand to the child.
“If you don’t want your hand cut off, take it.”
Jacks Perez drew the gun he’d put away and aimed it at me.
“Step back.”
I told the Child to retreat, and the Child stepped back again.
“This isn’t your concern.”
“You’re right.”
“Then why?”
“It irritates me.”
We glared at each other for a moment. Then Jacks Perez pulled the trigger. Not mana like Chang-hee, the youngest of the Oh Brothers, would fire, but an aura-infused bullet came hurtling toward me at tremendous speed.
He wasn’t even at the level of Hunter Jung Min-gi, but through the power of his gun and skills, he unleashed an attack at first-class speed.
With my stats amplified by Boost, I dodged the first shot with ease. I rushed toward him while coating my entire body in armor. He seemed to have arrived too late to witness this transformation, his eyes widening in shock.
Jacks Perez retreated while firing his pistol repeatedly.
I deflected the bullets with the back of my hand. No matter how much aura I layered over my armor, a direct hit from an S-rank Hunter’s aura would inevitably cause damage.
“What the—!”
A sense of crisis flickered across the face of someone who’d underestimated me.
As I continued to close the distance, he drew his sword and swung it.
He hadn’t earned the S-rank title for nothing—the speed of his sword strikes was extraordinary.

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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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