Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 96

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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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96
The World Tree loomed impossibly vast despite being several kilometers away.
I rushed toward the Temporary Command Post established near the World Tree, cradling Bae Na-young in my arms.
I showed my face to the sentries at the checkpoint and entered the joint command tent without delay.
“Ah! Lee Ji-seok and Bae Na-young, thank you for arriving so quickly.”
“I heard you caused quite a stir in Mexico? You must be exhausted.”
Baek Young-shin and Jung Min-gi greeted me.
“It was nothing. What’s the current situation?”
“Not good. The growth rate above ground has slowed compared to initially, but that’s not because we’ve attacked it—it seems to be simply because it’s already grown large enough. The roots continue to expand rapidly even now.”
“Are you saying those roots will cause Baekdu Mountain to erupt?”
“It could, potentially. Roots equivalent to dozens of apartment buildings are burrowing through the earth from hundreds of meters to several kilometers underground. The problem is we don’t know if it will erupt, or when. The geologists say there’s no way to predict something like this with certainty.”
“That’s vague.”
“One thing is certain: if it erupts, this entire region will be buried in volcanic ash and all nearby flights will be grounded. The probability of a major earthquake is low, but it exists. We can’t predict how far south the damage would spread.”
“The biggest problem is we don’t know what this thing is. It’s clearly not an Earth lifeform, right? Is it a monster? If so, will that tree spread infinitely? If it does, Earth’s entire ecosystem will collapse.”
“I’m not certain, but it resembles the World Tree I saw in Tellus.”
“Tellus again?”
Jung Min-gi sighed.
“I’m not particularly knowledgeable about trees, but the sheer scale is identical. In any case, let’s try to halt its growth.”
“How? No matter how much we cut, the size is so enormous it barely makes a dent. And it regenerates instantly.”
“Since it’s a living organism, it will die if we drain its life force.”
As I exited the command tent, the rest of the group arrived, and I was instructed to report to the Awakener Management Bureau.
I approached one of the World Tree’s roots. It continued to writhe, burrowing deeper underground while branches stretched endlessly skyward.
I placed my hand on the root and began absorbing.
It contained somewhat more life force than an ordinary tree, but given its mountainous proportions, the sheer volume of life energy within was staggering.
After capturing the Blue Dragon and transforming into a dragon-human hybrid form, my capacity for life force more than doubled. With cores now embedded in both lungs, I could circulate life force to store heat and cold. In total, my absorption capacity had tripled from before.
As life force surged into my body, the World Tree’s growth slowed in the vicinity where I stood. But it was simply too enormous. The range I could absorb was only a fraction—perhaps one-thirtieth of the entire tree.
“This distance is too far. It would be better to go to the center.”
“You cannot approach any closer.”
“Why not?”
“A black miasma spreads beneath the tree’s canopy. Everyone who approached for reconnaissance returned coughing blood. Even those who entered wearing gas masks and hazmat suits were affected. The particles are so fine that masks are useless, and the substance dissolves clothing.”
“The World Tree in Tellus never exhibited such phenomena… but it’s fine regardless. Poison doesn’t affect me.”
Leaving Baek Young-shin’s concerns behind, I advanced toward the tree’s center.
Inside, a dense black miasma hung thick in the air, exactly as described.
“Is this poison?”
As it made contact with my skin and I inhaled it, I felt a faint tingling sensation.
My clothes dissolved with holes appearing throughout, so I tore them away and wrapped armor around my body, leaving my face exposed.
I walked beneath the tree where no light penetrated, obscured by densely packed branches and leaves.
Roots writhed beneath my feet, consuming the earth. They didn’t seem to target me specifically, but standing still would mean being pulled down. I bounded lightly to evade them as I approached the tree’s center.
At the center, the roots had already stabilized, so the ground no longer writhed. The World Tree had grown to a diameter of several hundred meters—larger than the one in Tellus. Up close, it resembled a massive circular wall more than a tree.
I placed my hand against the wood and drew in its life force. Commensurate with its size, an enormous reservoir of life energy lay dormant within—more than the Blue Dragon itself.
“Whoooooosh!!!!”
I channeled the overflowing life force into the cold core within my lungs, then expelled the generated chill upward.
As the branches and leaves froze from having their life force drained, growth on my side of the World Tree halted.
I continued the cycle of absorption and cold release repeatedly.
But the opposite side of the tree kept growing. In the end, I could only buy time.
“Lee Ji-seok, Hunter!!!”
“Huh?”
Despite the considerable distance, I heard Si-hwan’s voice.
“Come back!”
Hearing Si-hwan’s call, I returned to the Base Camp.
“Your voice carries that far? That’s impressive.”
“Haha, it’s a skill called Target Shouting. I can concentrate sound in one direction and project it. People in other directions can’t hear it at all. Pretty useful, right?”
Si-hwan boasted while rubbing his nose.
“Yeah, it’s useful. Good work.”
The fact that it didn’t spread in other directions was extremely practical. If that volume had dispersed in all directions, people nearby might have had their eardrums burst.
“What’s the situation inside?”
Director Baek Young-shin asked.
“It’s growing endlessly. Even with my absorption, I can’t suppress it completely.”
“Hmm….”
“Still, I can buy time from inside. But why did you call me out?”
“Ah, China has notified us they’re launching a massive bombing campaign.”
“It won’t work.”
The World Tree had sustained minimal damage from the mana core explosion. Conventional bombs would clearly have little effect.
“Since they’re targeting the portions spreading across Chinese territory, we lack sufficient justification to stop them.”
A siren wailed.
“Everyone retreat! Prepare for the blast!”
Dozens of missiles rained down from the sky. Since they were attacking the World Tree on Chinese soil beyond the border, there was some distance between us, but everyone took shelter in the trenches as a precaution.
Boom, boom, boom, crash!!!!
Flames erupted, and branches as thick as houses shattered into fragments that scattered in all directions.
I didn’t need to take shelter in the trenches, so I watched while enduring the blast’s shockwave.
The explosion caused the mountain to tremble, and several canvas barracks were blown away. Those soldiers who set them up would catch some flak.
“Whew~~ Just like the old Break incident, they really smashed those monsters to pieces.”
Hunter Jung Min-gi had approached my side without my noticing.
“As expected, it’s not effective.”
Compared to the explosion’s magnitude, the World Tree’s damage was minimal. Even that damage was already recovering.
“Director, could you contact Tellus?”
“Contact Tellus?”
“Explain the situation here and get advice from Darkness, Eres, through the Light Avatar. Since Eres manages the World Tree at Tellus, she would know what to do.”
“Ah! If it’s her, there might be a way.”
While Director Baek Young-shin contacted Korea, China’s second and third waves of missile strikes continued. With each round, China launched increasingly larger quantities, but it only bought time with no significant effect.
“If it keeps thrashing about, it’ll trigger even more earthquakes.”
Baek Young-shin expressed his concern.
China typically paid little attention to the monsters in this region, but they were being remarkably proactive this time. In a sense, it was an understandable response. Having an unidentified monster tree of unknown growth potential on their territory was a serious problem. That’s why Baek Young-shin had called me here.
“I’ll go back in. Those missiles won’t reach where I’m going anyway.”
To the north of the border, China’s missiles and hunters’ firepower were suppressing its growth. To the south, I was absorbing and cooling the life force from the center of the World Tree, doing everything I could to prevent its expansion.
“What are you doing, you fool?”
Eres’s voice from behind sounded remarkably lighthearted.
“Eres, you’ve come….”
I turned around to find a young girl with long black hair. Dressed in a black one-piece dress with an arrogant expression, she looked like a miniature version of Eres.
“Eres?”
“Do you have problems with your eyes as well as your head? You can’t recognize me after such a short time?”
“You’ve… shrunk quite a bit?”
I reached up and placed my hand on her head. Eres, who had been nearly six feet tall, was now around four feet. By age, she appeared to be roughly six years old.
“How rude.”
Eres swatted my hand away. Though it seemed like a light tap, my hand flew back helplessly. No matter how childlike her appearance, she was still Eres.
“On Earth, it is difficult to maintain the same form as on Tellus. Even this much was only possible because this planet’s will accepted me without hostility.”
“Does Earth have an incarnation like you? Could we communicate with them?”
It was a question I’d harbored for some time. If I could only speak with Earth’s will—the one that awakened humans—it would greatly help us seal the Gates going forward.
“Not all worlds are created the same. Just because Tellus has incarnations does not mean Earth must have them as well.”
“That’s rather unfortunate.”
“Earth’s will is the collective consciousness of all life on Earth. You too are a part of Earth’s will. Therefore, unlike me with a singular consciousness, it moves on instinct alone. Since Earth is still a young planet, it may develop an incarnation like me as it ages.”
“Earth is young?”
“Compared to Tellus, it is but a newborn.”

“Wasn’t the Destroyer God supposed to destroy Earth because it’s old and create something new?”
“Fool. Do animals not die simply because they’re young? There is no age requirement for becoming fertilizer. It’s the same. Earth and Tellus merely caught the Destroyer God’s eye, nothing more.”
So we were just unlucky enough to be selected.
“The World Tree seems to have taken root quite well.”
While I was thinking, Eres placed her hand on the World Tree.
“Ah, this is the World Tree, right?”
“Indeed.”
“Why is it here?”
“Did you not bring it here?”
“What?”
“Did you not purify the Swamp that lay beneath the World Tree? The seed must have entered your body at that time. And when you found a suitable place, it burst forth from your body.”
“Now that you mention it… while searching for a missing Hunter in North Korea, blood suddenly gushed from my hand for no reason.”
It wasn’t intentional, but I was the culprit who brought a massive life form from another world. I shouldn’t mention this to anyone else.
“This area is overflowing with vitality. Even the World Tree of Tellus never grew this quickly or this large. With so much life force and so much corruption to absorb, it has plenty to consume.”
“Can’t you stop its growth?”
“I’ve heard that’s what you wish, but why would I stop it? The World Tree is a precious thing that purifies all corruption and spreads life force throughout the world. It will also become a source of strength as you fight the Destroyer God.”
“But the location is problematic. It’s spreading roots randomly through the ground, and it looks like it will cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in this area immediately.”
“Then wouldn’t you simply ask it?”
“I’m asking you right now, aren’t I?”
“Not me, you fool. Why don’t you speak to the World Tree itself?”
“I can talk to it? This tree?”
“The World Tree has a spirit dwelling within it. Now that it has grown this much, conversation should be possible.”
Eres extended her hand toward my head.

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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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