Evolution Theory of the Hunter Chapter 94

Evolution Theory of the Hunter (ETH)
Volume 1 Chapter 94

“Isn’t that Ezekiel?”

Cho Youngoo, who had been driving the truck, asked aloud. Han Joonseok, riding shot gun, squinted his eyes for a moment before nodding his head.

“You’re right, it looks like Ezekiel is blocking the entrance to the bridge.”

“Have they still not fixed that damn bad habit of theirs?”

“What should we do?”

Han Joonseok turned around in his seat to ask me. We were already driving towards them.

And, having noticed us already, I could see they were moving quickly to do something.

There is no way they would let us pass without a fight.

There was only one option left for us. To break through with force – just a we had done the last time.

“Can I please ask what is going on?”

Sohn Aram asked as she looked pointedly in the direction of the bridge.

There were almost 20 Ezekiel hunters camped out at the edge of the wooden bridge.

“They are blocking the way to the bridge so that no one else can pass through.”

“I thought the situation might not be favorable but all sorts of things are happening aren’t they?”

“If they do not let us pass, what are we going to do?”

“Can I step forward as an officer of the law?”

“And if they don’t back down even at that point?”

“That’s….”

Sohn Aram let out a very deep sigh. Even though she was an officer, there was only so much that one person could do.

“Then we have no choice but to turn back.”

“We can also break through using force.”

“Let me first try and resolve this peacefully.”

“Be my guest.”

But I couldn’t let her walk over there on her own.

We parked the truck and, geared up from head to toe, we carefully got out of the truck. On either side of Sohn Aram, Cho Youngooi and I stuck by her as her bodyguards.

On the opposite side, a hefty hunter was leisurely headed in our direction as well.

I used my manual to check out his stats and gear.

Name: Koo YongSung

Skill: Cleaving (3), Can cut through enemies within a 2 meter radius. During casting time, will only receive half the damage.

Option: None

Proficiency: 45

Equipment: Chain lance (3), Stone armor (3)

He was entirely level 3. If it was before, I would have been pretty worried by now. But now, he was not much of an opponent.

“What’s the matter?”

“We need to pass through, I’m afraid.”

Sohn Aram answered. Koo Yongsung snorted as if we had made a joke.

“This land is claimed by us Ezekiel. We can’t let just anyone pass.”

“And who gave you the authority to claim the land?”

“Who? We came here first so it’s ours.”

Sohn Aram turned to look at me. I lightly shook my head.

“That’s a lie. They weren’t here just a few days ago. I think they probably saw the posting on the market bulletin and made their way here.”

“Heung, so what? What are you going to do about it?”

Sohn Aram pulled out a police badge and responded.

“I’d like to reintroduce myself. I’m Lieutenant Sohn Aram from the Mapo Police Station. You do not have the proper authority to lay claim to this bridge. Please step aside.”

“Hm?”

Koo YongSung’s face exploded with unexpected surprise. He hadn’t even dreamed that a police officer would show up here.

But that was it. After returning back to where his comrades were, he did not return.

And they didn’t open the way to the bridge either. It seems they decided it was better to just ignore us and the police than to say anything else.

“If you don’t step away, I will place all of you under arrest!”

Sohn Aram yelled out. But the only response to that was some laughter and jeering…and that was it.

“What did I tell you. I told you it wouldn’t work.”

“Haaa. Hunters. Really.”

“But we’re hunters too.”

“Ah, sorry about that. I didn’t mean it that way.”

“It’s alright. Anyway, now what do you propose we do? I really think there’s no other option but to use force.”

“Can you do it so that no one gets hurt?”

“Impossible. Short of fighting, there will always be someone hurt. If a fight does happen, I can’t promise what will happen – since we will be putting our lives on the line. And…if anyone makes it out of here alive…it will make things…difficult.”

“But aren’t there any other roads..”

“None.”

“Haaa…..”

I could see that Sohn Aram was having a heated debate inside her own head on what she should do. She was probably asking herself killing people on this mission was justified…all the more because she was an officer.

Unfortunately, with Ezekiel blocking the bridge, there was no way we were going to avoid a fight.

Our priority was to explore the forest. We couldn’t turn back just because they decided to guard the entryway.

“Something’s up over there.”

Cho Youngoo said. The hunters who had been just watching us from the bridge entrance were now in motion – getting into their vehicles.

“Are they trying to cross the bridge?”

Sohn Aram asked. If they were going to create an opening for us on their own, then that was great for us.

“We don’t know yet. Mr. Han Joonseok, can you tell what’s going on?”

“It seems they received some sort of communication. They made a call and then started to pile into their vehicles with hurried expressions.”

“It seems they ran into some trouble.”

“Yes, and I don’t think it has anything to do with us.”

Hm. Just a minute ago I was ready to go into battle, but now…

The hunters had climbed into the vehicles that had been acting as barricades and disappeared…leaving only a cloud of smoke in their wake.

“What do you think it is?”

Sohn Aram, who had been watching quietly, finally asked.

“I want to go and ask myself, but it’s not as if they would answer me…there’s nothing else we can do but to just cross the bridge ourselves and find out.”

“Do you have even a guess….”

“They either met a strong monster or the Chinese hunters…and are now in a heated battle.”

“Which do you think it is?”

“I would say the probability of it being the latter is much higher.”

Even if it were the forest, there is no way that a strong monster would appear out of nowhere like that.

The fact was that only level 1 and level 2 monsters appeared in the new land…and this included the forest. The only possibility was an irregular…but it’s not as if irregulars come out all that often either.

“So now what?”

Han Joonseok took a few steps toward me and asked. If they ditched the bridge and ran off like that, it must have been a real emergency.

Whether it was an irregular or Chinese hunters, it didn’t matter. We were going to check it out anyway…that was our mission.

“Let’s follow them.”

Both trucks crossed over the creaky wooden bridge to the other side. I’m not sure if the Ezekiel team had done some additional work to the bridge, but it felt alot safer than the last time we used it.

We followed the path into the forest. Even if we didn’t follow the trail they left behind, there were only a few roads their vehicles could drive through – so catching up to them was no hard task.

Bump. Bump.

“Heuk…my butt….”

Sooah complained the whole way as she tried to find the most comfortable position. Compared to the Southern Marshes, the roads here were definitely more tumultuous.

And since the seats set up in the back were wooden seats without any cushion…I could understand her pain.

“I should keep that in mind. To purchase some cushions.”

“Please dear lord.”

Sooah placed her hands under her butt in an effort to make the bumps a bit more bearable.

“Anyway, how many Ezekiel guys do you think are in the forest right now?”

“Since there were over twenty of them blocking the bridge….I’m sure there are quite a bit of them inside.”

“And things must be dangerous enough for them to have called in those guys.”

“Ezekiel is mainly known for having a great number of soldiers, and there is power in numbers. So I wouldn’t say it’s really a good bit of news that even with those numbers, they are being overwhelmed enough to have to call in reinforcements on barricade detail.”

“You know what else is weird? That there aren’t any monsters in the area.”

Han Joonseok looked around and said.

“I’m guessing that it’s going to be like this in all the areas that have paths wide enough for trucks to pass through.”

“Because they probably hunted all along these roads first right?”

“Ah. I see something up ahead.”

Han Joonseok shouted.

On the road up ahead, there was a dead body that was still bleeding out on the side.

I got out of the vehicle and checked it.

“It seems this person didn’t die too long ago. The blood is still fresh.”

“And who is it?”

“Ezekiel.”

There was a wheel badge on the corpse’s uniform. This was Ezekiel’s signia.

I picked up the body and placed it into the back of the second truck. He was stripped of equipment…most likely by his killer.

Sohn Aram looked at me and asked in confusion.

“What are you doing with the body…”

“I’ll tell you later.”

Chapter end