Infinite Evolution: My Comprehension Talent is The Strongest Cheat
Chapter 39: Lower-grade Planets and Mutants

Chapter 39: Lower-grade Planets and Mutants

Some months after Jin’s breakthrough to the Intent Merging Realm.

Virtual World.

Bronze League - Arena C89-10832.

VIP Stands.

"Kid, are you aware that talent like yours is rarely seen even if one looks across thousands of years’ worth of Redrock City’s history?" A corpulent middle-aged man spoke with ample praise to a young black-and-white-haired man who looked to be in his late teens. It was clear from the middle-aged man’s tone that he was trying to leave a good impression on the young man.

’A Level 3 Citizen,’ Jin analyzed, his expression impassive. ’Based on how he’s dressed and how he has two attractive women by his side, he must be a second-generation young master.’

Very likely, the middle-aged man came from extravagant wealth.

There was even a possibility that he or his family bought the Merit Points necessary to upgrade him to Level 3 Citizen status. This, for reference, would’ve cost tens of billions of Cosmic Human Coins through the most kind-hearted of sellers.

"So how about it, young friend Azmodeus?" the middle-aged man revealed his full mouth of white teeth, with a particularly shiny golden tooth blinding Jin a little. "Have you considered my offer of joining the Iron Halo Hunting Guild I’ve founded?"

’The Iron Halo Hunting Guild...’ Jin silently thought to himself.

On Pacific Blue Star and plenty of other low-grade life planets in the Universe, dangerous creatures called Mutants roamed certain abandoned districts. Born because of the pollution high society gathered and isolated in certain parts of lesser planets, Mutants knew only how to return the favor to those who forced them into existence.

Mutants, although inherently low in intelligence, needed only a sniff to know what race you were. And more than any other race, the one they abhorred the most was humanity.

After all, they produced the most pollution.

’Hunting, or Hunter Guilds, were created as a result of the surplus number of Mutants terrorizing the lands,’ Jin thought. ’And though these Guilds only exist on low-grade life planets with inferior technology combating pollution—like Pacific Blue Star—they’re nonetheless influential forces. They even drag in large sums of cash from Mutant Shards—or so I’ve heard.’

"As you’re probably aware, what with you being in the Redrock Division of the Virtual Arena and all, more than 10% of the districts in the city have been overrun by Mutants," the rich middle-aged man said. "This is naturally an astronomical number, amounting to hundreds of districts, affecting the lives of tens of millions, who either moved out of the districts or died when the spread of Mutants escalated."

Jin nodded.

He was indeed in the know about the rise of ’Fallen Districts’ in Redrock City, which was what everyone called the districts overrun by Mutants.

Normally, Mutants were contained within the ’Isolated Pollution Areas.’

But when they increased in number beyond what the local military could handle, the area and all surrounding districts would be discarded.

Oftentimes, this meant the Districts, renamed Fallen Districts, would never go back to the way they once were. However, there were some instances of humanity retaking Fallen Districts.

The whole purpose of Hunter Guilds was to rid the Fallen Districts of all Mutants.

But as with most things involving humanity, greed typically trumped doing what was best for the greater good of all. Consequently, Fallen Districts became cash cows for ’Hunters,’ urging many to seek their fortunes with the various materials of Mutants, as well as the ’Shards’ they provided.

As for why Hunters didn’t instead opt for the benefits stemming from the Merit System, it simply wasn’t... worthwhile.

For those strong enough, becoming a Hunter wasn’t as good as going to fight in the Cosmic Wars happening at the outer reaches of human territory. The Hunter profession also couldn’t compare to pursuing the arts in hopes of becoming an Inventor or Evolution Path Developer.

As a result, the truly strong Evolvers didn’t become Hunters. This left only those Rank 4 and below to restrict the infestation of Mutants. And for them, the Merit Points they could obtain for the effort put in just weren’t what they would be if a Rank 5 Continent-level Evolver were to descend and eradicate all Mutants in an instant.

But for a Rank 5 Evolver to make a move, the cost would simply be too great for many of the thousands of cities on Pacific Blue Star.

Unless the situation became critical and more than 50% of the city had become home to Fallen Districts, a Rank 5 Evolver couldn’t be bothered to help. And even then, the only reason they made a move after the 50% mark was because the Goddess of Order would give the command, also offering a high amount of Merit Points.

Although none would admit it, the quelling of Mutants in Fallen Districts and even the Origin Isolation Areas of pollution was actually an inherently broken system.

The Merit Points acquired from killing Mutants were not a lot, meant to prevent high-rank Evolvers from solving everything and receiving ridiculous amounts of Merit Points. At the same time, the Merit pointage per Mutant kill was so low that lower-rank Evolvers found it more profitable to allow the Mutant population to grow, thus drastically increasing their profits.

Then there came the eventual 50% tipping point for Mutant infestation, which would subsequently force the hand of a Rank 5 or above Evolver. This, in turn, let them benefit greatly, as the Merit Point acquisition from purging an entire city on order of the Goddess of Order was far more than what they would normally get for doing the same thing without the Goddess.

The Three Goddesses and countless renowned minds from all over the Universe tried many times to devise a better way to manage Mutant infestation. However, no matter how many millions of years and how many millions of authoritative figures took to contemplate the matter, there was simply no way to prevent one side—either the low-rank or high-rank Evolvers—from abusing the system to farm Merit Points.

Because of this flawed, irreparable system, countless low-grade life planets have been entirely overrun by Mutants.

Only those mid-grade and above life planets that could afford higher-quality environmental tech could avoid the fate that befell most low-grade life planets. And to the Goddesses, this outcome was acceptable—at least more acceptable than it would be to freely spread around the high-quality tech that higher-grade life planets benefited from.

Such tech was powered by a limited resource, after all. It was even monopolized by behemoth cosmic corporations—ones that rightfully owned the rights to the creations and distribution of the relevant technology.

The Three Goddesses may be the ultimate law in the Cosmic Human Civilization, but they still had to maintain a certain level of fairness. They couldn’t just blindly rob or steal from the citizens, especially not among the pinnacle echelons of society, where every figure was irreplaceable to humanity.

Whether it be due to the gouge pricing committed by the huge cosmic corporations, or because of the limited amount of special resources, or even because of the tight-spot the Goddesses were put in, the widespread bestowal of environmental technology was simply impossible. There was no workaround.

No high-quality environmental technology meant no permanent solution to pollution on low-grade life planets.

Which meant no way of preventing Mutant propagation.

Even with the existence of Hunters, the end result that awaited most ancient low-grade life planets was merely an inevitability. Although most could hold out for millions of years, it was merely a matter of time before the Eternal Law of Entropy knocked on your gates, calling for Armageddon.

If the whole Universe were akin to a human body, then Mutants were a virus.

If left unchecked, the virus would soon prove to be fatal to the body...