Infinite Evolution: My Idle Evolution System

The auditorium once again erupted into booming cheers. All of the gathered Hunters were hyped up as hell after their Chairman's spirit-raising speech. They were raring to get back out there and massacre more monsters!

Finishing off his speech, the white-haired Chairman said, "Make your country proud; make your family proud; save this country from certain doom. Yet, let the noble sacrifice of Static Baron engrave into your hearts what could happen to any single one of you if you are careless. Keep a good head on your shoulders, stick together, and have a good rest of your day."

He waved them off before walking away from the center point stadium microphone. As soon as he turned his face away from the tens of thousands of Hunters, his expression cooled, going from friendly and outgoing to cold and calculative.

The Hunter Association Chairman glanced between the dozen-odd S-Rank Hunters present with him today. All of the country's powerhouses were there, and for some reason, that worsened the face he was making.

Scanning his narrowed eyes over the magnificent-looking Hunters, he landed on the 5'11 figure of Victor Rapido. He was going to say something in regard to his late arrival, but seeing as Victor's expression was nearly as terrible as his own, he decided to save it for later.

"Follow behind me," commanded the Chairman as he strode ahead of the eleven gathered S-Rank Hunters. "I have a few things I wish to inform you all of in private."

"Yes, sir." All of them responded rather casually, then trailed behind the stern Chairman at different paces.

Although none of them believed their Chairman to be any stronger than they were, he was far older than them and had amassed an exorbitant amount of experience over the years. It was only natural to respect someone like that, as this was a world where the strong and wise ruled.

While following the Chairman, a tall and lean man with jet-black hair slicked back walked up beside Victor Rapido. His piercing crimson eyes, which seemed to glow in the dark, bore into the side of the similarly-sized Victor.

He wore a dark trench coat with silver accents, always shadowed as though light avoided him. A scar was etched across his left cheek, and he exuded a sinister aura that unsettled even allies, making Victor grow increasingly uncomfortable.

He almost immediately knew who it was, prompting him to ask, "Dante… What is it this time?"

Dante Blackthorn—a master of shadows and fierce shadow beasts—matched Victor's pace as they left the auditorium and ascended numerous flights of stairs in a larger, shinier building.

Responding to the speedster's exasperated question, Dante said:

"I need you to investigate the rapid increase of shadows in Tokyo… It's unnatural, and only someone of your nature will be able to find anything substantial."

Victor raised a brow. "And what's in it for me? Searching around odd quantities of shadows is a little ridiculous and will surely consume a lot of my time. So, what will I receive in exchange for helping out?"

Dante coldly stared at the suave speedster, seemingly calculating a number of things in his mind.

After a moment, he replied, "I can keep you updated on any speedy Awakeners that awaken or show their faces in the Western, Northern, and Eastern Hemispheres. With my intelligence organization and my army of shadows, you should be well aware of what I could accomplish if given the time."

Victor considered it, nearly rejected it, but then shrugged and accepted. "Very well, I'll figure out why shadows have…"

"Increased unnaturally in quantity, beyond what new moving creations and autonomous vehicles should be capable of producing," said Dante, his tone evenly informative. "The shadows I am searching for have all at once appeared in Tokyo, then blended in with the rest of the moving shadows. Something is not right about this, yet I can't figure out what exactly that something is. Which is where you come in."

Victor's smirk widened as he turned a corner with the rest of the unique S-Rank Hunters walking beside him. Slightly side-eyeing the detached Dante, he said, "I will do just that, but it will likely take some time before anything useful comes back. Although limiting it to just moving shadows will speed things up, I will still need to individually search millions… Wait, how large are the shadows I'm looking for?"

"Around as large as humans," Dante replied instantly.

Victor nodded. "Yep, so millions, which isn't too much. However, even with my S-Rank Hyper Perception and Flash Memorization Skills, I will need to make countless rounds in and around the country. It will be troublesome."

"How long?" asked Dante.

"Maybe a few weeks, maybe a few months," replied Victor. "But no longer than a year."

"Affirmative."

That was the end of their conversation, with Dante silently reminding him to read up on population governmental statistics to confirm the existence of anomalies. Immediately after he left Dante's side and faded toward the very end of the group, the Chairman had arrived in his office, where he quickly sat down on the only black leather chair behind his desk.

Looking at the vastly contrasting Hunters, he interlocked his fingers and rested his chin atop them, with his elbows pressed against the mahogany desk. "Although I don't want to do it, seeing as the other countries are doing the same thing, I need to as well."

The air within the classy, Victorian-styled room constricted a lot tighter. All of the S-Rank Hunters knew precisely what their Chairman was going to say. And just as expected…

"I will keep things simple and concise: You will need to decide which six among you will join the next Raid of the High Purple-rank Gate 'World's End.'"

"Same as the times before, you will need to temporarily pass down the leadership of your S-Rank Guilds to whoever is most suited to run your Guild while you are away."

The expressions of everyone in the room scrunched up by varying degrees.

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