From the moment Quentin Vilewind appeared, Li Carter had kept his evolution glow suppressed, hiding in the darkness as he crept toward Wendy Lewis.
But he never expected the Saint?tier elder to… go insane.
In his mind, a Saint?tier should have crushed everyone effortlessly.
Quentin’s madness shattered his plan completely, leaving him with only one desperate option—
Take Wendy hostage.
Force hesitation.
Use her as leverage to survive.
He had observed carefully:
Wendy had no combat ability.
And the boy beside her—Evan —looked like nothing more than a pretty face who relied on relics.
If Li Carter struck fast enough, killed or drove Evan back, he could seize Wendy with ease.
The only thing he feared was that skull?shaped mental relic Evan had used before.
Li Carter lunged.
Evan reacted instantly, stepping in front of Wendy without hesitation.
He launched forward with Rhino Charge, meeting Li Carter head?on.
Li Carter’s strength was at best comparable to Gao Long’s.
Evan had already one?shot Gao Long before.
Now, with the Regenerator skill added to his arsenal, he had no reason to fear Li Carter.
In both burst power and recovery, Evan was confident he held the advantage.
“Courting death!”
Li Carter roared, unleashing his strongest attack.
His fingers curled into a claw, his arm morphing like a wolf’s head lunging for Evan’s heart.
Even the wind howled like a wolf’s cry.
Evan didn’t dodge.
He countered with his strongest combination—
Ant Strength + Needle Strike.
His finger thrust forward.
The piercing property of Needle Strike allowed Evan’s attack to punch straight through Li Carter’s abdomen, shattering his spine.
Li Carter’s attack landed a moment too late.
The agony of being impaled threw off his aim, and his claw struck Evan’s left chest instead of his heart.
A sharp crack echoed.
Pain flared through Evan’s ribs—two of them snapped cleanly.
But he didn’t care.
He actually wanted to test his new regeneration.
Li Carter fared far worse.
He staggered back, barely able to stand, before Evan kicked him to the ground.
One exchange.
Victory decided.
The hunters watching were stunned.
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Even the two Breaker?tier hunters stared at Evan with disbelief.
A hunter worth a 50,000?credit commission—Li Carter—
had been defeated in one move by Evan, who was only worth 10,000 credits?
Before this, they had assumed Evan’s performance during the beast siege was due to relics.
They hadn’t taken his personal strength seriously.
But now—
Evan had used no relics, no tricks.
Just raw power.
And he had crushed a Chrysalis?tier peak evolver—
someone who had absorbed three Tier?2 extracts and was on the verge of breaking into Breaker?tier.
If Evan reached the same peak…
Would he be able to fight Breaker?tiers head?on?
Even Yvonne Hart and Wendy Lewis, who already knew Evan was strong, felt a jolt of shock.
They had seen many geniuses in their lives.
But Evan was seventeen.
That was terrifying.
Evan himself didn’t think much of it.
Strong?
He had paid for it.
He had absorbed expensive extracts, taken expensive drugs, and possessed a priceless skill—Evolution’s Grace.
He placed his foot on Li Carter’s chest.
“Talk. Who sent you?”
Everyone could see Evan had deliberately spared Li Carter’s life.
He wanted answers.
The others gathered around.
Yvonne, frail and hunched from the relic’s backlash, still stepped protectively in front of Wendy.
All eyes focused on Li Carter.
Li Carter coughed blood and sneered.
“Why… should I tell you…”
Evan shrugged.
“Honestly, it doesn’t matter.
We’re safe now.
I’m only asking because I’m curious.
If you talk, I’ll give you a quick death.”
Li Carter knew he wouldn’t survive.
He didn’t bother pretending to be tough.
Between bloody coughs, he confessed everything.
Not long after Wendy posted the escort mission at the Black?White Bar, a man in a suit—the same man who had triggered the beast horde—approached Li Carter and Gao Long.
He wanted them to infiltrate Wendy’s escort team and report her route.
The payment was too tempting to refuse.
They planned for Gao Long to join the team as the mole, while Li Carter followed from behind using Gao Long’s Tier?1 relic, Tracewalker, which erased footsteps and scent.
But Gao Long never showed up the next morning.
Panicked, Li Carter joined the team himself and used the “bathroom break” to send updates to the suited man.
Evan frowned.
“And Quentin Vilewind? Did you bring him?”
Li Carter shook his head weakly.
“I… don’t know… After the beast horde retreated… I wanted to leave… but he messaged me again… told me to stay… double pay… if I could capture… the woman…”
A Tier?3 S?grade extract was the reward.
For someone on the verge of breaking into Breaker?tier, it was irresistible.
And with Quentin appearing, Li Carter didn’t know whether the Saint?tier elder was working with the suited man or not.
If they weren’t allies, Quentin might kill everyone.
So Li Carter gambled everything on capturing Wendy.
He never imagined Quentin would lose.
By the end of his explanation, Li Carter’s eyes were full of regret.
If he hadn’t been greedy, he wouldn’t be dying here.
But his story didn’t reveal whether Quentin came on his own or was informed by the suited man.
Seeing no more answers to extract, Evan granted him a swift death.
It was his second time killing someone.
He was already adapting.
He had to.
“Let’s move. We need to get out of the Blackrock Mountains before dawn.”
They found nothing valuable on Li Carter’s body.
Evan urged everyone to continue.
His ribs had already healed—
the Regenerator skill was incredible.
He lifted the weakened Yvonne onto his back.
When he met Wendy’s gaze, both saw the same thing in each other’s eyes—
trust,
and questions.
They needed a real conversation.
But not yet.
Not while others were still around.
A mole exposed.
A one?strike victory.
And a seventeen?year?old whose strength is beginning to terrify even his allies.
If you were Wendy, what would you ask Evan once you finally had a moment alone?
