The God-Level Scavenger: Infinite Evolution System

Chapter 6: The Graveyard of Gods

Sector 7 didn’t look like a city. It looked like a corpse that had been picked clean by vultures, then left to rot under a poisoned sky.

The "Exclusion Zone" was a jagged landscape of collapsed skyscrapers and rusted skeletons of military tanks. Ten years ago, during the Great Convergence, this was where the heaviest fighting took place. Now, the air was thick with "Corrupted Mana"—a purple haze that could suffocate an ordinary Hunter’s mana circuits within minutes.

Lucian stood at the rusted perimeter fence, his new Rank-C silver badge glinting against the tattered fabric of his Scavenger’s Cloak.

"Hey! You can't be here, kid!" A guard in a hazmat suit yelled from a watchtower, his rifle leveled at Lucian. "This area is quarantined. Even Rank-B teams only go in with respirators."

Lucian didn't stop walking. He simply raised his hand, showing the digital clearance Director Han had authorized.

The guard squinted at his tablet, his eyes widening. "Solo clearance? For a scavenger? You’re suicidal."

"Maybe," Lucian whispered as the heavy iron gates groaned open. "Or maybe I'm just hungry."

As soon as he stepped over the threshold, the purple haze surged toward him like a living thing. It tried to invade his lungs, to corrode his mana core.

[Warning: Corrupted Mana detected.] [Initiating 'Scavenger’s Domain: Filtration Mode'.] [System is recycling ambient poison into Raw Mana Shards...]

Lucian took a deep breath. To anyone else, this air was lethal. To him, it felt like a cold, refreshing mountain breeze.

[Gained: 1x Raw Mana Shard per minute.]

"A goldmine," Lucian muttered, his golden eyes scanning the ruins. "The Association calls this a graveyard. I call it an open buffet."

He moved through the wreckage of an old military convoy. Most of the vehicles were twisted heaps of steel, but his 'Eye of the Scavenger' lit up the area like a Christmas tree. Green, blue, and even a few purple glows emanated from the debris.

[Detected: 1x Shattered Mana Cannon (Rank D - Broken).] [Detected: 15x Corroded Alloy Plates (Trash Grade).] [Detected: Residual Soul of a Fallen Soldier (Fading).]

"Recycle all," Lucian commanded, his hand sweeping over the metal.

[Recycle Successful!] [Gained: 500x Mana Shards, 20x Iron Essence, 5x Soul Fragments.]

He spent the next three hours moving deeper into the zone. He wasn't hunting monsters—he was hunting waste. He dismantled a collapsed bridge, recycled a heap of rusted mechs, and even 'extracted' the residual mana from a stagnant pool of black sludge.

[Level Up! Level 16 -> Level 18]

Suddenly, the ground beneath him began to vibrate. From the wreckage of a nearby department store, a group of "Rust-Eaters" emerged. They were Rank-D monsters—mutated hounds with metallic hides and saws for teeth, sustained entirely by eating the scrap metal in Sector 7.

"Grrrr..."

There were twenty of them. A pack that could tear a Rank-C party to shreds.

Lucian didn't draw his dagger. He wanted to test his new skill.

"Scavenger’s Domain: Absolute Extraction."

He slammed his palm into the dirt. A wave of golden energy rippled outward, forming a dome fifty meters wide. Within the dome, the rules of the world changed. Everything that was "weak" or "broken" became Lucian’s property.

The Rust-Eaters charged, but as they entered the dome, they began to stumble. Their metallic hides started to flake off. Their mechanical hearts began to stutter.

[Extracting 'Metallic Essence' from 20x Living Targets...]

"Screee!" The hounds howled in agony as the very armor protecting them was ripped from their bodies by an invisible force.

Lucian stood in the center of the carnage, his arms crossed. He watched as the monsters shriveled, their stats being sucked directly into the air and funneled into his core.

[Extraction Successful!] [Gained: 2,000x Mana Shards!] [Gained: Permanent Stat Boost: +8 Agility, +10 Defense.]

"Too easy," Lucian said, looking at the twenty heaps of bone and dust that remained.

He checked his total Mana Shards. 9,850. He was almost there. He just needed one "High-Grade" item to tip the scale.

He looked toward the center of Sector 7, where a massive, obsidian spire stood—the remains of a crashed "Abyssal Cruiser" from the first day of the war. It was the source of the purple haze, and it was crawling with Rank-C and Rank-B Undead.

[Warning: Entering High-Risk Zone. Life signs detected.]

Lucian paused. "Life signs? In here?"

He activated his 'Stealth Mode' and moved silently through the ruins of a subway entrance. Below him, in a cleared-out station, he saw a group of five Hunters. They weren't wearing Association gear. They wore black tactical suits with a red viper emblem on the shoulders.

'Black Viper' gang members.

"Hurry up!" a man yelled—a Rank-C+ Mage with a scarred face. "The Boss wants that 'Void Tome' before the Vanguard Guild gets wind of it. Use the slaves to trigger the traps!"

Lucian’s eyes darkened. In the corner of the station, he saw a dozen civilians—mostly scavengers from the slums—shackled together. They were being forced to walk into a glowing blue portal that flickered with unstable energy.

Flash!

The first scavenger stepped into the portal and was instantly vaporized by a security ward.

"Useless trash!" the Mage spat. "Next one! Move!"

Lucian gripped the hilt of 'The Harvester’s Fang.' He had no love for humanity, but these men were playing with the one thing he considered his: The Trash.

More importantly, they had mentioned the 'Void Tome'.

[Ding! Quest Triggered: The True Owner of the Void.] [Task: Kill the Black Viper Expedition Team and claim the 'Tome of the Void Smith'.] [Reward: Unlock 'World-Class Synthesis' and 5,000 Exp.]

"System," Lucian whispered, his golden eyes glowing with a murderous light. "If I recycle a Mage's mana core while he's still alive... does it count as 'trash' if I break his spirit first?"

[Answer: A broken spirit leads to a 'Broken Mana Core.' Success rate for Extraction: 95%.]

"Good."

Lucian dropped from the ceiling like a silent shadow, his Scavenger’s Cloak fluttering behind him.

One of the thugs guarding the slaves didn't even have time to gasp. Lucian’s obsidian dagger sliced through the back of his neck, and before the body could hit the ground, it was recycled.

[Recycle Successful! Gained: 1x Rank-D Combat Skill: 'Silent Step'.]

"Who’s there?!" the Mage yelled, spinning around.

Lucian stepped out of the shadows, the black dagger pulsing with a hungry red light.

"Just a scavenger," Lucian said, his voice echoing in the hollow station. "Here to pick up the garbage."

The Mage laughed, his hands glowing with purple lightning. "A Rank-C solo hunter? You’ve got guts, kid. But you're just another body to feed the portal."

"Actually," Lucian said, his aura flaring as he activated his Domain. "I'm the one who's going to feed."

The purple lightning fired, but Lucian didn't dodge. He raised his hand, and the lightning was sucked into his palm, dissolving into harmless Mana Shards.

The Mage’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. "What?! You absorbed my skill?!"

"Everything is a resource, Mage," Lucian said, vanishing from his spot.

A split second later, he appeared behind the Mage, his hand gripping the man’s head.

"And right now... you’re the most valuable resource in the room."

[Extraction Initiating...]