Speed up PowExpr._evaluate via the C-level API - #1278

Node.js 20 is deprecated. The following actions target Node.js 20 but are being forced to run on Node.js 24: actions/checkout@v3, actions/setup-python@v4, codecov/codecov-action@v2. For more information see: https://github.blog/changelog/2025-09-19-deprecation-of-node-20-on-github-actions-runners/