Rust - Chapter 1016



Only Krnovel

RUST [RUST]-1016

Dan Brown asked openly.

“Are you crazy?”

It was decided to minimize the deployment of troops.

They also agreed to refrain from direct intervention.

So what are you talking about going to Southeast Asia for?

You want to catch Vladimir Kalin?

I don’t know if he meant to capture or kill, but the problem is that once Vladimir Kalin starts, he sees it through to the end.

If the Empire and the Holy Kingdom were to go to war, the Confederate cannibals and vampires would be thrilled. They would enjoy the peace of the war and feast on the delicacies.

[That’s harsh.]

“Did you happen to be possessed by a spirit? Or by that female vampire?”

I would rather have it that way. If it were Maru, he wouldn’t have forgiven or let it go just because he was attacked by the spirit world, but he wouldn’t have gone as far as destroying the empire. There’s also a possibility that it would end with the emperor and his entourage being killed, like in Southeast Asia.

‘Damn it… If Vladimir Kalin kills the Emperor, the citizens of the Empire will want to go to war with the Holy Kingdom. No matter how much the people of the Empire support the Emperor, there’s no way they’ll let him live.’

If the same side is hit by the spirit world, they push it away and kill it, so the emperor of the empire is hit by the spirit world? Whether it’s treatment or not, it was clear that he would kill him before the situation escalated any further.

So, this was a one-sided move.

[If things go wrong, I can announce that I’ve been taken over by the psychic world, and at least the empire can be maintained.]

“Why on earth?”

Dan Brown could not understand Emperor Leon Bonard, even though he knew that his relationship with him was strained and, in the worst case, the Empire was in danger.

[Do you have faith?]

“······.”

It’s faith.

All faith meant faith in something.

What do you believe?

What does Dan Brown believe?

What does Leon Bonnard believe?

The relationship between the two has been like this since the beginning. They should keep each other in check and do their best in their respective fields.

The restraint clearly contained an agreement to monitor the other party’s recklessness and eliminate them if they committed an irreversible act.

So if there is trust between two people, it would be a trust that they will both fight for the empire and that they can kill each other for the empire.

The empire was making rapid progress under the idealistic belief that Dan Brown was watching Leon Bonnard, and Leon Bonnard was watching Dan Brown.

“Yes.”

The belief that anyone who must be killed for the Empire will be killed. If that is belief, then Dan Brown certainly had that belief.

[Me too.]

That was also why Leon Bonnard believed that Maru had to be killed.

“Are you serious? In this situation?”

In just over ten months since ascending the throne, he has defeated the Spider Legion that has taken over Philadelphia and has reclaimed four states as he heads south.

Numerous cities and towns were liberated from cannibals and mutant monsters. With daily victories, the empire was more united than ever, and was filled with patriotism and confidence.

Even if the Southeast Asian market is important, there was no need to directly send troops and get bogged down in the swamp. Or just provide supplies like Korea does.

There was also a way to dominate the market, focusing on Indonesia and the Philippines, which were away from the flames of war that were sweeping the Indochina Peninsula.

[I think we talked about it?]

“······.”

I’ve talked to you enough and warned you many times, but still…

[If you think about it calmly, that’s true. Didn’t each Southeast Asian country say they wouldn’t use the Holy Kingdom currency as their base currency because of the sinkhole intervention issue?]

The countries of Southeast Asia initially used the Holy Kingdom currency as their base currency. However, due to the sinkhole closure intervention, they decided to change their base currency to the Imperial currency.

[Then the Holy Kingdom attacked Thailand. Under the pretext of closing the dangerous sinkhole. Just to see the results, when the Southeast Asian countries said they would use the imperial currency as a base currency, what did the Holy Kingdom do? Why did they overthrow the government and military and hold elections when they could have just closed the sinkhole? There must have been a reason, right?]

“The sinkhole is just an excuse to take over all of Southeast Asia?”

[If you think about it in terms of the election, they’ve already taken control of Korea. Who created the Korean government? It’s the Holy Kingdom. Where do the main forces of the Holy Kingdom come from? Aren’t they from the Korean military? While they’re closing the sinkholes in Southeast Asia, where did they build the supply factories? They built them in Korea.]

“······.”

[There was a country that conquered Korea and Southeast Asia in the past. They developed military power through abundant manpower and resources. What did that country do with such strength? They made a surprise attack on the United States. To dominate the Pacific.]

“Will the Holy Kingdom start a war just like that time?”

[It’s already the beginning. The sinkhole data they sent us. The commonality in the sinkhole data we’ve found is that sinkholes form along the Ring of Fire. If the Holy Kingdom goes around saying they’re going to close the sinkholes, it’s like they’re going to take control of the entire Pacific Ocean. Guam and Hawaii are also included.]

“While the Holy Kingdom is closing down the sinkhole, shouldn’t we be building up our internal strength? While they’re fighting a war of attrition with the sinkhole monsters, we can free more states. And didn’t you say you would do that?”

Dan Brown was angry. It was something they had already discussed. Something they had agreed upon. To focus on growing their power without antagonizing the Holy Kingdom.

He said that since I gave a speech about joining the Vietnam War, I couldn’t back down, and that we had to send at least a minimum number of troops, so I sent them, and they said they were going to catch Vladimir Kalin?

[While we develop. While we build up our internal strength, will they stay still? Will Vladimir Kalin’s divinity grow stronger and stronger? Will the Divine Kingdom’s soldiers also increase in number due to the continued war. Isn’t that? Isn’t preventing them from taking over Southeast Asia the best thing for the future of the empire?]

“······.”

Dan Brown’s eyes sank as he looked at Leon Bonnard. He must have noticed the change in the atmosphere, but Leon Bonnard’s blue gaze remained unchanged.

“How are you going to catch Vladimir Kalin? You say he became strong through faith?”

[The bastard’s abilities are strong. Being strong means that it requires a lot of energy. And that is its weakness.]

After analyzing the video footage of Vladimir Kalin attacking armed refugees in Korea, I came to the conclusion that the more he killed, the stronger he became.

Comparing the massacres that took place in Southeast Asia, there was no strength that was shown in Korea. This means that the strength gained in Korea is not permanent.

[What if he had nothing to kill? What if he couldn’t get energy? Thinking about it like that, I understand why he went to such lengths to close the sinkhole.]

“······.”

Leon Bonnard said with confidence.

[The monsters coming out of the sinkhole are already dead. No matter how many of them you kill, Vladimir Kalin’s ability will only be consumed and not recharged.]

“······.”

[Whether it’s a natural enemy or not, sinkhole monsters are its weakness. It can handle thousands to tens of thousands. But can it handle hundreds of thousands, tens of millions, or hundreds of millions? It can’t. In order to handle it, it would have to absorb that many lives, which isn’t easy. That’s why it’s obsessed with closing sinkholes. To eliminate the threat to its future self.]

“······.”

[As you may know, he didn’t just kill the Thai elephant god. He killed a monster that had been divined or worshipped as an object of worship, as well as a religious leader, all while claiming to be closing a sinkhole in Southeast Asia. He said that the cult was brainwashing people. Even though it wasn’t a cannibal. Did he really kill them because they were cultists? If not, what was the reason? Do you know what the Thai god’s light did to his abilities?]

“······.”

There was testimony that the powerful light created by the Thai god broke down Vladimir Kalin’s abilities into black particles.

[Should we leave the Holy Kingdom and those bastards alone? Do you still think you can get along with them? If we leave them alone, the Empire will always be under their thumb. And we will live by becoming their puppets.]

“So you want to catch Vladimir Kalin?”

[Yes. There is no later. Now is the best time to catch him.]

“······.”

As time goes by, the Holy Kingdom will grow stronger, and the sinkhole will close. The best time to catch Vladimir Maru Kalin is now. Right now.

The emperor is mad.

There has never been an emperor so wise as to voluntarily give up half of his power.

He was addicted to the enthusiastic support he received from his successive victories, to the taste of faith and divinity. He had already made his own logic and decisions, and was making judgments based on them.

Leon Bonnard laughed lowly at Dan Brown’s words.

Who is calling whom crazy?

Is the Holy Kingdom and Vladimir Kalin a sanctuary?

Who is fitting their thoughts into a conclusion?

Is this something a Prime Minister who should put the future of the Empire and its interests first should say?

The deep eyes and the bright, smiling eyes intersected. The two people spoke at the same time.

“That’s too bad.”

[I agree.]

Whether they succeeded in capturing Vladimir Kalin or not, the two men recognized that they had crossed a river of no return.

======

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Kim Yang’s brow furrowed slightly as she received the report from the situation room.

It was a report that the Imperial Army artillery stationed in South Vietnam was firing on the front lines. The problem was that they weren’t firing hot shots, but were just spitting out shots.

It’s hard to call it a full-scale intervention, since it was just a few warning shots fired to open the retreat route for South Vietnam. But that doesn’t mean they didn’t fire. They can’t lower their guard.

North Vietnam protested to the Empire, saying that it was a clear intervention since they could no longer pursue and destroy the South Vietnamese army, but what could they do? The Emperor of the Empire declared war, so it was fortunate that it ended there.

If they had really set their minds to it, they would have annihilated the pursuing North Vietnamese forces with Japanese artillery fire and raised the front line. On the other hand, Kim Yang wondered why they didn’t do that.

‘You didn’t fight back? If you had, you could have achieved significant results.’

Did you kiss Korea separately?

North Vietnam should be dependent on Korea, and South Vietnam should be dependent on the empire.

‘That’s true, but has it really been so long?’

As Kim Yang questioned the lukewarm response of the Imperial Army, Maru was infiltrating near the South Vietnamese front lines wearing a Ripper suit.

It was because my senses had somehow become more sensitive since the last fight with the monster elephant. That’s why I felt uneasy.

As Ki-sun had predicted, the situation would stop at an appropriate point unless the emperor went mad, and judging by the situation so far, it has been mostly like that.

It ended with warning shots to prevent the North Vietnamese army from advancing, and support was provided to open a path in case the South Vietnamese army retreated.

Above all, when you look at the fact that they did not advance together with the South Vietnamese army as they advanced northward, but instead held their ground, it was clear that they were not actively participating in the war as Ki-sun had expected.

‘It’s strange. I keep feeling like something is bothering me.’

When I see something this uncomfortable, something is definitely wrong.

‘Did you have a hard time mentally because of that elephant?’

The elephant monster was a divine beast that had eaten faith. Since it was shot by its light at close range, even if it was said to be mentally immune, there might have been some side effects.

‘I should think about taking a few days off to rest.’

Kung- Kwung-

A gunshot rang out from a distance away from the front line. Maru moved stealthily to where the gunshot had erupted.

thud-

Compared to Emperor Leon Bonnard’s bold declaration that “we will participate in the Vietnam War and we will definitely win,” a small artillery unit was quickly leaving the scene.

‘The size of the artillery is not as large as you boasted. Is it because of the deep conflict with Dan Brown that the size of the troop deployment has been reduced?’

If it were up to Gi-sun, it would be so.

‘I heard that they are importing self-propelled howitzers from Korea, but I don’t see the K-9 self-propelled howitzer.’

The Imperial Army’s self-propelled guns were definitely different. Not only was the caliber 200mm large, but the way the shells were loaded into the exosuit was also different.

‘Is it focused on firepower or productivity?’

It was not a turret-equipped type like the Paladin (M109A6 Paladin) or K-9, but a turret-less type like the former Soviet self-propelled howitzer 2А3 Конденсатор-2П or the North Korean M-1989, 170mm self-propelled howitzer.

Wheeeeeeing-

Maru followed the self-propelled gun that was leaving using a micro drone. He followed it as far away as possible. There was a temporary base there.

It was a garrison built on a clearing made by clearing and burning the dense jungle, with makeshift bunkers and barricade guard posts.

‘A minefield with sensors. They said it was a temporary base, but the defenses are as strong as steel.’

As we approached cautiously, the sudden sound of a siren blared.

Waaaaa …

“The enemy!”

“It’s 2 o’clock!”

“I can’t see anything.”

“Nothing moving.”

“No thermal imaging.”

“Motion sensor not detected.”

“It’s a stealth device. It’s stealth!”

“Get the detector, quick!”

“Prepare for directional fire. Mark 2 o’clock.”

A report from artificial intelligence Diana came into the room, which had stopped in its tracks, saying, “The Rose of Sharon has bloomed.”

[Communication hacking has been successful. Based on the enemy’s communications, it appears that their current location has been discovered.]

You’ve been caught in hiding?