Rust - Chapter 1018



Only Krnovel

RUST [RUST]-1018

To the outside world, Ki-sun was known as an ordinary person with no abilities.

That’s because it wasn’t that long ago that he acquired the ability to read emotions visually, and he kept that ability hidden.

[Is it enough to just escort the green one?]

[You never know when you might go crazy?]

[Yeah. Last time, he negotiated as he pleased.]

[Then our mission this time isn’t just escorting.]

[If the retarded Sooni does something crazy, does that make him a good Sooni?]

[Isn’t that too much? Saying that it was a mistake and calling it a good thing.]

[It’s okay to be nice. You can just pick again in New Green order.]

[Wouldn’t a new one be better?]

The group of Naruz who were in charge of guarding Gisun were openly making a fuss.

‘I can hear you all.’

Although the orders he received were only to escort, Naruzu was secretly pressuring Kisun. This time, it was a threat that seemed to tell him not to cross the line.

‘These bitches, for real.’

It seemed like he was saying this because Maru’s orders were given priority and he ignored them.

‘Ha- Well, this is all karma. It’s karma.’

So it’s still rolling now?

To be honest, psychometric Erica would have been more advantageous for this kind of mission, but Maru coldly refused Ki-sun’s request to go with Erica.

‘It won’t work because Dan Brown knows that Erica’s power is psychometry.’

The very act of being with someone with psychometric abilities was like breaking into this group. It’s not that Ki-sun didn’t think about it, but he thought it would be more effective to go with Erica, so he asked her to accompany him.

‘Erika can read residual thoughts.’

If the Empire had decided to fight the Holy Kingdom, there would be thick residual thoughts left everywhere. Just by confirming that, it would be easy to grasp the situation.

The same goes for understanding Emperor Leon Bonnard’s decisions. Even if you could only touch the furniture or utensils he used, you could read the strong residual thoughts.

‘That’s why it won’t work. If Erica notices something, she won’t be able to hide it, whether through her expression or her actions.’

Maru’s opinion was that it would clearly fall on the Empire’s side.

‘First of all, Mr. Den. I’ve been interested in psychometry for a long time.’

‘······.’

The delegation consisting of Gisun and Naruz headed to the center of the empire, but just as the Holy Kingdom did not show off its floating city by putting forward the Vladiak Tower, the empire did the same.

“Is the conference venue Boston? I wish I could have entered the maritime city.”

[Check the surrounding safety.]

[All windows within 2km are closed.]

[Drone deployment complete.]

[Start reconnaissance of the conference venue using a stratospheric airship.]

[Imperial reconnaissance aircraft approaching.]

[The Empire is demanding that our airship be removed for violating its airspace?]

The Empire also made no secret of its stratospheric airships.

‘They’re openly showing off that they’re building their own wireless communication network in Southeast Asia… They have no intention of hiding it, I guess.’

If we think about it in reverse, is it not an intention to strike? Or is it hiding something more than a stratospheric airship, making us think of only the stratospheric airship in this way?

“Tell our airship to raise its altitude as high as possible. Tell it to switch to stealth mode.”

[All right.]

The dedicated assistant AI of Kisun immediately moved the stratospheric airship. The protests stopped, as the imperial airship still lacked the sensors and radar technology to detect the Holy Kingdom’s stealth technology.

[The new Imperial high-speed airship was confirmed to have departed from the sea city.]

[Avoiding flocks. Confirmed to be not approaching flocks of seagulls.]

The reports from the assistant AI and Naruz continued. The Empire’s technological development was progressing faster than expected.

If you look closely at the technological development tech of the Holy Kingdom, it was taken from research materials from the United States era, so it was natural that the speed of technological development of the Empire was quite fast.

[Bypassing the maritime city defense wall.]

[It is difficult to enter without leaving a trace.]

[It’s easy to break, but it leaves a mark. Should we break through?]

[Successful hacking of port and airport control center computers.]

Report from Naruz, the assistant AI and electronic warfare officer.

“If it’s a situation where you have to leave traces, avoid it. Just check to make sure you don’t leave traces.”

It was noted that the sentiment of the Imperial Guard of the Kisun Empire was not positive.

After the declaration of non-intervention and non-intervention and the withdrawal of the ant and rat rescue team during the great earthquake, it was expected that the friendly relations with the people of the empire would have declined considerably, but the situation on the ground was even worse.

‘Dark gray.’

‘There’s also a light crimson one.’

‘It’s not like I’m looking at any hostile countries.’

Most of them are colors that would not be strange if they turned into enemies at any time. The troops guarding the conference room are of this color. That was the reason why I thought I had to gather as much information as possible and figure out the situation even if it meant hacking.

And then Dan Brown came into the conference room.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it in person like this.”

“That’s right.”

It was a response that seemed like the usual Den Ajae, but Ki-sun’s squinted eyes couldn’t help but draw large crescent moons. This was because the color that Den Brown emitted was gray.

“So you didn’t come out of Detroit, what brought you here?”

“It’s because of the situation in Southeast Asia. Well, I have something to say about sinkholes.”

At Gi-sun’s answer, ‘I see. I guess there are things that are difficult to talk about over a video call.’, Den Brown’s face grew darker as he answered coolly.

What on earth are you thinking, going from neutral to hostile? When you know each other so well?

‘Damn. Why is this guy acting like this all of a sudden?’

“······.”

Dan Brown said, looking at Ki-soon’s half-moon eyes, who was momentarily speechless.

“There was a report that an enemy with advanced stealth capabilities was attempting to infiltrate an artillery position deployed in South Vietnam.”

“······.”

“It is not confirmed whether it was the ability of a stealth user or the use of excellent stealth equipment, but it is reported that they attempted to ambush the Imperial forces.”

It feels like the words ‘Emperor Leon Bonnard’ have been omitted.

Judging from the emotional tone of the confusion when the Emperor was mentioned, it was clear that things were not going well between Den Brown and Leon Bonnard. Nevertheless, Den Brown was prioritizing the Empire.

“The actions of the Holy Kingdom in Southeast Asia, no matter what the reason, were acts that violated the sovereignty of sovereign nations. The subsequent efforts to stabilize the political situation by sending in security forces and holding elections also appear to be nothing more than actions to establish a pro-Holy Kingdom regime.”

How should we interpret the idea in international relations of forcibly overthrowing a country’s government and then holding new elections?

“Why do you think the balance is broken in Southeast Asia, leading to a chain of armed conflicts and wars? In my opinion.”

“······.”

“I think it’s because of the Holy Kingdom.”

“······.”

What entered the narrow, curved eyes of Gi-sun was a deepening color.

‧

‧

‧

Dan Brown watched the Holy Kingdom delegation’s airship depart in a hurry.

[Prime Minister. Are you thinking of just sending him away?]

“······.”

Bernard Green, also known as Kim Ki-soon, is a young man who holds considerable weight in the policy-making and diplomatic aspects of the Holy Kingdom.

He is believed to be an old friend of Vladimir Kalin, and is actually the one who holds the two axes of power together with Kim Yang.

While Kim Yang was in charge of the military forces of the Holy Kingdom, Ki Sun was in charge of the internal affairs and diplomacy of the Holy Kingdom.

[His Majesty the Emperor has ordered that any important figures from the Holy Kingdom be detained.]

“If they want to have an armed conflict with the other side or an all-out war, then that’s okay. But no.”

If Gi-sun had been taken hostage and detained or removed, it could have caused great chaos in the Holy Kingdom. Instead, it would have been the beginning of an all-out war, and the Empire was not yet capable of handling it.

Knowing that, wasn’t the Emperor trying to neutralize Vladimir Kalin? The Holy Kingdom had a population of over 5 million, and at least 20% of them were skilled soldiers.

‘With the Hunter economy running, the number of people skilled in fighting mutant monsters is approaching 1 million.’

Compared to the Empire, their population was less than a tenth of theirs, but in terms of manpower, they were on par with the Empire’s. Furthermore, considering that the Holy Kingdom could control animals and insects, an all-out war was out of the question.

‘But if an important person comes, you want me to take them hostage?’

It was an all-out war, and it was uncertain whether the sea city could withstand it. Even if they used strategic nuclear weapons, it would be mutual destruction at best.

‘The Emperor has lost his mind…’

My whole mind was sold to divinity.

‘If we can’t stop the Emperor’s tyranny anyway, Vladimir Kalin…’

Den Brown was conflicted about how the empire could survive, unaware that Ki-soon had glimpsed his feelings.

‧

As soon as he got on the airship, Ki-sun’s half-moon-shaped eyes became wide open.

“Raise it to the highest altitude.”

[Ascending altitude.]

“Stealth deployment. Returning at top speed.”

[Stealth deployment. Accelerate to top speed. Destination: Vladislav Tower.]

A sudden rise. Only after feeling the sudden acceleration did Ki-sun let out the sigh he had been holding back and shook his head. I thought that if it was that old man, he would be neutral.

However, the color of the emotions that fluctuated rapidly was closer to restraint than neutrality, and sometimes even mixed with hostility.

‘Hostile. Crazy. What’s the problem? Is it because we lost the Southeast Asian market? It’s not even a check, it’s hostility?’

Even if the Emperor seized military power, did I misjudge the idea that it wouldn’t escalate into a great war without the supply support of Ajai Den?

‘Even if we’re enemies, I don’t think we want war. Dan Brown isn’t the type of person to think about a big war or an all-out war.’

That was certain. So what was that feeling? It was definitely a contradictory feeling.

“Damn. Erica should have been there.”

If it was psychometry, it would have been possible to read the situation clearly. In this complex situation, inference based on emotions was too uncertain.

‘When Maru was mentioned, negative emotions definitely swayed.’

Ki-soon carefully replayed her conversation with Dan Brown and her emotional changes.

‘There was a strong sense of neutrality when referring to the Empire and the Holy Kingdom.’

Ironically, whenever the Emperor of the Empire was mentioned, the emotions were as great as when Maru was mentioned.

what?

Leon Bonnard and Maru create almost the same feelings?

Information was disassembled and reassembled in Ki-sun’s head.

The situation in Southeast Asia and the sinkhole monsters that have dug into southern Korea. And the emotions of Dan Brown and the Imperial troops guarding the conference room are mixed.

No matter how much I think about it.

I couldn’t understand how the negative feelings towards the Emperor could be similar to those when Maru was mentioned.

If···.

Just in case.

What if Leon Bonnard and Mr. Den are in a serious conflict?

In a situation where the Emperor is divided into the pro-war and anti-war factions, what if he tries to do something alone? What would he try to achieve by doing something?

What if you were to force the old man in charge of supply into the battlefield? What method would you use? There would have to be some kind of trigger.

beep—-

Beep beep beep—-

[Hypersonic missile confirmed. Passing by.]

bang!

The proximity fuse exploded, sending shrapnel flying in all directions. The optical module was hit by shrapnel and its stealth paint was peeled off.

Beep beep beep–

The warning sound grew louder, indicating that the target had been re-targeted.

[Reduced stealth performance.]

[Optical module function stopped. Switching to shield.]

[Imperial stratospheric airship confirmed.]

[Imperial airships are targeting this direction.]

“Hack it!”

Ki-sun immediately grasped the situation.

If I die like this, it will only be a case of dog killing and an excuse for all-out war.

[Hacking failed.]

[It appears that an electronic warfare agent has boarded the enemy airship.]

Beep beep beep—-

The warning sound and emergency lights indicating that they had been targeted confused Ki-sun’s mind.

[Naruz fighter jets take off.]

[Drone interceptor sortie.]

[Imperial airship launches hypersonic missile.]

Drones launched from the airship that Ki-soon was on formed a swarm and blocked the trajectory of the hypersonic missile.

Quadddd—

After a series of blasts that rumbled like a bullet piercing a bunch of eggs, the warhead of the hypersonic missile that pierced the drone struck Kisun’s airship.

Kwarung-

The translucent shield shook and the hull rocked violently from side to side.

[Shield lost. It takes 7 seconds to restart.]

[Enemy carrier-based aircraft engage the Naruz squadron.]

The Empire also had fighter jets mounted on airships?

Beep beep beep-

The damned high notes rose again.

“Fuck! Fight back!”

[Aim the main gun.]

[firing.]

The railgun’s trajectory intersected with a hypersonic missile, and the sky lit up.

======

======

Boom- Boom-

Kwakwakwang–

South Korean forces poured their firepower into the frozen sea to prevent further sinkhole monsters from coming from Kyushu, Japan.

[Chijijijik- Bypassing the monster.– Chijijijik-]

[Chijiiik- Additional bombardment required.- Chiiik–]

Maru looked at the status board and was convinced. The sinkhole monster’s movements were clearly being guided or controlled by something.

“Do you know where the monster is going? Do you know the direction?”

[Chijijik – Simulation prediction results, Chijijik appears in the direction of Daegu or Gumi.]

Maru suddenly raised his head.

Regardless of the K-9’s smoke, the sky was ashen.

The clouds that had spread only to the waters off Japan had now reached the waters off Busan.