Rust - Chapter 1032



Only Krnovel

RUST [RUST]-1032

The trailer for Part 2 was released with the meaningful words, “See you again in Part 2.”

The main content started with ‘Why Prime Minister Dan Brown is invisible’, then ‘The Imperial military and parliament suddenly preparing for nuclear war’, ‘The upper echelons of the Empire starting to smuggle all key equipment to the sea city’, and finally ‘The truth about the Empire’, followed by short videos.

[······.]

[······.]

[······.]

“······.”

Ki-soon, Hood, Na-ju-yeon, and even Maru were all shocked by PD’s overwhelming broadcast. The one who broke the quiet silence was Ms. Kim.

[So when is part 2 coming out?]

Hood said to Ms. Kim, who had an expression that said, ‘I’m really curious.’

[Aren’t you worried?]

[What are you worried about?]

[How the Empire will react.]

[Huh- Do you have the presence of mind to do that?]

Kim Yang looked at Unit 2 with a pitiful look. Unit 2’s life was also difficult.

It was a life where she lost her parents and all her friends while digging up the truth hidden by those in power, and she almost ended up as a charcoal grill herself.

I understand that you are worried that the powers that be in the empire will do something crazy, given what has happened.

[So you’re worried that the Empire will do something crazy to divert people’s attention? That’s what you’re worried about. That’s only possible when there are only a few people who know about it. If you expose it like that, it’s hard to do anything.]

[Wouldn’t that be more dangerous? They’d try to create a bigger incident to get people’s attention.]

Kim Yang blinked at Hood’s words.

[What could be greater than the death of an emperor in an empire? What could be greater than the annihilation of at least 300,000 troops?]

[······.]

It was a situation where I could become food for a pack of rats at the moment of ‘Oops’. I didn’t know that I could be blown up by a ‘Hello’ bomb dropped by a crow while I was out. Could there be anything more important than that?

Ki-soon nodded with a serious expression.

[PD, that’s typical of an old man. He practically paralyzed the empire with one broadcast.]

The Empire was still a free-for-all. If it were revealed that they had hidden the annihilation of over 300,000 troops, their families and friends would not just sit by and do nothing.

“Yes. The elite soldiers’ families and relatives have moved into the maritime city, so the maritime city will be neutralized.”

If the voices demanding the truth are not answered, it will escalate into violence. Naturally, the Imperial military and parliament will be in a state of panic.

[That’s right. The news of the Emperor’s death must be hard to bear. I heard that even Mr. Den was executed for attempting to assassinate the Emperor.]

But Na Ju-yeon was suspicious of Dan Brown’s death.

[Could Dan Brown have died that easily?]

“Are you saying that the hacking information was disrupted?”

[That may be true, but Dan Brown was the one who pushed for the cloning plan.]

“······.”

[And Chairman Joseph Meyer, who competed with him, is also a person who actually used cloning in the form of ampoules. Isn’t it difficult to believe that Dan Brown, who saw it firsthand, didn’t prepare for it?]

Those who hunt monsters tend to resemble monsters, and those who walk the abyss tend to be stained by the abyss. Could it be that Den Brown, who wanted to mass-produce his main force using clones, created his own clones? Could it be that he was executed so easily for trying to assassinate the Emperor? Really?

“That’s certainly true. It was premature to assume that it was true based solely on the information that Dan Brown had been executed.”

[Yes. So there are issues that we need to think about again.]

The person who could best understand the topic that Na Ju-yeon was talking about was Ki-sun, because he himself was a clone.

[Not only Den Ajay, but there could be a clone of Emperor Leon Bonard?]

[yes.]

[Huh- So you’re saying the dead emperor might be a clone?]

Maru shook his head.

“That’s not it. The one I killed in the Indonesian volcanoes was definitely Emperor Leon Bonard. Judging by his unique abilities and his obsession with life, there’s no way he could have been a clone.”

The Emperor’s unique ability is an ability, but there’s no way that a high-ranking vampire could be a clone who’s accompanied him as a mercenary. A clone wouldn’t do something so ugly just to survive until the end, right?

Since he was a clone anyway, wouldn’t it have been better to have him die and be reborn as a new one? So there was a qualitative difference in the way he faced death between the clone and the original.

Even if you look at the current order, it was the same. In fact, the original order was already a discarded body. They kept talking nonsense like, “Let’s mass-produce them to run the administration efficiently,” and “If they die during negotiations, we can just pick a new one.”

The reason why we cannot help but think differently from the previous cycles even though we have become the original cycles is probably because something fundamental about life and death has changed.

[Yes. But···, we could counterattack by using the Emperor’s clone to show that the Emperor is alive.]

If there were clones, there would be a chance to cover up the emperor’s death and counterattack, as Na Ju-yeon said.

“······.”

[······.]

[······.]

[······.]

Ki-soon shook her head.

[No. I don’t know about Mr. Den, but I think there is no such thing as a clone of the Emperor.]

[Yes, if there was a clone of the Emperor, they would have made a statement using the clone Emperor right after the broadcast ended.]

Ki-soon and Hood did the same analysis.

[Hmm – How long would it take for the Empire to create an Emperor clone?]

[Even if we manufacture it quickly, it will take 35 to 40 days.]

Maru nodded at Na Ju-yeon’s answer.

“Considering that the Empire did not respond immediately to PD’s broadcast, it is clear that they do not have a clone of the Emperor or of Dan Brown.”

So, whether the Empire was going to start a nuclear war or try to move its seaborne cities across the Atlantic, they couldn’t do it like this.

“The Imperial military and the Senate will try to stall for time until they come up with a solution. In the meantime, we need to pressure the Empire to avoid making any wrong decisions.”

The confidence that the Imperial military and the Congress had in going to nuclear war and blowing up Yellowstone was shattered.

“It eliminates the mobility of maritime cities.”

Destroying a super-large sea city was problematic in many ways and physically difficult, but destroying its navigation equipment was entirely possible.

The current offshore city is as close to the coast as possible to facilitate supply. Could they threaten to detonate a nuclear weapon there?

“We’ll see if I can ask you to die together even if you can’t run away.”

At Maru’s command, the new submarine force of the Holy Kingdom set sail for the Empire’s maritime city.

And the next day, all the broadcast channels of the Empire began broadcasting an emergency press conference by Emperor Leon Bonnard.

[Dear citizens of the Empire. I···.]

Artificial intelligence Diana immediately responded to Emperor Leon Bonnard’s broadcast, which began with the announcement that he was alive and well.

[This is a synthetic image created using artificial intelligence technology.]

The Imperial military and parliament used artificial intelligence and supercomputers to create a composite image of the Emperor.

‧

[I was wondering how to kill time until the clone came out, and they made a composite video right away.]

Ki-soon stuck out her tongue.

[It would be useless, because the imperial citizens were originally American citizens.]

The PD analyzed the situation calmly. There were more people in the US who believed in conspiracy theories than expected. That was understandable, because many incidents that were dismissed as conspiracy theories were later revealed to be true, not conspiracy theories.

For example, the conspiracy theory that they conducted experiments on humans using syphilis bacteria was later proven to be true. The same was true of the US military, which won the Pacific War, acquiring the Japanese Empire’s biochemical warfare research data and creating a biochemical warfare unit.

It was later revealed that the girl’s testimony that triggered the Gulf War was false, and that the Gulf of Tonkin incident, which was the justification for going to the Vietnam War, was also fabricated.

That is why there were quite a few people who believed in conspiracy theories. And now the death of Emperor Leon Bonnard was no different. The majority of the Imperial citizens who were trained in conspiracy theories judged the Emperor’s emergency statement to be a fabrication.

(If the emergency statement video was real and not manipulated, a live press conference would have been held immediately.)

(An emergency statement is made a day late? Even if it was made on the same day, it would be too late. Why is it a day late?)

(According to the statement, the Holy Kingdom launched a preemptive strike against the Empire. Isn’t that funny? Why would the Holy Kingdom suddenly launch a preemptive strike against the Empire?)

(That’s right. The Holy Kingdom told us why the Empire attacked them first, but we haven’t told them why the Holy Kingdom attacked the Empire first.)

(Is it true that the Holy Kingdom unconditionally attacked the Empire?)

(You know what’s even funnier? The Holy Kingdom’s military could have directly attacked the entire Empire, but they only attacked the border areas and manufacturing facilities near Boston.)

One by one, people began to come forward to dissect and chew over the emergency statement. And what made the cracks even bigger was the stories of people whose relatives were in the occupied territories that appeared on the PD’s broadcast.

(I have a cousin who lives in Watertown, New York, and I’ve lost contact with him. If Watertown was overrun by the Holy Kingdom rats like the damn broadcast says…)

(My parents in Vermont aren’t answering their phones. They live in Burlington. What should I do? I told you the Holy Kingdom has taken over there too.)

And what gave credence to such stories were the posts made by families who currently have children and spouses serving in the military.

(I haven’t been able to contact my son. I haven’t been able to contact him for a week now. Command says they’re in the middle of an operation, but they haven’t given me an answer as to when it will end.)

(I haven’t heard from my husband who is said to have marched toward Kentucky. Even if I go to Kentucky myself, he says he is on a mission and I can’t meet him.)

The posts are piling up.

Growing discontent and distrust.

And the morale of the military begins to waver.

It was impossible to hide the fact that over 300,000 troops had suddenly disappeared.

(I know someone in the supply department who said that the amount of food going to the northern front has decreased significantly.)

(The amount of supplies that went into the southern defense line was also strange.)

(Stop writing, you idiot. Even the smallest things are considered military secrets.)

(Damn. It’s all nonsense.)

The traces of 300,000 people, not 30,000, were not something that could be hidden. In addition, the disappearance of the elite unit that went to Vietnam under the pretext of participating in the Vietnam War began to surface.

‘If the Emperor really died and the elite troops were annihilated as the Holy Kingdom broadcasted.’

‘What if the Empire had launched a preemptive strike against the Holy Kingdom and three Imperial legions had been annihilated?’

‘What if the story that the Emperor attempted to assassinate the King of the Holy Kingdom and was defeated instead is true?’

‘What if it’s true that the Imperial military and the Senate are plotting a nuclear war to cover up all this?’

Even people who didn’t believe the PD’s broadcast at first began to assume that the broadcast was true.

And breaking news poured in from all the broadcast channels.

[Attacked by the submarine of the Holy Kingdom of the Sea City!]

[A submarine believed to belong to the Holy Kingdom attacks the sea city!]

[There is no problem with the floating capacity of the maritime city.]

[Unable to sail due to massive damage. Built in a modular fashion. It could take at least 7-8 months, or even more than a year, to replace the modules.]

[Why did the Holy Kingdom attack the sea city?]

Just as breaking news was pouring in, all broadcast channels went black again.

Chijijijijiji—-

The magnificent background music that followed

HOLY HOLY HOLLYYY

[Hello. Before we start Part 2, let’s take a look at what happened today.]

A spotlight shone on the PD’s face.

[Let’s start with the reason why the Holy Kingdom destroyed the navigational capabilities of the Imperial Sea City.]

The PD spoke with a sincere and faithful voice.

[Because that was the only way to save the Empire.]

[You may wonder what that means. But think about it this way.]

[With the maritime city immobilized, the Imperial military and parliament were left without the option of nuclear war.]

[The moment you choose nuclear war, even maritime cities will be involved.]

[And were there any casualties in all those breaking news stories? No. Yes. Remember, there were no casualties.]

[The Holy Kingdom does not want war. If the Empire admits its past wrongdoings and apologizes, there will be no more wars that will only result in meaningless sacrifices.]

[Then let’s start part 2.]

[As previously announced, we will find out the truth as to why Prime Minister Dan Brown is not visible.]

With low, majestic background music, the face of Dan Brown came to mind. It was a picture with a speech bubble that said, “A man who dreamed of the revival of the empire and democracy.”

[From President to barbarian, and from barbarian to prime minister again, he was a man truly dedicated to the revival of the empire and democracy.]

The PD’s expression was extremely serious.

[With Emperor Leon Bonnard in charge of the military and Prime Minister Dan Brown in charge of the internal affairs, the Empire recaptured several states in a short period of time and effectively subdued the cannibals and mutant monsters that had escaped from the Confederacy.]

The main battle was summarized. The glorious victory. And then there were more victories. After a short series of images that would make even non-Imperials feel euphoric, the face of Emperor Leon Bonnard was shown in close-up.

[But the emperor, intoxicated with victory, began to ignore the prime minister’s advice.]

An audio recording of a phone conversation between Leon Bonnard and Dan Brown has been released.

[The emperor who bet with the money he earned by selling the empire. And the prime minister who loved the empire more than anything else. What was the ending?]

[We’ll start again shortly.]

SNS and portals are boiling over.

(Kill that bastard!)

(Just a moment. Just a moment.)

The imperial military and parliament were in a state of utter chaos.

“Can you stop that broadcast?”

“If only we had some fucking electronic warfare capabilities, it wouldn’t have come to this point, right?”

“What are our AI and supercomputers doing that they can just be hacked?”

“It would be dangerous if it were revealed that Dan Brown was executed.”

The Emperor’s death was somehow covered up by AI footage. There were doubts, but they could still be squashed. The Emperor was a sanctuary, and there was still faith in the Emperor.

But what about Dan Brown? What if, like the posts on SNS and portals, the devilish author who is broadcasting says, ‘Start a live press conference with Prime Minister Dan Brown right after this broadcast ends?’

“We must negotiate with the Holy Kingdom.”

“If the Holy Kingdom continues to broadcast like that, the empire will collapse from internal division.”