Rust - Chapter 1041



Only Krnovel

RUST [RUST]-1041

Those entangled in the plants were already dead. Considering the high temperature and humidity, it seemed like they had been dead for at least two days.

“Get some plant samples first.”

[The collecting drone descends.]

A drone descending toward a plant momentarily lost control and was about to crash, but its safety device activated and it soared into the sky.

[Bio-EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse) confirmed. Emergency response device activated, move out of area.]

An EMP from a nuclear explosion or EMP bomb would be a powerful but fleeting blast, like a flash of lightning followed by an EMP storm.

Biological EMP is created when mutated life forms gather together, and the higher the density, the stronger it becomes, and it continues to be created as long as they are gathered together.

In terms of games, the human EMP weapon is a strong active skill, but it is only momentary, while the EMP created by mutated monsters is a passive skill or an aura that has continuous properties?

In the case of animals, the intensity of the biological EMP would change dynamically depending on the density or movement, but now it was plants. They were gathered in one place and formed a colony.

Plants can’t change density dynamically, so they can’t instantly increase their density to create a strong bio-EMP like animals or insects. Instead, they can create a bio-EMP field that’s always active in a certain area.

This wasn’t surprising, as I had experienced a biological EMP field emitted by plants in Switzerland, but there was a crucial difference between then and now.

If at the time it was a biological EMP coming from a single giant tree and that mutated tree had no intention of being hostile to humans, then the plants here now are not like that.

“I guess I’ll have to see how they respond. First, check to see if they can communicate.”

[Initiate contact at drone limit range.]

They approached to a precarious distance outside the biological EMP field and began contact in various languages.

[No response to language.]

[Sending a signal via mental waves.]

The plants in Switzerland understood human language and responded with mental waves. But the plants here were different.

[No response to mental waves.]

“Are you ignoring me?”

[Not sure.]

“If you’re not sure, you should use a surefire method. Attack and see.”

[We will check the response.]

[Start with low-intensity attacks.]

It was an auxiliary AI that started with a 25mm machine gun as its primary weapon.

Shells passed through the jungle with the characteristic low, deep gunshots of the Holy Kingdom weapons. Regular bullets, incendiary bullets, armor-piercing bullets, and special bullets for monsters were fired in turn to check the jungle’s reaction.

The reaction experiment results showed that not all of the jungle had become mutated plants. Some plants had mutated, and they could only move their stems and leaves, not their central trunk or roots.

The assistant AI tested the mutant plants’ reactions using a variety of firearms and ammunition, including napalm, white phosphorus, and poison gas.

[Psychic waves confirmed in plants.]

As was the case in Switzerland, it was still surprising that psychic waves occurred in plants without brains.

[Mental wave pattern analysis completed. Pain. Similar pattern to anger.]

“Are you angry because you’re sick? That doesn’t matter. Just check to see if you have any weaknesses.”

[Attack to find weaknesses. Continue.]

[Rage towards the jungle. Painful mental waves spread.]

Look at this? Apparently, only a small portion of them were mutant plants that could move their stems and leaves, and they spread their psychic waves into the jungle?

why?

Would they have just spread the rumor for no reason? No, I don’t think so.

That means… I think it would be right to think that among plants that look like normal plants, there are some that can communicate with spirit waves.

Even if that weren’t the case, there was talk of using mental waves to communicate or induce some kind of action. This meant that even docile plants that didn’t directly attack people, like carnivorous plants, could react.

[Bio EMP field expands.]

As Maru had expected, the jungle reacted to the pain of the carnivorous plant. The bio-EMP field expanded in an instant. Being able to expand the bio-EMP field means that the range can be controlled.

It is said that the biological EMP field was expanded because it was painful.

“So you mean you ‘know’ that a bio-EMP can be ‘used as a weapon’?”

I guess they’re saying that they’re aware that they can damage human equipment. And the result is these people getting eaten.

[It is weak to napalm flames, but flame resistance has been confirmed in areas where a film of volcanic ash has formed.]

“It’s a part where volcanic ash and dust are mixed together···.”

That feels like a sinkhole monster. As the bio-EMP field expands, it becomes difficult to send out drones and androids to collect samples, so this is the limit of the experiment.

Because it was a biological EMP field, exosuits and core armor could not be used. It was dangerous to collect samples of the carnivorous plant while relying on bulletproof vests and combat suits.

Maru briefly considered going down and collecting samples himself, but shook his head. There was no point in going down to the jungle of carnivorous plants that had tasted humans and wasting energy.

[The most effective removal methods have been found to be direct attacks on the roots using chemical agents or burning the entire area using new napalm.]

“Now that we know the weaknesses, let’s continue on our way.”

[Ascending altitude. Leaving the ash and dust zone.]

[Stratospheric reconnaissance airship and geographic information linkage successful. Destination point confirmed. Flight commences.]

‧

The sky below was covered with dark gray clouds mixed with volcanic ash and dust. Occasionally, lightning flashed and thunder followed, shaking the atmosphere.

The new Indonesian government was not sure what they were thinking. They were hijacking grain ships en route to the Philippines. They were openly supporting the Philippine rebels, claiming they were on the same side.

‘Even if we try to set up a defensive line to move to the new capital, it’s going too far.’

Indonesia and the Philippines, which had allied with South Vietnam in the Vietnam Civil War, were on the same side. But what the new Indonesian government did was attack its own allies.

The Philippines, which had been attacked several times, was now launching retaliatory attacks on Indonesia by infiltrating units disguised as North Vietnamese special forces.

Maru’s eyes, which were checking the data, sank coldly. It was something that was generally incomprehensible, but it was possible when thinking about cannibals and vampires.

‘The new government was tainted from the start.’

If the new Indonesian government is a cannibal, a vampire follower, or something related to them, then the current situation has been completely interpreted.

Just like Indonesia, most of the Philippine special forces are probably capable. They’re probably trying to provoke the Philippines and bring in the Philippine special forces to swallow them up.

But in the middle, the situation is that the man-eating plant has eaten all the man-eating ghosts, Indonesian special forces, and Philippine terrorist units.

It seems that the cannibals and vampires who took over the new Indonesian government were trying to become stronger, but the fruits of their labor were intercepted by a man-eating plant.

‘I guess we should also consider non-combat losses as being due to plants.’

It meant that there was a jungle that had eaten up platoons and companies. In this situation, not being able to come to your senses and sending troops into the jungle of the Vietnam Civil War was the same as throwing soldiers as food to man-eating plants.

‘It feels dirty.’

I pushed for a cannibal government over the sinkhole closure issue, and now the newly elected government is also being called a cannibal government. It was a disappointing situation in many ways.

[Arrived in Surabaya, where the new government is located.]

The second largest city in Indonesia, after submerged Jakarta, was Surabaya.

“Check where the new government building is. Check when they gather.”

[All right.]

It took longer than expected for the assistant AI and Diana to figure out the new Indonesian government’s movements, as the electronic warfare agent neutralized the hacking in the middle.

[Indonesian forces are concentrated on the islands of Borneo (Kalimantan in Indonesia) and Sumatra. Based on the movement of supplies, it seems that they are planning to attack Malaysia and defend against an attack from the Philippines.]

“suddenly?”

You mean the same side? The capital of Malaysia was Kuala Lumpur. Although it was close to the island of Sumatra, there were no large ports in the direction of the Malay Peninsula.

“What about the ships? Are there any landing craft or other ships that have gathered near the island of Sumatra?”

[Not confirmed as of now.]

No matter how many troops were gathered, it was meaningless if there were no ships to transport them. Perhaps that was why Malaysia did not respond much. They were on the same side and there was no reason to worry since they were not going to cross the sea.

[It has been confirmed that the Indonesian troops in Sumatra are divided into two and on standby.]

One is facing Kuala Lumpur, and the other is near southwestern Singapore.

In front of the Indonesian troops deployed near Singapore, an archipelago of small islands spread out.

“What on earth are they doing? Gathering the new government kids? Haven’t they set a date yet?”

[Electronic warfare agents have completely sealed off the city hall and major buildings. Eavesdropping and hacking are difficult.]

Even the artificial intelligence Diana reported in a low voice, perhaps feeling frustrated.

“There’s nothing we can do. We’ll go down when there are as many of them as possible gathered in one place. Check the entrance and exit and let us know when there are the most of them.”

[All right.]

Several days passed while waiting like that. The Vietnam Civil War became more intense as time went on, and not only the northern and southern fronts, but also the Cambodian, Laotian, and Thai fronts were also on fire.

There was a fuss that the Philippines and Malaysia were also attacked, but in reality, it was Indonesian special forces poking around in Malaysia and the Philippines, which were on the same side.

Maru, who had some idea of ​​the situation going back to the stratospheric reconnaissance airship and hacking, stuck out his tongue.

“They’re crazy. Really.”

The Philippines responded quickly, perhaps because they had been hit so many times before, but Malaysia was suddenly taken aback by the sudden terrorist attack.

In the Philippines, they said the terrorist was Indonesian, but a mud fight ensued as Indonesia vehemently denied the accusation and the Philippines countered with claims that the perpetrator was actually from Indonesia.

South Vietnam was already in a state of shit, and it was heartbreaking to see those who were supposed to help and form an alliance doing stupid things among themselves.

South Vietnam, which thought this was the aftermath of the empire’s withdrawal, appealed to the empire, but the empire, which was in a truce (not a ceasefire) with the Holy Kingdom and had a complicated internal situation, rejected South Vietnam’s request.

Just when it seemed that the divided South Vietnamese alliance would be pushed back in this war of attrition, something unexpected happened. One night, when tropical rains were pouring down, the islands off the coast of Singapore were connected by a green bridge.

[Area of ​​ash and dust is spreading.]

On the night that the mysterious green bridge appeared, Mount Sinabung, the largest volcano on the island of Sumatra, began a violent eruption.

The volcano, which had been erupting gently, suddenly began a large-scale eruption. In an instant, the volcanic ash and dust that covered northern Sumatra covered the Indonesian military that was waiting.

[Missed the location of the Indonesian troops that were waiting.]

Report of the assistant artificial intelligence and

[Indonesian troops stationed in southern Sumatra. Movement confirmed under the pretext of heavy rain. They are advancing towards Singapore by crossing an unidentified bridge.]

A report from artificial intelligence Diana came up at the same time.

[Reconnaissance drone out of control near the green bridge. Communications lost. Confirmed to be a biological EMP.]

[Unidentified bridge. Confirmed to be a structure made of woven plants.]

[Volcanic activity is increasing across Indonesia.]

[Area of ​​volcanic ash and dust spread. Surface conditions cannot be observed.]

Beep-beep-beep-

Beep—

A sudden warning sound. It was a warning that a sinkhole monster was coming out of the sinkhole. The monitor screen was erased in an instant. The CCTVs that had been installed in various places were becoming unresponsive.

“Upload the entry/exit data.”

Maru checked the city hall entry data where the new government officials gathered. He was waiting to process the new government officials all at once, but the situation suddenly became a mess.

‘Go in.’

‘Go in.’

I don’t know how many people were there at first because of interference from the electronic warfare capabilities, but no one who entered the building came out.

‘You went in but didn’t come out?’

I don’t know how many new government personnel there are, but no one has come out for over ten days. When Maru checked the list of people who entered, the artificial intelligence Diana also checked the information again and found something strange.

[No food has been brought into the building in the last 30 days.]

The assistant AI also checked the data.

[Delivery from nearby restaurants has also been discontinued 32 days ago.]

The new government that took over Indonesia thought that they were provoking the Philippines to become stronger. So if the Philippines sent a force to respond, they would try to eat it.

But what if the new government was taken over by something other than cannibals or vampires?

“I’m going down now.”

Maru, wearing a ripper suit, entered the city hall.

‧

‧

‧

There was no one in the city hall.

Slurp-

It’s dark outside the window.

Occasionally, flashes of thunder and lightning and the sound of pouring rain filled the empty hall.

Maru, who had been moving like a shadow without making a single sound, slightly turned the doorknob of the central conference room. Creak- The unlocked door opened quietly with a squeak.

!

The huge conference room had been transformed into a small jungle. Plants sprouted from the corpses strewn about, swaying in the wind. There were people melting into nutrients in a nest filled with green.

Kirik- Kirik-

The roots that dig into the fingers that turn the dial.

And through the leaves that covered the whole face, a human voice was heard.