Rust - Chapter 148



Only Krnovel

RUST -148

Detroit was bustling and vibrant.

As the sun set and the sky darkened, shouts of Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and the sound of gunfire began to fill the streets, breaking the silence.

Bang! That’s right!

The sound of a rifle being fired in response to a shotgun.

Tadadadadada!

A loud explosion that seemed to tell everyone to shut up.

bang!!

Oh? Looks like someone threw a grenade.

It was a deserted house in a remote place, with flames blazing brightly, as if they had made a campfire there. So, it had the kind of atmosphere where you’d think someone would shoot someone if they happened to pass by.

“It wasn’t like this a few days ago. Is this how it’s usually like this?”

“Well… Detroit is a little bit like that at the end of the year.”

The Homeland Security agent driving the car answered, sweating profusely.

Bam! Bam!

Cars honked their horns at the car Maru and his party were riding in. Cars flashed their lights on and off as they passed by quickly.

“Why are those people doing that?”

“I thought it was a government vehicle, so I thought so.”

“How do you know it’s a government vehicle?”

“The license plate is like that, and even if it’s not a license plate, most vehicles that look like this are used by government agencies.”

“It’s amazing in many ways.”

Is there something piling up in the government? I heard rumors that the neighborhood was rough, so I chose it, but it was a bit more active than I expected.

It was only dark for a short time, but the road was very deserted. It was only 7 or 8 in the evening, so Maru, who was looking out the window, smiled without realizing it. The employee added to the story, wondering what he thought of that smile.

“It’s like that here, but the downtown area is fine. The night view is nice too.”

“Ah. Yes.”

“It’s really gotten a lot better. It was dangerous even 7 or 8 years ago. It was really serious back then.”

A gunshot rang out loudly, as if to tell people not to laugh.

Ta-da-da-da!

Bang! Bang! That’s right!

Firecrackers exploded in the sky along with the sound of gunfire.

Boom! Boom!

A bright burning flame shot up into the sky and exploded.

“You look fine now. You look energetic.”

“Oh. Is that so? Ha. Ha.”

In response to Maru’s answer, the employee who had been wiping away the cold sweat quietly drove.

“We have arrived.”

As soon as the staff dropped off their luggage at the hotel entrance, they hurriedly got into the car.

“Thank you for your effort.”

“Okay. That’s it.”

He seemed to be in a hurry, driving a black van and driving back. He seemed to be very busy.

“What are you doing?”

“···Ughhhhhh!!! Wait a minute.”

Whether people were watching or not, Ms. Kim grabbed a bag and summoned all her body strength to attempt a deadlift.

“?”

“Eeeeeeeeeeeet···. Ah- This isn’t working.”

Miss Kim, who failed the second attempt, made a proud expression. ‘It’s so-so-heavy.’ That kind of expression? Maru was dumbfounded.

Through that brief moment of silence, a small motor noise was heard. Maru glanced in the direction of the noise and saw that the CCTV was facing this way.

‘Since you’re making such a lot of noise in front of the hotel, did security check?’

“Okay, so don’t block the path for people to walk and get out of my way.”

“Hehehehe. Be careful of your back.”

Ms. Kim laughed heartily, wondering what was so good about it.

As Maru lifted the bags from the cart and put them down in the elevator, a heavy thud was heard.

One. Two. Three. In a continuous, heavy sound.

Beep beep beep-

The elevator beeped an overload warning. Regardless, Ms. Kim just laughed.

The CCTV installed in the elevator was quietly filming the scene. So, from outside the entrance, to the hallway, and to the elevator. It felt like it was constantly being watched.

Maru felt a little irritated for some reason.

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As soon as she entered the hotel room, Ms. Kim grabbed a bag and tried to go into her room, but fell forward. Ms. Kim made a strange sound, “Ako,” and grabbed her waist and laughed heartily.

“I told you to watch your back?”

“It’s okay.”

Maru shook his head, wondering where he was selling his mind.

“Welcome back.”

The nurse greeted me with a face that had become much haggarder in just a few days.

“Uh. Has anything happened so far?”

“Yes. I only stay at hotels…”

I was just staying at the hotel, so what kind of a sight did you get from working day and night?

“Oh. Your face looks really hurt, but does it hurt anywhere?”

“Yes. Your face? No, it’s okay.”

While the nurse and Maru were greeting each other, Ms. Kim opened the zipper of her bag that she had been biting hard. As she opened the zipper with a cheerfulness like a chef cutting open a tuna belly, her eyes turned yellow.

Kim Yang’s body began to tremble as if she had been shocked, and then her shoulders began to shake.

Hehehehehehehehehehe

Miss Kim couldn’t hold it in anymore and screamed. The nurse who heard her scream went towards Miss Kim in surprise.

“Where does it hurt?”

“no···.”

Even though her eyes were watering and her nose was running, Kim Yang’s gaze was fixed on one spot. The place where Kim Yang, sobbing, was staring at. The nurse also followed Kim Yang’s gaze and moved her eyes.

Sigh-

The bag was filled with gold bars. The nurse froze at the sight of the gold bars.

‘What is it? What is it? What are these people? They came with gold.’

And the bags that caught the nurse’s eye…? They weren’t bags, they were ‘bags’.

Heeeeek

The nurse was also shivering.

Kim Yang, who made a bed frame out of gold bars and a mattress out of cash, spent the whole night going crazy and only fell asleep when the sun rose. The nurse who was looking after her saw her off with bleary eyes.

“Okay. Just sleep.”

Maru felt unfamiliar with having someone see him off like this. He could have just left, but he insisted on following him, so he felt a bit awkward.

“No, I’m not. Have a nice day.”

“It’s okay since Miss Kim is here, but please don’t open the door. Okay?”

“yes.”

Maru looked at Kim Yang, who had a good fortune. Still, she looked much better than when he first saw her.

“then.”

As I came out into the hallway, I heard a squeaking sound. A small motor sound. The CCTV was facing this way.

‘The security team here works day and night···.’

What is there to see that makes you only look this way…? Are you only looking here? Surveillance? Why? Maru’s eyes became sharp.

Hotel lobby front.

Maru made a complaint to the staff.

“Does the security team here control the CCTV to observe people?”

“Yes? Dear Sir, our hotel uses CCTV that operates automatically to protect the personal information of our customers. I think there is some misunderstanding.”

“You’re saying people aren’t watching?”

“Yes, sir. The security team will only be dispatched if they are contacted. The security team cannot arbitrarily control the CCTV or anything like that.”

“Okay, I understand.”

“Thank you. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me at any time.”

Then what was the CCTV movement yesterday and today? Maru felt uneasy.

It was about a 10-minute walk from the hotel I was staying to the building under construction. It was a short distance that I could get to in less than 10 minutes if I walked a little faster.

‘It was a good decision to leave it to the Department of Homeland Security.’

If we hired someone else to do it, it would have taken a long time, but with the Department of Homeland Security supervising the construction, progress was definitely faster. Even now, large construction equipment and hundreds of workers were filling the construction site.

The building was used as an exhibition hall from the first to the fifth floor, so there were many areas to take care of. The most important defensive measure was to build a wall on the outside to prevent access to the building.

To achieve this, containers were stacked, one side was blocked with containers, and formwork and rebar were placed on the outer part to create a reinforced concrete wall.

This way, the container door can be opened from the inside, allowing the container to be used as a warehouse, while the outside has reinforced concrete walls, making it sturdy. The combination of reinforced concrete containers seems to be durable while saving on materials.

“This will make the wall nearly 12 feet thick. Is it really necessary to do this?”

The combined thickness of the 2.5m container and 1m thick reinforced concrete wall was over 3.5m.

“If it’s over 12ft, that means it’s roughly 3.6m thick?”

“Yes? It’s 3.66m, so yes.”

The floor was a pity. I wanted to make it over 10m thick, but that would have been very complicated. The ground work had to be redone, and the entire basement had to be turned over.

“How was the exterior solar film work?”

“It is attached to 3 of the 10th to 25th floors, excluding the north-facing ones.”

“Is there enough power?”

“Even solar film alone is enough to generate a decent amount of electricity.”

Internal construction was also underway, including a food production facility including a smart farm, a plastic recycling facility, and even a steelworks with a small electric blast furnace.

“When will the construction be finished?”

“Because of the supply issues for materials that overlap with the holiday season starting tomorrow, we will probably have to complete the interior design by April of next year.”

It definitely felt slower than Korea. It couldn’t be helped because the laborers left work at 5 o’clock in Detroit.

“Okay, just a moment.”

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, a call from the Director of Homeland Security.

“yes.”

[Additional cooperation letter from Virginia···]

Is Virginia overflowing with money? The building construction cost, the equipment that will be put inside, and the additional items to be stored, will be enormous. Are you trying to put it in a place where it will die? If it dies, it will be like nothing happened? Maru answered immediately.

“I have no thoughts.”

[···Let’s hear the story first?]

A sharp exaggerated reaction. Has the tone changed? This old man was sharp, but he wasn’t that kind of old man. Maru nodded. He didn’t like it. Since last night, the CCTV and everything else were really uncomfortable.

“Yeah.”

[···Ha. Sorry. I guess I was a little sensitive. The commander of the rescue team dispatched to Japan this time is my cousin, so I was a little impatient.]

“Japan?”

[It is not certain because the satellite communication was cut off in the middle, but since it is directly related to national security, it is a situation where additional rescue teams must be deployed, and it is said that the possibility of rescue will increase if someone familiar with the local situation in Japan goes from Virginia···.]

Maru was dumbfounded. If it was something important enough to bring up national security, shouldn’t they be gathering all the special forces and going?

“I won’t go to Japan. And if it’s something that directly affects national security….”

There was a slight disconnection in the middle of the call as there was some noise. The head of the Department of Homeland Security must have sensed it too, because he became quiet.

[···Is this communication security?]

“Do you understand me?”

[··· I will contact you again.]

“I have no intention of going to Japan.”

Stop-

Since this is about communication security, does that mean they’re being wiretapped? Maru’s senses have become sharper.

“Then please take care of it.”

“yes.”

Maru greeted the on-site supervisor and walked toward the hotel. The CCTVs on the street were moving little by little and facing him. Yes, very subtle movements. Things that were motorized and could move were facing him.

Yeah- Yeah-

A phone call from Ms. Kim.

“why?”

[Uh- um- there’s a black van across from the hotel.]

“What? What happened to the van?”

[It was there when we came yesterday. It’s still there now.]

Kim Yang habitually looked around, so the black van that was there all day was annoying.

“What does it look like?”

[The one we rode in? It looks exactly like that one?]

Kim Yang’s words made the floor boil. Surveillance? I don’t know who the hell it was, but it felt like surveillance. It couldn’t be the Department of Homeland Security. Then maybe the Virginia Department of Investigation or the FBI?

Okay, let’s just settle this. Once we settle this, the Department of Homeland Security will take care of the cleanup.

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A pitch-black blade began to slowly cut through the side of the van.

Ki-ki-ki-ki-ki-ki-ki—–

The cracking sound of metal plates splitting, as if a living creature were screaming.

Heeeeeeeeeeek!!!

A bizarre scream of unknown gender was heard from inside, but Maru continued to cut without even blinking.

The blade slowly began to cut into the side of the van. A trembling voice shouted something from inside.

“Door··· Door··· Door!”

door?

“I’ll open the door!”

What the heck!

Kwajijijijik-

The blade that cut through the long belly of the van swung horizontally and vertically.

A van with holes in it. The inside, full of electronic equipment, was exposed like tripe. In one corner, a small man wearing a hood and mask was frozen in place.

“What are you?”

“I···work for the government.”

“So where?”

The black blade lightly scratched Hood’s Adam’s apple and then went toward his arm. If he cut it cleanly, he could reattach it. As the blade rose, Hood screamed. The voice modulator was torn apart. Hood shouted. Maru heard that and put the blade away.

“Okay. Come out first.”

Maru dragged his hood and headed to the hotel.