Rust - Chapter 160



Only Krnovel

RUST -160

In the new year, Japan was hit by heavy snowfall, a cold wave, and even aftershocks, causing constant chaos.

[Japan has turned into a white hell.]

[It snowed along the coast with temperatures 4 degrees lower than the average for this time of year.]

[Volcanic ash, dust, and smoke from volcanic eruptions are among the causes of blocking sunlight···]

[Scientists are concerned that the Earth’s energy circulation system itself may be collapsing.]

[Here’s the sad news: refugees are rioting again in Japan.]

[So far, there have been three riots. What caused them?]

[Because everything is so poor. People keep gathering in a situation where there is a shortage of necessities for survival such as electricity, food, and winter clothing, so there are constant fights over it.]

[As the troops sent to rescue American soldiers and civilians stranded in the hospital became the de facto rear units responsible for the livelihoods and security of Japanese refugees, the United Nations began a meeting on the agenda of whether to send a peacekeeping force to Japan.]

[Among the permanent members, Russia and China have stated that they will oppose the dispatch of peacekeeping forces to Japan. Why is that?]

[The Chinese and Russian representatives said that they could not help but feel deep regret over the disaster in Japan, but emphasized the principle that there must be clear standards for sending UN peacekeeping forces.]

[The Chinese representative, who most strongly opposed the idea, said that if Japan is going to send peacekeeping forces because it has suffered a major disaster, it should first explain why it has never sent peacekeeping forces to other countries that have suffered disasters.]

[But aren’t there other countries that are criticizing China from different perspectives?]

[Britain and Australia have commented that China’s opposition is political and malicious. The current active earthquakes and volcanic eruptions show that the Pacific Ring of Fire is the center of the volcanic belt.]

[···There is a claim that China is overreacting in order to rule out the possibility of a movement to dispatch UN forces, citing Japan’s example, in the event of a large-scale disaster in Taiwan.]

[It is unfortunate. There is also an analysis that the reason for such bold opposition is that the Japanese representative’s remarks have effectively lost credibility. What do you think?]

[As you said, it is difficult to see the current Japanese representative as representing the Japanese government. This is because the Japanese government disappeared due to the great disaster. It is true that even the provisional disaster government that was re-established collapsed, and the Japanese representative’s speaking power has weakened.]

[There is talk that there is no movement toward forming a central government in Japan. What is going on?]

[Yes. Each region is currently pursuing its own survival. This is because there is no central focus after the collapse of the provisional government. This is the current situation of each region···]

Refugees have been flocking to areas where US troops are stationed, riots have erupted, and have been violently suppressed three times already.

Over 10,000 American troops were being supplied. And nearly 200,000 refugees had gathered around them. Violence broke out at any moment. The violence spread and suddenly turned into a mob. The situation was getting worse.

“How many casualties were there this time?”

“The number of casualties reported so far exceeds 2,300.”

“What about casualties on our side?”

“There are 87 people.”

During the three riots, nearly 200 soldiers were killed or injured. The riots were gradually growing in scale. The number of refugees who had gathered around the base was over 200,000. If another riot broke out, the situation could be very serious.

“It’s frustrating. Why aren’t they listening to the warning shots… Are we reenacting the Pacific War? The refugees are charging at us with their banzai weapons? What on earth is the reason?”

“I think it might be the aftereffects of being infected with a mutated coronavirus, as reported.”

“That damn Corona! If that was the problem, everyone would be freaking out!”

“It seems that there are people who get infected, people who get infected but don’t show any symptoms, and people who don’t get infected easily.”

“Whew- Okay- Okay. So the refugees who are rioting are infected with that damn virus, are crazy and just leave?”

“If we consider the current situation and information, then yes.”

When naturalized Japanese citizens said that people infected with the mutated coronavirus had become violent, experts said that was highly unlikely.

He said that the idea that a virus, not a drug, could affect someone in that way was beyond fiction and was closer to a fantasy.

There was no evidence, only testimony. Experts laughed at the idea that the coronavirus was the culprit driving people crazy.

‘While we’re at it, why don’t we say that Corona is a zombie virus?’

And now, it has been revealed that the testimony that experts laughed at is not something to be laughed off.

“This is driving me crazy. Prevent the unit members from coming into contact with the refugees and conduct PCR tests on all of them.”

“four!”

“Anyone who is infected should be quarantined immediately. Contact the medical and biochemical units and have them prepare a plan.”

“four!”

“And. Let the refugees know. If there’s violence or a riot, if you approach the unit, regardless of age or gender, we will shoot you with live ammunition. I hope you’re not crazy, but if you come near the unit, we will shoot you after a warning broadcast and warning shots. Don’t wait until they come near unarmed, and don’t shoot their arms or legs. Just shoot them right away.”

If the mutant coronavirus had caused him to go crazy, there was no room for reconsideration.

“What happened to the assault unit that went to the stolen hospital? Have you heard anything yet?”

“The current wireless communication range is only about 4 miles.”

“The wireless communication range is only 6km? Even though it snowed so much and the air is quite clear? It’s hard. What on earth is going on in the stolen hospital that you still can’t get in?”

“After analyzing the footage brought by the contact, it was revealed that they were engaging in combat with humanoid lifeforms.”

“A humanoid creature? How absurd.”

“······.”

If you’re human, you’re human. What are you trying to do, humanoid lifeform?

Is this true?

Absurd testimony that there is a mutant that evolves by eating human brains and hearts?

‘Fucking experts. This is a fucking situation.’

A white star twinkled on the hat he had left on the table. The brigadier reached out and touched the star on his hat. He could feel the cool texture on his rough fingertips.

There was no trace of the giant wheel. Neither was there a flock of birds that had attacked like mad, nor was there any unidentified black monster.

That’s what the experts thought. It’s possible that only cockroaches or rodents grew larger due to the influence of a virus, but a virus that affects insects, rodents, birds, and even humans?

And that it causes physical mutations this quickly? A virus that makes rats grow to the size of dogs? Is this a movie? Do you think something like that could exist in reality? That was my position. It was also common sense.

But then a giant rat appeared.

They said it was impossible, but there was a coronavirus that drove people crazy. There was even footage of what was suspected to be a variant that could eat human brains.

Can we now assert that there are no cockroaches, birds, or unidentified black monsters? Assuming that there are, what should we do now?

“Provide biochemical warfare and radiological warfare equipment. Put the special armored corps on standby.”

The US military began to seriously discuss withdrawal.

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Detroit. Building construction site.

The building houses important facilities such as a supercomputer, an emergency server center, and a small nuclear power plant, and security has been strengthened as it is an important facility from a national perspective.

Maru walked towards the control room with the hood.

‘I don’t have to worry about security.’

Under the pretext of security, Homeland Security agents and police officers are stationed around the construction site. After construction is complete, many of them will be transformed into security guards and settle in.

I could understand. Why would he give it to me without any hesitation? He would use the excuse that he gave it to me, or that it was for security reasons. There must have been a reason why he readily handed it over.

Whatever the reason, it’s a give and take. You just have to keep the line moderately. If they come out without an answer, wouldn’t it be okay to just be nice and do a good job?

As I held the handle of the knife, my nerves that had been sharpening began to calm down little by little.

‘They’re all like that.’

After going through various incidents, Maru has become more relaxed. With Hood joining, he no longer has to worry about wiretapping, hidden cameras, or CCTV.

The fact that he could move freely without worrying about what others thought, and that he could just cut it down and cover it up, helped Maru act leisurely.

“That. That. That.”

“? that?”

You must have seen it coming on the CCTV. The hood creaked as Maru entered the control room.

“That… that result is out.”

“in result?”

“That’s it. I mean, the blood I sent to the lab under the Centers for Disease Control. Here’s the content.”

Maru checked the contents on the monitor.

‘It’s written in a complicated way.’

There were too many technical terms. The diagrams and experimental results were difficult to understand. I turned the page, checking only the ones I could clearly understand.

Ms. Kim was infected. The virus was cultured from a sample collected from Ms. Kim and injected into a laboratory mouse, and a part of the mouse’s brain was degenerated. Analysis showed that self-control was significantly weakened.

It was a similar conclusion to the data I saw at the stolen hospital. Fortunately, there was a large difference depending on the experimental subjects. When 100 rats were tested, 86 rats completely lost self-control or caution, 12 rats had weakened self-control and caution, and 2 rats were not affected by the virus.

It was difficult to match it to humans, but it was important to note that there were mice that were not affected by the virus, and that there were quite a few cases where they did not completely lose their self-control and caution.

“What were the results for you and the nurse?”

“It didn’t work.”

Fortunately, Maru continued to read the data. The research showed that the infection was strong at the beginning, but gradually decreased over time.

Let’s say a person is infected with a mutated coronavirus. The virus that initially multiplied during the infection is highly contagious and can be transmitted to others through the air or droplets. However, as time passes, the contagiousness begins to weaken, and at some point, it almost completely loses its contagiousness.

‘Is this possible?’

It was a situation that was beyond common sense. So what would happen if we had a long-term lockdown? Maybe that was the only way to stop the spread of the virus.

‘China knew something.’

If you look at China’s response to the virus before it mutated, it was definitely like that. Data showing that the parts where drugs and viruses work are similar. Results showing that the forms that mutate are similar.

There were results that were difficult to understand with Maru’s common sense. It felt like running towards a cliff right in front of me. The research was rushing towards a place where it had to stop, but couldn’t.

[Additional bio-experiments are required on this matter.]

···

···

[By securing the original virus]

···

···

[Improving motor skills, controlling reflex activation···]

···

···

[Dispatch PMC to Japan to collect unofficial samples.]

···

···

[Need to secure infected people.]

[Need to secure mutated infected individuals.]

Maru said to Hood.

“You didn’t get caught for this?”

“Yes. Yes.”

“Can you blow up the samples we sent you?”

“Oh. You’re blowing it away···”

“Discard the sample or blow away its contents so that it cannot be identified.”

“Yes. It is possible.”

“Okay, let’s do that. I got the supercomputer, but it doesn’t meet the specifications you gave me.”

“No, it’s okay.”

“I heard that the process for getting a new one is complicated and takes a long time, so I decided to get the one used in the metaphysics lab. There seems to be some program errors, but I’ll have it delivered tomorrow, so check it out.”

“Thank you.”

Hood, who had been expressing his gratitude, shrugged his shoulders slightly.

‘Samantha. Finally.’

‘···Our dream···We are Samantha.’

Hood’s shoulders, which had been trembling slightly, began to shake. Feeling like he was about to cry, Maru left the place and sneaked outside.

Maru, whose thoughts were complicated in many ways, made a phone call on the way back to the hotel.

[The phone is off, so it goes to voicemail···]

Ki-soon called me once to say she arrived in Korea, and then there was no contact since. I didn’t get a reply when I texted her either.

‘It’ll be a month soon. Should I go and see this?’

As Maru walked down the hotel hallway, a faint engine noise was heard from inside the room.

Wheeeeeeeeing-

Across the door, something was moving.

Srrrrrrrr-

The sight seen as Maru carefully opens the door, his sword still drawn in pitch darkness.

Squeak- squeak-

Wheeeeeeeeing-

Wheein- Wheein-

Miss Kim was flustered.