Rust - Chapter 242



Only Krnovel

RUST [RUST]-242

At the mention of coyote soup, Maru’s face took on a curious expression.

An expression that is neither crying nor laughing. For a moment, it is frozen like ice, and then it starts to tremble.

‘Baekjeong also has this kind of appearance?’

Something. Something. Hmm- Ms. Kim thought to herself.

Maru suddenly looked up at the ceiling and screamed.

“Diana! Our coyote soup!”

“Are you okay? Is this okay?”

Baekjeong’s reaction when he first saw him.

‘What is it?’

Why are you like this after eating so deliciously?

Oh? Is it because coyotes look like dogs?

Does that mean you were just pretending to know something while catching coyotes?

Hoot-

[···Calm down. Most viruses that infect animals are killed or rendered inactive when cooked at high temperatures of 100 degrees or higher for more than 30 minutes.]

[For example, there are research results showing that foot-and-mouth disease virus and avian influenza virus are harmless to humans when cooked at high temperatures for a long time.]

[It was confirmed that the coyote soup you had for lunch today was cooked over a period of two hours.]

[Further research is needed, but based on what is known so far, it appears there will be no problems.]

“Are you okay? Yeah, it’ll be okay.”

Kim Yang was wondering what was wrong with Maru, who seemed to have lost his mind and then came back, but the computer said it was okay. It wasn’t just any computer, it was a supercomputer artificial intelligence. So it was okay.

Because if you eat it deliciously, it all becomes blood and flesh.

huh.

Didn’t this go bad after eating it for no reason?

Then, it really felt like my stomach was starting to hurt, and that was how it was.

Maru, who had jumped up, went straight into the restaurant and boiled all the cooking utensils, and replaced everything that could not be boiled. Then, he banned the coyote meat that Kim had caught.

“why?”

Why that delicious meat? I hunted it with great effort.

“There is a hypothesis that mutant viruses may be moving through the food chain.”

“But why meat?”

‘A hypothesis is a hypothesis, and meat is meat. Why ban meat?’

‘No, don’t be so obsessed with meat. I bought a lot of beef.’

It was Ms. Kim who did not back down even under Maru’s gaze.

“Think about the mutants in Japan. The ones that eat hearts and brains. Later on, they grew bigger. I don’t know if the coyote grew because it was infected with the mutant virus and mutated, or if it grew because it ate something infected, but it grew anyway, right? So it grew because it was affected by the mutant virus, but did it really have to eat that?”

“You said it would be okay if AI was well-trained?”

A glance went back and forth between the two.

‘We already ate earlier so we’ve already digested it.’

‘Do I really have to eat something that makes me feel uncomfortable?’

The conversation started again as they didn’t back down just by looking at each other. Ms. Kim spoke in a serious voice.

“There is no bad meat in the world.”

“···What if a problem arises?”

“Even poisonous things are eaten after the poison has been removed, and even those that have been fermented are eaten, so why do I have to do that with the things I hunt?”

“No, so what if there’s a problem while eating?”

Kim Yang answered Maru’s question with her eyes.

‘If there’s going to be a problem, we’ve already had it.’

‘······.’

There’s nothing to be stubborn about. Maru glared, but it was Kim Yang who rarely held her ground.

“Haa- why are you being so stubborn?”

“There are about 500 people here now, but you said that it will be filled to nearly 1,000 in the future.”

If 1,000 people eat only 600g of meat a day, 10 people would eat 6kg, 100 people would eat 60kg, and 1,000 people would eat 600kg. If you take 30 days a month, it would be 18,000kg. 18 tons a month. Even if you take half the consumption, it would be 9 tons. In a year? Even though there are cows, chickens, and other livestock in the smart farm, it was impossible to handle.

“There’s also soybean meat.”

At the mention of soybean meat, Kim Yang looked as if she would rather hunt and eat it.

‘Soybeans? Are you talking about vegetarianism now? That’s fake.’

“Okay. Then, for now, you can eat what you hunt, but you can hold off on eating it for others. There’s a chance of virus contamination, so use the freezer, refrigerator, and cooking utensils separately. Okay?”

“···Okay, I understand.”

Maru also felt bad when he saw Ms. Kim lying down on the grass.

The hypothesis is that the mutant virus is transmitted through the food chain, as well as through the air.

Maru thought so too. If the main transmission route was through the air, then the pets raised at home would have been in trouble.

After thinking about it carefully, I wonder if Kim and I were infected with the mutant virus. We were. And we had anger management issues, but we overcame them.

After that, there were no physical mutations or growths like in mutants.

After calming down and thinking about it carefully, Maru was surprised by the food chain story and wondered if it had been overdone.

I remembered how Kim Yang proudly brought home the wolf and coyote he had caught. He was proudly dragging them in.

‘I was serious about meat.’

An expression of happiness at the thought of people enjoying the food they hunted. A rare sight of rebellion when told to forbid the meat they hunted.

‘Tsk- how disturbing.’

There must be plenty of researchers. Maru, who requested a safety study to see if it is okay to eat it after cooking it well, took out a knife.

When I was feeling anxious, it helped to hold a knife.

The new knife that Manager Dan Brown had made for me didn’t have a sharp edge. It was more elastic than before, but still had the same strength, so it was easy to use.

If there is no elasticity, the shock goes straight up through the hand and arm, but with the right amount of elasticity, it definitely feels less tiring even when cutting. There was definitely a difference when cutting snakes.

Heuheu- I took a deep breath and tensed my whole body.

The muscles contracted as if squeezing, compressing the energy. And the foot-

There was a flash of gray, followed by the sound of air being torn apart. Whoosh? A long exhaled breath blew out in white puffs like steam.

Mild muscle pain and weakness followed. I felt like I could definitely get through anything if I put in the proper effort.

Even after I swung my sword at the air once, the unpleasant aftertaste did not go away.

‘Ah- Really. It’s bothering me.’ Maru muttered to himself and called out to Ms. Kim.

It was always decided that one of the two would remain in the tower···

It shouldn’t be too far, and besides, we have Diana. And there’s also an automatic turret.

“Gather your gear and come out. Let’s take a walk around the area and go hunting.”

[Two?]

“Yeah. I heard you’ve gotten a lot better. Let’s take a look.”

[Okay, I’ll get it ready soon.]

Maru chuckled at Kim Yang’s voice, which answered enthusiastically as if asking when and who was the one who died. Still.

I was taking good care of the house, I was holding back a lot these days, I was trying not to get into trouble, and things were getting better.

Should we try to establish some discipline for once?

Srrrrrrrr-

The blade returned to its sheath with a cool sound.

======

======

Ms. Kim was brimming with enthusiasm.

This time, I showed Baekjeong properly. What kind of person I am.

Exosuit version 3.2.

Speed ​​and power improved even further than the 3rd model. Yes, a model that puts a lot of effort into speed and power. When the leader wolf attacked from behind, the body reacted but the machine couldn’t keep up.

So we tried to improve responsiveness as much as possible, but the exosuit company got incredibly busy, so the sponsorship reflection started to be delayed.

‘Really? Leave that to us.’

‘Modification is enough.’

Fortunately, this was the home of the Magpie, the United States of America.

There were a lot of researchers there, including a lot of old men who were working hard, so the work progressed quickly. That’s why Kim Yang’s exosuit is now something that was sponsored by the company, with the old men’s romantic modifications added in.

Something like that. Hehehe-

Weakness: Noise? Added by processing wolf byproducts, defense has improved and, above all, noise has been reduced. In addition, three Chinese-made stealth equipments have been disassembled and made into exosuit-specific ones. A new 3.2-type exclusive machine that can be hidden at any time.

huh.

[Power Check]

[Energy Charge – 100% – Check]

···

···

[Stealth Function – Check]

Kim Yang operated the exosuit with a proud face.

Kiiiiiing- With a low sound, the exosuit helmet lights up.

Kkiyungkkiyung

Maru, who was following the exosuit that was moving briskly towards the underground parking lot and the 4-wheel drive mountain bike that had been specially modified, said a word.

“It’s gotten a lot quieter.”

[hit-hum-]

Following a somewhat satisfied cough, Kim Yang’s voice began to slowly creep in.

[This was supplemented with wolf skin… It became shock-resistant by joining it in this way… So it also goes well with graphene material, so the shock absorption rate in the middle is also…]

It was Miss Kim who finally spoke after a long time.

Certainly, Kim Yang’s exosuit had changed a lot in appearance at first glance. The most noticeable thing was the round, curled-up thing attached to the back in a figure 8 shape. It looked like he was carrying an 8-shaped backpack.

“What’s that on your back? A backpack?”

[Not only 12.7mm armor-piercing bullets, but also 20mm armor-piercing bullets, if that’s what the old men say… Behind the back? Oh? That’s it. Stealth equipment…]

Maru cut off Kim Yang.

“Okay. Let’s take a look. Is there anything wrong around Diana?”

[There have been sightings of what are believed to be mutant rats in Detroit’s northeast China Township and East China.]

Diana displayed the locations of China Township and East China on her HUD. Then, a blurry CCTV image captured something the size of a forearm. No matter how blurry it was, you could tell it wasn’t a cat.

“It’s a rat. Take a look around.”

Looking around, there were quite a few buildings and quite a few people. There was no need to create witnesses. Besides, rats were not very good for testing Kim Yang’s equipment.

“Report the rats to Homeland Security. There’s no answer once they breed. Anything else?”

[Two owls escaped from the Potter Park Zoo in the Northwest and are at large, prompting a spike in missing dogs and cats in the area.]

“It’s an owl. How long has it been since it escaped?”

[Escaped on January 1st, 89 days have passed.]

[Considering that many of the missing cases involve medium-sized dogs, it is presumed that the owl caused the mutation.]

The video played. Dark night. The dog in the kennel heard something and headed toward the grassy yard, looking in the direction of the bushes. The shadow seemed to move slightly.

The moment the dog’s head turned in the direction of the shadow, something like a bundle swept across the dog’s back and disappeared.

The blurry images from home CCTV had limitations even after correction, but one thing is certain: it is definitely a variant.

“Did you see the video?”

[I saw it.]

Lure, distract, and ambush. This is how the owls divided up the labor.

“How about it? Is it possible?”

[Possible. But. Why can’t you just catch a coyote?]

Owls don’t look that tasty. Why? Isn’t chicken the best bird?

“I wanted to check stealth and mobility. Catching an owl wouldn’t be a bad idea. Let’s catch one first.”

[Okay.]

The two rode their motorcycles to the owl-spotting area. The area where the owls are believed to nest is the Rose Lake State Wildlife Research Area.

Maru immediately felt uneasy as soon as he entered the nature reserve. This place was similar to where the snakes were in Yellowstone National Park. It felt like the traces of animals had disappeared because of a powerful predator.

“Judging by the atmosphere, this seems like the right place.”

[I caught both?]

The owl chicks are waiting for their bellies to fill and slowly fly back to the nest, so why not just blow their heads off?

Maru fell behind in Kim Yang’s confidence. Kim Yang scattered four small drones to find the owl’s nest. The area was the area.

It was only when the ground was dark in the afternoon and evening that we were able to find the suspected nest. Even though it was still in the process of being built, its large size was impressive.

‘If I were nearby, I would have caught it right away.’

Kim Yang, who had been hiding with a regretful heart and aimed his gun at the nest, began to wait. The forest, which seemed to be starting to glow red, suddenly became dark.

4 Drones were patrolling around Kim Yang as if they were escorting her. The screen displayed on the HUD. The red dot was moving in the 3 o’clock direction. Kim Yang did not immediately turn his gun but sent the drones first.

As the drone, which had silenced the sound, increased its altitude to capture the identity of the red dot on camera, the red dot that had previously appeared as one on the HUD screen split into two.

Kwajik-

The number of screens has been reduced from four to three. It was two, then one. The red dot that freely sticks and detaches itself and chases the drone.

Kim Yang, who quickly moved the drones in a diagonal line, saw two owls flying silently like hang gliders.

The moment he focused on the crosshair, Kim Yang felt as if a solid line was extending from the muzzle of the gun. The long line seemed to indicate where and how the bullet would fly.

If I shot it now, I knew how it would fly, what the recoil would be, how to control it, and what the results would be from the bullets that flew.

So, Ms. Kim pulled the trigger. Long.

Creek-

Not a single gunshot, but a series of gunshots.

Thu, thump, thump – in an instant, the sky was filled with lights.

Pavababak-

A large feather soaked in blood fell to the floor in a fluttering motion.

Shrug- Ms. Kim glanced at the floor.

‘Oh? You were hiding just now.’