Rust - Chapter 276



Only Krnovel

RUST -276

Maru slid down the outer wall, holding onto the rope of the ladder without making a sound.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

After jumping over the wall of blazing flames, Maru landed lightly and looked left and right. The infected were either moving very slowly, one step at a time, or standing still like mannequins.

‘Even if it was a stealth thing, I thought it would notice and rush at me when I was this close… It’s so dull. Is it different from the ones in Japan?’

They say that the characteristic of Corona is that it mutates quickly, so I wonder if there might have been a variant mutation. If among the five senses, sight, smell, and touch have changed to a weaker one, then that is advantageous.

Maru’s gaze turned to the end. The outer part was shaking. The movements were agile, clearly different from the slow-moving infected. The cannibals were seen biting the infected.

He slid to the outskirts and jumped up to the second floor of the building. This was possible because the Ripper suit muffled his sounds like a feline. Those infected with the cannibalism of the outskirts were clearly visible.

It’s similar to the movements of people infected with the mutant virus when they are filled with mad rage, but with a feeling of instinct added to it.

‘Not anger, but appetite?’

What I sensed from them was clearly their appetite. What was absurd was that they were writhing in hunger but burying their heads and not greedily eating flesh. It was definitely strange that they took a big bite and then looked for other prey.

‘Are you trying to infect me?’

It was not a flash of reason, but an instinctive act to increase their numbers. What would happen if those infected with the mutant contracted cannibalism?

‘Fuck.’

The infected who had been moving slowly to minimize their energy consumption began to tremble all over their bodies when bitten by the cannibals. How long had it been? After a short while, those who had been flapping their limbs like fish began to rise.

As early May passed and the chill subsided, a warm heat began to rise.

Kwaaaaaaa

Ughhhhhhhhhh

A bizarre scene where the cannibalism affects the mutant virus, and the mutant virus affects the cannibalism. The sight of ripples and twists gradually spreading in all directions.

A prickling sensation.

‘Should I avoid it?’

I didn’t feel good.

‘then.’

Hueup-

Maru took a deep breath and started to murder.

‘Kill as many as possible.’

Things that reacted to the rising life force. Among the swarming bugs, things that fled as if insecticide had been thrown, things with a mixture of appetite and anger approached the floor.

Kwajik-

Cracks spread across the building’s exterior walls, and the sword-drawing wooden planks flew up.

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Across the blazing fire, Ms. Kim was reducing the number of unpleasant things one by one.

I was supposed to watch over Baekjeong, but he went up to the second floor of some building and isn’t moving? I’m just waiting for Baekjeong to come up. I should at least reduce the number. Yeah.

‘Why is the world like this?’

I wanted to live happily and leisurely, but they didn’t help me. Kim Yang, who mechanically changed the magazine and posture, pulled the trigger toward the target.

Thump- thump thump!

It’s a good thing I have an exosuit so I can shoot while sitting comfortably or standing up. It would have been hard if I had to keep shooting while lying down.

Knock- knock knock!

Even though I blew off three or four heads at a time, there were still a lot of them. No, are they increasing in number? Kim Yang frowned at the sight of them continuing to increase in an uneasy manner.

[No. 3 Warm. What are those?]

Since you said you’re a research expert, shouldn’t you have some general information? Tria answered Kim Yang’s question.

[I need a sample.]

[What sample?]

[Samples are needed to confirm the correlation between cannibalism and mutant viruses.]

[Isn’t that the root cause of the virus, whether it’s a Chinese virus or a Japanese virus?]

So if you combine the data from Japan with existing research, you can get a rough estimate, right? But that requires wiping your mouth and getting a new sample? They’re just trying to eat it raw.

[Unit 3. Aren’t you doing it right?]

[···A sample is required for verification.]

Okay. You mean to say this while the AI ​​bitch is obviously aware of it? Kim Yang immediately looked for Maru. A strange sight appeared in the scope.

They were probably hiding, so they shouldn’t have been seen, but they were. That’s why they were like blood clumps dancing with swords. I was just reducing their numbers for a moment, and in the meantime, they were doing this.

As the blade dripping blood spun around, things were cut along red lines. With stiff, frozen movements, they desperately approached the Baekjeong, but they were only cut.

As Kim Yang was admiring the view, he spoke quickly when she seemed to be taking a breath.

[Unit 3 said they need a sample of that.]

[··· Unit 3? Tria?]

[They said to eat the data brought from Japan raw, and to bring fresh samples if they wanted to know about the correlation between viruses.]

[okay?]

Maru’s voice was low.

Tria studied hard and was able to calculate why things suddenly get disposed of. Research was important, but she learned that it was important not to stop functioning.

[4.2 inch mortars are still there? Put in some incendiary bombs and hit the outer walls.]

[There aren’t many soy bombs, but is that okay?]

[Don’t be stingy and throw away the soy bombs, because you can always make more.]

[Okay.]

Kim Yang, accompanied by his agents, fired a 4.2-inch mortar. The explosion caused white phosphorous smoke to rise up and burn the surrounding area.

Kwaaaaah!

Kkk …

Maru, who escaped during the mortar explosion, returned to the building.

“How about these?”

Even though it was an Eclipse that could easily cut reinforced concrete, it felt like it had some resistance. Should I say that the structure of flesh and bone itself was different? It looked human, but it didn’t look human. It was fortunate that the knife was good, otherwise it wouldn’t have been a mess after the neutralizer was inserted.

Kim Yang’s thoughts were similar. The early ones infected with the mutant virus were blown to pieces by 12.7mm, but the ones that were a bit shaky didn’t get crushed even if their heads were hit. They died, but they were definitely wrong.

“The variant that was going around in Japan? It feels harder than that?”

Maru nodded as well. The fact that it felt resistant when cut with Eclipse meant that it was definitely a higher level than the mutants.

It took quite some time for the infected to develop anger management disorder and mutate. There was also the restriction that they had to eat the brain and heart.

Because of these restrictions, mutant humans that could fight against armored vehicles or exosuits did not emerge.

But what if those infected with cannibalism mutate by biting an infected person? They become mutants in an instant. That means they can transcend time and mutation limits.

In other words, it meant that armored soldiers, armed with exosuits, and variants that could fight at close range with bare hands were pouring out.

“I don’t think anything below 7.62mm will work.”

“7.62mm won’t work either. 12.7mm armor-piercing bullets are standard.”

It wasn’t even as big as a mutant, but what if its defenses were similar to those of giant wolves, cats, or bears? A monster the size of a person with the defenses of an armored vehicle? Just thinking about it was terrifying.

“Is it fortunate that the soy bomb series worked?”

“High-explosive armor-piercing shells also work.”

“That’s too expensive. It would be convenient if CS bullets worked, but I don’t know what to do. I’ll get a sample right away, so prepare a quarantine facility.”

Maru, who had been resting for a while, quickly brought back a sample without limbs.

Researchers and AI analyzed the samples and compiled data obtained from Japan to produce an abbreviated report.

[The virus that causes cannibalism has many similarities to the mutant virus that causes anger management disorder and the virus that turns animals into monsters.]

[The original form of the virus is a coronavirus, but there are traces of a combination of several viruses.]

[Genetic analysis results. There are some parts that are made up of unique combinations that have never been published before.]

[There are circumstances in which the corpses of those who died from the virus in Japan and China were managed in order to extract this unique combination part.]

“There was a similar story last time, but what exactly do you mean by special ingredients?”

Diana answered Maru’s question.

[The key ingredient in a new type of drug made in Japan, a combat stimulant. The ingredient is a virus extract extracted from a corpse.

“Are you sure about this?”

[The results are confirmed by comparing the data and research results obtained in Japan.]

So that’s why? Whether it was Berserker Fall or Crystal, there was a side effect that was inversely proportional to the effect of improving physical abilities. A fatal side effect to the brain. If you think about it, the essence was similar, only the degree was different.

Those who contracted the mutated virus and developed anger management issues gradually lost their reason and eventually even their memories, entering a state similar to dementia.

The neutralizer and perhaps the rapid cure could also be related to viruses or special substances. Maru shook his head. That wasn’t what was important right now.

“Let’s say that’s true. What are the identities of those people you captured as samples?”

[It appears that you have been infected with a variant of the mutant virus.]

“A variant of a variant?”

I expected it, but when I heard the result, I was really shocked.

This whole mess started from one initial virus.

[Yes.]

“What are the weaknesses of cannibals? Do CS bullets work on them?”

[CS bullets were found to be ineffective.]

CS bullets were mainly used to avoid mutant monsters. There were more than one or two places where CS bullets were used to block mutant monsters, but if CS bullets didn’t work…

‘It’s chaos.’

The number of people with cannibalism is not that high now, but since it is a droplet infection, the number will increase rapidly.

Things with mutant-level specs are pouring out, but CS bullets don’t work well? What if they even hit mutant monsters? This was the birth of mutant monsters that CS bullets don’t work on.

“Not a single one works? Not at all?”

[You can think of it as the reaction of a person who hates cigarettes when they smell cigarette smoke.]

Some people avoid the place because it smells, while others just make a face and leave. If it’s a metaphor that there are various differences depending on the individual, it’s subtle. In any case, it means that it’s hard to rely solely on CS bullets in the future.

‘Even if the EMP malfunction is repaired, we can consider the air power to be finished.’

I thought of the flock of birds that were currently disposing of the corpses.

“Make public the research data on the relationship between cannibalism and mutant virus variants.”

We had to stop them from relying on CS bullets and digging. If the damage gets too big to handle, they’ll try to solve it with nukes. It was better to avoid that.

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The collapse of society that began with a mutant virus became evident through nuclear war, cannibalism, and food shortages.

At first, the economy began to collapse. The economy was already in jeopardy due to the coronavirus pandemic, and now it was torn apart by the war between the world’s two largest markets, the United States and China.

As the economy collapsed, public security also began to collapse. Public security collapsed first in multi-ethnic and multi-cultural countries. This is because the fence that could maintain multi-ethnicity and multi-culture was the economy.

As it became difficult to make a living, all that remained was conflict. Starting with racial and religious conflicts, countries where public security was destroyed began to increase one by one.

Martial law, coups, and civil wars began to break out, and some countries even went to war to avoid them. This was the result of trying to suppress internal discontent by expressing it externally.

The cruel month of May. Despite Maru’s research on mutant viruses and cannibalism, the flames of war ignite all over the world.

Just a month and a half after the nuclear exchange, China split into seven. The United States did not believe in China’s division.

Look at Japan. After the great disaster, they did not form a central government, but only ran local governments. Isn’t that a way to avoid all responsibility?

China, which was divided into seven parts, was saying that it was not their fault. The United States responded with military force to the statement that it was the responsibility of the existing regime and not theirs.