Rust - Chapter 278



Only Krnovel

RUST -278

Maru examined the corpse, which was cut into diagonal pieces.

The cut sections were alive and rippling. The blood flowing out of the blood vessels clumped together and shook like tentacles.

‘This is.’

It was similar to when I killed the shadows of Elder Kadama and Chairman Charlotte Sim.

Compared to them, it was definitely weaker, but it wasn’t the life force of a typical mutant. Even though several organs, including the ribs and heart, had been cut off, the organs were still moving as if they weren’t dead yet.

Ugh!

The head gaped open, as if it had been momentarily stunned by the shock of the cut.

Kujik-

Maru, who had just cut off his neck, raised his head in disgust.

The sight of birds with their black wings spread wide, spinning silently, seemed to be speaking to Maru.

Give me the body. Give me the food. Give it to me quickly.

Crows were flying in flocks, but they were as silent as if they were owls or barn owls. Perhaps they had mutated or found a way to muffle their sounds with their superior intelligence.

But why don’t you rush in and eat it?

Do you remember when we split once before?

If I eat this, won’t I get cannibalism?

It looks like you’ve tried it before, since you said you’d eat it.

Something about the birds’ thoughts made Maru pull a Molotov cocktail filled with napalm from his backpack. ‘Just kill and burn the weird ones.’ That was the basic formula.

I wondered if he knew what the napalm bomb he was holding was, and the crows that had been circling around lazily were now flustered. A feeling I had felt somewhere before came back to me.

Don’t do that. Feed me. Give me the body.

If you think about it, these things were automatically dealing with drones, unmanned aerial vehicles, helicopters, etc. approaching the building from the outside. They were also cleaning up the corpses.

The flock of birds that had been approaching a million had now dispersed and dwindled to tens of thousands. Among them, the number of crows was around 10,000. Even so, it was only 10,000, but the sight of crows in the tens of thousands circling silently like a typhoon was a spectacular sight.

But, isn’t that number too small to just eat one of these?

It wasn’t that I was going to prevent the birds from eating it. I had been letting the birds dispose of the corpse all along, so technically speaking, it could be considered ‘burying it’.

Maru put the napalm bomb he had taken out to burn the body back into his bag and fled the scene.

It’s okay if you pick up and eat this and that and pounce on me when my liver is swollen, but since you seem smart, it’s better if you live together appropriately knowing what I gave you.

As the distance grew, the crows that had been circling in a circle began to elongate like springs and glide towards the corpse.

Thud thud thud-

After the crows flew away in a single line, there was no trace of the corpse left.

The plan to disperse the infected who were tightly packed in the Bloody Ark Tower was still ongoing. It was a tedious process of repeatedly separating an appropriate number and luring them.

The job is to deal with the cannibals biting the infected and lure the clean(?) infected to the target location. Cannibals have been appearing a lot recently.

‘Where on earth does this keep coming from?’

The infected could be used as defensive totems or alarms.

But the cannibals were useless. They looked like ordinary people on the outside. They even had the cunningness to suppress their natural appetites and wait for an opportunity.

Bang! Bang!

Thud thud!

A series of heavy gunshots rang out from a distance.

The infected who had been moving slowly began to react upon hearing the sound. Their stiff joints and muscles began to relax little by little, and they began to look around.

‘Oh. Who are you? I lured you here after all.’

The hidden floor shook its head. Whoever you are, if you plan on moving around Detroit, you should have acquired concealment equipment, not a gun, whether it be a large caliber or something else.

[3 o’clock direction. Military uniformed men approaching.]

[15 people.]

[Start fighting the infected group]

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Wow-

Kwaaaaaaa-

The infected began to run to find the exact location of the gunshots. After a while, the gunshots began to become more urgent. Then, the smell of burning and black smoke began to rise.

‘I can smell napalm, so I guess they have a flamethrower…’

There were thousands of them nearby. They would continue to gather by sound, so the result was obvious with the firepower of 15 people.

[Movement, good armament.]

[Heavily armed. Mass-produced exosuit equipment.]

[Support? Organize?]

Kim Yang’s tone rose slightly as he spoke of heavily armed and mass-produced exosuits.

“Just leave it.”

[Okay.]

Military uniforms. They must have sent someone themselves because they couldn’t contact us. Maru just shrugged his shoulders and prayed for the souls of the 15 people to rest in peace.

“You didn’t come here on foot, did you see any support vehicles or armored vehicles?”

[Not visible here.]

“Even if they break through and arrive, don’t open the door. If they try to climb over the outer wall, warn them. If they ignore you, deal with them.”

[Are you okay?]

“what?”

[A flock of birds are circling in the sky.]

Are the crows still circling overhead?

When Maru glanced up at the sky, he saw something slowly spinning around. I thought it would go on its own since it had eaten.

“are you okay.”

When the time comes, I’ll go. Maru returned to the city where the gunfire had died down. A flock of crows followed quietly behind him.

======

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“hey-”

[Are you here?]

Kim Yang greeted Maru while wearing an exosuit.

“Isn’t it time for a shift change?”

[Just in case.]

The soldiers came close and were slaughtered, so they were waiting in case. At that moment, I felt something.

!

!!

At the same time that Maru drew his sword, Yang Kim also aimed his gun and took a stance. If he had any murderous intent, he would have felt it by now, but he didn’t.

[Feel it?]

“okay.”

The CCTV installed along the outer wall had a heat detection function. It was said that he had avoided it and climbed up. As Maru nodded, Ms. Kim’s finger was placed on the trigger.

“for a moment···”

Fight!

Kim Yang’s sniper rifle with a large silencer fired. The bullet missed, but the space shook with a start.

“crazy!”

“Cease fire!”

Ignoring the screaming voice, Kim Yang pulled the trigger again.

puck!

Drops of blood dyed the transparent space red. While everyone was focused on Kim Yang, the blade on the floor swept all around. The space with the dark red line fell to the floor in pieces.

“Stop! We’re on your side!”

“Stop! We’re allies!”

Kim Yang pulled the trigger as if she couldn’t hear anything. Maru’s sword slashed as he sensed any hasty movement to avoid Kim Yang’s bullets.

Counterattack? The moment he held his breath, Maru and Kim Yang’s concentrated attacks poured in. In an instant, one side of the outer wall turned into a slaughterhouse.

“surrender!”

“please!”

A distorted space was revealed, with drops of blood splattering here and there.

[Take off your helmet.]

When one person, terrified, struggles to take off his helmet, Ms. Kim pulls the trigger.

Fight!

A 12.7mm incendiary armor-piercing round was lodged in the helmet. Sizzling smoke rose from the circular hole.

“ah···.”

[Stop acting like a fool and take it off.]

As the person next to her took off his helmet, Ms. Kim jerked her gun.

[Throw the helmet over there.]

Whoosh- The flying helmet was torn apart in midair. The man, who flinched at the sight of the helmet being cut into pieces like tofu, bit his lip.

“What the heck are you doing? I told you we’re on the same side!”

[Shut up if you don’t want your head to fly off.]

On the same side? They came in hiding without even revealing their identification code. On the same side? They were even wearing the same ripper suits that Baekjeong was wearing. Special forces.

[Put your weapons down.]

[Take off your Ripper suit.]

While Kim Yang completely disarmed the surrendered man, Maru remained hidden and looked at the floor.

‘They are guys who know how to live.’

As soon as I cut them, they quickly realized that and hid their intent. That’s what a veteran is. How long did I wait? The bloody floor shook slightly. Then, at the moment when a single red footprint was imprinted, the floor moved.

Not big-

I tried to cut the neck cleanly, but the person was small, so the blade passed through the bridge of the nose. The corpse fell down with its face cut off from the nose.

“Diana. Motion sensor activated.”

[Motion detector starts operating.]

If it wasn’t captured on screen or in thermal imaging, the only thing that would work right away was a motion detector.

“Sound the emergency alarm and lower the barrier. If any unauthorized persons move, shoot them on sight.”

[Initiate bulkhead blockade. Defense system activated.]

After sorting out the situation, it seemed like they were trying to surround Maru and Kim Yang. They thought they were hiding and surrounding them, and then trying to disarm them.

It seems that he had no intention of killing anyone since he had no will to live, but it would be ridiculous to say that he had no intention of killing anyone when he tried to sneak into someone’s house and surround them.

[So why did you come?]

“I have been ordered to find Captain Vladimir Kalin and Lieutenant Yania Kim.”

Ah- Chew- Kim Yang’s expression changed mysteriously.

[Why did you turn off the friendly identification code?]

“Because we lost contact.”

[Turn off the friendly identification code when contact is lost?]

“···I judged that there was a risk that they had taken control of this place.”

[Those guys?]

Kim Yang’s voice subsided.

======

======

I don’t know which category to put it in, but as expected, Miss Kim, the results were good.

“So you’re saying that the cannibals started to invade and came here to check if this place was taken over?”

“huh.”

“If you look at it from a satellite… Ah- it must have been hard to see because there were a flock of birds flying around.”

“That’s why I said I came in person.”

Maru nodded calmly.

Seeing as they sent 3 teams of 15 special forces equipped with Ripper suits, it seemed like they were being too sloppy in many ways. If the tower had been eaten by cannibals, they would clean it up and take control, and if it was intact and they were ignoring orders, they would use it as a warning.

I also lost contact with Director Dan Brown of the Department of Homeland Security, so it was hard to know what was going on outside. As each agency began to use AI to secure their security, hacking also became more risky.

“You’re saying that if you leave it alone because it looks fine on the outside and has cannibalistic disease, it will spread like wildfire?”

“Yeah. They called it a stealth cannibal.”

He said that it was tiring to not have any symptoms, but when a leader appeared, they acted in an organized manner, so it was quite a serious situation.

“What about China? How is the war situation?”

“They say that in China, too, crazy birds are starting to appear, and bird strike losses are starting to increase. The damage from cannibalistic diseases and mutant viruses is also increasing.”

That’s why General Bernard LeMay’s plan to burn everything began. He said he wanted to pour everything out before bombing became difficult.

“Distribution will be a problem.”

“That’s why they say that a military factory is being built in Korea and it’s no joke.”

As Korea became a military supply depot for the Chinese war, calls for bans or restrictions on resource exports disappeared from Southeast Asia and Australia.

They are at war with China and are restricting the export of military factories to Korea? Are they suicidal? In any case, they said that Korea is benefiting greatly from it.

“Ah- that’s right. And that crazy bitch Ojin Pharmaceuticals said she was looking for a fiancé.”

“Oh Jin Group? Na Ju-yeon’s fiance? Are you saying she’s looking for someone to get engaged to?”

“No. I said I was looking for someone to get engaged to.”

“So who did you get engaged to?”

Did she do it with a Japanese person? So she lost contact with her fiancé because of the earthquake and is looking for him? Or did she do it with a Chinese person? Her fiancé in China went missing because of the nuclear war. Kim Yang looked at Maru, who was thinking about such things, with cold eyes.

‘Why are your eyes like that?’

‘Ask because you don’t know?’

Miss Kim let out a small sigh and continued her story.

“You said you’d give me the recipe for a cure for the mutant virus if I found your fiancée.”

“I heard that it was in three phases.”

“They said emergency use approval has been granted.”

“I’ll sit on a pile of money. But you’re giving me the recipe? That’s amazing.”

I knew that Na Ju-yeon was a little strange, but seeing her use her power for love made me think that she was amazing in many ways. Kim Yang said to Maru, who was like that.

“Then why are you acting like it’s none of your business?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You really don’t know? Really?”

“How would I know?”

I don’t know. I don’t remember. This is all a dream.

Kim Yang drove a wedge into the floor that was turning the delusions in her brain.

“The name of the fiancé I’m desperately looking for is Hamaru.”

“what?”

Maru’s mouth fell open.

Crazy… Do you really have to say that?