Rust - Chapter 281



Only Krnovel

RUST [RUST]-281

Maru, who was shaking Eclipse, asked Diana.

“What does a crow like?”

[If you are talking about diet, crows are omnivorous.]

The crow’s diet was simple, and it did not even choose bad food. It could be said that it literally ate almost anything it could eat.

“You eat anything?”

[Yes.]

“I saw the crows doing that yesterday. They left the corpses of their own kind as they were?”

[···No significant research results related to cannibalism were found.]

The crow, which is known to eat everything without discrimination, is unique in that it rarely touches the corpses of its own kind. It is a bird that goes back and forth between extremes, showing camaraderie and being bullied.

Some observational records say that crows would gather at the site of the death of their own kind, examine the corpse, analyze the cause of death, and then find the culprit to take revenge.

So the story was that a child killed a crow with a slingshot, and the crows, upon seeing the death of their own kind, attacked a child nearby who was breaking a glass bottle with a slingshot, pointing him out as the culprit.

A small piece of rock flew in and killed a fellow member of the same species. There’s a kid nearby who shoots small pieces of rock? That guy must be the culprit! This is the surprising incident that led to the conclusion.

Even before the virus outbreak, there were quite a few cases of crows that could have happened anywhere in the world, but what if they were crows that had become smarter due to mutation?

It wouldn’t have been strange if something had happened. It was just strange that it was hovering over his head.

After watching for a day, I noticed that not all of the 10,000 or so people were stationed near the Vladislav Tower. They were roughly divided into 3 or 4 groups, and some were rotating in the sky, some were resting in a nearby building, and some were going out to eat(?).

Why is that so?

“Are there any other birds nearby?”

[Yes. As of now, there is nothing that I have confirmed.]

Of course, magpies and crows, which are of similar sects, would not have left other birds alone while fighting each other.

“Is the exosuit I brought yesterday enough?”

[It is said that it would be good to have additional spare parts.]

“I should have brought all the broken ones. Okay. You should have brought all the helmets too, right?”

[Yes.]

Maru picked up the broken exosuit and helmet from the place where the crows had swept through yesterday. Among the crows, there seemed to be some with particularly scary beaks and talons.

Even though it was a power loader type exosuit, it must have been wearing bulletproof vests, so ripping it all off and exposing its insides was something that went against the laws of physics.

‘Is this not a joke?’

When I examined the claws and beaks of the dead crows, I could tell that they were more than just sharp. I knew this because I had pulled out the claws of a monster cat in Japan. The claws and beaks of the crows were no different.

Maru, who was examining the crow’s corpse, pulled out his sword. Before the sound of the sword’s crackling stopped, he had cut a circle on one side of the road.

That’s so extreme

Detroit’s old roads were made up of layers of reinforced concrete and asphalt, but Eclipse cut through all of that. As they began to stuff crow carcasses into the three-foot-wide holes, the communications went wild.

[The researchers requested the body.]

[It is said that studying the corpse of the Blade Raven will greatly contribute to the ongoing research on mutant birds.]

“Still, they won’t do it.”

I don’t know what the crows were thinking, but they were the ones who gave up their lives to keep their word.

He was smart, so he moved even though he knew that if he attacked an armed human, he would die. Why? If it was a flock of crows, it wouldn’t have been easy to find prey that could be hunted without sacrifice.

Whether it was true or not, those kids were dead, so it wasn’t right to use them as experimental teaching aids. Even if that was an inefficient way of thinking.

‘Oh really. I don’t know what the hell these guys are thinking. Being smart also means having a fear of death.’

Maru carefully placed the crow’s carcass into a circular hole he dug, then covered it with the dug-out lid to complete the small grave.

Since the grave was dug up along the road, rats, bugs, and other animals would not be able to find the corpse.

The crows sitting densely on the roof of the building were watching Maru’s actions.

The exosuit was a key weapon of the US military, playing a very useful role in irregular warfare, especially in urban warfare.

Since the early 2000s, the United States has predicted that the battlefield of the future will be urban warfare. This is because they have experienced the nightmare of urban warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The development of small missiles made the most powerful land-based weapon, the tank, dangerous. The best terrain for infantry to stab with anti-tank spears was the reinforced concrete forest of the city.

The US military had ample experience with armored vehicles and tanks provided to government forces being turned into scrap metal by turbaned guys.

The resulting conclusion was that the weapons needed for urban warfare had to be light, like infantry, but equipped with heavy weapons, and able to freely use the city’s labyrinths.

A variety of weapons were tested, and the ones that showed the best results were the exosuit series.

The clear advantage was that it could maximize the combat power of soldiers while still allowing the use of various weapons and environments based on humans.

The exosuit could operate the firepower of an armored vehicle as a normal infantryman, could use a 12.7mm machine gun and bullets independently, and could independently operate up to six anti-tank missiles.

“The power loader model that just arrived shows great signs of cost reduction.”

“Considering productivity and unit price, it couldn’t be helped.”

Researchers and technicians were dismantling the various exosuits that Maru had looted so far, giving them back and forth.

“Still, the parts that were there at first were of pretty good quality, but the ones that came in this time are really bad.”

“Isn’t there anything we can do? They say the parts factory is a mess right now.”

The core of the exosuit is all four. Motor, battery, semiconductor, and OS. Add two more and you have alloy and sensor. Unfortunately, more than half of the core parts were affected by imported raw materials. The motor was a prime example. In order to produce proper output, Chinese rare earth elements were needed.

And it is true that the recently produced exosuits that do not contain Chinese rare earth elements have lower output than the existing ones. The situation is similar for the alloys that form the skeleton.

It would be nice to make it out of carbon material, but the countries that produce carbon material cost-effectively are Japan, Korea, and China. Japan was devastated by a major earthquake, Korea was consuming it on its own, and China is currently an enemy country at war. Naturally, there was always a shortage of supplies.

Since it was a situation where they had to produce as many as possible as quickly as possible, the exosuits were busy producing them even if it meant gradually downgrading them.

And contrary to that reality, Vladislav Tower was developing an exosuit with maximum performance.

The cutting-edge technology studied here was used to modify Kim Yang’s exosuit, and further became the foundation for creating the latest exosuit.

“The power loader form is vulnerable to radiation.”

“It is vulnerable not only to radiation but also to biochemical warfare.”

“By the way, who would have thought that China would use nuclear weapons so openly?”

“We are so lucky to have survived a nuclear war.”

“I would have died if I hadn’t gotten into the Ark Tower. I used to work in Silicon Valley, and they said a strategic nuclear weapon was dropped nearby… The EMP attack blocked all the roads, including the communication network, so no one could even evacuate properly.”

“Are you able to communicate?”

“By applying radio.”

“What are the aftermaths of strategic nuclear weapons?”

It was a cruel curiosity, but everyone here understood. Would that really happen if a nuclear bomb exploded? If you look at the research logs from the time of the nuclear test, there were really horrible records.

But is that true? Some thought the leak was a deliberate tactic to create panic, while others said the truth was even more horrifying, with the leak being a filtered out leak.

“They said the radiation levels dropped faster than expected.”

“Is that so?”

“Right. Isn’t it a bomb with many variables?”

Depending on the altitude at which the nuclear explosion occurred, the type of bomb used for fusion, and the type of reflector, the level of radioactive contamination varied greatly. In the worst case, it could literally create a dead zone, but the strategic nuclear bomb dropped near Silicon Valley did not seem to be at that level.

“That’s good. Oh? By the way, I heard there’s a rumor that California is seceding from the Union. Is that true?”

“···Because the situation is what it is.”

The EMP terrorism caused a breakdown in public order. The federal troops and national guardsmen who came to restore public order heard that China had launched a nuclear attack and withdrew first, thinking that they would be the only ones to survive. Then, they were hit by a nuclear attack that was triggered by the continent’s mistake and evaporated.

With the federal and state guards gone, the West was completely empty. The mutant virus infection camps were blown up, spreading the virus everywhere, and a cannibalism epidemic centered around Chinatown.

People began to draw their guns for their own safety and benefit. With the arrival of mutant monsters from the Rocky Mountains, a new era of the West began.

In this mess, the federal government and the military issued a general mobilization order to the western region, centered around California, saying that they would continue the war with China.

In this situation, mobilization? If we mobilize everyone, who will guard the house and raise the cattle? And will they be the first to leave, saying they will save themselves? There is no way that people who voluntarily drew their guns would listen to that.

Among those who came forward to bring order to the chaos and chaos with guns, the most famous of them was Director Yoo.

Goddess of war, gunfighter of victory, Valkyrie of rapid fire. There were many stories about her. Director Yu’s identity was finally revealed.

‘They say that girl in California is rejuvenated.’

‘If we capture that woman, we can change the fate of all generations.’

‘Capture is a jackpot even if you just take the corpse intact.’

‘Is this real rejuvenation? If we drink blood, can we also rejuvenate?’

‘Are you a vampire? That’s something you can do.’

‘Let’s go west.’

As word of Director Yu spread, those seeking to make a quick fortune headed west. And among those who targeted Director Yu, there was no survivor. Whether they were military, mercenaries, or bounty hunters.

“They say that notoriety is a thing, and that the number of followers of this woman in California is growing.”

“Even a woman whose truth is unknown has followers. He really is.”

Several of the researchers had serious expressions on their faces. If you think about it, wasn’t it true that we can live and research to our heart’s content because nuclear weapons were being fired everywhere, except for Detroit?

“HOLLY is really···.”

“If it weren’t for him, it would have been hell by now.”

While the researchers and technicians in the mechanical and electronic fields were busy taking apart and fixing the exosuit that Maru had brought, the genetic and biological researchers were busy analyzing algae samples.

“There was a lot to study.”

“Yes, it is. It is even more so when you watch the video here.”

People looking at the footage captured by the tactical camera with regret. The movements of the crows in the footage were literally amazing.

“It’s one thing to flap your wings silently, but it’s also quite another to be able to move them so precisely…”

“The results are even more surprising. With 7.62mm and 12.7mm rounds, only a few dozen animals were killed.”

From their beaks and talons, to their feathers and skeletons, the crows literally defied conventional wisdom. Researchers nicknamed them the “blade crows.”

“But isn’t flying in circles in the air an action to be on guard against a target or to wait for an opportunity to attack?”

Normally, it was like that. But flying like that and submitting to HOLLY.

“It’s really weird.”

It was the Vladivostok Tower, overflowing with strange things.

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“So, looking at the records of the exosuit you brought this time, it’s not a regular military unit?”

[Yes.]

Just a few months ago, they were begging, ‘Please let us talk.’ They were the ones who had been ignoring their communications and were appealing to us through radio broadcasts.

But they sent special forces, and this time the crows dealt with them, but they said they weren’t special forces, but some kind of mercenaries.

It seemed like things were going strangely.