Rust - Chapter 285



Only Krnovel

RUST -285

The nurses’ patrol was carried out without warning.

If communication with the crows is successful, it is the return of a restful shift. Because it was the end of patrol.

Miss Kim’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the nurse.

“Do Unit 1 properly. Got it?”

“···yes.”

Maru, wearing a ripper suit, took out a knife and asked the nurse.

“They say crows were playing chess?”

“Ah, that’s it. The crows said they were too bored. They can’t play the game console, but they can move the pieces in chess with their beaks, so I told them to try this several times.”

The TV was off, and the humans didn’t seem very interested in coming out and doing anything. A game would be perfect, but it was hard for a crow to move a mouse or a game pad. It was also difficult to shuffle and turn the cards with its beak. The most likely option was chess.

“How did you tell me the rules?”

“Uh- So, I told him a few times that I would do this and that and move it like this.”

“Can you communicate with crows?”

“I don’t know the details. What should I say? I just feel like it is.”

“Are you just saying what you feel?”

“Yes. Is that wrong?”

Maru was lost in thought for a moment. Maru had felt that way too. It was like a tickling feeling. It was like the crows were saying something. The nurse said it based on that feeling.

“No, it’s not wrong. When you talk to the crows, do they react to it?”

“Yes. There were some mean people, but most people seemed to understand.”

Anyway, it was said that the crows understood what the nurse was saying. ‘Bunira.’ It meant that they were seeing the crows as persons. She was certainly a strange nurse in many ways.

First, I told the nurse to patrol with the crow who was being discharged today. I said it was a solo patrol, but I thought Maru would be nearby.

“Um. This is a bit too much.”

To safely use the Power Loader exosuit, you need to wear a full body bulletproof vest, but your chest won’t fit in. Kim Yang glared at the impudent nurse.

“Isn’t there anything that fits your size?”

“They said this was the biggest.”

The technicians who were servicing the exosuits coughed loudly among themselves. Maru, unable to stand to watch, used Eclipse to cut off only the chest area of ​​the body armor.

“Wear a bulletproof vest over your chest area.”

A nurse with a dejected look on her face hurriedly put on a full-body bulletproof vest, perhaps trying to get out using the excuse that she didn’t have the right size. The bounce poked out through the hole in the floor and swayed comfortably.

“I didn’t have any today because I was in a hurry, but don’t worry, I’ll make one in the right size next time.”

“···yes.”

A nurse wearing a power loader exosuit went to the sickroom. Maru began to watch from a distance while hiding.

A crow about to be discharged from the hospital looks at a nurse’s exosuit and looks wary. Of course, since the last enemy they fought was wearing an exosuit.

“Helmet. Helmet.”

When Ms. Kim spoke next to her, only then did she say, “Huh?!” and the nurse took off her helmet and showed her face. When the crow, which had been checking her face carefully, let down its guard, the nurse cautiously spoke.

“Excuse me, Mr. Crow, you’re getting discharged from the hospital today. Are you asking me to come do some patrols with you?”

Caw?

Maru felt ticklish. So this feeling… It can’t be. You said you followed the nurse well.

But the nurse’s face turned sad when she heard the crow’s cry.

“Still. Could you please go on patrol with me?”

Caw?

Ms. Kim recruited a nurse.

“Why? What are you saying? How are you doing on patrol?”

“So, you say, ‘Why me?’”

Is it true? Maru was surprised that the ticklish feeling and the nurse’s interpretation were the same. By the way, the crow nurse treated him and taught him chess, so he wondered, “Why me?” Look at these.

As I unsheathed my ripper suit and entered the sickroom, my eyes met with Maru’s and the crow’s. The crow, who was extremely startled, lowered his head so that his beak touched the floor.

“So you’re saying you’re not going out on patrol?”

The crow glanced at Maru and shook its head.

“You’re not going out?”

Doridori. No, that’s not true.

“You’re going out?”

Nod, nod. Yes. I should go out with a happy heart.

“answer.”

Kak-

I’m going out. Each caught crying sound. I looked at the nurse to see if the tickling feeling was right.

The nurse had the expression of a somewhat pitiful heroine. ‘You were so cold to me, but now you can’t move?’ That kind of feeling.

In this way, the discharged crow 1 and the mass-produced exosuit nurse were deployed on patrol together.

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A nurse came down from a crane installed on the outer wall.

It felt like the crows were on alert at the sudden appearance of the power loader type exosuit.

‘Don’t you know?’

Maru frowned. He didn’t worry because he seemed to know that he was hiding, but now that he’s like that, it seems like anyone can tell.

Even though he didn’t rush right in, perhaps because he saw it coming out of the building, he was brimming with sharp energy. Perhaps sensing that strong aggression, the nurse moved slightly.

“Hey… Mr. Crow, could you please calm them down?”

Kaaaak-

“No, if you do that, you’ll be in big trouble. Look over there. Everyone who was sleeping has woken up.”

Huh?

The crow that had been discharged flew up and joined the flock of circling crows. After a while, the tense and alert atmosphere began to relax.

Then, the crows that had been sleeping in a nearby building woke up and went into standby mode and settled back down to sleep. An exchange of information took place in an instant.

‘Are you using some kind of telepathy rather than sound?’

Perhaps they were communicating using frequencies beyond the range of human hearing.

‘Then why did the discharged crow guy go all the way up there to convey the general situation without having to go up there?’

No way, Ddaengdaeng? Do you think you won’t be able to find me since you’re all mixed up like that?

It was really great. It was similar to the situation where the last sergeants suddenly disappeared when construction was underway. Maru was dumbfounded.

“Mr. Crow, you’ve just been discharged from the hospital. If you keep slacking off like that, wouldn’t it be dangerous if that person finds out?”

A nurse shouted hundreds of meters into the sky. I wondered if it could be heard that far, but it didn’t seem to be the case that the nurse had dug up the name of the floor. A small commotion arose in the circle that was spinning around, and then one of them quietly came down.

A crow landed on the exosuit’s shoulder and began to preen its feathers as if it had never run away. The nurse warned in a stern voice.

“If you run away again, you know? This has a recording function, right? You’ll see everything later.”

Caw?!

“No. It’s patrol and reconnaissance.”

At the nurse’s firm words, the crow lowered its head as if the grass had died.

The ticklish feeling seemed like it was acting pitiful. Maru had never known that crows were such creatures. They really looked like they were at least an elementary school student.

The nurse put on her concealment gear and started to patrol the course. Since it was her first time, she didn’t make her go too far. The distance she would move was about 30km, and if she went at a basic speed of 7~8km in the exosuit, it would take about 3~4 hours. It was about a circle around the outskirts.

[Should I send the crow away instead of letting it hang around?]

[Ah. No. I’ll send it away now. Mr. Crow. Fly up and let me know if you see anything strange.]

Caaaak?

[Yes? What’s strange? If you see anything moving quickly, things that are rarely seen nearby, armed people, cars or motorcycles moving, let me know.]

The hiding device opened slightly, and a crow flew into the sky through the gap, flapping its wings in an extremely annoying manner.

The crows and nurses scouting the sky continued to move, giving and receiving. The scouting using crows was certainly effective.

[I- Uh- So, the crows nearby said they saw something strange inside the first alley in the next block.]

[Specifically]

[Uh- It’s hard to put into words, but they say it’s an agile animal with four legs.]

[It’s ambiguous.]

If it’s a four-legged, agile animal, it’s probably a cat or a dog, right? Detroit is a city, so it’s unlikely to be a wild boar, a wolf, or a coyote.

[Go there and check it out]

[yes···.]

The crow flew into the alley first. The nurse followed it carefully.

A crow flying through the sky along the alley suddenly changed direction and started circling around in a circle. It was a sign that it had found something.

[I heard there’s something there?]

[Don’t get too close, just check what it is.]

‘Don’t come near. Don’t come near. From afar.’

The nurse moved with a soft muttering sound. I thought her motor skills weren’t very good, but when I actually tried to do it, she seemed to be better than I thought. Even though she was wearing an exosuit, it had been over an hour since she moved, and judging by the vividness, her physical strength was fine.

Could it be the effect of self-defense as Ms. Kim said? Or is it that her physical abilities have improved, like Ms. Kim or Maru herself? The nurse doesn’t seem to have any anger management issues.

‘Immunity? Or maybe the symptoms just passed?’

Last time I had my blood tested, only the nurse was fine. I was really upset when I found out that I and Ms. Kim had it, and I couldn’t control my anger or my emotions, so I just took it.

As time went by, Kim Yang’s condition was getting better. It seemed like her mental age had become a little purer, but it was still within the expected range. Maru himself thought that she was slowly returning to normal.

While Maru was lost in thought for a moment, the nurse cautiously entered the dark space on the right.

[What- person-]

[Stop.]

It was the floor that blocked the nurse from rushing forward.

[Yes? There’s a person lying down. There’s a deep wound on his ankle.]

[Quiet. Send the video.]

The screen was transmitted via short-range communication. The internet was disconnected, so the video was transmitted directly, so the image quality was poor.

A desperate struggle on the screen mixed with afterimages and noise. Even from a distance, a person with a serious wound on his ankle was seen struggling.

Even in that desperate scene, Maru’s expression did not change. Maru scanned the screen as if it was a hidden picture and spoke to the nurse who was stamping her feet.

[Step back carefully without making a sound.]

[Huh? Who’s that guy over there?]

[Calm down. Look at the wound on his ankle. It’s almost severed.]

[So if you don’t get emergency treatment right away.]

[Wake up. Look again. Look at your ankles carefully.]

[···The wound is deep.]

The nurse’s voice trembled. Maru paid no attention to that voice.

[You know that if you get a deep wound, you have to stop the bleeding first, right?]

[···yes.]

[But doesn’t that guy look weird? His ankle is almost cut off, but is there any sign of bleeding? I can’t see it.]

[to?–]

[If the wound was so severe that it almost severed the ankle, shouldn’t it have been groaning in pain or even fainting? Instead of continuing to struggle like that.]

[Ah–]

Maru remained calm even when he heard the nurse’s exclamations, which could be either exclamations or gasps.

I got a cut on my ankle, but there’s no sign of bleeding? Then, didn’t I die from excessive bleeding?

So, the guy who’s kicking around over there is already dead and moving. In other words, he’s bait.

Whether it was the squirrel struggling or the bait, it looked like it would be difficult for the nurse to handle.

[Step back.]

[yes.]

Maru, who went inside as if taking turns with the nurse who came out of the alley, looked around. Traces carved into the alley. Traces of shotguns and 9mm bullets were scattered everywhere.

Crows nearby said they saw an agile, quadrupedal animal. What could it be?

As I entered the alley, there was the person I saw on the screen.

The wound on the ankle, more than half torn off, was tattered. The wound where the flesh and bone were gnawed away looked familiar. Large, sharp teeth marks.

A chest that bulged bizarrely every time he flapped his arms in the air, and a long tail that stuck out past his shoulders.

It was eating into the person’s chest, biting the arm bone inside and shaking it.

[mouse?]

The rat set a trap, using a human corpse as bait.

[under?]

An alleyway blocked on three sides.

In a corner where sunlight does not reach, one by one, eyes began to sparkle in the deep shadows. Even though they were hidden, the eyes gradually increased in number as if they knew everything.

“That’s true.”

Look at these.

Maru, who had released the Ripper suit’s hiding power, drew his sword.

As the baby rat, who had been checking its surroundings with its upper body upright like a meerkat, squeaked, gray waves began to pour down from all directions. Waves of rats poured down from the second and third floors.

In an instant, a strong killing intent spread like a wave throughout Maru’s entire body. The rats that were rushing toward Maru fell down like fleas that had been struck by electricity and froze stiffly.

And Maru pointed his sword at the endless swarm of rats that were swarming over his frozen body and said:

“Eat!”

The sunlight was blocked out, and the once bright alley suddenly became dark.