Rust - Chapter 383



Only Krnovel

RUST -383

The footage sent by the drone showed extinguished campfires, frozen white blankets, and people frozen in a crouching position.

‘What? Could it be that they all froze to death?’

Two thousand in total?

Those who were taken away by cannibals may be physically and mentally exhausted, but what about healthy locusts? Even if you just catch the energetic ones, there must easily be over 700 or 800 of them. They couldn’t even last one night?

It was cold enough to turn off the exosuit’s ventilation system around 2 or 3 in the morning, but it would be absurd to die like this all of a sudden.

Just as Kim Yang was about to send a silent drone closer to check, there was a swaying movement. At first, the movement was very slow, but gradually became more intense, and then a person suddenly stood up as if throwing off the blanket that was covering them.

The sight of the smoky steam rising from their bodies was like steam coming out of a hot towel. Following them, several others began to struggle to get up.

‘Your body must have been frozen cold… Steam?’

Strange? Did something change in the face of death?

Now that I think about it, I also had an experience where my reaction speed became faster when I fought the leader wolf for my life. After that, my reflexes and reaction speed definitely became faster.

There were many different types of people with powers that she had encountered while in Japan. She had even seen people who could be called superpowered, so Kim Yang wasn’t surprised to see steam rising in the cold weather.

‘Is it something like cold tolerance or body temperature enhancement? What’s that white steam coming out of it?’

Those who woke up like that began to quickly check their surroundings. Soon, screams and cries shook the quiet morning.

Euaaaahhhhhhhhhh!

“no!”

“This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening!”

“Oh my god! Why!”

“ah···.”

The results were catastrophic. Countless people froze to death, more than 90%. Of the 2,000 people, more than 1,800 froze to death.

Of the 200 or so survivors, more than 150 were severely frostbitten and had difficulty moving, and the remaining 45 to 50 were able to move, but their frostbite was severe. That means only 5 people were fine. In the end, they were virtually wiped out.

‘Huh? But are they fighting?’

Suddenly, those who had been arguing fiercely split into two.

The five people who gained abilities were divided. The three people whose families were alive and the two people whose families and lovers had died. Their opinions did not match, and their voices gradually grew louder.

After a shoving and physical fight, the two finally left. After burning the bodies of their dead family members and lovers, they immediately left and headed to a nearby city.

Ms. Kim frowned.

If they survived, why would they suddenly tear themselves apart like that? Don’t the survivors go ‘hey hey hey’ and ‘hey hey’ among themselves?

‘Where are they going now?’

The three men began to hurry along, carrying the man who looked to be in critical condition, as if he was a statue, commanding those who could move alone. Kim Yang quickly found the crow.

‘The crows···.’

By this time, I should have seen a few crows in the sky, but the sky was empty. Could they have frozen to death too?

Knock knock-

Kim Yang looked back at the prickling sensation on the back of her head from the exosuit.

Krrrrrr- (I’m freezing to death)

Knock! (Rice!)

Caw! (Give it to me!)

The crow’s croaking sounded particularly bad today. I don’t know what it means, but Kim Yang nodded and said.

[It’s cold outside, isn’t it?]

The crows nodded.

Kka-gak! (Chu-woo-bap!)

Knock! (Rice!)

‘I’ll give you some warm food, so wait.’ The crows that were waiting for those words heard that.

[Let’s chase those guys over there to loosen up and exercise.]

Huh?

Kaaaaaaah!

Ms. Kim was only able to calm the situation after calling a nurse when the crows suddenly started making a fuss.

[Chiik- suddenly frozen, beep- it’s hard to find food- beep]

[Then, why don’t you just send a signal? How am I supposed to know if you just make a clicking noise?]

[···Beep, huh? Didn’t you understand? Chi-eeek- It’s so natural, beep-]

[······.]

Anyway, things started to get better after I fed the crows.

[Once you’ve eaten, quickly track it down.]

Kaaaak-

Perhaps because their stamina was greatly reduced by the cold wave, they were unable to go far.

[Which way are you going?]

Kak-

One of the crows that had been following them in turns spread one of its wings to indicate their direction of movement.

Kim Yang’s expression became strange. So the direction they were going was the direction where the largest cannibal hideout was.

‘What are you thinking? Taking people in danger to the cannibal hideout?’

It was also the largest building in the area, and it was a great choice for avoiding the cold wave, as it had five floors underground.

‘···There are people with frostbite. Shouldn’t we go to the city to get treatment?’

It would have been normal for them to go to a city with medical facilities to save their family and colleagues, no matter what the price, but their movements were definitely strange.

‘No way? That can’t be true.’

Kim Yang shook her head as a sudden thought occurred to her. Still, just in case, it would be a good idea to call the ‘Holy Opium Knights’.

[···what?]

Kim Yang, who contacted the Knights Templar, received reports of non-combat casualties. Among the Holy Opium Knights, there were severe frostbite victims. They sent her to catch cannibals, but non-combat casualties due to frostbite? She had a headache.

I have an armored exosuit, but how on earth do I get frostbite? When I looked into it, I found out that there were some idiots who had fallen asleep with the external ventilation system open.

Leaving aside the frostbitten cripples, Kim Yang took the rest and headed to the locusts’ destination, a ruined cannibal hideout.

Woohoo-

A silent drone quietly entered the hideout. And the video the drone sent.

[You crazy kids!]

[HOLLY···.]

[HOLLY···.]

Kim Yang and the Knights could not help but be astonished.

======

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Maru’s eyebrows twitched involuntarily at Kim Yang’s urgent reply.

The story is about those who were planning to go to New York but almost all of them froze to death due to a sudden cold snap, and those who suffered frostbite were taken to a cannibal hideout and contracted a cannibalistic disease.

What kind of crazy idea are you? You’re from a satellite village and you create cannibals?

‘Is that it?’

I remembered the New York broadcast that bragged that cannibalism was not dangerous, and that if you just took the cure, you would lose your desire to eat, become stronger against diseases, and have better healing powers. So they must have decided that the only way to cure fatal frostbite was to contract cannibalism.

“So what did you do?”

[Chiiik- All killed. Beep-]

In the end, is that how it turned out?

“···Well done. Where’s the body?”

[?]

If we had attacked the cannibal hideout and burned it down from the beginning, this wouldn’t have happened, but that’s already in the past.

“Don’t forget to burn all the corpses.”

[Beep- Okay. – Chew – Ah- I won’t need the dead people- Beep- I’ll just grab what I need and go.]

Maru said yes to Kim Yang’s words. It was already an abnormal climate with the scorching heat and heavy rain, but now that winter has arrived, this severe cold wave is coming. Maru shook his head lightly to clear his thoughts and called the hood.

“What’s going on?”

“How’s your internet connection these days?”

“It’s not good.”

“Communication is like that now. Do you know what the cause is?”

“All of our communications and internet here are dependent on the DHS stratospheric airships. So it’s their problem.”

“That goes without saying. I’m asking if there are any other causes besides the stratospheric airship problem.”

“I’ll look into it.”

“Okay, thanks for your hard work.”

The communication quality was getting worse by the minute. The internet quality connected to New York was also getting worse by the day. If this continued, I might lose contact with New York.

Not long after, I received a call from Hood.

[It’s not exact, but I have a hypothesis.]

“Hypothesis?”

[Yes. It seems that fine dust has spread into the stratosphere.]

Hood and Samantha’s analysis predicted that fine dust particles that were lifted into the stratosphere by nuclear explosions were slowly spreading sideways over time, causing radio interference.

[An analysis result has been released that is similar to the disruption of satellite communications and satellite internet in Japan due to a volcanic eruption.]

“So there’s a chance that we’ll be cut off too?”

[I think that’s not very likely.]

“Okay. Thanks for your hard work.”

Regardless of the cause, whether it was a sudden abnormal weather event or a dust storm in the stratosphere, the result was significant: There was a very high probability that satellite communications and satellite internet would be cut off in the future.

“Connect me to Director Dan Brown of the Department of Homeland Security.”

[I will connect you.]

The image was distorted. At least the audio was audible.

[The video is very distorted.]

“I checked here and they said that there is a possibility that both satellite communication and satellite internet will be cut off. What do you think?”

The director’s face, which had been stretched out to the side, became squashed and then convex and then normal.

[I checked this too. There were various stories, starting with the story that there was something wrong with the ionosphere, the hypothesis that fine dust was spreading into the stratosphere, and even the recent sudden cold wave. If we only look at the results, it seems that communication using a stratospheric airship will be difficult for the time being.]

“I see. Is there a cold wave in New York too?”

Isn’t this an area adjacent to the ocean where strong cold waves can hit?

[The lowest temperature in the history of observation has been recorded. In the summer, the highest temperature was recorded, but if this continues, I am worried about next month when winter will begin in earnest.]

The lowest temperature in New York in November was around 4 to 5 degrees Celsius. December was around 0 degrees Celsius, and the coldest months, January and February, were around -2 degrees Celsius. But in late November, a cold wave hit that already dropped below -15 degrees Celsius.

Even if it was just a temporary cold spell, it was not good, but if it was a sign of a long-term cold spell, it was very dangerous. We had received coal and stoves from Detroit in advance, but there was a shortage.

“We’re maximizing coal production. But how did the cannibal subjugation operation go?”

[Still in progress.]

“Still? If I had blown up one base a day, by now….”

[Due to some circumstances, we are destroying one every two days.]

Dan Brown was tight-lipped. He began recruiting by destroying the cannibals’ shelters and trying to absorb some of the militia, but the recruitment progress was worse than expected.

A militia of nearly 1 million people was assembled, but the opposite phenomenon occurred in recruitment. It was optimistically thought that 100,000 out of 1 million militia would be assembled, but that was not the case.

The number of troops gathered so far barely exceeds 30,000. As a result, the operation period had to be extended in order to extend the recruitment period. The militia that had gathered to catch the cannibals would disperse the moment the cannibals were officially declared exterminated.

“Is it because of the conscription?”

[···Yes.]

“Recruiting is good, but don’t underestimate cannibals. The longer you give them, the more likely they are to turn into something.”

[I would appreciate your advice.]

“I’m sorry if I’ve overstepped the bounds. The cannibals have caused all sorts of trouble.”

[No. Ah- I won’t forget the help you gave me this time.]

The story of the exchange of raw materials continued after the proverbial speech.

“This coal transport is···.”

[For that amount, cement and insulation materials···]

While the two men’s story ripened, New York’s sewers were busy.

“Have you gathered all the materials?”

“Yes. We also took out important equipment and parts separately.”

A mass exodus of cannibals was beginning.

The opportunity was good. The pigs were drunk on victory and attacked slowly, one every two days. If they had attacked all at once, the damage would have been severe, but since they didn’t, there was enough time to steal important items.

Sizzle!

Click!

“You fucking rats!”

Thud, thud, thud!

Puhwaaaaak!

“Turn off the flamethrower. I want to suffocate in here!”

“shit.”

It started out well, but the groundwater was a bigger mess than expected.

They were greeted by rats with bodies as long as their thighs and arms.

“Sure damn rats are causing a ruckus.”

“It appears to have been genetically mutated.”

“Let’s get out of here and talk. That fucking stink…”

The person who was leading the way suddenly fell down.

Huh? What is it? At that moment, all the strength left my legs.

My breathing became difficult and I was out of breath.

‘What is this?’

A scream heard clearly in the blurring vision.

“Gas! Gas!”

“It’s gas!”

Gas? What the heck is there suddenly in the sewer?