Rust - Chapter 418



Only Krnovel

RUST [RUST]-418

gift?

The coordinates of Virginia-related facilities are a gift?

Maru and Kim Yang laughed at the same time.

[This guy is still living like this.]

[But it’s a bit strange. Didn’t they say it came out in Korea?]

That woman came to America?

Why did they mobilize all of Japan’s human and material resources to settle in Korea?

There’s no way he would have abandoned the Charlotte Group that he had in his hands even after the succession war, so it sounds like he brought the entire group to the US…

What is missing from the Charlotte Group, which has taken over regional hegemony and distribution networks in Korea?

The question mark that rose to Kim Yang’s mind was dispelled by Maru’s “hmm” sound.

[Hmm – what if the whole group gets blown away?]

[Is that possible?]

[They must have run away because it was so crazy that they had to move the whole group.]

[huh?]

I don’t know the exact details, but it was said that Korea was in danger.

The seven Chinas that had been fighting each other suddenly came together as the ‘Federation of China’ or the ‘Union of China’ and said, ‘Let’s start by killing Korea.’

[If China wasn’t the problem, the Korean government and politicians might have run wild.]

[?]

[We were at war with China. We recruited over 2 million active duty and reserve forces, but there was no talk of disbanding the reserves until last year when we lost contact with the Department of Homeland Security.]

[?]

[Then what should we do with those troops? If we don’t use the troops we’ve already selected, we’ll use them inside.]

[······.]

Reserve forces, at least 2 million. The army alone would be over 1.5 million. Even if they were a major corporation that had experienced everything from mountainous terrain to aerial combat, they would be trampled like a worm.

[Even if the government imposes martial law and does all sorts of things, we have no choice but to listen to them unconditionally, because if the troops move, regional hegemony and everything else will be over.]

[······.]

Anyway, he was a great chairman. If you look at the contents of the letter, doesn’t it mean that he took the entire Charlotte Group?

It wasn’t for nothing that Ki-soon kept talking about her older sister. It’s just that the thing she did after coming to the US was to throw out the coordinates of Virginia-related facilities.

[So what do you plan to do?]

[Virginia coordinates?]

[huh.]

[With the weather like this, I don’t think there’s any need to go all the way to Texas. The rat problem here hasn’t been taken care of, so it’s a bit much to leave.]

I would take care of Virginia, but there was no reason to dance to Chairman Shim’s rhythm.

[What about the rats?]

[None. It looks like he left the offering and ran away.]

As Maru tilted the pot, the gold pieces sparkled.

[Then let’s go back for now. I wonder what this means. Right.]

Maru and Kim Yang headed to the Vladiak Tower carrying a pot containing gold.

The place I went to was a research lab that was studying rat pups with strangely mutated tongues. Since the researcher there knew a lot about rats, I thought he would know the behavior of the rat pups well.

“So you’re saying that the rats put gold in a pot and made an offering?”

“Yes. Here is the video.”

Maru showed the tactical camera footage to the researcher. He had looked very excited when he saw the strangely shaped rats, but now his face was very serious.

“First, let me tell you about the dissected sample you brought me last time.”

The researcher began his story by listing photos of rats’ forepaws.

“As you can see in the first picture, normal mice have atrophied thumbs, so they have four fingers on their front paws. Their hind legs have five.”

I didn’t know that the rat’s front paw had four fingers because I didn’t have a chance to look at it closely. And when I enlarged the picture, it looked a little strange. The rat’s fingers were long like human fingers.

“But the sample was different. You see here? The thumb part is clearly different.”

It certainly was. The average rat doesn’t have a thumb, but the sample rat from Peryton definitely had a joint on its forelimb. It was small, but it definitely looked like it could be considered a thumb.

“It’s dangerous.”

“Yes.”

“?”

Kim Yang was puzzled. Didn’t the little rat just grow a thumb? But Maru and the researcher had very serious expressions on their faces.

“It’s not just that your thumb is starting to develop, but the fact that the rats around here might have fed you is a serious problem.”

“?”

“······.”

“Until the mid-1900s, many scholars believed that animals were lumps of organism without emotions.”

It was a time when many theories abounded regarding the differences between humans and animals.

It was a theory that only humans can use proper language and have a cultural life through language, that only Homo Faber (man of tools) invents and uses sophisticated tools, and that only humans intentionally perform good and evil deeds.

But recent research has revealed that whales such as dolphins, sperm whales, and killer whales use quite sophisticated language to communicate with each other.

There were even songs, not just messages, and even popular songs. This confirmed the phenomenon of songs that were sung in one region gradually spreading.

“So are crows.”

When a fellow comrade dies, crows gather at the spot to find out the cause of death. They hold a funeral in their own way.

These cases provide evidence that animals also engage in some form of cultural behavior, although the level may vary.

“And now I see evidence that rats have faith. Ha-ha-”

“Isn’t it just a bribe rather than religious belief?”

Miss Kim was nagging at me rudely.

If there’s a strong guy, you stab him and say, “Let’s go on a good trip.” Isn’t that overreacting to faith and all? Then, do all the people who were robbed believe in the one who robbed them?

“Ha-ha- I guess you could look at it that way.”

The researcher’s eyes sparkled.

“What is certain is that rats have changed. It is more than just their size and their front teeth have become stronger and they can now gnaw through reinforced concrete.”

Traces of flashcards. A situation similar to reading a storybook. It was so absurd that I thought the rats were learning human language or culture.

“Not only is their intelligence advanced, but their tongues seem even more dangerous. If there were living samples, wouldn’t we be able to confirm this for sure?..”

The researchers said that the cilia-like parts may dig into the brain to taste memories or information.

He extended the end and sent an enthusiastic look at Maru, saying, ‘A living sample,’ ‘If there is a living sample,’ but it was no use.

“I see. You know about biometric terminals, right?”

“Ah. Yes. I heard about it.”

“There’s an information extraction device there. Please compare it with the tongue here.”

“Compared to the information extraction device? Ah- Good. I will do that.”

Maru, who was talking to the researcher, suddenly became lost in thought.

“Before that, let’s extract some information.”

“yes?”

“They’re smart enough to be tortured, so wouldn’t it be possible to extract information from them?”

“······.”

Ms. Kim shook her head.

Not satisfied with rat torture, now they’re trying to extract information from rats. But the strange thing is, just as rat torture was successful, it seems like rat information extraction will work too.

The brain-like bio-terminal was immediately transported to the laboratory.

Ppeugurrrrrr

Burgurrrrrr

As Maru approached, bubbles rose from the bio-terminal.

“Look at this. It’s eyes are red and glowing.”

“Oh- is this snow?”

As Maru said, there was a red lens hidden there.

“What were they trying to do by pretending it was just a simple biometric terminal?”

“Can’t you just throw it away?”

“It’s a shame. It’s useful sometimes.”

“But can I connect this to a rat?”

As if asking what was going on, Maru grabbed the information extractor and approached the rat’s flapping head.

Tsk- tsk-

The bound rat struggled desperately, but it was no use. Crackle- The information extractor embedded in its tiny head began to wriggle and dig inside.

A moment later, an image appeared on the biometric terminal monitor.

“···Oh my goodness. It’s true.”

“This. This is not the time to be concerned about Virginia.”

The video showed rat pups living in groups, similar to a primitive tribal society.

Ppeugyurrrur

Pogurururur

Bubbles rose from the bio-terminal.

======

======

Erica Lisbon sat blankly, watching a drama.

I couldn’t understand it even after watching it over and over again and thinking about it while watching it on an endless loop.

The assassin was so surprised that his powers were activated when he caught him.

The assassin’s thoughts that I read at that time. In my empty mind, there was a sentence that was repeated endlessly.

‘For the national interest.’

‘Must kill.’

Just two sentences comprised the assassin’s mind.

Are you saying that your death is in the national interest?

You think you should die for America’s interests?

Why?

What did I do wrong?

‘Uh- That can’t be it.’

The nurse patted her.

‘You can find bad people with your psychometric abilities. So, bad people are trying to kill Erica. They say that the assassin was also forcibly brainwashed.’

It was horrible enough to brainwash someone into becoming an assassin, but the thought that there were people who would go to such lengths to kill you was so horrifying it was driving me crazy.

‘I don’t like it. I …!!!’

I couldn’t live my whole life like this, feeling anxious.

At that moment, the nurse’s words came to mind.

‘If Erica helps, we’ll be able to find the culprit quickly.’

‘You know, he can catch anyone.’

Yes, I can kill Vladimir Kalin.

If only we could find out who was brainwashed and who did the brainwashing.

Erica Lisbon, a psychometrician, opened the door and stepped out, revealing all the humints Virginia Langley had painstakingly created.

This news was immediately relayed to Maru.

“You found a spy network in Virginia?”

“Yes. It was tighter than I thought.”

The PD explained the situation.

“I had been trying to find it for a while, but it was difficult to find because it was an organization that spread through human relationships.”

Relationships with relatives are basic, but in the subtle relationships between lovers, lovers’ friends, and mother’s friend’s daughters, she may not know that she has been involved and leaked fragmented information through drinking parties and sleeping together.

After gathering such fragmented information and making it useful, if it was deemed important, they focused on attacking the person who leaked the fragments.

He used money, beauties, drugs, and everything else without hesitation. If necessary, he even brainwashed them.

“The man who survived the crashed airship was also brainwashed without knowing it. If it weren’t for Erica, it would have been difficult to find him.”

The nurse puffed out her chest as if she was proud of the PD’s praise. Maru’s gaze, which had been directed at Erica Lisbon, suddenly turned to the nurse. No, why would he praise psychometry?

“Great – you worked hard. You did a great job.”

“no.”

Erica blushed at the praise from PD and Maru and held the nurse’s hand tightly.

“While searching for Virginia Langley’s spy network, other agency informants were also caught.”

“Another agency?”

“Yes. There were people planted in the military. There were people planted in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And there were people planted in the Department of Homeland Security.”

“I guess so.”

Maru didn’t feel betrayed by Homeland Security Director Dan Brown. In fact, it would have been strange if there wasn’t even one.

“So, have you sorted it out?”

“I haven’t sorted it out yet.”

“Good job. Leave a few Virginia Langleys behind. We might have to leak some misinformation.”

“All right.”

Maru, who organized the topics related to counterintelligence, uploaded the material. It was a video of a pot filled with gold.

“Seven rat tribes have settled in the Detroit area.”

“to?”

“You mean the rat tribe?”

“······.”

“A rat?”

PD noticed the subtle expression of the rat tribe. Maru did not see the rats as a simple group, but rather as a tribe. Hood also guessed the hidden meaning in the word tribe.

“The gold you see on the screen is a tribute from one of the seven rat tribes.”

The conference room became quiet at the mention of offering tribute.