Rust - Chapter 444



Only Krnovel

RUST [RUST]-444

As soon as the airship entered communication range, it was Hood who reported urgently.

[The military staged a bloody coup. The mayor and governor of New York were killed in the fighting.]

“Blood? You shot him openly?”

Are you crazy enough to just kill them all?

[It seems that the military is aiming to establish a military government system as quickly as possible before the weather gets warmer.]

“I guess so.”

They thought that if powerful figures like mayors or governors survived and became the center of gravity, they would become tired, so they just disposed of them. It was a risky decision in many ways.

“If you keep going like that, won’t the militia be formed?”

Ms. Kim asked, nodding.

Isn’t America a country of guns? Why is the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution, which maintains gun freedom, still so strong?

Isn’t it because, when forces oppressing democracy appear like they are now, citizens are taking up arms and fighting back?

Are those who advocated for gun freedom, saying that true democracy comes from guns, silent about the military coup? Maru answered Kim Yang’s doubts.

“It’s hard right now because of the extreme cold. If the military isn’t stupid, they would have taken control of communications as soon as the coup happened. If the communications network has been taken over by the military, how can they recruit militia?”

Even if they tried to gather a militia, how could they gather it when communications were cut off? Even if a few villagers gathered together to resist, it would be difficult to resist the organized coup forces.

Maru, who was explaining to Kim Yang, felt embarrassed.

“No… Wait. Isn’t that a little strange?”

[?]

“?”

“Before the military did anything, they must have taken control of the communications network. Then how did they know that the military staged a coup and that the mayor and governor were killed? How did they get it to the media? And how did the media broadcast it?”

There are two emergency broadcasting facilities in case the broadcasting station collapses.

The broadcasting facilities built to prepare for nuclear war were controlled by the Strategic Command, that is, the military that had staged a coup, and the operation of the emergency broadcasting system created separately after the 9/11 terrorist attacks was held by the Department of Homeland Security.

But the Department of Homeland Security used the emergency broadcast system to broadcast the military’s bloody coup live. Now that the military knows that the situation has been exposed, they will try to control the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Homeland Security will resist.

“What about other organizations?”

[The New York Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working with the Department of Homeland Security.]

“The Marines on the outskirts are probably on the DHS side, and considering the 80,000 new recruits trained and supplied by the DHS, they’re quite a force, aren’t they?”

[The force appears to be Baek Joong-se.]

The Department of Homeland Security alone has over 30,000.

The New York Police Department had 40,000 men, the FBI and the DEA combined had 50,000, and even if we just count the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a handful, the Marine Corps under General Gilbert Brown had 20,000 men, and when you add in the 80,000 new recruits who were being stripped of their command and such, it was by no means a small force compared to the coup forces comprised of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

“This looks dangerous. This could turn into a full-blown civil war. Do you have any footage of the coup?”

If it really went into civil war, it seemed like it would be difficult for either side to recover their initial investment. A intact New York would be valuable, but what value would a ruined New York have?

[···there is.]

Hood bit his lip slightly.

It took about 10 hours to get from eastern Canada, where the cocoon is, to Detroit. It was a bittersweet experience to think that during that long time, the Department of Homeland Security had not noticed what was going on.

The footage was transmitted immediately. It showed raw footage of soldiers attacking the city hall and administrative offices.

Hood chuckled as he watched the screen where the reporter was live-streaming the battle.

Why didn’t I find this strange?

[You are not a reporter from a broadcasting station. Perhaps, the reporter here appears to be a CG (Computer Graphics).]

“I guess so.”

Maru also agreed.

Could a reporter stand there calmly while bullets were flying around like a hail? He wasn’t even wearing proper winter clothing in the bitter cold of nearly minus 20 degrees.

So the reporter is fake. If you look at it that way, it was the work of the Department of Homeland Security. They were broadcasting the footage with annotations as if it was filmed by a media outlet.

The video continued.

Camera pulling up on soldiers approaching people filming a shootout across the street from City Hall.

Zoom in to see the actions clearly.

The footage showed a civilian violently resisting soldiers as they tried to take his cell phone away from him while he was filming the scene.

The gun was immediately pointed.

There was no further warning.

Tadadadang!

The scene of soldiers shooting and killing rebels was filmed in its entirety.

“That’s crazy. That doesn’t look like CG. Did you really shoot it?”

[Samantha confirmed that there was no CG in that scene.]

The military that shoots everything they see, and the Department of Homeland Security that films it and releases it. They’re both crazy.

‘Is Director Dan Brown really crazy? Or is the military like that? Isn’t that just a massacre?’

Not a good feeling.

Why do I feel so bad when the military just staged a coup?

Maru didn’t ignore that feeling.

The more I dug into it, the more I saw that the soldiers’ behavior and the military’s judgment were strange.

What is that?

A wrinkle formed between Maru’s eyebrows.

The corners of Maru’s mouth slightly twisted as he re-watched the screen several times.

“It looks like even the Virginia kids are involved in this.”

[Yes? Virginia?]

“Why is Virginia involved in a military coup?”

Maru immediately played a portion of the video.

“Look closely here. Soldiers shooting civilians.”

[?]

“?”

Maru said, as the slow-motion video zoomed in on the face of a soldier shooting civilians.

“Do you remember? The woman who was brainwashed and came to kill Erica.”

It was Maru who was talking about a woman who was soaked in drugs and powers and turned into an assassin.

“But why that woman?”

“What did that woman’s face look like?”

A question mark appeared above Kim Yang’s head as she recalled the face of the woman who had tried to kill Psychometric Erica.

“?”

There was no expression on her face. Strictly speaking, there was an expression on her face, but that assassin woman had no particular emotions.

The expression on the soldier’s face as he shot the unarmed civilian overlapped with that of the female assassin. A look of no emotion.

“Am I thinking about this right now? Brainwashing? Drugs?”

“Yeah. You know the information I found back then? Materials related to domination and brainwashing. That body power person.”

[Are you talking about Pittsburgh?]

“That’s right, there. Considering the data there, it seems like they used that technology.”

[Are you saying that Virginia’s brainwashing techniques were used during the military coup?]

“Think about it carefully. I can let it slide until it’s a coup, but look at the military killing people right now. Is it normal to shoot when they’re told to? It’s not normal.”

It was also strange that they did not capture politicians, including mayors and governors, but rather killed them outright.

In general, those who staged a coup often captured existing politicians to minimize backlash.

Considering that it is safer to capture them alive first even if they are killed later, it was unusual for the military to immediately kill influential politicians.

“Is there really something to this?”

It was also strange that they killed all the people resisting, including the bodyguards. It was certainly true, considering that they even killed civilians who were passing by and filming.

[······.]

“It’s not easy for ordinary soldiers to go around killing like that without brainwashing or domination. After all, the coup forces commanded by the military are the National Guard and the National Defense Corps.”

[······.]

“They’re the National Guard, and they’re people who live in New York. If you look at their family, relatives, academic background, and connections, they’re either members of the National Assembly or government officials. If you cross one or two bridges, you’ll find someone you know. So they just shoot them? Do you think that’s possible in their right mind?”

As we saw in the video earlier, is it normal to just shoot unarmed civilians at close range without any change in expression?

“What’s ridiculous is that the Department of Homeland Security didn’t know about the brainwashing and control allegations? Director Dan Brown would have had some idea, and that’s why the cameras were waiting.”

[What does the Director of Homeland Security want? If he knew, if he had guessed, wouldn’t he have been able to stop the coup?]

“It seems like the Department of Homeland Security knew the military would stage a coup. No, they hoped the military would stage a coup. That’s just a guess.”

“Of course. A purge is necessary for a new system to be established.”

The corners of Kim Yang’s mouth slightly rose as she looked at the hood during the video call.

Whoever took power in New York was unlikely to keep quiet.

“Can’t we make a communications network from the cocoon to here?”

From New York to eastern Canada, where Cocoon is located, there is a relay line of floating buoys on the ocean, so all that was needed was a connection from Cocoon to Detroit.

[It’s difficult. It’s nearly 1,200 miles away in a straight line, and you’d need over 1,000 repeaters to install them on land.]

“There’s no choice. We have no choice but to temporarily set up an information center in the cocoon and operate it. For the time being, let’s go back and forth on the airship every day to check the information.”

[Okay, I’d like to take charge of the New York intelligence until the coup issue is sorted out.]

“Is that okay? I have to go back and forth every day?”

Maru was thinking of rolling up his sleeves with a new guy, but Hood volunteered to go to the cocoon.

[It’s not that difficult because it’s an airship.]

“Okay, then thank you for your hard work.”

Maru said coolly. Hood probably wanted to see it with his own eyes.

“Are you okay? Unit 2 is clearly trying to approach New York and hack it directly.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“You never know what the Department of Homeland Security or the military will do.”

“No matter what happens, you won’t be able to kill Hood. They both know that if you mess with them, they’ll die.”

Ms. Kim lowers her voice toward Maru, who answers calmly.

“There is brainwashing.”

“What if Hood gets captured and brainwashed?” Maru answered immediately at her gaze.

“We have psychometry and brainwashing.”

“That’s something you can tell if you’re hooked or not, but it doesn’t mean you can be brainwashed.”

Maru let out a small exclamation of “Oh-” at Kim Yang’s words.

“It’s okay, because no one would be so stupid as to brainwash someone knowing that there’s a psychometer here.”

“The world is wide and there are many cripples in it.”

Ms. Kim was strangely dizzy. Did the gold bars work?

“Then do you want to go too?”

Instead of answering, Ms. Kim held the 20-kilogram gold bar next to her tightly and remained silent.

Well then, that’s right. Maru chuckled.

The amount of gold taken from the cocoon was enormous.

The number of 20kg gold bars alone exceeded a thousand. If you add the small 1kg bars, the total would be close to 25 tons. It was definitely enough to make Kim Yang dizzy. In fact, Maru was a little bit like that too.

The PD who had been silent until now opened his mouth.

“Now that we have enough gold, I think it might be time to start promoting our own currency.”

The need for currency was already being emphasized.

Those who said they were going to New York in search of freedom and normal life actually went there to live comfortably with the dollars and precious metals they had collected while searching.

If I had nothing and was starving, would I have said I would go to New York? I only said that because I had accumulated a lot of dollars and precious metals while searching and reconnaissance.

“The economy will be revitalized only if we properly circulate currency here. If we continue to rely on barter as we do now, the same problems will arise.”

Maru had no choice but to agree. In a community the size of Vladislav Tower, even without currency, coupons, meal tickets, or vouchers for goods would not be a big problem, but that was no longer the case.

There were more than 20 satellite towns. In fact, Maru’s dominance extended beyond Detroit and encompassed the entire state of Michigan.

“Researchers and technicians, as well as the Royal Guard, Knights Templar, and Guards, need to be paid wages and a price standard for goods needs to be established. Is that okay?”

“I was already preparing. I thought about using gold-based notes, but I think it would be better to use coins.”

“If it’s a coin, is it gold or silver?”

“Yes. In the future, when trading with other cities or towns, it seems likely that a currency with real value and usable currency will be used.”

“You were preparing in advance, right?” Maru nodded.

“Let’s do that.”

“And now, I think it’s time for us to establish a system.”

The PD said in a serious voice.

“I think it’s a great way to discuss major issues through meetings, but it’s hard to govern the entire state of Michigan this way right now.”

Maru’s expression became strange at the PD’s words.

Actually, I never intended to make things this big, and I never intended to climb up on someone and rule over them. I just wanted to live a leisurely life, sucking honey safely, and that’s how I ended up here.

“Think about New York. What is happening now is happening because of the political system and social structure. If we don’t get it right this time, there will be endless bloodshed, unrest, and chaos in New York.”

“······.”

“Detroit has been stable because Vladimir Kalin is at the center, but as the size grows and people start to gather, problems are bound to arise.”

“······.”

If I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life killing those who were making noise, I had to make a decision now.

“What would you like me to do?”

PD and Kim Yang answered Maru’s question at the same time.

“What about the Holy Kingdom?”

“The Republic is the best.”