Rust - Chapter 448



Only Krnovel

RUST -448

Maru was a kind and peaceful guerrilla who maintained discipline among the crows.

The crows’ desperate caws echoed like a cry for half a day. Maru, who thought he had roughly established order, finished up refreshingly and came out to Little Caesars Arena.

Outside the main entrance to the stadium, a nurse was hesitating with her hands folded. It seemed like she was waiting outside, unable to come in.

“What are you doing? Have you been waiting?”

“···I’m a little anxious.”

It was understandable to feel uneasy. If anything, I was thinking of killing off everyone except the career positions.

Maru nodded slightly instead of answering. If the plan had been to maintain only one Ark Tower, there would have been no need to go this far.

But now that he had declared a kingdom, if the crows attacked people, it was his own fault for taking them in.

There are three options.

Either discipline them, expel them, or kill them.

Even though it was past mid-April, the weather was so cold that temperatures were dropping below -20 degrees Celsius. Being exiled was like death. So it was better to maintain order in a good and peaceful manner and give them a break if they couldn’t catch up.

“If a situation calls for rest, you should give it comfortably.”

The nurse’s face turned pale at Maru’s calm answer.

I could understand the nurse’s feelings. To her, the crows were probably like pets. But that was that, and this was this.

“You mentioned the Republic to Miss Kim and intended to demand her salary in gold, but you didn’t bother to consult Nanae. I don’t think that’s a good thing. Or did you know that the crows were thinking that way and didn’t tell her?”

“Huh? No. That’s not it.”

“Yes. And the number has increased as well. Did you know that the crows are increasing in number?”

“······.”

I couldn’t figure it out. The nurses were mainly responsible for the escort and bombing squadron crows that accompanied the airship.

“Look at what the crows did. Those who were talking about the Republic shit on me, the one who declared the Kingdom. Do you think that was just a prank by a crow with a new brain?”

A video that bird keepers sometimes upload to NewTube. It’s a video of a bird flying high into the sky, sitting on the owner’s shoulder, pooping, and the owner wiping the poop away while laughing like all birds do.

Looking at it, you might think that it was too much to create a sea of ​​blood just because a crow pooped once, but Maru didn’t think so.

Are the birds and crows in the Newtube video the same class? No.

Even on the airship and on the top floor of the building where the crows were using as their nests, the crows had begun to show some signs of hiding.

So, if Maru shits on himself, it means that he has decided to shit.

Nanae grasped the end of her clothes as if she realized what I meant.

“The same goes for career-related kids. If they really thought they were going to die, they wouldn’t have just been flapping their wings like that. They should have experienced at least once that they could die as a group, so they know that.”

Maru comforted her in his own way and then turned around.

The nurse stood there for a while. She took a deep breath, clutching the first aid kit that had been placed on one side.

‘This can’t go on. If we hesitate, we won’t be able to save the child we need to save.’

Nanae steeled herself and opened the door to the indoor stadium.

Hook – A smell that digs into the tip of the nose.

It was definitely the smell of death.

The motivation that had been building up until just a moment ago has been broken.

Boom boom boom – My trembling legs gave out and I felt like I was going to collapse.

A space where tens, hundreds, thousands of people died.

The mud, packed with flesh and entrails, was horrific, sprinkled with feathers soaked with blood and fat.

Ga-a-a-

Kaaa–

Only the occasional groan indicated that the crows had not been annihilated.

‘Move. Move.’

The crows’ desperate groans seemed to be reproaching the nurse.

‘Why did you come now?’

‘Why didn’t you help me?’

Nana, carrying a first aid kit, searched desperately through the mud.

Crows with broken heads, crows with crushed skulls, and crows with crushed skulls came out one after another.

The nurse realized this as she looked into the crows’ resentful eyes.

Ah, so being smart means becoming similar to a human.

Just like the pet she had in mind.

So there was no such thing as a cute crow that was smart but not human.

What is the most common sound that paramedics and emergency doctors hear?

Rather than expressing gratitude, such as, “Thank you for doing your best,” I ended up recalling resentment, such as, “Why did you kill him?” or, “If you had done your best, you could have saved him.”

Yes, crows may have been the ones who needed to be protected, communicated with, and guarded.

Even so···.

Nanae opened the first aid kit and injected painkiller into a crow whose wings had been broken to the side for some reason.

“If there’s someone next to you who seems to be in danger, raise your wings!”

Gaaaaak-

“Be quiet. You should be grateful that you’re alive. What are you complaining about?”

Kaaaak-

“Then are you going to go out and freeze to death? You still haven’t come to your senses!”

······

······

“What’s so unfair about it? I saw it all from outside.”

Amidst the groans of the crows, the nurse’s voice floated up.

======

======

Kim Yang’s eyes narrowed.

‘Will I become a good guerrilla?’

She thought that a half-day’s worth of blood, shit, and urine leaking out of a guerrilla might be insufficient to change her personality… no, her composition.

‘I think I should do it consistently once a month or once every two months so I don’t forget.’

Looking at what the crows were doing, it seemed like it would be a good idea to get rid of all the career workers, but since the Baekjeong mode ended quickly, a lot of them survived.

It was Ms. Kim who had no hesitation in thinking that if crows heard her, she would harm herself.

[What about the aftermath?]

[The nurse came in, so just watch.]

When I asked Maru, he was uselessly soft.

[There are quite a few survivors, but will Unit 1 be okay alone?]

[Oh. Since you’re doing it for the sake of it, just watch over them. No. Go inside with the guards and hide to watch over them. If you think they’re in danger, come save them.]

Maru thought that in a world where there are crazy people, it wouldn’t be strange for a crazy crow to appear.

[Then wouldn’t it be better to stay right next to him instead of going?]

[You won’t be careful in front of me because you’re afraid of me.]

‘What’s so complicated?’

It was Ms. Kim who thought that the problem was that she had saved too many lives.

Since it was 25,000, you could have just gotten rid of 15,000 and left exactly 10,000 to roll with. You only took 5,000 and left 20,000 alive.

It was Ms. Kim who, while grumbling to herself, entered the building with the guards as Maru had said.

[Activate stealth mode and prepare to snipe.]

Kim Yang, who sent his guards to each location, checked the overall situation. The stadium CCTV screen linked to the HUD.

As the nurse was treating the crows and collecting the bodies, one crow was seen threatening them with its beak.

[Are you going?]

[wait.]

Kim Yang checked to see if the guards would immediately blow away the crow, but she was just watching for the time being.

Kaaa-

Whirik- Whirik-

A crow flailing around. If it had been in good health, it would have pecked the nurse in one go, but after being beaten by Maru and beaten for half a day, it had no strength left and could only flail around, posing no real threat.

‘There’s still so much to be done.’

Just as the coldness in Kim Yang’s eyes was about to grow, the nurse’s voice rang out.

[What did you do well that you’re yelling at me!]

Taktong-

The nurse’s honeycomb burned on the crow’s head.

A crow that was already at its limit is seen sticking out its tongue and fainting.

Huh? Unit 1, without fear.

Even though they looked like that, those crows were no joke.

Think back to when the psychic mercenaries invaded. It was the crows that tore apart all the enemies wearing bulletproof vests, including those wearing power loader-type exosuits.

No matter how tired she was, it was clear that the nurse’s delicate skin would be torn in an instant if caught in the crow’s beak or talons, yet she responded so ignorantly.

‘Should we just shoot those crow chicks?’

The nurse raised her voice again, not knowing whether she knew about Ms. Kim’s worries or not.

[I know we all almost died today!]

[Everyone, repent!]

Uh. Um. Uh.

During the following sermon, Ms. Kim quietly turned down the volume.

======

======

As something akin to a special survival appreciation rally hosted by the nurses began in the indoor stadium, Diana used her new drone to attack the disobedient crows.

Maru’s order. It was to carry out the extermination of those who disobeyed orders. Researchers and technicians gathered in front of a large monitor and watched the new combat drone in action.

[Check location. Run silent mode.]

A drone with a muted sound uses its robotic arm to open a gap in the entrance.

[Entry successful.]

[Scatter to the operational location.]

[3. 2. 1. Attack.]

The actual combat test of an attack drone equipped with a 12.7mm gunpowder + electric power combination coil gun has begun. The 200 to 300 crows that were in each building began to be cleared out in an instant.

[Block the escape route.]

[3 o’clock direction.]

[Object seen escaping through ventilation shaft.]

[Check the ventilation system of the entire building.]

Although the crow had high intelligence, it could not surpass the computational power of the artificial intelligence Diana. The drone’s movements were adjusted in real time.

Above all, there was no way to attack the heavily armed combat drones because they had no long-range attack power. If they were in the thousands or tens of thousands, they could be pushed back with swarm tactics, but with only 200 to 300 per building, they could only be beaten.

“You can use drones like that too.”

“The difference between humans and artificial intelligence.”

“Oh- the momentary mobility isn’t bad.”

“The change of direction is also natural.”

The researchers and technicians continued to cheer.

It was an admiration for the artificial intelligence Diana, which was bringing out 100% of the drone’s performance, and an admiration that came from satisfaction with the drone’s performance.

[No young ones.]

[No old individuals.]

[No idea.]

“Well, there’s no way they would lay eggs in this cold.”

“It’s strange that there are no old individuals.”

“I heard that crows don’t even abandon old ones.”

In the midst of the commotion, Diana let out a red warning sound.

[Grenade found.]

bang!

Pushshshshshshsh–

[Front smoke grenade detected. Thermal imaging and motion detectors activated.]

A desperate hide-and-seek game between a crow and a drone that survived in a space with a ceiling height of 4 meters has begun.

Everyone was surprised by the unexpected counterattack, but the result was Diana’s victory.

[Grenades and smoke bombs found in the nest.]

[Precious metals and jewels discovered.]

[Drugs found.]

The unexpected came out of the Crow Residence Building.

Maru clicked his tongue after hearing this.

“Tsk- keep clearing.”

[The guerrilla crows are said to surrender.]

[Kaaa-surrender-]

“Kill him.”

Maru was resolute.

[thud thud thud-]

[4th Street, Block 2 Building Sweep Complete]

[7th Street, Block 9 Building Sweep Completed.]

······

······

[Completed clearing the crow-inhabited building.]

It wasn’t just a bunch of disobedient crows. Given the hidden bombs, precious metals, and drug paraphernalia, it seemed more likely that there was some sort of criminal organization involved.

‘I never thought there would be such a thing as a crow gang.’

“How about the nurse?”

[Occasionally, a glowing crow appears, but the surrounding crows suppress it.]

Maru briefly explained what happened at the Crow’s Nest Building.

[···Precious metals? Were the crow chicks stealing gold?]

“Yeah. Bombs and drugs too.”

[How about getting rid of everyone except the ones I worked with?]

“That’s not it. It could be dangerous once the weather clears up.”

When the river thawed, they would bring in Aegis ships, but there was nothing that could autonomously perform reconnaissance, defense, and attack while having as many as crows.

“First, we need to root out the crows in the organization.”

There were some really weird looking crow chicks.

Maru and psychometric Erika headed to the indoor stadium where the nurses’ repentance meeting was in full swing.