Rust - Chapter 488



Only Krnovel

RUST -488

The head of the security office turned towards Erilyn Newman, his face still in his hands, his head creaking.

“······.”

“······.”

She instinctively took up a stance to grab the sword with her right arm, but her empty arm just flailed around, unable to catch anything.

While the one-armed woman was doing her show alone, Kim Yang took off her holster and spoke to Maru, who was about to film a horror movie.

“Are you going to kill me? Chief of Security. If you keep going like this, I think I’ll die.”

“······.”

Perhaps because he felt uneasy and as if he was being poked here and there, Maru unconsciously twisted the hand that was grabbing the security chief’s cheek.

Ughhhhhhhhhh-

The security chief’s jaw wasn’t falling off, but his face was twisted and his neck was half-broken. Tsk- As Maru, who had been clicking his tongue, released the strength in his hands, the security chief fell over with a thud.

Huh- Huh-

The security chief collapsed, unable to overcome the physical and mental shock, as his mouth burst and blood gushed out from it while he was pressing hard on the ball.

The head of the security office, who was a former researcher, was too weak-willed to endure the experience of having his face twisted and his neck broken, almost killing him.

“Lock him up for now. I’ll check back later. And do a full body scan. If you have any jewelry or anything while you’re doing the full body scan, take it all off.”

“ancient!”

The guards dragged the unconscious security chief out.

“And you. You said you wanted to reattach your severed arm? Didn’t you say you would unconditionally cooperate and leave anything to me?”

“······.”

The one-armed woman’s eyes wavered at Maru’s words. Her face seemed as if she didn’t know why she had reacted that way. She couldn’t remember why she had tried to draw her sword just a moment ago.

“You too, go to the solitary cell first. Change your clothes, and if you have any jewelry, take it all off before I scan it. Take it with you.”

“······.”

The one-armed woman came to her senses again and went out on her own, under the control of the guards.

Not long after, it was revealed that the bracelet worn by the security chief, the anklet worn by Bbangsooni, and the ring worn by the one-armed bitch were interfering with Erica’s psychometry.

“The bracelet and anklet are from the Virginia Company, and the ring is from the military.”

Erica’s expression was not good. Her face was covered in deep fatigue.

“The security chief? You said it wasn’t a betrayal?”

“Yes? Yes.”

I looked back at the reason why I received the bracelet, but it was the same as before. It was true that I did it because I thought I would be immediately affected by the psychic powers if I didn’t receive the bracelet, and that I planned to report it later.

“I had no intention of betraying you.”

In the eyes of the security chief, Vladimir Kalin was death itself. What kind of idiot is that to betray death?

The security chief was adamant that he had to stick with Vladimir Kalin in order to survive.

It was even more so because I experienced it firsthand. The events at the Wilmington Secret Research Lab and the capture of the Aegis ship by Vladimir Kalin alone were nothing but shock and horror.

What was most deeply rooted in the security chief’s mind was the fear of death and the will to survive.

“Really? Still, it seems like the security chief’s judgment is clouded. We need to check if it’s due to compulsion or some other cause, so let’s take some time to look into it. Then what about the baker and the one-armed woman?”

“It was a bit complicated over there.”

Bbangsooni’s memories were jumbled. Incompatible experiences and memories. It was a mental world that could not be understood even when reading with psychometry.

So, I remember eating breakfast, but at the same time, I remember not eating breakfast. Did I eat it? Did I not eat it?

“It seems like a side effect of brainwashing.”

Hood said as he listened to Erica’s explanation. It was probably a side effect of the MK Ultra experiment.

“They must have taken the side effects into consideration when working on it. It must be a countermeasure against psychometry.”

Not only did they take away my mind and memory, but why did they bring in mental response equipment?

“What was the operational objective that made you send one person half-crippled?”

“I couldn’t tell because my memories were jumbled. What I did know was: I want to be close to you? I have to be close to you? I wish I had a lover. Those were the thoughts I had most recently.”

Erica couldn’t say that the face of Vladimir Kalin came to mind along with the words “Bbangsooni’s lover.”

‘This needs to be discussed separately.’

Separately to Prince Vladimir Kalin.

It would not be good to talk about it in front of Kim Yang, the nurse, and Hood. Erica, who had accumulated a lot of psychometric experience, thought it would be better to avoid landmines.

“I heard that the Virginia Company is a woman with a mind of her own. What should I do?”

Considering the head chef’s request, I think you could just put a leash on it and throw it over there.

“It’s a shame to waste the ability, but I think it would be better to dispose of it.”

“I agree. It’s regrettable in many ways, but I think it would be better to sort it out.”

“······.”

Kim Yang and Hood responded sensitively, and the nurse also expressed her tacit agreement by remaining silent. When Maru looked at her to ask her to explain the reason, Kim Yang answered first.

“Even if you put them on a leash, I don’t think it’s a good idea to let dangerous substances into the kitchen. What if they suddenly lose their senses and start spraying poison on the food? I don’t know about anything else, but do you really need to be anxious every time you eat or drink? If you’re anxious every time you eat, it’s not a good thing for a human being to live.”

Hood added to Kim Yang’s words.

“That’s true, but I think the problem is that we don’t know the purpose. If they’ve been so thorough in their response to psychometry, it means they’ve planned a very deadly operation… Since we don’t know what it is, isn’t there really no need to leave any room for it?”

The nurse was about to give her tacit consent when the crow sitting on her shoulder objected.

Kkack- Kkaaaak?

“Huh? Why do you hate a female who makes good snacks? It’s not that I hate her. It’s because it’s dangerous. What would happen if you put drugs in her food?”

A crow that tried the dessert made by Roana Blanc voted against it.

Cackle, cackle.

Foodduk-

Maru looked at the nurse as the crow spoke passionately, flapping its wings.

“What’s causing such a fuss?”

“Ah- If you’re worried about eating, they’ll send you to their dessert department. If you have any problems with the medicine, you can go to the Sacred Crow Unit.”

Kim Yang and Hood glared at the crow, but it flapped its wings again and then plucked its feathers.

Maru, who had been thinking for a moment, checked again.

“Erika. Anyway, the baker. It’s not like she’s in any danger right now, right?”

“yes.”

“Okay. Okay. Let’s put a leash on Bbangsooni and let her do the work while we watch for a while. And how was the one-armed woman?”

“It seemed like something was superimposed on that woman’s subconscious.”

Maru understood right away. It was an unconscious reaction, judging by the actions of trying to commit suicide or reflexively trying to attack.

“You said with your own mouth that it was a honey trap. Is that true?”

Erica looked at the three women again. The expressionless faces of Ms. Kim, the nurse, and Hood felt somehow murderous.

“Yes? Yes. Ah- The strongest thought was my arm. ‘My arm.’, ‘Give me back my arm.’ That kind of thought. And that… I really hope my arm gets healed and we can train again. I hope the operation goes well and my relatives are rich and safe. Those were my thoughts.”

Miss Kim took Erica’s words.

“So the one-armed bitch is a beauty queen?”

“uh···.”

“Don’t change the subject. So you’re saying that the one-armed bitch was after the highest dignity?”

“······.”

Erica exercised her right to remain silent. Maru changed the serious atmosphere.

“Everyone, relax, the beauty queen won’t get caught up in that kind of stuff. And as for Arielin Newman….”

It was a bit difficult to dispose of him because he was a relative of Producer Michael Newman.

PD’s loyalty and faith were not a problem, so if he wanted to dispose of her, he could, but was it really necessary? Erin herself was a swordsman of considerable skill.

“Because she’s a woman who’s quite good at using a sword. She said she’d reattach her severed arm if she did something good, so I can control her. If possible, I’ll try to keep her alive.”

“······.”

Nurse Kim, Ms. Hood and others looked at each other suspiciously.

‘Are you already into beauty trapping?’

‘If the one-armed bitch is a beauty queen, then isn’t the bread bitch also a beauty queen?’

‘Considering the information that has come out so far, there is a high probability that it is a beauty scam.’

The three women, who had been exchanging opinions with their eyes, looked at each other.

hmm-

hmm-

ah-

Exclamations that came out almost simultaneously.

Come to think of it, I’ve never heard anyone say that they were missing out on anything either.

So what was the result when they stuck together like that?

They looked at the floor with their eyes somehow changed into a hazy look.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“No. Even if the one-armed bitch is good at using a sword, she’s one-armed now. I’m trying to recruit her to use a sword.

I think that’s a bit much. If that’s the case, then I wonder if it means that you’ll attach the arm first. Our Unit 2 Hood hasn’t even been treated yet, so if you treat the one-armed one first, it seems a bit unfair. So in many ways, it seems like that…”

Maru cut off Kim Yang’s words in the middle, feeling a bit strange as she burst out after a long time.

“Ah- Wait. Okay. Okay. I know. I’m going to take all that into consideration when writing this. That’s it.”

It was the same even when I went to a remote village right away.

It was twice as efficient to mobilize a one-armed woman rather than walking around Maru alone.

If Mr. Kim also returns to the scene, the efficiency will be tripled.

If it was in a completely unusable state, then I wouldn’t know, but if it was usable, then I wouldn’t be organizing it.

Even if someone with a fairly strong ‘acceleration’ ability were to just be thrown away? That can’t be done.

Maru made a decision.

“Have the bread woman leashed, under guard, and sent to the head chef.”

“······.”

“······.”

“The one-armed woman will be deployed to the village that hasn’t been cleared yet. She’ll have to work hard to get her arm back. And Erica, make sure the three of you do psychometry often. If there are any changes, let me know right away.”

“yes.”

Phew-

I feel like I’ve sorted everything out, but I still feel uneasy. What did I miss?

Mr. Kim, Hood, is that because the nurse is dissatisfied? I don’t think so.

Maru dug in persistently, as he didn’t always feel this way.

A map that caught Maru’s eye as he searched for the cause of his uneasiness here and there.

Red markers placed here and there marked the cities where battles had taken place. Maru was reminded of the turbulent western region.

‘By the way, I heard that Chairman Charlotte Sim settled in LA.’

Since Director Yoo and Maru cleaned up LA and San Francisco, Chairman Shim could only say that he was lucky.

‘If you eat LA and San Francisco, you’ll keep going up, right?’

Expanding east would have been fraught with friction with the Confederacy, so they would probably head north. Up that road was Seattle.

Seattle was also a city that Maru had once cleared out. In particular, there was a cannibal queen and a princess there. The princess was more of a vampire than a cannibal.

‘The Queen’s power was quite strong···.’

for a moment.

dominion?

influence?

Maru’s gaze turned from Seattle to Pittsburgh.

I remembered the test subject in the basement.

A psychic who displayed powerful abilities despite only having a torso left.

The ability to rule and control cannibals.

For those who want to become nobles and rule the world, the scariest thing would be to be ruled by them instead.

I want to rule, I don’t want to be ruled.

Using research from their Pittsburgh lab, they created a queen and studied how to evolve her into a noble, vampire-inspired being.

The equipment that those guys created was a mental response device. Is this a coincidence?

So, if there is equipment to counter psychic abilities, doesn’t that mean there is equipment that emits psychic abilities? Or at least something close to psychic abilities?

Maru distributed bracelets, anklets, and rings that were on the table to the three women.

They just handed them out in the order they were seated, but Kim Yang and Hood’s gaze turned to the nurse who had received the ring.

“Ah- ah- so-”

“If you don’t like the ring, swap it with another one.”

‘That’s it. It’s not that I don’t like it···.’

A bracelet and anklet were thrust in front of the grumbling nurse.

“Huh? Huh-”

As the nurse held the ring helplessly, a crow flew up with the ring in its beak.

“Stop it and try again.”

Maru spoke to the women who were putting on their mental defense equipment one by one.

“How is it? How does it feel? Is something strange?”

??? A question mark appeared above the heads of the three women.

Maru’s persistent pursuit to relieve the discomfort eventually led to the discovery of the cause.