Rust - Chapter 556



Only Krnovel

RUST -556

Chairman Shim’s expression, which had been cold and frozen, changed to one of bewilderment.

[What’s that sound coming from the ceiling… Please wait a moment. Since the story about the rapid cure is the most important here, I need time to talk to other people.]

“Chairman Shim. I can’t wait that long.”

Maru was clearly showing that he was not having fun if I wasted time. What would make me trust him and give him time? What would I do if I strengthened the siege in the meantime?

“While we wait, I would like you to move the manpower surrounding this place far away. I would like you to move them as far away as possible. If I catch you off guard, I will assume you are deliberately wasting time and take preemptive action.”

As Maru slightly lifted the scabbard, two vertical lines were drawn between Sim Eun-young’s eyebrows.

[···That’s right.]

Outside the door, I felt the suffocating energy slowly dissipating in all directions.

After lifting the siege, Chairman Shim suddenly got up and disappeared out of the screen. A very small voice could be heard from an angle where his figure could not be seen.

(Reinforced concrete… reinforced with iron, but you pierced it?)

As I went outside, the voices that had been whispering softly as if they were talking were finally no longer audible. However, I was able to get some information from the conversations with other people.

As Maru focused his mind, a device the size of a grain of rice was activated. A tiny module that could transmit text and image information with short-range communication capabilities activated the contact lens.

‘It must be a bunker made of reinforced concrete.’

‘If it were Sister Shim’s personality, she would have fixed a bunker that could prepare for nuclear war.’

Long-distance wireless communication was not easy due to radio interference unless repeaters were installed densely throughout the area like in Detroit.

So the fact that we could video chat in real time meant that the bunker wasn’t that far away. It was probably a wireless connection, or maybe a wired connection.

‘You must have connected it with a wire, right?’

‘maybe.’

‘Check if there’s any information on nearby nuclear war bunkers.’

‘I sent it a while ago. Just wait a minute.’

Maru and Gisun exchanged opinions using short-range brainwave conversion text.

It was a new technology created using a quantum computer and a bunch of grapes. It was a technology that converted thoughts from a close distance into text and transmitted it to the other party.

‘By the way, Sister Shim, it seems like something urgent came up. You were walking a lot.’

‘I wonder what’s so busy these days.’

Ki-soon tilted her head to the side slightly at Maru’s text.

‘Yeah. It’s really weird. A living disaster came rushing in with a knife. And while I was thinking about cutting it down, something more bothersome came up. Huh- Now that I think about it, I’m really curious.’

‘The voice was so quiet that I couldn’t make out the specific details, but the tone of voice was like that of a soldier.’

Whistle- Ki-soon whistled softly as he diligently pushed up the text.

‘A soldier? Wow – A soldier reported? Look at this lady. I was wondering how she practically ate up California from San Francisco to LA, but it wasn’t cosplay, it was the real military? I took some pictures when I came in just in case.’

‘Who? A soldier?’

‘Oh. You looked quite well-armed, so I took a full-body shot. When I asked you to take a picture, you happily accepted?’

‘Send it.’

In the photo sent by Ki-sun, an American soldier with a muscular body was posing arrogantly.

The sight of the rifle held high as if showing off together with the muscles was somehow familiar.

‘New 6.8mm?’

That new rifle was the main gun used by the American soldiers who went to Japan. Maru’s eyes turned from the rifle to the military uniform.

The shooting stance toward the virtual target was natural and smooth, as if it had been through many real battles. As expected, the division mark on the soldier’s forearm was definitely a mark that Maru knew.

‘Charlotte bit a pretty big hand. The American soldiers here look like the ones I saw in Japan and China. I need to find out more, but it seems right to assume that Charlotte and the returned American soldier held hands.’

‘Oh- As expected, she’s an amazing older sister. But, was it difficult for us to support voice instead of text? Then it would have felt like real telepathy and stuff···.’

Ki-soon felt sorry.

‘You want to use a micro communicator? Even if you do, it’s at a disadvantage compared to contact lenses right now. There are battery issues and waterproofing issues.’

Since the contact lenses were essentially acting as a HUD, it was more advantageous than conveying information auditorily.

Maru looked at Manager Lee Ki-young and the stand-in and sent a signal.

‘Hey, don’t be distracted. If you do something wrong, you’ll die. You understand?’

‘know.’

If anything, it was Ki-soon’s job to turn over her robe and escape.

‘The sky is blue.’

‘I know.’

The weather has become cooler over the past few days.

It seemed like autumn, but autumn, which had not even properly turned red, was calling for winter with a miserable appearance.

Under the blue sky, I could see people huddled together. They looked like they were in a shabby state, putting firewood in drums and burning them.

Similar scenes unfolded here and there in downtown San Francisco, with heavily armed soldiers patrolling the area in squads.

‘Gisun, I’m so touched by the atmosphere in this neighborhood.’

‘why?’

‘There are too many homeless people or job seekers on the streets of the busiest neighborhood.’

‘You wouldn’t necessarily think of it as a bad thing, would you? Let’s think about it the other way around. The fact that such people are gathered together means that they have something to eat, right?’

Maru checked the situation as he flew to San Francisco by airship.

There were more survivors than expected, but supplies did not seem plentiful.

Fortunately, the presence of the US military maintained security.

Now that law and order were in place, the next step was to restart the economy. The most urgent issue was making a living.

To do that, they had to find a way to farm and be self-sufficient enough to at least avoid starvation, but looking at the abandoned farmlands that lay in ruins, it seemed like they had abandoned that side.

Even though he was a novice king, Maru could see that he was still a king.

‘I thought Charlotte had it all figured out, but it seems she didn’t, which is the problem. What’s the point of gathering people together? It’s not going to do any good.’

‘Practicality? Don’t think too much about it. If you wear a crown, you should sprinkle it when it’s time to sprinkle it. It seems like my sister also made a mistake by only considering practicality.’

Maru changed the subject as it seemed like Ki-soon was about to start nagging.

‘But why do you keep calling me ‘sister, sister’?’

Sim Eun-young also had many ups and downs like Gi-sun. Maybe that’s why Gi-sun showed her friendliness from the moment they first met, and Sim Eun-young also seemed to have a good impression of Gi-sun, because the atmosphere was especially gentle when talking to Gi-sun.

‘Just. Is it because I feel like we share the same pain? But don’t beat around the bush and say what you mean. Practical benefits are good, but if you only focus on that and go beyond the justification, you’ll get tired. Because when you look at the way things are going around here, it seems like that’s exactly what’s going on.’

When we gathered only those with practical use and built up our power, some of the useless people started to get involved in politics.

While Charlotte ruled California in practice, politically it was a different story. A provisional California state government emerged, representing the dispossessed and the disenfranchised.

These are things that would not have happened if we had just embraced everything without considering the practical benefits. If we were going to consider the practical benefits, we should have done it like the Holy Kingdom.

Before the political power was united, it was necessary to secure administrative power through strong force and expel all those who opposed it and those who had no practical use.

It’s not like Sim Eun-young didn’t know that either, but the result was the same as now. The power was decentralized to the point where Sim Eun-young had to talk to other people about the recipe for the rapid cure. Ki-soon noticed it right away.

‘How was it? It was good that you came with me, wasn’t it?’

‘Okay. So don’t get stepped on like before.’

‘If the atmosphere was good, it would have been an industry award.’

‘That crazy guy.’

Hehehe- Maru shook his head as he saw Gisoon laughing. Is this kid really normal? Did he open his eyes strangely after falling into virtual reality more than 30 times?

Ki-soon, who saw Maru’s rotten expression, held his stomach and laughed.

“Hey. But. What happened to this manager?”

“I thought you were going to die, so I just went with that and ended it like that. And if I had killed both of you, would I have been able to talk to Chairman Shim like I did now?”

“Oh, that’s one excuse, Your Majesty.”

“Now that you know, do something about it.”

Even with the tiki-taka between Maru and Gi-sun, the substitutes for Manager Lee Ki-young and Chairman Shim did not react.

‘I knew that Director Lee Ki-young was a choleric person, but he doesn’t react at all.’

‘That’s right. The same goes for my older sister.’

How long are you going to wait? So I tried to provoke him a little, but neither Manager Lee Ki-young nor the substitute were caught.

Tsk-

Maru, who was clicking his tongue, slowly stroked the Eclipse handle.

‘Why again? Are your fingers itchy?’

‘I feel uneasy.’

Didn’t Chairman Shim’s story go well? It’s a different feeling from that kind of uneasy feeling. A trembling unease. When have I felt this before? What was it?

While Maru was wondering what the uneasy feeling was, Ki-sun spoke to the substitute.

“Dear Sister. It was exactly the same.”

“Haha- yeah, you had a good time stepping on it too.”

“But. Looking at the way it’s going back, it looks like a complete mess. What happened? Even the farmland is a mess.”

“You can see it once and understand?”

“Oh. Of course. It was tea-like. What is it?”

“Really? That’s great. This will be more fun than living a boring life in the Holy Kingdom. What do you think?”

“Ayu- That’s nice of you to hear, but still, my friend is the King. By the way, did you do that on purpose?”

“what?”

At the substitute’s reply that he had no idea what he was talking about, Ki-sun shrugged and continued talking.

“You left the farmland alone on purpose. That way Charlotte’s supplies will be strong. Do you plan on clearing it out this winter?”

“······.”

“I plan to use this winter to clearly show you who is the one who gives you food. I think you would find practical use in that way.”

“······.”

The smiling face of the body double quickly hardened.

‘Hey- why are you stabbing someone who’s just sitting still?’

Ki-soon, who blinked away the letters from Maru that appeared on her contact lenses, did not stop talking.

“- As you all know, this is America. It’s not Japan or Korea. I’m saying this because you’re like Chairman Shim, but if you rely on the military, you could get screwed.”

It wasn’t a town that just sat still like in Japan. It wasn’t a town that just held candles and waved flags like in Korea and that was the end of it.

If they are hungry and starving, they will rise up with guns, regardless of rations or handouts, and the moment the military suppresses them, it is certain to be a mess.

It was a mistake to think that we could control it with the military last year. Humans are learning animals, and having endured the extreme cold last year, unexpected things could happen before winter came.

“···Thank you for the advice.”

At the substitute’s words, Manager Lee Ki-young also nodded his head toward Gi-sun.

Ki-sun nodded toward Manager Lee and gave Maru a look that said, “How is it?” Maru replied with an expression that said, “Oh. You little brat.” and turned his gaze out the window.

Although it was a bit awkward, it was true that the tension on the floor had eased a little due to Ki-soon’s actions. However, the uneasiness on the floor did not go away.

“This is taking too long, let’s check how long we have to wait.”

If there are good guys, there must be bad guys too.

As Maru let out a faint sigh of relief, Manager Lee Ki-young, whose tendons on his arms reflexively stood out, tensed up.

As the tension that had been slightly released began to tighten again, the substitute stepped forward.

“I’ll speak to the chairman now. Please stop now.”

The band tried to contact him using the intercom.

Tick-tick-

A look of confusion flashed across the face of the stand-in holding the receiver. It was a very brief moment of change, but it could not escape Maru’s keen eyes.

“Why? Aren’t you answering my phone?”

Shim Eun-young, you b*tch. Are you just going to run away?

Maru’s eyes sank sharply.

“wait a minute.”

The stand-in turned his body, perhaps to hide his expression or his embarrassment, and pressed the intercom again.

Tsk-

As Maru’s hand grabbed the Eclipse’s handle, Manager Lee Ki-young slowly turned his head from side to side and began stretching.

Thump thump.

It felt like the perfectly smooth floor was shaking.

Ki-soon’s text message appeared in Maru’s eyes, as if it would burst with a snap if touched.

‘Hey. Over there- that’s on the band sister’s back.’

‘?’

Maru’s gaze, which had been directed at Manager Lee Ki-young, turned completely to the double’s back.

The appearance of long antennae waving.

A wheel larger than a thumb was attached to the band’s back.

What is this···.

Cockroaches in the chairman’s office?

Wheels on the back?

···uh?

A memory that suddenly came to mind.

japan.

airplane.

bench.

cockroach.

A rumbling.

and···.

Maru and Gisun looked at each other.

“Fuck···.”

“Fuck–.”