Rust - Chapter 561



Only Krnovel

RUST [RUST]-561

The tightly shut hatch began to open.

Kirikkirikiriri-

The sound of the bolt heads securing the entrance breaking one by one.

A scene where something black is poking out from between the hatches, which are slowly starting to crumple as if they are being twisted by strong pressure.

Ki-sun jumped as he saw the scene in real time through the tactical camera. Ki-sun quickly sent Kim Yang and the guards down to the sniping point and shouted.

[Hey- That alone···.]

Before I could finish saying, ‘Don’t try to do it alone,’ Maru leapt forward.

[This- crazy.]

As Maru ran towards the emergency exit, ignoring Ki-sun’s screams, he kicked the hatch in front of him, causing it to snap shut like a clamshell.

Churi ri ri ri ri rik!

Knock knock knock!

The middle of the bodies of the black tentacles sticking out to the side were pressed down. The tentacles lost their fierce momentum and flailed around, and Maru began to cut as if aiming for this.

‘What is this?’

Ki-sun, who saw that sight, was able to realize something. It meant that if Maru, who had been shouting for safety, had jumped into danger like that, his unique intuition would have been triggered.

‘How am I supposed to help with that···.’

Information about the black tentacles came to mind. According to the information I received in Japan, it was a monster with strong adaptability and regenerative powers. So it would be dangerous to touch it rashly.

[Point taken. There are too many rats here.]

Ki-sun regained her senses at Kim Yang’s radio call.

“First, stop the rats with tear gas! Don’t be stingy with the supplies, I’ll provide them with crows.”

[Okay.]

Ki-soon checked the battlefield. Director Yoo, now the three clones linked by Yoo Hee-yeon had arrived at the back of the room. They were armed with flamethrowers and guns, and it seemed that they were also familiar with the information related to the Japanese tentacles.

[If you try to go inside, stop me.]

[If the inside of the bunker is full of tentacles, it’s already gone.]

Ki-sun responded to Mark 2’s claim.

“Data shows that it’s actually more dangerous to stop Maru from moving in the direction he’s supposed to. Remember, we’re here to assist and help, not to control him.”

[······. It’s harder to get closer. It’s the Maginot Line where your athletic ability doesn’t decline because you’re alive.]

Perhaps because of this, unlike Ms. Kim and her bodyguards at the sniping point, they were not attacked by a swarm of rats.

“If you make a stronghold, I’ll send more troops. Expand your defensive line to surround the area. If it’s anything like the tentacle monsters in Japan, you have to prevent them from escaping.”

[Don’t do that.]

Ki-sun passed over it for now. Now was not the time to feel uncomfortable. When he turned his head, Maru’s sword was still being cut on the monitor.

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Churiririri—

Crunch-

A slight wrinkle formed between Maru’s eyebrows as he cut off the black tentacles that were rising sideways, then he straightened them.

‘again.’

Kkumururur-

That angle-

It was a little different from the tentacle monsters I encountered in Japan.

The ones I encountered in Japan had their sword resistance increase almost in real time the more they were stabbed, but the ones here now were different.

It’s not that the resistance doesn’t increase at all, but it’s not much different from the physical resistance of a cannibal. So it’s a bit more tough.

‘It’s so thin that you can catch it with a gun.’

What about the other characteristics? Maru’s persistent stabbing continued towards the black tentacles.

‘The responsiveness is also lower than that of Japan.’

‘Is the regenerative ability a bit high?’

A tentacle fell to the floor and dug into the dead rat’s body. Then the rat reared up like a zombie and lunged at the Achilles’ tendon on the floor.

Kujik-

When I stomped on it with my heel, the black tentacles inside twitched with the sound of leather cracking. The ones in Japan ate people by covering them like bossam, but these ones dug inside.

‘Cutting this won’t work, right?’

Kick-kick-

As soon as I pushed the hatch back up again, a communication from Ki-sun came in.

[What are you going to do about that?]

“I have to burn it.”

all.

[Really? Then, since Director Yoo, Clone, and Hee-yeon are waiting, I’ll send them over. Do you need anything?]

“Oxygen and nerve gas.”

[Okay. Kim Yang and the guards are positioned behind you. We’ve secured the defensive line and the escape route, so think about that.]

“okay.”

A small line was drawn at the corner of Maru’s mouth.

If Kim Yang and the guards had the sniping point, there was no risk of missing it. The defensive line could be turned into an encirclement, and if necessary, they could receive escape support, so they felt much more at ease.

The headache that had been building up due to the struggle to survive had subsided a little. And just as Ki-soon had said, Hee-yeon and the clones arrived quickly.

‘Exosuit?’

A black exosuit armed with a machine gun and flamethrower took up position at the back of the floor. Boom – An exosuit approached, having set down an oxygen tank and nerve gas canister.

[I’ll get a sample first.]

The floor blocked the smoke from gathering the tentacle strands into a special storage container.

“No. Just burn it first.”

Although Hee-yeon couldn’t understand because she still had Director Yoo’s memories, she sprayed flames at the black tentacles writhing on the floor as Maru requested.

Whoosh whoosh-

A flame that burns in an instant.

The black tentacles burned like oiled ropes on fire.

‘Burnt by fire better than the Japanese black tentacle monster.’

The ones in Japan were weak to fire, but this one was just like firewood. If the characteristics are this different, then it should be considered a completely different species.

‘or not···.’

Charlotte’s research team must have had a hand in it.

Maru watched the blazing tentacles with sunken eyes.

The tentacles that had been pressuring the emergency exit as if they were about to burst through it became quiet as they realized that there was a fire outside.

The black tentacles had some sense and reason, and they dug into their hosts and controlled their actions. However, it was not clear whether they could control living hosts as well. Maru had only seen them controlling dead rats.

The clone thrust his flamethrower forward as the tentacles that had been sticking out of the hatch retreated back inside, exclaiming, ‘Ouch! It’s hot.’

Maru nodded at the signal, “Open the hatch?”

Clones armed with exosuits began to rip the door apart. Squeak- the twisted hinges and locks made a metallic crunching sound as the gaps began to open.

As I opened the gap and thrust the flamethrower nozzle through it, a loud noise was heard from inside. The sound of tentacles tangling.

Puhwaaaaaaaah-

A fierce flame began to burn the inside of the emergency exit.

The flames lit by Maru threw the bunker into chaos. The tentacles started to run wild, trying to avoid the flames lit from outside.

[Team Leader, there’s a fire. We put out the fire with a flamethrower outside.]

[Outside? Who the hell are you? Where are you?]

[Unknown.]

[shit.]

The CCTV connected to the outside was out of order. It was impossible to know who the people who were setting fires outside belonged to. The fact that they used flamethrowers outside meant that they had chased away the swarm of rats outside, which was good news.

[What happened to the damn fire extinguisher? Why aren’t the sprinklers working?]

[The fire extinguishers have already been used up. And the water tank for fire fighting seems to be empty due to the drought.]

[The tentacles change direction. They are rushing towards the fire. What do I do?]

The tentacles that had been rushing out were coming back.

[Block it with the altar fragments. Then, put the flamethrower on standby and set it on fire.]

[Team Leader!]

[A fight?]

[Yes. If the test subjects break through the debris’ influence, it will be unmanageable. The tentacles must be stopped here at all costs.]

[Even if it’s a fight, there’s no way out if the fire spreads.]

[If you move it, there’s a carbon dioxide tank left. That’s it.]

[······.]

The team leader smiled bitterly and answered his subordinate who was looking at him with a look that said, “If we release carbon dioxide in such a confined space, we’ll all suffocate.”

[If we keep going like this, whether the fire spreads or the tentacles penetrate, we’ll all be lost. I have to hold out until the oxygen tank runs out.]

[···All right.]

The black tentacles that had been pushed inside by the fire that broke out at the exit leading outside were thrown into confusion as flames rose up behind them as well. They twisted their bodies in the flames pouring down from both sides.

The black tentacles, which thought there was no way out, began to move the corpse of the rat they had taken as their host. Their sharp claws and teeth began to gnaw at the floor, hallway, and ceiling.

The sound of flames blazing, tentacles melting, and steel-reinforced concrete crunching began to mix together.

“There’s a fire in the emergency exit. Are you saying the test subject has gone wild?”

Sim Eun-young frowned at the news that a fire had broken out at the only remaining escape route.

“The test subject moved as expected, but it appears that someone from outside started the fire.”

As expected, they succeeded in clearing out the horde of monster rats using black tentacles, but what happened next was a problem. They blocked the entrance from the outside and set it on fire.

“Who? No. That was a stupid question. The only people who know about this bunker are the US military…”

Was it a betrayal? No, it wasn’t. There was no benefit to betraying him.

“If it’s not a betrayal… then this is how things got complicated.”

Let’s say there was a group of troops rushing to the bunker after hearing that it was under attack by a swarm of rats. What would they do if they made their way through the swarm of rats and opened the outer door only to find black tentacles scurrying about?

Of course he would have tried to get rid of them. And the moment he realized that the black tentacles were weak to flames, he would have set them on fire.

Now that communication with the outside world was completely cut off, there wasn’t much we could do to respond.

“First of all. I guess we have no choice but to fight back.”

“The security team leader said he was waiting with a counterattack.”

“Well done. First, organize the test subjects…”

Kkaduk-kkaddeuk-

The floor shook slightly with the sound of something grinding.

“?”

“?”

The chief secretary bent his head forward and looked down at the cracked floor. As the floor tiles cracked and broke, the chief secretary and his bodyguard simultaneously drew their guns and aimed them at the floor.

Churik – Thin tentacles rose out of the broken tiles.

“this.”

“Shoot!”

The silenced gun fired. As soon as the rising tentacles were cut off by the bullets, the entire floor tiles began to crack and shake.

Ppujik- Kwajik-

A rat corpse with black tentacles sticking out from all sides. The black tentacles controlling the rat’s body have found a new host.

Churi ri ri ri ri rik!

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As the red-hot hatch began to cool, Maru entered the bunker.

“Please back up so nothing gets lost.”

Nod-

Maru was walking deeper inside, with the entrance blocked by smoke and clones.

Kwajik- Kushuk-

Ashes rise from the ground with every step you take.

‘Where did you go?’

It wasn’t possible to burn everything.

There was a high possibility that the internal fire extinguishing system had been activated, and the flamethrower also had a range.

Maru took a step forward, slightly raising his spirits. The unpleasant feeling had become dirty, very dirty, and he had no intention of stopping.

And soon enough, I was able to figure out why I was feeling so dirty.

“Ha- Fuck-”

The sight before him was nothing but a floor riddled with holes. The black tentacles that had been parasitized by the monster rats were telling him where to go.

“A tunnel?”

The direction of the tunnel led into the bunker. When I entered through the rubble on the floor, there was a barricade that looked quite sturdy.

[Don’t move from there!]

[Hands up!]

[If you move, I’ll shoot!]

“······.”

Instead of answering, Maru stomped his feet slightly and drew his sword in front of the barricade.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

uh?

As Maru, who had disappeared from sight before I could even pull the trigger, took a step sideways, the barricade was torn apart in a long line.

Thud thud – the barricade splits apart.

Maru’s voice echoed through the collapsed barricade that had been blocking the way.

“Don’t move. If you move, I’ll cut you.”

[······.]

[······.]

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Taang!

One of the researchers who was running forward suddenly fell down. The scope showed tentacles sprouting from the fallen researcher’s torso and crawling around.

Taaang!!

puck!

Let’s blow off the head, and tentacles start to wriggle out from between the exploded head.

[Wow. This gun doesn’t work. I didn’t hear any rumors about these guys digging tunnels and coming out.]

A sound echoed from the sky, as if answering Kim Yang’s complaint.

Caw!

Kazuaaaak!

Caw-