Rust - Chapter 563



Only Krnovel

RUST [RUST]-563

[gas!]

[smoke screen!]

Along with Kim Yang’s shout, the guards who escaped with him scattered and repeated their chant.

[gas.]

[gas.]

[smoke screen!]

[smoke screen!]

The exosuit’s chemical, biological, and radiological response system began to activate and decontaminate the nerve gas. Wheeing- Kim Yang ran through the low mechanical sounds.

Kkiyungkkiyungkkiyung-

[Everyone, escape. Through the window!]

The smoke grenade that exploded at the same time as the nerve gas emitted enough smoke to darken the inside of the building. Taking advantage of the gap, Kim Yang and his bodyguards threw themselves through the window and fell freely several tens of meters down.

Fu Chemistry-

The jetpack, which can be used 3-4 times, activated, and blue flames shot out from the nozzle. A few of the guards stumbled, but most landed safely.

[Personnel report.]

As soon as we landed, Kim Yang, who led the unit, started by taking stock of the personnel.

[one]

[two]

[three]

···

···

[Total of 28, 7 missing during operation, current number of personnel is 21 or more.]

‘There are too many missing.’

The exosuit standing next to Chairman Sim Eun-young came to mind. It was clearly contaminated with black tentacles.

‘The black tentacles I saw in Japan wouldn’t be able to penetrate the special armor of the exosuit.’

If it had been the black tentacles that had engaged Baekjeong at the time, it certainly wouldn’t have been able to penetrate the exosuit. So, that girl must have done something.

‘It looked fine on the outside.’

Kim Yang immediately transmitted the footage from the tactical camera to Ki-sun on the airship, then took his position in the direction of Maru.

This was because people infected with black tentacles were coming out from that side, and while catching them, we could also expect support bombing from the crows.

[What is the video you just sent? Are you sure that Chairman Charlotte Sim was with the black tentacles?]

[Can’t you tell by looking?]

Ki-soon said as if she was going crazy at Kim Yang’s blunt answer.

[No. Ah- s-so where are you going now?]

[Towards the bunker. Mark 2 and the clone are going inside, so back them up.]

Ki-sun was silent for a moment as he heard the story of catching the black tentacle-tainted people that kept coming out from that side while also going to kill them.

[···That seems like a trap.]

[Huh? What are you talking about?]

Miss Kim, who was moving at full speed toward the bunker, raised her right hand and clenched her fist. The guards that had been moving rapidly behind her stopped in their tracks and took up a state of alert.

Ki-sun’s voice subsided.

[Think of an escape route a little while ago. Chairman Shim was waiting in the building. How?]

Yes. You could think that the information about the escape was extracted from the captured guards, but that was the result. The cause was how did they capture the guards defending the first floor of the building? That means they were captured before they could even send a signal to engage.

[···So those things that were acting cute in front of me were bait?]

[Probably. They made us believe there was a hole in the front of the bunker, and the real main force was behind it.]

[Then Maru and Mark 2 aren’t in danger?]

[···What if that’s the case? What would you do if you and the entire guard went in?]

Kim Yang’s eyes narrowed.

[So what do you want us to do?]

[You have to catch the enemy who doesn’t think. Do you know Manager Lee Ki-young and his double in the Charlotte headquarters building?]

The story of Maru and Gi-sun going to negotiate. When Ms. Kim nodded, Gi-sun continued her explanation.

[What we need now is information. If we want to know what Chairman Shim has to do with the tentacles, we need to retrieve the tentacles that are there.]

[Time has passed, but you’re still there?]

[If it’s not a tentacle, it’s Chief Lee Ki-young’s corpse. There must be a head at least.]

[What if you don’t have both?]

[I don’t know if it will happen or not, but it’s better than going to the bunker right now and saying, “Please kill me.”]

[Okay.]

Mr. Kim was quick to act. He immediately changed direction with a hand signal and began marching.

[And if Chairman Shim asks to talk again, accept it.]

[What the heck are you talking about.]

[To delay as long as possible.]

[···Okay, I understand.]

As expected, Ki-soon is really sinister.

Kim Yang and the guards following him ran through the ruins toward Charlotte headquarters.

As Kim Yang and his party escaped, thick smoke rose from the broken windows.

Shim Eun-young, who had leaned out through the gap, made a small impression. This was because Kim Yang and the guards, who had been heading towards the bunker, changed direction and headed towards the headquarters.

It was an unexpected move. He was a kid who liked gold, so I thought it would be worth talking to him, but out of the blue, he threw a smoke bomb at me.

He ran away without looking back. If the information from before was correct, he would have shot without thinking, let alone run away. He has changed a lot.

Just in case, I had placed a bait to lead them to the bunker. I thought it was fine, but then suddenly they went to a ruined city. Why is that?

Sim Eun-young raised her head. She saw crows circling the sky and an airship that looked like a dot even higher than them.

‘Kim Ki-soon.’

There was a guy who was using his head strangely. He was also a kid who could communicate. Sim Eun-young stepped out the window.

······

The body that should have fallen to the floor was hanging in the air.

Black tentacles grabbed her body. The tentacles attached to Sim Eun-young’s back began to move like spider legs.

======

======

Maru’s expression as he collected data from the bunker lab was frighteningly cold. Honestly, this whole situation was starting to annoy me.

Why are there so many bombs in this fucking world? Even if there are a lot of bombs, why is it happening right in front of my eyes?

If you couldn’t see it and didn’t know…

Was it comfortable?

‘Fuck.’

Maru hated mutants and cannibals. It was partly because of his aversion to cannibalism, but also because he hated the way they looked at humans as if they were prey.

The monster in Maru’s memory was the same. It was mad with anger and revenge. The monster, struggling inside the strong restraints, tried to tear apart other people’s minds.

The reason he escaped like that was because he wanted to catch the researchers and attack their minds first, and then follow them to get revenge.

With that tentacle, it was obvious that Chairman Charlotte Sim Eun-young was crazy. I don’t know what or how she did it, but now that the tentacle has parasitized a person, the situation is worse than when it was attached to Japan.

One advantage over the old days was that I had obtained a fragment of the altar that affected the black tentacles, so I absolutely had to find any information related to it.

[Did you know? You just need to find the information related to the altar fragments.]

“Okay. Okay. Okay. Once you find it, you’ll release it as promised?”

[The contract is kept.]

“Okay. You all heard? Let’s find it quickly and end it well. Don’t think about doing something stupid like before.”

If they had been careless, it would have broken or cracked, but they had avoided it with exquisite skill and beaten it, so the employees started to search the lab while groaning.

‘I feel uneasy.’

It wasn’t just because of the earthquake and tsunami. It was also because of the black tentacles and the fact that Sim Eun-young wasn’t visible. Maru’s nerves were tense as if something was going to happen.

How many hours had passed like that? Yoo Hee-yeon and Clone came inside.

[I told you to wait outside so that no tentacles escape.]

[You said that Ms. Kim and her guards would provide backup. What is taking so long?]

Maru nodded slightly as if he felt sorry for leaving out the part about being worried.

[Ah- I have some information I really need to find.]

[Let’s go out if possible. The terrain is not good.]

In Director Yoo’s experience, these underground bunkers were not good. They could have been booby-trapped, and if they had a suicide device, they could have been buried alive.

Maru also thought that this might be the reason for the uneasy feeling he couldn’t figure out, so he decided to go outside. At that moment, Charlotte, the head of security, called Maru.

“I found something strange here.”

A sense of discomfort was felt at the sight of the security team leader waving his hand while looking at the hole in the floor. The unease was starting to turn into a dirty feeling. Maru immediately turned around and headed towards the entrance.

[let’s go.]

At Maru’s short and decisive words, Yu Hee-yeon and the clones followed in retreat formation.

“Huh? There’s some strange traces here. Should I just go?”

[There are no swarms of rats, and no black tentacles, so let’s call our deal a day.]

“Okay. You heard everything? Stop it and gather together.”

The employees who had been diligently turning things over stopped and gathered in groups of three or four.

‘Hey, man – you just hit the jackpot.’

‘You said it was important information.’

‘It doesn’t really matter. It must have been dog hair since I just flipped it over and left it there.’

‘If it was going to be like this, why did you insist on coming in?’

‘What did the team leader say?’

‘He told me to grab some weapons from the armory.’

‘What information have you collected so far?’

‘I don’t know. Put it in the corner over there.’

A rumbling sound was heard from behind, but Maru ignored it and hurried his steps. Not only was the team leader’s attitude of wanting to live a long and thin life subtly changed, but his mood was becoming increasingly unpleasant.

Thud thud-

Wing-Cluck-

Kiik-chik-

Maru’s footsteps and the exosuit’s characteristic movement sound headed toward the emergency exit. Hee-yeon and the clones followed Maru, ready to spray their flamethrowers at any time.

Thud thud-

Maru, who had been taking brisk steps, suddenly stopped. Maru returned the foot he had extended to its original position without taking a step and pulled out Eclipse.

“Prepare for battle.”

At the same time that Hee-yeon and Clone entered the diamond formation in a low voice, Maru planted Eclipse on the bunker floor.

Kujik-

As the blade pierced the floor, the previously sound floor began to shake as if an earthquake had occurred, and then, squeak- a hole opened up like a sinkhole. A woman’s voice could be heard from within that deep, dark hole.

“I didn’t mean to talk like this.”

Sim Eun-young’s voice rang out.

“I was trying to meet you through Ms. Kim, but things turned out like this.”

Chick- The clones aimed their flamethrowers at the hole in the floor. Maru raised his hand to stop them, then said.

“What are you going to talk about? The black tentacle story?”

“Ah- That was really unintentional. The earthquake caused problems in the isolation lab.”

In addition, a swarm of rats and cockroaches suddenly appeared from nowhere. The earthquake and tsunami ruined all the plans.

“Are the band and Chief Lee Ki-young also contaminated?”

“If you say pollution, that’s a bit much. If you say coexistence, that would be better.”

The corners of Maru’s mouth twitched at Sim Eun-young’s answer.

“Symbiosis? Do you know what that means? What do you want from the tentacles? What do you want? What did you want that you brought it to Japan, even though you knew it was going to be a mess?”

“···Oh my. Did you forget? I told you. Well, it’s the nature of humans to only remember things related to themselves. But it’s still a bit disappointing. Some people built kingdoms, while others crawled all the way here only to have everything blown away by an earthquake and tsunami. Coexisting with tentacles, huh?”

“Are you saying that you tried to catch Ms. Kim to complain about your fate?”

“Ah. Even if you think so, I still have nothing to say in response. To be honest, I thought that the conversation itself would be impossible if I didn’t speak through Ms. Kim.”

“······.”

“Isn’t it the same now? If the bunker wasn’t a confined space, and if it weren’t an extremely disadvantageous situation for you, would you have talked to us? The person who openly asked you to erase the recipe for the rapid cure?”

“······.”

“And this situation is unexpected. As I said, I didn’t think it would happen before the earthquake and tsunami.”

Maru’s eyes sank into a deep, sunken look.

“Okay, let’s put aside everything we talked about before. Is there anything you want to talk about again? Why don’t you say it?”

“We would like you to negotiate with us.”

“Negotiation? What negotiation?”

“San Francisco is broken. We can go to LA and rebuild, but the Confederacy and the Mexican cartels won’t let that happen. So we need a new base.”

Pick- Maru laughed.

“That’s ridiculous. Can’t we just wipe out the Confederacy and criminals with our tentacles?”

“If it gets revealed like that, I’ll get hit with a nuclear weapon, right?”

“So you need a stronghold because you’re afraid of nukes?”

“Yes. I would like to rent a place in northern Canada where there are no people. If I go to a remote area, I won’t be bothering people.”

You’re saying it won’t cause any trouble?

“······.”

“We just want to rent a quiet and secluded place. We’ll even accept that you’re asking us to destroy the recipe for the rapid cure. If you have any other requirements, please let us know.”

What the heck is this… Maru was dumbfounded.

Borrow a land to spread your tentacles of unknown identity? Under the protection of the Holy Kingdom?

“I hate tentacles. I hate cannibals. I hate vampires.”

“Me too.”

“Then what are those tentacles?”

The dim image of Sim Eun-young can be seen from inside the dark hole.

Maru aimed his sword at the tentacles that were wrapping around her as if protecting her. Sim Eun-young answered Maru with a faint smile.

“As I said, it’s just an inevitable coexistence.”