Rust - Chapter 568



Only Krnovel

RUST [RUST]-568

Sim Eun-young felt as if the back of her neck was burning hot.

Binggle.

The blue sky and white clouds were reflected in her rotating eyes.

The autumn sky over San Francisco, after the earthquake and tsunami, was high and clear.

And then, slowly, my vision starts to darken…

?

Her consciousness was clear. She rolled her eyes and looked to the side, where she saw the demon torn apart by her headless body.

A napalm grenade was thrown over his body, which had been turned into a patty as if it had been put in a grinder.

A vicious, vicious bastard. With only her head left, Sim Eun-young desperately gathered her tentacles, but the tentacles that remained nearby were unable to approach the demon and just circled around it, showing a helpless appearance that could be cut down if you cut it.

‘Why on earth?’

(□-□□□□-□□–□□-□–)

‘Fragments of the altar?’

He has that?

(□□□□-□□—□-□□□–)

‘Not yet. Not yet.’

(Now. You. Are. No. Only. Us. Exist.)

‘I’m not dead yet. I’m still alive.’

The thumping footsteps of death stopped beside her.

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Choaaaak!

The already well-made Eclipse felt even more comfortable in my hand today. The sight of the tentacles, which became more physically resistant in real time as they were hit by bullets, being sliced ​​like tofu was amazing.

What was most unusual was that the tentacles did not enter within a certain range. There were a huge number of tentacles, swarms of contaminated rats, and infected corpses, but that was it.

It was like a scene you might see at an idol concert. The tentacles that had swarmed in were just like fans, surrounding the floor, but they were unable to stick to it and were just waving their tentacles nearby.

Crustling rustling-

The tentacles that used to slice smoothly are slowly starting to gain tolerance to the knife, and the feeling of cutting tofu has changed to feeling like cutting fruit.

‘It’s a good thing these kids don’t stick around.’

If I continued on like this, relying only on the smooth cutting of the knife, it was obvious that I would suffer greatly later. Above all, even after cutting Sim Eun-young’s neck and setting her body on fire, I still felt uneasy.

Maru was concerned about the ‘altar fragment’ that he had stuffed deep into his pocket. It seemed to have a definite effect in preventing the tentacles from overwhelming him, but was that really all?

Was it because I left Sim Eun-young’s head alone to extract information? There was another strange thing. As I experienced in Japan, tentacles were not stupid.

Even though he was stupid at first, he quickly learned the tricks while fighting. This includes his physical resistance increasing in real time.

The only weakness was that it was vulnerable to fire. Even that would likely develop resistance over time. Those tentacles were surrounding it on all sides, even though they couldn’t even approach it. Even though they knew they couldn’t stop Eclipse’s blade.

‘What the hell are these kids thinking?’

Let’s burn everything, including thoughts and fantasies. That’s what Maru decided.

[Gisun-ah. Spray napalm here.]

[Are you okay? It’ll be hard to do precision bombing, so the whole area will turn into a sea of ​​fire?]

[Just throw it, I’ll dodge it.]

[Okay. What happened to you?]

The one who Ki-soon is cautiously asking is probably Chairman Shim. Even without that, Ki-soon was already feeling sorry until the end. Chairman Shim and the Charlotte faction are the same.

The number of people Charlotte brought from Korea and Japan was enormous. It was a population that was difficult to count, at least 150,000, or at most.

The number of people who supported Charlotte in Busan, including Charlotte Group employees, their families, and relatives, as well as Japanese refugees, may have exceeded 200,000.

With so many people coming into the United States at once, they would have been able to suppress the existing powers and take control of San Francisco.

‘The same goes for the returning soldiers who came over like Charlotte.’

The reason the returning American soldiers decided to rely on the Charlotte Group was because there was a huge population supporting Charlotte.

There were fewer forces than expected that could maintain a stable supply of human resources produced and supplied by hundreds of thousands of people.

With a large force, they would be welcome anywhere, but the price of supply was a meat shield. From the battlefield with mutant monsters to the fight against hordes of monster rats, to the clash with cannibals who spread among criminals.

Is it really necessary to hand over the leash and bow down like that? Is it really necessary to negotiate with other state governments and beg for supplies?

Here, the Charlotte Group, which is well-equipped, is communicating well. The returning American soldiers are moving together with the Charlotte Group.

And now, with the earthquake and tsunami that devastated San Francisco, that meant the supply chain was broken. Now, it seemed as if the relationship between the Charlotte Group and the US military was also broken.

No matter how many of the Charlotte Group’s people survived, or how many returning American soldiers remained, it was not easy to go together now.

Chook-

The contaminants separated by the cutting of the floor turned into a slimy trace.

‘Look at these kids.’

Although it was just a little bit, the area of ​​the ‘Fragment of the Altar’ had shrunk. I felt something was sticking out, so I cut it down in one breath and saw that the area had changed.

When Maru didn’t answer, Ki-sun became worried.

[Is it okay there?]

[It’s okay. These kids here seem to be getting used to the knife fight little by little.]

[Adaptation? To your swordsmanship?]

[Oh. The Japanese tentacles were like that too, and these are like that too. They’re definitely a bit slower than the ones I saw in Japan, but they’re starting to gain some resistance. So give me the signal as soon as you’re ready to napalm bomb them.]

[Okay. It’ll be over in 3~4 minutes, so I’ll give you the signal right away. So what are you going to do?]

[If we leave the returning American troops like this, they will either be absorbed into the Confederacy or go down to the LA area and become warlords. What should we do? Should we clean up this area while we’re here or just let it go its course?]

[···If it’s the US military, it might be okay to just chop off the head and absorb the rest on our side, but it’s also dangerous to have the Canadian side rely entirely on AI turrets.]

Since the singularity that started with quantum computers and grapes, the performance of AI has improved tremendously. The best part is that Diana and Samantha, AIs that were able to use quantum computers and grapes, were able to code their own subordinate AIs to assist them.

As the level of auxiliary AI increased in an instant, each exosuit helmet had a different auxiliary AI running.

Maru was positive about the overall qualitative growth of artificial intelligence. Why would he dislike it when he could achieve better performance with only existing resources?

[Honestly, both the Canadian side and the border side want to make it completely unmanned, but do you think that would be difficult?]

[Didn’t the PD say that relying too much on AI is not good? Actually, I think the same way. There’s also the Tria case.]

[···What if it were controlled by a self-destruct system?]

[Is it because Tria doesn’t have a self-destruct system? Even the AI ​​operating on the supercomputer can make its own judgments and decisions, so you don’t think an AI created by adding a quantum computer and a bunch of grapes would be worse than that, do you?]

[It’s okay if you set limits. Manage on/off clearly.]

[What if that control is leaked? In a situation where there are so many people with various abilities, what if a person with mental abilities extracts the control information?]

Anywhere, someone could awaken their psychic abilities. If they were determined to seize control, could they be stopped?

Let’s say we block the psychic abilities here, but what if someone with the ability to hack an entire machine appears? What would we do then?

Most of them are in the physical ability enhancement category, but there are also people with strange abilities, although the probability is very low.

If saliva was acid poison or blood was the cure, so was the ability to exhale anesthetic gas. Even the ability to defy gravity and climb vertically up buildings and walk on water.

So it wouldn’t be strange if they had the ability to respond to machines or programs. It would have been difficult to install a complete defense system in a situation where there was insufficient evidence that it was safe.

[···That is the problem, but we can’t protect the border like this. Realistically, it’s impossible for us to manage that large area under our circumstances. But if we leave it alone, it might become a hotbed of smuggling or a base for rebellion like last time.]

[So the idea is to absorb as many survivors from San Francisco as possible, including returning American soldiers.]

[···for a moment.]

Sim Eun-young’s head entered Maru’s line of sight.

Although he can’t make a sound because his throat has been cut, he looks somewhere and seems to be saying something desperately.

[What’s going on?]

[Just wait.]

As Maru took a step forward, Sim Eun-young desperately exhaled the empty air. The shape of her gaping mouth let out a soundless scream.

‘Save me.’

‘I’m not dead yet.’

‘You’ll regret it if you kill me.’

‘It’s already too late. It’s too late.’

‘Killing me won’t help.’

Maru quietly stared at Sim Eun-young’s head, wondering what a dead woman could possibly have to say. Her lips, which had been moving desperately, slowly closed, and thin tentacles began to sprout from the cut section of her neck.

“Shit-”

Maru swallowed his curse as he tried to escape while holding Sim Eun-young’s head.

I tried to take it with me but it burst.

There’s nothing I can do.

cook-

As I thrust the eclipse into his skull, the forehead where the blade was embedded began to move as if it were alive.

“What···.”

The feeling of a split head biting into a blade like a clam.

Gulp-gurgle-

The head that was holding the blade began to shake. Maru shook the sword at the completely different reaction from the tentacles that had been cutting him up until now.

As the shaking progressed, his forehead and face shook as if his bones had melted, and then his facial tissues, which had turned into tentacles, snaked up Eclipse.

!

Maru reflexively shook Eclipse hard.

The head clung tightly to the blade, not falling even with the swing.

No, now it was just a round, tangled pile of tentacles.

“Fuck-”

Let’s lay the blade sideways and make a full swing at the debris next to us.

With a slap, pieces of meat flew in all directions.

!

Maru screamed at the sight of chunks of meat flying in all directions turning into tentacles.

[Napalm! Still far away!]

[Ready now.]

[Throw!]

The airship began to rain down napalm bombs.

Small napalm bombs made for crows and large napalm bombs used for bombing fell in a mixed manner. The dull impact and the small and large flames combined to instantly turn the ground into a fiery hell.

Dadadak-

Maru began to run along the gap between the bombs that fell like a shower. Dark red flames bloomed as if chasing after them.

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Headquarters central bunker.

“What is going on?”

“What are you going to do, Team Leader?”

“Just stay still. You’re losing your mind.”

“But shouldn’t we still look for the chairman?”

“That seems right. The bunker used as a logistics warehouse cannot be opened unless the Chairman is present.”

“Supplies are supplies, but the person who negotiated with the American soldiers is the chairman, so if the chairman isn’t there, it’s impossible to control the American soldiers.”

“It’s over even if you look for the chairman. It’s over!”

“How are we going to supply US troops when we don’t even know what to do right now?

“Everyone shut up. Let’s think about it. Or do you all want to die?”

“······.”

“······.”

“······.”

I almost got chopped alive by a swordsman a moment ago. And before that, I almost got eaten by a tentacle-contaminated rat. What on earth were you thinking, just going outside?

Just because the contaminated rats that had breached the bunker disappeared, doesn’t mean the entire monster rat horde disappeared? And what I saw inside the hole was Chairman Sim Eun-young, with tentacles wrapped around her.

“Whew- So you’re saying I don’t have to worry about tentacles?”

In any case, it was clear that Chairman Shim had gained control of the tentacles. Then there would be no more attacks from the rat pups contaminated with the black tentacles.

The question was whether to find Chairman Sim Eun-young and move under her, or to join the remaining US forces? Either way, the important thing was to secure the supplies currently stored in the central bunker and gather research data.

It was fortunate that the crazy knifeman and his group didn’t get away with everything. The security team leader, who had gathered his thoughts, called the staff together.

“Whether you move independently or join the remaining US forces, the most important things are supplies and research data. Get those first. There may be survivors inside, so check all the panic rooms and research labs with lowered walls.”

It was the security team that started to clean up the inside of the central bunker.

“Gasp-gasp- thank you.”

“Ugh! – Tentacles? Tentacles!”

“What happened to the other researchers?”

“What about the chairman? Is the chairman okay?”

There were more survivors than expected. As the number increased and the further we went into the bunker, the more hope there was. As the new exosuit was secured from the weapons development lab and the Awakened Powers, including the Physical Ability Enhancers, joined in, the security team leader became more and more confident.

A search party sent an emergency signal to the team leader.

[Team Leader! There is a secret facility near the emergency exit.]

This is a secret bunker, and there are secret facilities inside this bunker too.

It’s a secret facility that even the security team leader doesn’t know about.

‘Whatever it is, it’ll be a hit.’

The security team leader went down to the basement with several physically enhanced individuals and a heavily armed exosuit. As they entered the secret space discovered by the search team, the first thing they saw was a piece of a broken altar.

‘The lump is a bit large, but is it a fragment of the altar?’

The unique material was clearly the same as the ‘altar fragments’ that had been used to block the entrance.

“Team leader.”

“Be quiet.”

It was a bit of a strange feeling. It was a feeling of direct contact with the awareness that it was so, rather than a feeling of seeing and confirming it with one’s own eyes.

“······.”

“······.”

And what was clearly wrapped around the fragment like a donut were tentacles.