Rust - Chapter 575



Only Krnovel

RUST -575

The officers were furious as they were beaten by Kim Yang and fled.

Unable to contain his anger any longer, he poured out his inner thoughts to the general, suggesting that special measures should be taken, and the author, who was a negotiator for the Holy Kingdom, heard it all.

‘Are you crazy?’

A thought that occurred to me in a split second.

The guy who wasted time negotiating, offered special meals, and then stole the soldiers is meeting the general alone? Without any bodyguards? Trying to get away with it?

‘I can’t kill you, but I can at least fight you.’

‘What if I catch you and take you hostage?’

‘What the hell is a hostage?’

‘Let’s lose first. Let’s think about it after we lose.’

The officers’ eyes rolled back.

As the officers rushed in, Ki-sun swallowed the unidentified medicine he was holding in his hand.

“Hey, stop that. Stop it.”

“Are you sure you’re not committing suicide?”

“Spit it out you crazy bastard. Spit it out!”

The officers were startled. What if it was a suicide capsule?

‘FUCK! This is not it.’

‘Why the fuck all of a sudden?’

“Water. Make him drink a lot of water and make him vomit.”

“Antidotes? Call the medic!”

“The medical officer? Where is the medical officer?”

In an instant, the command center barracks became noisy. Regardless, Ki-soon was feeling the effects of the stimulant.

It was a situation where an accident could have happened, but I felt calm and at peace, like I wouldn’t have been able to move even if a bomb exploded right next to me.

“Uh- This kid seems okay?”

“What? Then what did you eat?”

One of the officers surrounding Ki-sun grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up.

“Hey- what are you thinking?”

“······.”

“What are you thinking, you idiot?”

“······.”

The atmosphere was ominous. Even in an atmosphere where it seemed like someone was going to die, Ki-sun’s expression was peaceful. As if he wasn’t afraid of anything like this.

“Don’t touch your face.”

The officers clenched their fists, along with an old voice heard from the other table. A heavy fist was aimed at Ki-sun’s abdomen······.

?

!

!!!

The officer at the entrance to the barracks collapsed. Then, one by one, people fell down as if their legs had given out.

Phew!

The smell of urine began to slowly fill the barracks.

And the officer who had been holding Gi-sun by the collar trembled like a person with a cold and collapsed. As Gi-sun, who had been dragged along with him by the collar, bent down, his hard forehead crushed the officer’s nose.

With a dull thud, the officer’s hand that had been holding him by the collar was released and he fell to the ground. The officers who had already surrounded Ki-sun were like wild dogs who heard the howl of a tiger, unable to control their bodies and started shitting and urinating.

Step step step

Maru’s voice echoed through the quiet barracks.

“Why did you come here after making a fuss with the PD?”

It was a strange feeling in my liver even though I was taking medicine.

“You even took medicine?”

Cardiotonic? Nerve strengthener? Maru, who found out that Na Ju-yeon had taken medicine, did not reduce the murderous intent that had spread appropriately and instead attacked her.

“If this is going to happen, you should have told me in advance. What if I come late?”

“Sorry. Sorry. I thought things would get messy if I didn’t come sooner.”

Step step step

Inside the barracks, which were filled with the stench of urine and shit, the general was holding his heart and gasping for breath. He was sitting on a chair, so he didn’t roll around on the floor, but he was already half-frothing at the mouth.

If we had come late as Ki-sun said, we would have responded by focusing on the general, and that response would have been a way to shed blood on many.

As Maru, who was looking at the general who seemed to be out of breath, turned his head towards Gi-sun, Gi-sun hurriedly got into shape and spoke.

“There probably wasn’t just one nuke. I suppose they were soldiers, but I don’t think we should give them time to mess with nukes.”

That’s how it was. If they threatened us with nukes, or if one crazy guy said, “Let’s all die together, you traitors,” there would be no answer.

Maru played the tablet on the table. Even though he sped it up to double speed every now and then, the content was so messy that he could still understand it, which made him feel dirty.

‘Those guys have no answers.’

Looking at the faces of the people sitting there, all of them gathered here were pieces of shit. If we took these people to the Holy Kingdom, it would definitely contaminate the kingdom.

Srrrrrrrr-

Maru, who had made a decision, slowly drew his sword.

As the living grew, the general, who had been vaguely conscious, laid his head on the table. The officers around him also clutched their chests one by one and broke out in a cold sweat.

omg-

Huh-huh-

The sound of labored breathing. As the fear of death, that he might suffocate from not being able to breathe properly, began to fill the barracks, even Ki-soon, who had taken a heart stimulant, found it difficult to bear, and added a word as he pulled out of the barracks.

“You want to bring your honorable friends?”

Ki-sun disappeared, leaving only those words behind.

“······.”

Maru, who had half-drawn his sword, put it back in. How could he say such a thing when there were no officers here who valued honor and promises? Maru nodded.

The officers began to plead for their lives, perhaps interpreting the nod as a plea for their lives. Maru had no intention of leaving any awkward impressions.

‘There’s no need to use a knife.’

As the murderous aura that filled the barracks grew thicker, the sounds of pleading, groaning, and heavy breathing gradually died down.

======

======

After the earthquake and tsunami, the mutant monsters left San Francisco and headed towards the Rocky Mountains. Most of them did, but some did not.

Krrrrrr-

Representative examples include mutated coyotes, monster rats that have grown in numbers too large, and mutated abandoned pets.

Wheeeeeeeeing-

A 4.5m tall armored soldier swung his hammer with a heavy motor sound. A mutated coyote the size of a small car nimbly dodged the hammer and dodged, biting the steel giant’s ankle, but it was no use.

Kadeuk-

The hammer was struck down in return for failing to properly remove the composite armor.

!!!

The dull thud of the impact and the crunching of the coyote’s spine combined to form the growl of the monster, which became the sound of a dying puppy.

Kkieeeeing-

Kyeeeeeeng-

The shadow of a huge hammer fell over the head of the mutated coyote, who was howling pitifully.

Creak!

[Major, it’s already been two days since we started our reconnaissance. How about you return?]

[Additional supplies have also been cut off. This is the last energy pack.]

Ensign Roy Stern. A veteran who was suddenly demoted from Major (Jin) Captain to Ensign, then returned to Captain, settled in San Francisco, and was promoted to Major.

An officer who distinguished himself in the war against the Northern Chinese theater in Japan and in dealing with mutant monsters. He is evaluated as someone whose ability to control armored personnel carriers is irreplaceable, rather than his commanding ability.

[···Go back.]

His men breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the armored soldier flipping over the mutant coyote with its head crushed.

The sight of a 4.5m tall steel giant butchering a coyote with a thick knife was as out of place as a knight in plate armor slaughtering a wild dog.

Ensign Roy Stern, who was skinning a coyote, was lost in thought. When he first arrived in San Francisco, the city seemed strange.

If it was a mess, it would have been a mess long ago, but it was just beginning to collapse. When I checked the reason, I found out that there was a person who was managing San Francisco.

Director Yu and her followers. They were traveling around the western region, ensuring security and rebuilding the city.

‘And then. You said he was murdered.’

The man who killed her was Vladimir Kalin. He was a swordsman I had encountered in Japan. And he was a hero who had made great contributions to the Japanese escape operation.

There was a rumor going around that Director Yu had turned into a cannibal, but it wasn’t certain why he killed her.

It is said that once you become a cannibal, you cannot escape your desire to eat human flesh, and she stabilized the public order in San Francisco.

As he was skinning the coyote, he looked toward San Francisco when he saw a bright halo. A hot ball of light rose up with a huge explosion. The intense light and the tall mushroom cloud, clearly visible from 15 to 20 miles (24 to 32 km) away, indicated that a nuclear explosion had occurred.

’20kt? No, with that level of explosive power, it would probably be 30kt?’

[Sir! It’s a nuclear weapon!]

[I saw it too. EMP damage?]

If the goal was a large-scale EMP attack, they would have detonated it in the air, but that wasn’t the case. They say they responded to the EMP because they were preparing for war with China, but that wasn’t the case for everyone.

Because a lot of equipment was lost in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami, the immediate issue was not responding to a possible EMP, but rather keeping things running. The few pieces of equipment that were left were affected by the EMP.

[Herald and Josh’s side are dead.]

[Go and check. If it went out to EMP, just abandon it and get out of the fallout range.]

[yes.]

Assuming 30 kt, the fallout radius had to be more than 25 miles (40 km). Ensign Roy Stern and the Force Reconnaissance Unit withdrew from San Francisco.

[The little mice have disappeared.]

[It must have crawled into the ground.]

The aftereffects of the tsunami had somewhat subsided, and the rats, startled by the power of the nuclear bomb, hid back where they had been. The corpses buried in the rubble of the collapsed buildings were enough to feed them.

[Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Make sure to keep watch.]

[I should have swept it away when I crawled out.]

After waiting for a day and two days, the Force Reconnaissance Unit returned to San Francisco. It was not clear what nuclear device had been detonated, but unless it was a deliberate nuclear explosion aimed at causing radioactive contamination, the risk was lower than expected.

[This is Major Roy Stern’s airship.]

[Airship? Empire? Confederate?]

[It appears to be an airship from the Holy Kingdom.]

[Moving in the 3 o’clock direction.]

The scouts moved in the direction of the airship. In the distance, two airships were facing each other, showing a video, and soon they arrived close enough to hear the soldiers shouting.

“Where is the command center?”

“Okay. From here, go to the tilted wreckage over there, and then turn right.”

“Ah- and why are all those soldiers lined up in such a long line? Is it for supplies?”

“···I don’t know either.”

The private glanced at the armored vehicle and the armored personnel carrier behind him, and it was obvious that he was holding back his words. Roy Stern felt a subtle sense of urgency, but did not ask again. He would know when he got to the command center anyway.

Roy Stern’s brow furrowed as he turned toward the command center barracks. It was clearly the headquarters barracks, but there was no guard, as would be expected.

‘No border guards or administrative soldiers?’

As he entered the double-layered barracks, the smell of urine and excrement assaulted Roy Stern’s sense of smell. Even traditional toilets were not this toxic.

“Ugh- Major, what is that smell?”

“······.”

He knew the smell. It wasn’t just the smell of shit and piss, it was the smell of death. The gruesome sight he saw as he entered the conference room barracks with his face frozen hard.

The general was dead, his head on the table. The officers’ bodies were the same. They were all kneeling, as if begging, and slumped forward. They were lying face down in their own feces and urine. And they were all crouching like shrimps, paralyzed with fear.

The first thing that came to mind was a poison attack or a poison gas attack.

Roy Stern escaped from the barracks with the search party. Fortunately, he did not feel poisoned by the gas.

‘I don’t think it’s gas.’

If that were the case, there would have been a no trespassing sign.

‘There was no no trespassing sign?’

‘There are no border guards.’

‘You didn’t even collect the body?’

If it was poison or toxic substance, the body would have been recovered. No, it should have been recovered. However, the soldiers were not even approaching the headquarters barracks.

As if it were someone else’s business.

It seemed as if he didn’t care.

Roy Stern was quite embarrassed by the soldiers’ gaze.

‘What is this?’

Something was happening.

“Major. I heard that the Holy Kingdom is currently recruiting soldiers.”

“what?”

You’re recruiting soldiers? What the hell are you talking about?

Could it be? Was the disaster at the command center an attempt to divert the soldiers?

“Call all the scouts. We need to check the current situation.”

“All right.”

A little later, the information he received was that most of the soldiers had defected to the Holy Kingdom.

“He said he wouldn’t come because he quit the scout corps.”

“Huh? All of them?”

“yes.”

“Are you guys crazy? Are you on drugs or something?”

A soft voice spoke to Roy Stern.

“Maybe so.”

“Who are you?”

A man who had approached Roy Stern before he knew it raised both his hands slightly and whispered.

“My name is John Foren, a Confederate soldier.”

He looked back toward the command center barracks and sighed.

“This is what happened after King Vladimir Kalin of the Holy Kingdom and his negotiator Bernard Green came in and came out.”

“······.”

“Aren’t the soldiers acting strange? That kind of change was also induced by the Holy Kingdom. After driving the officers to evil, they were taking the soldiers away to the Holy Kingdom.”

“······.”

“What will you do? If you wish to take revenge on the Holy Kingdom and Vladimir Kalin, the Southern Alliance will support you.”

The long line at the recruiting station was getting shorter. Roy Stern, who was watching the recruitment process go by quickly, as if it was a planned process from the beginning rather than something that happened by chance, asked in a bitter voice.

“How can I get support?”

“First, let me help you overcome human limitations.”