Rust - Chapter 578



Only Krnovel

RUST -578

Ash-gray ruins.

San Francisco is still scarred by the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear explosion. More than 100,000 people have left to go to the strange land called the Holy Kingdom, but many others have stayed.

Because there was no information. Those who fled the earthquake and tsunami whispered as they watched the airships flying across the sky and escorted by crows, but few went to the landing area.

Ironically, it was because Charlotte’s warehouse on the ground collapsed and was full of exposed supplies. From a huge amount of canned drinks and food to clothing, leather, and miscellaneous goods.

Even just scanning the muddy warehouse floors yielded preserved food and carefully packaged goods, so there was no need to go to the airship landing area to beg.

“Who knows, maybe they’ll throw you a can of dog food and treat you like a slave?”

“That’s true.”

It’s been a long time since human food became scarce. Dog food or canned cat food with sauce sprinkled on it was already a luxurious meal.

“What happened to the guns that were in the box?”

“They said they’d have to take it all apart and clean it to know for sure, but for now it seems okay.”

Charlotte had a huge amount of weapons. The number of weapons she had brought from Japan alone was over ten thousand. There were firearms that had been smuggled in by the US military, weapons that had been smuggled out of the northern theater of China, and weapons used by the Yakuza and the Russian mafia.

The problem is that the caliber of the bullets is different, but this is America. It is a country with gun freedom and a place where people who make and use bullets walk around.

“How about a motorcycle?”

“It won’t start. I think it’s because of that fucking EMP.”

“entire?”

“Hey. There are over 100 of them here right now. Do you think you’ve seen them all?”

“Just make it roll, no matter what. I’ll take care of it as best I can before the other gangs arrive.”

“Why can’t I see that red-hot military uniform? He was talking nonsense about keeping the peace.”

“The nuke went off. The nuke. Damn it.”

“Even if the fallout has settled, I don’t want to pee in that area.”

Another nuclear attack? This time from Russia? Those who thought of nuclear war with China fell silent.

“If you have time to think about something else, get at least one more.”

“Over there. There’s a military barracks. Soldiers are coming.”

“What? Why are you suddenly here, when you haven’t seen a single one in days? Bring the binoculars over there.”

As I roughly peeled off the mud-covered plastic, a brand-new pair of binoculars emerged. There were about 20 soldiers approaching from a distance.

‘Damn. I came all the way here just to get something to eat.’

As expected, the army was like a locust. A locust that sweeps away whatever is left.

“What should I do?”

“What can I do? What will those bastards say when they come here and see all this stuff lying around? They’ll sweep it all away, saying things like conscription or something.”

“Do you want to fight?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to just pack everything and leave first?”

“Don’t be so crazy. There’s an exosuit over there, and you’re still going to go after seeing that? We’re only going to have about 20 people.”

“But isn’t it the military? If it had been hit by a nuclear weapon, China or Russia might come in.”

“FUCK YOU! When China or Russia come, you can just leave then. Are you already complaining?”

“No. But I don’t want to touch the military.”

“Don’t you get cocky, don’t you know that the state of California is going bankrupt? If the state government is going bankrupt, do you think the federal government will be okay? If there were no Charlotte Group, we would all starve to death. That damn government didn’t save us.”

“The returnee here is going with Charlotte, so what if we touch that and everyone else comes running?”

“Running. The nuke exploded and chaos was everywhere, so why would you run over just because 20 people died? You’ve seen it for days, the airship carrying it. If you see an airship, you should assume that all the kids who are going to get away are getting away.”

It was a journey from a native San Francisco militia leader to the organization’s boss.

“If we can just catch those guys, we can get the exosuits too. If we have the exosuits, we can push those guys away.”

Those guys who suddenly started expanding their power. They were vicious things with rumors of them eating people. If I could capture the exosuit and get rid of those guys, it would be worth taking a gamble.

“And best of all, if we have the exosuit, we can eat this place.”

“······.”

“······.”

Are you going to take it to the dog?

“Let’s do it.”

“I will do it.”

“Damn. This isn’t it.”

“What do you mean, no? Then let’s give up on this place?”

The consensus was to capture the soldiers who were approaching with clear interests at hand.

“Yeah. Good idea.”

If there had been a lot of soldiers, I would have given up cleanly, but there were only about 20 of them, and this side had over 80. The difference in troops was a whopping 4 times, and there were three 81mm mortars.

There were only two exosuits operated by soldiers there, and even they were carrying luggage. It would be different if the exosuits had .50 caliber machine guns attached, but they didn’t.

“Just close your eyes and sweep it all away in one go. Okay?”

In a ruined world, who will protect whom, and who will stand for whom?

Soldier? It would be better for my family, friends, and colleagues to live in abundance rather than being robbed by them.

======

======

Roy Stern, with a cast on his arm, walked across the rubble. Even though he was only wearing a cast, his steps felt heavy.

‘Revenge.’

The voice of Vladimir Kalin rang in my ears, saying that if I ever felt like taking revenge, I should fight him one-on-one.

Is that what you mean?

The king of a country?

‘Crazy.’

You want to fight a 1:1 with a 4.5m tall steel giant with a maximum output of over 4000 horsepower? A steel giant that can stop 40mm to 70mm bullets with just a sword?

After thinking that for a moment, Roy Stern saw the video saved on the tablet and realized that Vladimir Kalin was sincere when he said he wanted to do a 1:1.

Can the armored personnel carrier stop Chairman Charlotte, who is infected with an unidentified tentacle? I couldn’t be sure. A decisive battle with Chairman Charlotte, who controls the rat pups infected with tentacles.

Scenes of broken building debris being sliced ​​and pieces flying away. In this video, which is neither a movie nor CG, there was a swordsman who was more monstrous than a tentacle monster in real life.

And the following video showed a meeting in the command center barracks. It was a video featuring officers we all knew, officers of the rank of colonel.

A story that takes Vladimir Kalin’s sacrifice for granted, and even a claim that we should rely on the Holy Kingdom and encroach on it from within to advance the Holy Kingdom.

It was a story that could not possibly have brought about a sense of revenge. However, even so, it was difficult to accept it emotionally. If it were the Holy Kingdom, they could have arrested the officers instead of killing them.

By arresting them without killing them?

What happens next?

You want me to throw you in a mine and tell you to dig for minerals?

Or put me in jail?

Prison in a world like today?

‘Ha-Fuck.’

Humans were killing humans.

For Roy Stern, who fought to protect humans from animals that had turned into monsters, the current situation was simply dirty.

‘Sir, the search party from the Holy Kingdom has contacted you to ask if you will return home.’

‘I’m not going. Those who want to go, let them go.’

‘Hey, what are you talking about? Where is there a kid here who doesn’t owe their life to the Major?’

‘Don’t say that. I’m just saying this because my period doesn’t suit me. If possible, go to the Holy Kingdom. Don’t follow me around and wander.’

‘Okay. I will refuse to go to the Holy Kingdom.’

‘Hey. Seriously. Let them each choose.’

Despite such warnings, 23 people decided to leave with him. 23 out of 25. Two of them had families so they had no choice.

‘But if we settle down in our sacred kingdom, won’t it become a hill to be climbed later on?’

‘Hey. Later, when we secure a base, you can come.’

‘That’s right. From what I’ve heard, the Holy Kingdom’s military expansion is unusual. They’re even operating a nuclear carrier battle group, but why would they need that if it weren’t for war?’

‘So, it might be safer if Major Roy Stern takes over.’

‘Who knows? There might be a Stern Kingdom. Hehehe.’

Roy Stern looked back at his men who had followed him. Most of them had been with him since Japan, but there were also five who he had met after arriving in San Francisco.

23 men. It was an extremely small number for someone with the rank of major to command, but 23 people voluntarily following one man was by no means a small number.

‘Even if the armored personnel carriers were like that, we should have brought more exosuits and energy packs.’

The armored personnel carrier couldn’t bring energy packs because they couldn’t recharge them, and the only things they could bring were two power loader-type exosuits.

OMG. OMG.

Since it wasn’t a proper road, the power consumption was considerable. Without the exosuit, it wouldn’t have been easy to move even the lightest load.

There was talk that the power loader-type exosuit could carry a maximum of 400 kg, or 500 kg if overloaded, and it was able to support roughly 400 kg.

[Sir, are you sure there is a Charlotte Group warehouse here?]

“Yes. It’s close to the port, so there will be a lot of damage from earthquakes and tsunamis, but there will still be a lot of useful items left.”

There was a supply depot near the warehouse, so I thought I could secure the warehouse, create a base, and then take care of the supply depot to gather the scattered troops.

The number of soldiers rejected by the Holy Kingdom was not small. As many as 15-20% of the soldiers were rejected from recruitment.

Even if they were useless troops, it would have been okay to accept them and use them as meat shields, but instead of doing that, should we call it conscientious to eliminate them?

[Chijijijik- Major. There are what appear to be heavily armed militiamen in front.]

“Militia?”

The lead reconnaissance had spotted a heavily armed militia, heading in the direction of Charlotte’s warehouse. Roy Stern’s eyes furrowed.

[Beep- The militia is moving. Major, they are heading your way. The atmosphere is not good. Crackle]

“How many people?”

[Chiiikchiiik- More than 50 people. More than 50 people. Huh···? Chiiik- Beep beep]

“Lemon. Lemon. Come on. Lemon!”

[Beep be …

“It’s the enemy! Lemon has been hit.”

Roy Stern and his men began to take cover in preparation for an attack. The militia leader’s face crumpled as he watched them through his binoculars.

“You brought only 23 people and are running a separate scout unit? What are these guys?”

“Isn’t it the Holy Kingdom Army or the Returning Forces?”

“That’s better. There won’t be any aftereffects.”

Kkeukjik-

The sound of a machete being pulled out of a chunk of meat.

The soldier’s head, from which blood was dripping, was suddenly bent down.

“A surprise attack was launched by some guys. They fired mortars.”

“What about the exosuit?”

“Is the exosuit the problem now? Fire the mortar. Keep firing. You know how to shoot.”

“More or less.”

“Yeah. Just tell them to shoot. Even if they don’t hit, all they have to do is prevent them from sticking their heads out.”

The leader wiped the bloody machete on the dead soldier’s clothes and then walked away.

bang!

Kwaaang!

As the militia began to pound with 81mm mortars, casualties began to mount among his men who had taken cover to prepare for a gunfight.

Roy Stern looked at his subordinate whose lower body had been blown off by a mortar shell.

Is this Iraq?

Afghanistan? Or Japan?

No. This was America. San Francisco, United States of America.

But they attacked the soldiers in federal uniforms without any warning. And they were militia.

‘Lord.’

Roy Stern muttered to himself. There was no way to counter three or four mortars. One of his men, who was equipped with an exosuit, was lying face down with shrapnel in his head. Another was blown to pieces with his exosuit still on.

In an instant, the number of 23 people was reduced to about 10, and even among them, there was not a single unharmed person.

surrender?

One of the men in charge of the rear guard stood up with both arms raised to surrender, but all that awaited him was fierce gunfire. Roy Stern closed his eyes with the murderous intent to kill them all.

It was literally a dog’s death.

That too in the hands of their own militia.

Hehehehehehe-

What did I do wrong?

Is this happening because I didn’t accept the offer from the Holy Kingdom?

Hehehehehehe-

If you’re talking about the militia, then you’re talking about the people the soldiers helped when they arrived in San Francisco.

“Major!”

The subordinate nearby covered Roy Stern with his body.

And then the loud noise and the dull jolt that followed.

Kwaaaaang!

My vision darkened as blood flowed out of my forehead, as if it had been torn open.

Beep be …

······

······

······

A man handed Roy Stern a bottle of water as he sat up, his breath coming out of his chest. His hand, which was trying to pull out his gun rather than accept the bottle, was unable to grab anything because the gun holster was empty.

“Major Roy Stern? Drink some water first.”

As he picked up the water bottle handed to him by the man in the dark suit, his arms trembled. Roy Stern barely managed to bring the bottle to his lips with his casted arm. The cold water swept over his parched stomach.

“You’re lucky I have a nice nose. And they didn’t kill you for sure.”

“···The survivors?”

Even though he had drunk water, Roy Stern’s voice was still hoarse.

“You are the only survivor.”

“······.”

“Honestly, I don’t like you either. John Foren. You know? The guy who came to recruit you.”

“······.”

The mouth of a man in a suit opens slightly, revealing his fangs.

“That guy’s signal was cut off, so I came to check, and the smell was gone. You said you left with your men. So I followed you to hear the whole story, and this is what happened.”

“······.”

“By the way, I’d like you to give me an answer now. What happened to John Foren? There’s nothing you or your men could have done about him.”

“···The recruitment offer. Is it still valid?”

A cracked voice boiled over.

Sniff. Sniff.

A smile appeared on the face of the man in the suit who was sniffing something in the air.

“It’s the thick smell of vengeance.”

“······.”

“Welcome to the Confederacy, Major Roy Stern.”