Rust - Chapter 588



Only Krnovel

RUST -588

The bear video sent by the crows was shocking in many ways.

“That’s definitely a problem.”

Kisun Do agreed with Maru’s decision to retreat.

The size is a problem, but the bigger problem is that they are pulling a broken trailer. Even the meat piled up in the trailer is like dried meat, which is very suggestive.

“Not only does the bear dry and store its food, but it also pulls human trailers around like carts? I think we need to retreat for a moment and observe.”

“But isn’t that bear cub weird?”

A scene captured by Kim Yang, who has a keen eye for detail, as a sniper. Two bear cubs playing roughly.

“What’s strange?”

“Doesn’t that leather look like it’s playing on its own?”

Ki-sun and Maru reacted to Kim Yang’s words.

“The leather is sold separately?”

“Stop the video there. Zoom in.”

Let’s change the image quality to be clearer with AI correction. There’s definitely something strange about it. It looks like two layers of leather.

“What’s weird about that?”

“?”

The bumpy and creased skin of two cubs playing together. Looking closely, the color and texture of the skin of the cubs’ torsos and legs were clearly different.

“Are you wearing leather?”

“···This is crazy.”

“It’s crazy.”

It looked like a crude leather sack, but it was clearly made of leather. Although many types of monsters have mutated in the past, none of them utilized tools and equipment made by humans.

There were biological and structural differences between humans and monsters, but there was no need for that. However, the bears that are coming down now are different.

“There have been cases where mutated animals ate humans and suddenly became more intelligent.”

There was a swarm of rats that devoured an entire isolated village. There was a monster cat at a hospital in Donan, Japan. There was a snake with a head in Yellowstone National Park.

“I thought rats would be the problem going forward.”

Among the rats, there was one that had a thumb-like growth. There were also rats that seemed to be studying human language by looking at flashcards.

“Now the bear is going to get involved in that problem.”

“Bears, wolves, and dogs are all relatives, so there’s going to be chaos.”

A mother bear came out to cover her cubs with skins, and another bear began to pull a trailer made by humans like a cart to load and store food.

If the reason for this change was that it ate humans and its intelligence became active, then it should have been prevented from eating humans. Those that did eat had to be disposed of.

Ki-soon made a dumbfounded expression.

“The weather is fucking crazy, and now it’s time for humans and animals to compete for survival.”

“Isn’t this dangerous? We’re not the only ones doing this, are we?”

The Holy Kingdom may have tried to eradicate the mutated monsters that devoured people according to Maru’s will, but the other villages were unsure of what to do.

The moment they realize that the monsters can learn human language and communicate, they will probably use it for military purposes. Then, the monsters will learn about human military operations and formations.

“There are countless cases of animals being trained and used in war.”

It was obvious that it would be dangerous as Kim Yang thought. It seems that the more humans it eats, the smarter it becomes. Some humans seem to become healthier when they eat them? What monster would refuse that?

And the evidence of that danger was in the footage: giant bears, with shaggy fur and a shambling gait, sauntering down the trail.

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Following Maru’s orders, the front line immediately retreated.

“Is Fort C Sector 23 also empty? They have state-of-the-art equipment there.”

“Didn’t you tell us to clear all of Area C? We’ll do as you say.”

One soldier couldn’t shake off his doubts.

“But isn’t it a loss to empty the entire C area without even putting up a fight?”

“What do we do?”

“···Do as you command.”

“Let me say this again: The thing hanging above your head isn’t meant to be thought. It’s meant to be acted upon. Do you understand?”

Fighting mutant monsters was different from fighting humans, especially when they were carnivores chasing herbivores.

“Is there a lot of talk on the scene?”

“Isn’t that so? His Majesty the Invincible King came and wiped out the buffalo, moose, and even the giant wolves, so we were in high spirits, but now he’s suddenly telling us to empty everything and retreat, so it’s even worse.”

Ki-sun turned her head and continued speaking while looking at the soldiers preparing to withdraw.

“This is why a country that relies on one absolute hero is dangerous.”

“Absolute heroes, my ass. I have no intention of living as a hero, so don’t say such things.”

If he had been a hero as Ki-sun said, then that would have been the case, but Maru had no intention of becoming the King of Heroes.

“Is that really so? The people of the Holy Kingdom would probably think of you as a hero.”

“Stop it. I didn’t establish this country to become a hero.”

I remembered what America had done when it was still in power. It had tried to frame itself as a hero. In Maru’s mind, the word hero was like a chain.

What would happen if a king who was praised as a hero made a cold-hearted decision? It was a shame that such a shallow country became so weak.

Above all, wasn’t the reason for establishing the Holy Kingdom to be free? It was a situation where individuals or small groups could be swayed here and there, so it was expanded to a kingdom.

You might think that you have a lot of work to do because you founded a kingdom, but if you look closely, that’s not the case. Imagine if you were a mercenary with only one Ark Tower.

By now, the Empire, the Confederacy, or even the neighboring states would have been harassing him. He would have been manipulated here and there, and eventually threatened to join their forces. If he refused, he would have likely been turned into a clone or vampire experiment subject.

It was to avoid such dangers that the Holy Kingdom was established. It was not established to please others.

“If you want to retreat, you have to retreat really far back. What ambiguous distance is that?”

“I need to see the soldiers too. Why they retreated. I need to see with my own eyes what would have happened if they hadn’t retreated.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. But wouldn’t it be better to explain the reason to the soldiers?”

“There’s no point in telling you in advance. Seeing it for yourself is the best way to last. That way, there will be fewer people who will be rude.”

“That guy’s really….”

Kim Yang’s voice rang out as if to cut off Gi-sun’s words.

[Taken.]

At her report, Maru stood up, putting on the helmet of his Ripper suit.

[Go.]

“yeah.”

As Maru’s shadow disappeared, Ki-sun’s narrow eyes turned to the monitor. A video of a giant bear slowly entering a minefield was unfolding.

[Prepare for Japanese artillery fire!]

After reporting the situation, Ms. Kim and her guards immediately prepared to fire mortars. They wanted to shoot tear gas in advance so that the bear wouldn’t notice the mines.

[Napalm bomb immediately after tear gas.]

The idea was to set the rear of the bear ablaze so that it would not retreat. Even the thick-skinned buffalo and moose would avoid napalm fire, so the bear would be no different.

‘It’s bigger than the bears I’ve hunted before, but it’s still a bear.’

Kim Yang quietly licked his lips. It seemed like the bigger the meat, the better it would taste when cooked into a stew.

It seemed like it wasn’t just a feeling, seeing as crows and wolves also liked things like jerky and boiled pork made from large bears.

‘So you’re saying that animals don’t know good things either?’

[Target approach.]

[Approaching minefield!]

[firing!!!]

120mm mortar shells soared into the sky with a loud noise. Moments later, tear gas spread like a fog, covering the area around the target.

Because of the thick smoke, it was impossible to see how the monster bear was moving, but Kim Yang made another attack. It was a precaution, since he was said to be smart.

[Switch to napalm. Block the retreat route immediately.]

[With napalm!]

[firing!!!]

The ground began to boil under the 120mm napalm. The fierce flames, reaching 1,500 degrees, turned everything except the minefield into a sea of ​​fire.

Kim Yang, who was aiming a 20mm sniper rifle instead of a 12.7mm one, whispered softly.

‘Come. Forward.’

Contrary to Kim Yang’s expectations, the bear jumped into the sea of ​​fire. The intense flames of the napalm quickly clung to the bear’s skin.

The bear, which had turned into a giant torch, ignored them and crossed the 1km-wide sea of ​​fire and escaped far behind.

‘What is that?’

Kim Yang tilted her head as she watched the bear’s back disappear over the short hill in an instant. Maru stopped walking for a moment after hearing this news.

[Say it again. So instead of going forward, which the bear had opened up, you retreated back through the sea of ​​fire?]

[Yeah. That’s right. I didn’t care that my body was on fire, but I ran back. And over the hill.]

Maru’s eyebrows rose slightly. He didn’t feel good. Even if his head had gotten better, a bear was still an animal. The same goes for humans.

Untrained humans tend to move as they see fit when their lives are at stake. Even trained humans tend to do the same thing.

So, if you were attacked like this, it would have been normal for people and animals to run to places that seemed safe. Since the tear gas had paralyzed even the sense of smell, it was natural to rely on sight to escape.

‘Despite the pain caused by the tear gas, you didn’t go straight into the empty front, but instead ran through the sea of ​​fire?’

He said that he ran along the path he had come from and climbed a small hill. He said that he could not shoot him because he had gone over the hill.

[What about the others?]

[Whether it was their good ears or the smell of napalm, the mother bear and two cubs stopped moving south. The one pulling the trailer continued down the road.]

Maru checked the map on his HUD. Judging from the map, if the mother bear could smell it, the trailer bear should be able to smell it too.

‘Even if there was no smell, if they were in that location, they would have heard the sound of a mortar exploding.’

Bears, wolves, and dogs were relatives. They had similarly sensitive senses of smell and hearing. If they mutated, they would be even more sensitive.

Considering that the wolves had discovered the bunker buried underground, it was clear that the trailer bear would have figured out the situation by now.

‘Coming down without evading must mean you’re confident. It might mean you’re familiar with human weapons…’

[Did you lay mines? Try laying them in a U shape on the trailer bear side. If they go inside, try laying mines behind them too so they can’t retreat.]

[They laid the latest type of mines. Regular anti-tank mines are very noticeable when laid on the road.]

[Latest model?]

[If you place it on the side of the road, it will fly upward like an anti-tank missile and hit the top of the tank, or if you set the attack position, it can turn to the side or rear and attack. If you lay it down like that, the firepower is sufficient.]

A group of researchers whose instincts exploded with quantum computers, grapes, and virtual reality were improving their weapons in real time.

The anti-tank mine that Kim Yang said was installed on the side of the road was a mine that applied Russia’s new PTKM-1R landmine.

Unlike the single-shot Russian mines, the rectangular box-shaped body contained small missiles arranged in a 4×4 array.

A weapon with 16 anti-tank missiles per box and explosive modules that react like mines. It was called a mine, but in reality it was an automatic missile turret.

If you lay 10 of those, it’s 160 rounds. If you lay 40 of those, it’s 640 rounds, but Maru still didn’t feel good.

[Since tear gas will create a smoke screen anyway, let’s also lay down existing mines on the road. Camouflage them well. Lay them in a U shape and block the back.]

[···Okay, I understand.]

Maru, who had ordered Kim Yang to do additional work, moved towards the trailer bear while hiding.

Chichik- Maru approached the back of the trailer being pulled by the bear after spraying it with a spray to remove the peculiar smell of artificial items, and took a quick estimate.

‘You’re really annoying.’

It was early winter, so the bear, which was already large, had shed its fur and gained a lot of weight in preparation for the winter. It looked like it was full of flesh and fat.

[Blocked in a U shape. The two sides are the latest model. The one blocking the front is a new model with increased explosive power.]

[Okay. Let’s get started. Tear gas first. Don’t shoot napalm. Just wait. Let’s see how he reacts.]

[Okay.]

A moment later, tear gas canisters began to fall with a loud whistle. The bear, who was pulling the trailer down, made a noise that the examination was uncomfortable, then looked around.

Phew!

Puhwaaaaaaaah!

As the toxic tear gas began to spread like a mist, the bear’s low growl grew louder.

Kurrurururur—

Not a painful cry, but a low, small cry. A cry that seemed to swallow anger.

‘Isn’t this kid immune to tear gas?’

The bear, which had been wandering around after putting down the trailer it was pulling, turned its head in one direction. It was the direction from which the mortar shells had come.

The bear’s face developed an expression.

The cruel and merciless smile of a hunter.

Sealook-

The large mass began to move silently.

The direction the guy was heading was where the mortar shells had come from.