Rust - Chapter 589



Only Krnovel

RUST -589

The shadow that carefully chased after the monster bear was quiet.

-□□-□□-□-□-

The low breathing of the beast created an atmosphere that was difficult to describe.

It was so strange that it was eerie how a giant creature that must have been at least 10 meters long could move without making any sound.

‘···This guy, this is subtle.’

The bear’s movements were so smooth that they almost resembled those of a feline.

Dogs and other animals are notorious for not being able to hide their unique activity, but this one was different. Its movements were completely suppressing its own nature.

[Here we go. You said you installed new mines on both sides of the road? The monster went into the forest and they aren’t exploding.]

Kim Yang was dumbfounded by Maru’s words and couldn’t answer.

[That can’t be true.]

[You installed it on the side of the road and put it into operation, right?]

[I have confirmed it clearly.]

[Get out of there quickly. This guy is heading straight for it.]

[Should I lay down tear gas to avoid tracking?]

[Okay… Wait a minute.]

The moment he was about to ask Maru to open the tear gas canister, he stopped talking due to the feeling of discomfort.

Why do I feel uneasy?

Using tear gas to paralyze the monster’s sense of smell is a method that has been used frequently.

‘······.’

Maru stopped walking for a moment.

A trailer was parked in the distance, and tear gas smoke was rising around it. Tear gas smoke was scattering here and there…

A thought that had briefly crossed my mind came back to me again.

What if someone becomes resistant to tear gas?

The story unfolds in an instant in my head. I approach the back of the trailer and then a tear gas grenade fired from a mortar explodes.

The smell of that tear gas would have permeated the Ripper suit. If the wind direction changed, the location of the Ripper suit with the tear gas smell would definitely be revealed.

‘···If that guy is resistant to tear gas.’

It was clearly a handshake that Kim Yang and his guards fled after throwing tear gas canisters, because the smell of tear gas would leave a trace.

‘There’s no way he’d miss it.’

[The signs are a bit strange. Assuming the bear is resistant to tear gas, avoid it. Use the timer instead of tear gas in advance.]

[Resistant to tear gas? Timer? Okay. Then what are you going to do? Can you catch it by yourself?]

If they were immune to tear gas and had a sense of smell, it would have been impossible to ambush them without their sense of smell. Maru was able to hunt them easily because he could inflict fatal damage with the first blow.

Kim Yang was worried that he would have to fight alone without the ranged support attack that would make his first attack successful.

[We’ll have to try. First, tie up the other bears so they can’t escape to the south or east. And judging by the way they’re acting, it’ll be hard to drive them into the minefield with a mortar.]

[then?]

[We have to take it by force. It would be a good idea to mobilize both tanks and armored personnel carriers.]

There are three tanks brought from Detroit.

The Panzers lost one of the first five, now there are four left.

One of the AI-controlled armored vehicles has been converted to manual operation and is now being controlled by Roy Stern.

[Gather everyone and concentrate your firepower so that they don’t get defeated individually. The mother bear will move cautiously because she has cubs. So I think it’ll be okay to just hold them back for now.]

[You want me to catch the guy who ran away first?]

[Yeah. The guy who escaped through the sea of ​​napalm fire. Catch him first.]

[Okay, I understand. I’ll make sure to finish off the guy who ran away.]

In the short moment I spoke to Kim Yang, the distance between me and the bear grew in an instant. As it was so big, its movement speed was also incredible.

Maru had to run as fast as he could to keep up with the bear that was slowly moving away. The distance from where Kim Yang and the guards fired the mortar was 7~8km, but the bear quickly closed the distance.

And during those 7~8km, the latest mine turret that Kim Yang had mentioned didn’t work. Maru painfully realized that not all new weapons are good.

[Chiiik- It’s probably a sensor problem. Beep-]

According to Ki-sun’s interpretation, it would have been made to operate above a certain size, weight, and vibration level to prevent it from attacking the wrong target after installation.

Since we’re using the monster buffalo and moose as a reference, it might not work if a bear moves without making any noise or causing any vibrations.

[No. You said AI got better? What kind of sensors are you talking about when you have good AI?]

[Beep- Installing such a powerful AI is beep- dangerous. Beep— Did you forget what you said? What if it falls into the wrong hands? Chi-chik-]

No. Then why don’t you just put a suicide device or something in it?

I had a lot to say, but it wasn’t the time to talk about it. That’s why I realized that I had to be conservative when changing weapon systems and introducing new weapons.

[Okay.]

[Chiiik- I know this can happen, so I’ll just fix it. Beep- Don’t think badly of it. Aren’t all of our researchers beginners now? It’s better than having an accidental fire accident on our own forces. Chijik-chijik-]

[Let’s talk about that later. Is manual switching possible?]

[Chichik- Yeah, anytime you are- chichik-]

Maru immediately received the manual operation code and manually activated the missile battery.

Wow-

The automatic battery with 16 missiles and mine modules came into operation. I set the target shown on the HUD. Anti-tank missiles and jumping mines poured down on the giant bear at once.

The jumping mines that had been launched into the sky fired powerful submunitions downwards, and the anti-tank missiles that moved under the guidance of artificial intelligence made a sharp turn and aimed for the bear’s flank and rump.

As the remaining missiles all rushed towards the monster bear’s wide back, the startled bear crouched down in panic.

Bam! Bam!

Boom bang!! Kwak!

With a strange sound, not a single bullet missed and struck the monster bear’s entire body.

Kkuu …

It was Maru who realized that he had been awakened by the bear’s howling in pain. He manually activated all the mine modules within range. The howling in pain? It was even lively.

‘You’re saying it didn’t work out.’

When the dust and smoke from the explosion cleared, the bear’s appearance was revealed. It looked as if it had alopecia areata all over its body, but that was it.

There were only drops of blood oozing from the wound, but no fatal injuries were visible.

Missiles that were strong enough to destroy the side of a tank were unable to completely penetrate the mutated bear’s hide.

The bloody area appeared to be the remains of a warhead made from the monster’s by-product, suggesting that only specially-made missiles were effective.

‘What kind of defense is this…’

Kim Yang wanted to catch the bear whole, but he didn’t have the luxury of thinking about that when he saw it now. Maru immediately sent a signal to Gi-sun.

[Bunker Buster! Shoot!]

[Chiiik- Fire.- Beep]

The bear, who had been crouching after being beaten all over, raised its head at the sound of something flying, and a cruise missile with a bunker buster warhead struck the monster bear’s head.

Kwaaaaang!

After the enormous flames and explosions ended, the bear, bleeding from the side of his head, shook his head. The blood that had been flowing out stopped in real time. It had escaped the direct hit in that short period of time.

So I could tell.

The guy had super regenerative abilities.

It occurred to Maru that there were some buffalo and moose with regenerative powers. And now this monster bear had even stronger regenerative powers.

[···Shoot all missiles!]

Bunker Buster cruise missiles based on Taurus began to fall vertically. And the bear began to move its large body around to dodge the vertically falling missiles.

It was like a scene from a circus.

As the bear narrowly avoids the impact, the bunker buster stuck in the ground explodes, another missile falls, and the bear curls up to avoid it.

[······.]

[Beep······.]

[······.]

[······.chiiik]

Maru, Gi-sun, Kim Yang, and even the royal guards were speechless when they saw that sight. It was literally a feat in itself. A feat that mobilized all of his powerful defense, regenerative power, agility, and judgment.

Should I use nerve gas?

It would be nice if it worked, but what if you get used to it?

He had already adapted to tear gas. What if he had encountered a human who had used poison gas before? He might have developed a resistance to gas as well.

The hypothesis that monsters become stronger and smarter as they eat humans was now considered true. If cannibals did it, so would werewolves and vampires.

And the same goes for the mutant beasts that appear now. Otherwise, there was no other way to interpret their current appearance.

‘···I guess I’ll have to catch all the people-eating things early on.’

Maru’s eyes became cold and sank.

[Beep- Wow- What is that- Seriously. Chew-]

The results showed that it was difficult to catch them with existing weapon systems and combat doctrines. Special missiles, shells, mines, and railguns for large monsters were needed.

What if a monster like that bear were to invade the city without any special equipment? It was terrifying to even imagine.

‘Fucking moose and buffalo.’

This was the result of them throwing humans as bait to save their own lives.

[Chiiik- How about we get out of here for a moment? Beep- That guy has stopped moving too. Chic-]

[No. It ends here.]

As my head got better, it was clear that it would become more difficult the more time I gave it.

[Beep- No, but it’s so different from what I expected. Chick-]

[I was going to stab him if it didn’t work anyway.]

The only hope of catching someone who avoids cruise missiles is to use a knife. Oh my, I never thought I’d feel this delusional…

‘Ah. I’m screwed.’

Ki-sun was speechless.

[Cheek······. Cheek-]

[The guy moves again.]

Looking at the fact that it was moving towards its original goal without running away, it was not something that could be avoided.

The monster bear soon arrived at the empty lot where the mortar was. Even though he smelled the gunpowder that rose as the mortar shells were fired, he did not jump in.

The one who had been circling the empty lot realized that there was no sign of human presence and jumped up, letting out a roar of anger.

■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■!!

Maru lunged at the bear from behind before the roaring sound stopped.

Whoosh – hind legs coming closer.

‘I’m going to cut off one of the tendons on the hind leg like this…’

The moment I was about to swing Eclipse, a shiver ran up my spine.

Maru, who was running like a bomber flying over the water, changed the angle of Eclipse, which was swinging sideways.

Pook- The eclipse that was stuck in the ground split the earth and Maru, who had changed direction in the air, stepped back.

Thud-!!!

A huge mouth swallowing empty air opened its mouth again after biting the empty air.

Kwaa-!

As Maru, who had been retreating, turned around and started to climb up the tall coniferous tree, the bear, who had been chasing Maru, struck the coniferous tree with its front paw.

A large tree with a circumference of 2 to 3 meters was snapped in one blow, but Maru had already jumped to the next tree and hidden himself in the shadow of the coniferous tree.

‘Did he notice?’

No. He knew.

It was Yuin who suddenly stood up and roared in anger.

As he walked around the empty lot, he naturally changed his position according to the direction of the wind, and through that, he was able to pinpoint the location of the floor.

It was a mistake to get distracted by the monster’s show of force.

In addition, the bear’s movement speed was much faster than expected, and this gap was created because it was out of sync with the time that Kim set the timer.

Now that I think about it, I’m starting to see how clever every single thing that guy does is.

The bastard was slowly closing the distance to where Maru was hiding, pruning branches as if checking for broken conifers.

Boom- push-s …

As the timer ran out and tear gas exploded in the open space, the pungent smell began to fill the air, and the anxious bear shook off the awkward smoke and ran towards the tree where Maru was hiding.

A fierce charge that made the sound of breaking air. It was impossible to imagine that a giant the size of a small building had moved. And the front legs swung without killing the acceleration.

One left horizontally, then a right diagonal while raising the body. The first room tore down the raw wood, and the right diagonal attack aimed for the floor where the tree was standing.

Maru dodged the swing with ease, but didn’t think about the physical repercussions.

Because I had never experienced or imagined what would happen if the speed at which a monster bear’s front paw was swung and the surface area of ​​its paw were combined.

?

The weakness of his unique sense of crisis was revealed. Considering Maru’s reaction speed, it was an attack that was not dangerous at all, and since he could just dodge it, there was no thrill or nervousness at all.

So paradoxically, it became a weakness. Even though it was an avoidable attack, it wasn’t the aftereffect of that diagonal attack.

A gale like that produced by swinging a giant steel fan at subsonic speeds swept across the floor.

‘crazy···.’

My body floated up and I lost my balance. My mouth was wide open, as if aiming to lose my balance and float up like that, and I was aiming at the floor.

Kwaaaaah!

Although it didn’t have a jetpack, it did have emergency attitude control gas injectors.

Pushik-

He regained his bearings in midair and stabbed Eclipse upwards towards the gaping maw.

!

A blade that stabbed one nostril.

Although the proportions looked like the corner of my nostril had been pricked with a small toothpick, it wasn’t painful.

Kkuang!!!

A scream burst from the bear’s gaping mouth.