Rust - Chapter 635



Only Krnovel

RUST -635

Of all the countries in Europe, why France?

A country that was the center of the world economy.

A country that still occupies a part of international finance in modern times.

A place better known by its nickname, the land where the sun never sets.

Even though England was nearby, Maru chose France as his first destination.

“There is little gold in England.”

The Bank of England’s gold reserves were much smaller than expected, at 310 tonnes, or one-eighth of France’s 2,436 tonnes.

There was no reason to cross the Atlantic more than once to procure gold, let alone stop in Britain, which had a meager gold reserve, for the 2,436 tons available in France.

Maru continued his explanation.

“If we’re going to cross the Atlantic anyway, it’s better to secure gold before the social system completely collapses.”

The empire was trading with Europe. With the Confederacy taking over the entire West Texas oil field, the empire was short of energy supplies, and Brent crude from the North Sea was the answer.

With the support of the Empire and the desperate defense of the European Union, the Brent oil production facility was saved from a mutant virus outbreak, a flood of cannibals, and the emergence of mutant monsters.

It was a win-win deal, as the Empire could now import a steady supply of Brent crude and food from the North Sea instead of Texas crude, while European countries could import the Empire’s specialty small modular nuclear power plants and an abundance of individual firearms.

Erica asked as if she remembered what Maru was saying.

“Ah. Gold. But if gold is important, wouldn’t it be better to go to Germany first? I heard that the country with the most gold after the United States is Germany.”

Germany ranked second in the world in terms of gold reserves, with 3,359 tons. This was 923 tons more than France, which had 2,436 tons. Erica was curious as to why they chose France.

“The first country the Empire will reach out to is France, so the longer we delay, the more difficult it will be to obtain French gold.”

With the French administrative system completely broken, it was clear that the Empire’s military power would turn to France. Dan Brown could foresee that the Holy Kingdom’s products would be highly competitive in the future.

“Because the empire will try to control the gold and silver markets in Europe, starting with France.”

It was clear that they would try to control the outflow of gold from European countries in order to regulate the quantity and value of the currency of the Holy Kingdom.

No matter how credible the coins of the Holy Kingdom were, if less than the required amount of currency was circulated, they would gradually lose their value as currency.

“France’s gold is gold, but France is the current food supply source for the Empire, so the Empire has no choice but to focus on France. As soon as the winter passes and the frozen ports thaw, large-scale aid to France will begin. Before that, we must first secure France’s gold.”

Maru had been a bit scary and burdensome to me up until now, but after talking to her, Erica realized that she wasn’t really that scary.

“It’s difficult. But what about food in France? Aren’t European agricultural products monopolized by countries like Ukraine and Russia?”

“yes.”

But Maru was also surprised to learn that the empire was importing massive amounts of agricultural products from France.

‧

‧

‧

The Maru airship and 22 other airships crossed the Atlantic and arrived in western France. The same cold that froze North America also froze Europe.

The entire place where the sea and the continent met at the end of the horizon was covered with snow and ice. Ships were trapped on the frozen sea, unable to go anywhere, just like the waves crashing.

“It looks like the village over there is on fire.”

Smoke rose where Erica pointed with her finger. Even though it was quite far away, the black smoke rose clearly, so the fire looked ominous.

“Altitude increase.”

[Raise the battleship’s altitude.]

Maru immediately gained altitude. As he gained altitude, the view changed. At the end of the black smoke rising from various parts of the western coast of France, there were port cities and towns on fire.

The new camera, made possible by technological singularity, was more than capable of capturing the burning city. The cityscape, enlarged on a large monitor, was horrifying.

Corpses were tied to poles and burning everywhere, black smoke rose from pits filled with corpses, and the city was completely destroyed. It was too horrific a sight to be the result of simple looting or rioting.

Maru moved the camera to a coastal town a little way from the city. It was the same there. The town was burning to the ground, and there seemed to be no survivors.

Who the hell is doing this?

Above all, the floor showed traces of being tied to a pole and burned, as if in a cremation ceremony.

“Send down the mercenary force. Reconnoiter the force and search for survivors. Find out what happened.”

[Order given.]

A mercenary force of 52 men began searching the western coast of France.

‧

‧

‧

The mercenaries who landed on land started cursing.

“Fuck, it smells like shit.”

The claim that the smell of a burning corpse was like the smell of grilling meat was nonsense. The smell of well-prepared grilled meat and the smell of a burning human corpse were qualitatively different.

“You burned it without taking off its clothes.”

“I guess there are still clothes left.”

The smell of human burning, in which leather was replaced with synthetic fibers, was definitely different.

Dick searched the burnt trail, lost in thought.

Even in the wealthy Holy Kingdom, they don’t throw away old clothes, but in a French coastal town, they burn them instead of stripping them?

“Looking at the estimate, it looks like it’s going to be a real headache.”

“The kids are also dissatisfied. They came here saying it was good to work with Naruz, but Naruz is just running around without showing his nose, so everyone is in a bad mood.”

Dewey said, glaring.

“Are you still talking about Naruzu after seeing the situation here?”

“Even if you call this place a mess, it’s just digging through ruins. Do you think you can get eaten by someone who’s poking you from above?”

Most of the mercenaries were those who had awakened their physical abilities. They were people who had awakened their physical abilities and became power users in their 20s to 40s, and they had nothing to fear.

The ones who took command of them were Dick and Dewey, who had been involved in the work for a long time.

Not only did he steal the U+ program from the Homeland Security Agency’s secret research lab, but he was also recognized as a veteran who survived the Homeland Security Agency’s relentless pursuit, so he was put in charge of a mercenary group.

“I told them to come to their senses and not do anything stupid.”

“Okay, I understand.”

Dick was annoyed that the mercenaries he had brought with him had been chosen through a psychometric examination. And seeing that he looked for Naruzu as soon as they landed, he thought he knew what criteria they had used to select them.

‘Damn. You only bring in the troublemakers.’

Do you think they’ll just naturally get rid of those crazy guys? Dick Herold, who was commanding the mercenary force, looked up at the sky. There were 22 airships floating in the air.

The airship that King Vladimirov was riding had optical stealth capabilities and was invisible to the naked eye.

‘Fuck···.’

Dick swallowed his curses and led his squad on a reconnaissance mission.

The start wasn’t bad.

At least there were no problems with communication because the airship floating in the sky acted as a communications relay.

[Chief – Nothing above 3 o’clock.]

[Beep – No survivors at 6 o’clock.]

[Beep- It’s 4 o’clock and empty.]

The tactical camera footage of the guy who was said to be empty showed him searching through ruins here and there. Dick clicked his tongue without realizing it.

“Tsk- Don’t waste your time on stupid stuff and just watch your step.”

[Beetle – Let’s not be picky when we’re rolling around together.]

[Tiit- I came all this way and I’m not leaving empty-handed.]

[Tti- Damn it. He burned it even though I was wearing a watch.]

As expected, these guys were the ones with the problem. Aside from that, Dick’s anxiety grew. The bitter cold burned his clothes, and he even burned the man wearing a luxury watch.

The world is going to end, so what’s the point of a luxury watch? But the point is that the people committing mass murder right now don’t care about clothes or luxury goods.

Dick looked up at the sky again. King Vladimir Kalin was probably watching the live feed from the tactical camera, but he had not given any orders.

“His Majesty the King is watching. Do your best.”

[T- You’re watching? Then should I say, “Oh my?” Oh my.]

[Tit-Tit – Your Majesty, please give me a generous operation allowance.]

[Tti- Damn. This is a dud. This is all a dud.]

[T- Your bag is bulging. What do you mean it’s empty? Just hide your bag and goof around.]

[Ti- What the hell. When will Naruzu come down?]

[Chick- Are we still going at 3 o’clock?]

[Beep- Naruzu is coming down?]

[Beep- Naruzu?]

[Chick- Are we still going at 3 o’clock?]

The communication network became a mess in an instant. The higher-ups did not respond at all to the occasional obscene remarks and insults. Ironically, that silence was creepy Dick.

“Everyone, shut up! 1st Platoon. Continue searching to the 3 o’clock direction, and when you’re done, turn to the 2 o’clock direction.”

“If you want to get more a fucking baby, do something!”

[······.]

[······.]

[······.]

“Do you all want to die? Since you’ve awakened and become stronger, does being a mercenary seem easy?”

“There were dozens of truckloads of you guys, but Dewey and I are the only ones who survived so far. They all died, and it’s only us two, you fucking idiots.”

“So stop looking for Naruzu! Finish that fucking operation and then look for me!”

[T-Fuck.]

[Ti—–]

[tooth——-]

The noisy communications network became quiet as Dick roared with anger and resentment.

[Tick- 2 o’clock. Survivor found. Unconscious. Seriously injured. Assistance requested.]

The cold, settled atmosphere changed.

‧

‧

‧

The emergency medical treatment system of the Holy Kingdom, which had reached a technological singularity, was so advanced that it was possible to provide temporary treatment to even seriously injured people who had crossed the river halfway.

“A cannibal?”

[Positive reaction.]

Even the seriously injured survivors were cannibals. When their fatal wounds were treated with first aid, the cannibals’ unique recovery powers kicked in and they began to heal themselves.

And the first thing the cannibal did when he regained consciousness was to rush at the nurse and attack her.

CLANG!

As soon as he opened his eyes, the cannibal who had been trying to bite the nurse’s nape began to writhe in a frenzy, twisting his bound limbs.

“Let go! Let go of this!”

[Calm down. You have been rescued by the Divine Kingdom Scouts.]

As the assistant AI translated into French, the cannibal stopped convulsing.

“The Holy Kingdom Rescue Team? Let’s start with this first.”

The cannibal’s gleaming eyes scanned the surroundings.

Two, no, three, twin girls.

Triplets. And there’s a nurse there.

One dark male cub and one dark female cub.

There are five wild women.

There wasn’t even any proper armament.

But the man was holding a knife.

‘knife?’

This is it.

I couldn’t stand it.

The cannibal swallowed his flowing saliva and spoke.

“You said you were a scout for the Holy Kingdom. I’ll cooperate with you in anything, so let me start with this.”

Maru shook his head when he saw such a cannibal.

“I see.”

“Gul? Let go of this···.”

The cannibal who had vowed, “If you just give it to me, I’ll start with you…” felt a prickle on the back of his neck.

Crunch-

Eclipse, who had neatly separated the cannibal’s head, put it back in its scabbard with a growl. The cannibal’s eyes, which had been flickering its snout, gradually became cloudy.

Erica, who had been waiting beside Maru’s nod, closed her eyes tightly and began using psychometry on the cannibal’s head.

“S. Anti-government forces rose up in the western region.”

After a brief pause, Erica continued her story.

“Coastal cities and towns were slaughtered by rebel forces as stooges of the empire.”

A civil war broke out in France.

“The anti-government forces that had occupied the coast were pushed back by government forces and are now fighting back with Nantes and Rennes as their bases.”

Erica finished her story with her eyes tightly shut and trembling.

“And then, across the frozen Dover Strait (Pas de Calais), plunderers from England came down the coastline.”

“British Marauders?”

Erica nodded as if she was sure of Maru’s question.

There was a bumper crop of bullshit.