Rust - Chapter 645



Only Krnovel

RUST -645

Dick Herold took up position on a hill with a distant view of the old house. It was a pain in the ass to bring in nine 120mm towed mortars and Mistral missiles, but this firepower was enough to make it worthwhile.

‘You don’t have to go far to search the old house.’

He sent three squads of ten soldiers each to the mansion.

[Chiiik- The signal is being picked up, but Chiiik- The location is not clear.]

[Chiik- It seems like the signal is moving?]

[Chiiiiiik- the signal is moving. Ann-beep-beep beep]

‘Has the radio interference gotten stronger?’

Dick Herold immediately ordered the squad that had gone in to search to retreat.

“Hey. It’s retreat. Come back!”

[Beep beep beep]

[cheeeeeeek-]

“Come back! Retreat!!!”

[Chijijijijik-]

[Tieeeeee-]

“Take aim at the mortar. Target the old house. Fire at the signal.”

“Prepare to fire mortars!”

“The target is the front mansion. Distance 2.8km.”

“Ready to launch.”

All of the radio attempts I made several times ended in failure.

The emergency signal is picked up, but the radio communication is cut off? Is it because the frequency is different?

“Wouldn’t it be better to push it in all at once?”

“What about the women?”

“I think it would be enough to control them if about 20 to 30 people remain.”

“···Do you want to have command?”

Dewey threw up both hands and jumped at Dick Herold’s answer.

“No, you can’t even say that? That’s what it is, what kind of command authority is it?”

“······.”

This kid.

He did the same thing last time, and it was clear that he wanted to keep the decision-making power while avoiding responsibility. Of course, if he succeeds, he will demand a higher success fee, but if he fails, the responsibility will be on the decision-maker.

If you fail, it means you failed because you didn’t listen to yourself, and if you succeed, it means you succeeded because you listened to yourself? No matter how rock bottom this world is, it was dangerous to just leave someone like that alone.

Dick Herold’s eyes turned cold as he looked at Dewey, who was whining.

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As time passed, the search party that entered the old house made no contact. The radio was constantly disconnected, and only the rescue request from the emergency signal was repeated.

Dick Herold waited for the return of the 22 airships carrying the survivors, since their new radios would allow them to report their situation.

Dewey laughed inwardly at Dick, who was mumbling like that. He said he was responsible for himself, but now he was doing it.

‘Be selfish and unselfish. Be selfish and unselfish.’

If the search party is in danger, wouldn’t they report to their home country and follow that policy without making any decisions even after all the time has passed and they have searched everything? Isn’t that evading responsibility?

Besides, was it a coincidence that among the five mercenaries, he only chose those close to him and put them in the search party? Dewey laughed as he mingled with the regular soldiers.

A flying ship appeared in the western sky, approaching Dewey.

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[···The search party has gone missing.]

Maru frowned after reading the text message sent by Dick Herold. He had been secretly giving him a chance because he thought he had the makings of a commander, but he felt regretful in many ways.

[I think the most effective way to eliminate the threat is to bombard the mansion.]

They were shelling the old house with 120mm mortars. It seemed as if they wanted to force whatever was inside out.

‘If a search party of more than thirty people was defeated, then we must assume that the number of slug eaters is much higher.’

Now, the number of missing people was 71, including 38 mercenaries and 33 search party members. It was a scene that consumed the size of a company.

The simulation results gave us a rough idea of ​​the slug-eaters’ habits. They have a habit of not killing their prey right away, but storing it and eating it fresh.

So, it was not impossible that there might be survivors somewhere in the mansion, but the commander on the scene, Dick Herold, decided to fire.

However, they just want to avoid responsibility for such judgment.

‘That’s not a good way.’

What is the purpose of establishing a field commander? Isn’t it to actively judge and respond to rapidly changing battlefield situations?

‘Hmm. Maybe I should give the security team leader a chance?’

The head of the Wellington Underground Laboratory Security Team. The man currently in charge of security for the entire town of Bloody Ark was the one who came to mind.

The Holy Kingdom needed a commander who could command a large force. They could run a company-level unit with Hee-yeon and the Naru clone who absorbed Director Yu’s memories, but they needed a commander who could command a battalion or regiment.

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Boom! Boom!

As nine 120mm mortars fired ceaselessly, an old building 2.8km away was clearly destroyed. A three-story building collapsed, unable to withstand the continuous bombardment.

“Keep shooting.”

“firing!”

Dick Herold zoomed in on his HUD screen. He saw a squirming slug-eater inside a collapsed building.

“Fire napalm and incendiary bombs!”

“Change the cartridge!”

“Change ammo!”

The continued shelling turned the collapsed building and its surroundings into a sea of ​​fire.

Kieeeeeee-

Kkieeeeee-

The screams of the slug-eaters echoed up the hill 2.8 km away. It was a sound that seemed to go straight into the brain rather than being heard with the ears.

The sound waves that stimulated human fear caused panic among ordinary soldiers and survivors. The survivors and soldiers were about to scatter in all directions at the final moments of the burning monster.

“Calm down, survivors!”

“Everything in its place!”

“Shut up and sit down!”

The only ones who weren’t affected were Dick, Dewey, and two mercenaries who had awakened their abilities. It was impossible for just four people to control a crowd of thousands.

[Refugees and soldiers are scattering.]

The assistant AI reported the situation in real time through text. If they were to disperse like that, they would just become prey to the monsters lurking around.

I had to keep people from scattering.

how?

Maru responded immediately.

“Put on the revolutionary song.”

A song echoing from 22 airships.

All the children of Patrie,

Le jour de gloire est arrivé!

Arise, children of the fatherland,

The day of glory has come!

At the sound heard from the sky, the panicked survivors and soldiers raised their heads and looked at the airship.

Before we knew it, we were singing along one by one. The screams of the slug monster echoing in the distance began to be buried under the voices of thousands of people singing.

Back to arms, citizens!

Take up arms, citizens!

Form your bataillons!

Form our bataillons!

Get in line!

Get in line!

Those who had fled and those who had been scattered began to gather together as one mass. Dick Herold and Dewey, who had seen this, looked toward the hill from which the revolutionary song (La Marseillaise) was resounding.

There were no scattered flocks.

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The survivors who were taken to Montréal were initially uneventful. They were glad to have survived and praised King Vladimir Kalin for saving them.

That was only for a moment. As the threat to life disappeared, the number of women exhibiting strange behavior increased one by one. It seemed to be a symptom of PTSD.

‘I think someone sneaked into my house.’

‘There’s someone following me.’

‘My lover left me. He cheated on me!’

‘I just want to do nothing and just rest.’

Obsessive-compulsive disorder, obsessions, depression, anorexia, bulimia, kleptomania, sleep disorders, and even drinking and drugs. Montreal, already a city of pleasure due to the collaboration of mercenaries and refugees from nearby areas, was now mixed with French decadence.

People who were almost eaten by cannibals caused trouble as if they wanted to prove that they were alive.

[Are you all crazy?]

The adjustment of the gender imbalance that Ki-soon had intended to make went down the drain.

For returning soldiers and French women without families, it was a dream come true to form a family and be happy.

The returning soldiers who had served in Japan and fought in the Chinese War also had many internal wounds, and when a woman with PTSD was added to the mix, there was no answer.

[Why do people really do this?]

That was the idea. I hoped that wounded people would help each other heal and rely on each other to foster happiness.

Isn’t that right? The widow’s heart is known to the widower, and the widower’s heart is known to the widow. I wonder if those who have similar pains can understand each other.

But that was too idealistic.

Wounded women wanted men to care for them and shower them with affection. Men wanted to relax at home, not become servants.

And above all, they were people who had experienced the end.

People who have experienced the breakdown of their families. People who have seen things like faith, trust, love, and hope turn into mere pieces of meat, leaving behind stiff corpses. Simple arguments have led to murder or suicide.

“How about erasing the memories that caused PTSD?”

Na Ju-yeon suggested a memory deletion procedure. The data brought from the empire contained a technique to extract and inject only a portion of the main body’s memories. The idea was to use this to remove some of the memories.

“You want to erase memories to get rid of PTSD? Who can decide where those memories start and end? If the mutant virus incident is the beginning, you’re saying you’re going to erase all memories from the past 2-3 years. What would you do if someone whose memories were erased like that wanted to go back to their hometown?”

“I don’t think that will be a problem. You just need to insert the memories necessary to live in the Holy Kingdom during your free time.”

Hood, who was taken aback by Na Ju-yeon’s answer, spoke stiffly.

“You want me to put in a memory? You… are out of your mind.”

“Oh my. What does that mean?”

“You say you’ll manipulate memories so easily. What do you think humans are? Beings that can be manipulated at will?”

Hood was a hacker. Why did she become a hacker? To fight against the powers that be who manipulate information to control the citizens.

To such a hood, Na Ju-yeon’s claim sounded like she wanted to hack people’s brains and manipulate them to her liking.

“That’s a strange thing to say. If you have a fever, you take a fever reducer. If you have pain, you take a painkiller. Don’t you know what a fever reducer means? What about a painkiller?”

Reduce fever and relieve pain. Likewise, if memory is the problem, then excising the memory is the solution. If empty memory is the problem, then filling it is the solution. Isn’t that the basics?

If the bone was the problem, the treatment was to cut it, and if the cut was the problem, to fix it with a metal plate. Is the mind any different? Is memory any different? Na Ju-yeon couldn’t understand why Hood was so angry.

If that’s the case, you shouldn’t have used virtual reality to do the magic show. Wasn’t magic a kind of experience?

Fake memories that seem real, fake experiences that seem real. But how to build experiences that understand and accompany him.

That’s okay, but removing and inserting the memory yourself is a problem?

“Medicine is something that individuals choose to take. The same goes for surgical procedures.”

“Then let’s let them each choose. If we let them decide whether to erase their memories or not, there won’t be a problem, right?”

“Memories are an important element of personality. They are not something that can be easily erased.”

“It’s ridiculous to say that we can’t choose our memories when we can change our gender and choose partners of other species.”

“Up to there.”

Maru stopped the two people from arguing.

“The decision to erase memories or not is left up to the individual. However, only those who can choose to erase memories should be diagnosed with severe PTSD.”

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Washington DC.

Kim Yang and his entourage, who had set out for the IMF (International Monetary Fund), arrived near their destination.

“Hurry up, hurry up.”

“Scout party, depart.”

“Set up camp in the building.”

“Machine gun battery ready.”

‘Gold. Gold. Gold.’

How much is in the IMF?

There must be a lot, right?

Kim Yang’s quest for gold has begun.