Rust - Chapter 668



Only Krnovel

RUST -668

Dan Brown was somehow spine-chilling.

A cool sensation running down my spine. It was the feeling I got when I risked my life cleaning up the trash.

“Are you sure? The Holy Kingdom Embassy has withdrawn? Are you sure they’ve closed down the trading post?”

[Yes. The Holy Kingdom airship flew away from the embassy rooftop after carrying the officials. The trading post is also closed and not open. There is a notice of closure posted in front of the door.]

The notice posted at the main entrance of the trading post appeared on the monitor.

“Connect with the Holy Kingdom. Now.”

Chancellor Den Brown felt it necessary to speak with Vladimir Kalin as soon as possible. Unfortunately, however, the official documents sent from the airship carrying the embassy personnel reached the Holy Kingdom much faster than the biocommunicator could.

[An official document was sent from the Holy Kingdom.]

“What is the content?”

[We will break the non-aggression pact.]

“Crazy. Connect me now.”

[It seems to be a mental block. It won’t connect.]

Dan Brown’s expression became serious. That meant the Holy Kingdom had a psychic countermeasure device. That meant they were preparing for a possible psychic attack by the Confederacy.

“Confederate States, contact the Virginia Langley Company!”

After a while, Joseph Meyer’s voice was heard.

[What’s going on?]

“The non-aggression pact in the Holy Kingdom has been broken. All the field mice have also been driven out.”

Dan Brown’s tone changed in desperation. Joseph Meyer considered content more important than tone.

[When did that happen?]

“A little while ago.”

[···We have just received word that the Southern Confederacy is breaking the non-aggression treaty. It seems that they have broken the treaty at the same time.]

“Have you ever made a psychic attack? Have you ever made a psychic attack on the Holy Kingdom?”

[I have tried to use a beauty trap.]

“By using a psychic?”

[It wasn’t to that extent. I need to hold an emergency meeting here, so I’ll contact you later.]

“Okay, let’s do that.”

Dan Brown frowned at Joseph Meyer’s nonchalant reaction.

“Convene an emergency meeting. The rats are out, so the stray rats might come out. Assemble the troops and block the entrance. Now.”

[All right.]

“Equip all the new airships with air-to-air missiles and send them to the border.”

[How about doing some interior finishing work to rent it out to the Confederacy?]

“Don’t ship it out, just hold it. Tell the Confederates that there’s an error in the flight program and we’re adjusting it.”

[All right.]

Dan Brown looked in the direction of Detroit, hoping that this was nothing more than a brinkmanship move by the Holy Kingdom.

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Confederate conference room.

There was no expression on the indifferent face of Joseph Meyer, who presided over the emergency meeting.

‘The Empire and the Confederacy broke their non-aggression pact at the same time?’

One executive voiced his opinion.

“It would be a brinkmanship tactic.”

“Oh, right. Did the liver come out of the stomach?”

“No matter how much you try to gain the upper hand in negotiations, it’s really hard to do this at dawn.”

“Isn’t it a kingdom? A kingdom.”

That’s why the monarchy was a problem. Didn’t the king get angry and say, ‘Just throw it away! Destroy it!’? The staff will have to deal with the aftermath.

“Tsk- what crime did the staff commit?”

“Anyway, they’re showing that they’re really poisoned. What should we do?”

Most of the executives predicted that the Holy Kingdom would use brinkmanship tactics.

“We also need to take a hard line.”

“Since we have decided to cooperate with the Empire on the issue of the Holy Kingdom, we must apply firm pressure from both sides.”

“Could it be that you chose war?”

“Huh? Do you think that’s realistically possible?”

“That’s right. If they had wanted to go to war, the Confederacy and the Empire wouldn’t have broken their non-aggression pact at the same time.”

“That’s right. Even if he were a mad king, would he fight a two-front war?”

I think if they had intended to go to war with both the Confederacy and the Empire, they would not have broken the non-aggression pact in this way.

If you think about it logically, that’s true. Let’s say the Holy Kingdom chooses war with the Confederacy. What would they do with the Empire? Wouldn’t they maintain a non-aggression pact?

Conversely, let’s say you choose to go to war with the Empire. Would you maintain a non-aggression pact with the Confederacy and break your treaty with the Empire?

“There is no reason for the Confederacy and the Empire to break their non-aggression pact at the same time.”

But what on earth was the idea of ​​breaking the treaty with both the Confederacy and the Empire at the same time? No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t help but think that it was a tactic to gain the upper hand in negotiations.

“But the Holy Kingdom is a monarchy. It is certainly possible that the King chose war and broke the treaty.”

“Huh- this guy. It’s winter now. Even if they use airships to bomb from over there, what are they going to do about the reinforced concrete bunkers deep in the frozen ground, under the ice blocks that are over 3 meters thick?”

“Even if bunker busters were mass-produced, the number would not be that large. The Holy Kingdom has only been operating its weapons factories for two to three months, or at most six months.”

“Couldn’t we use nukes?”

“Surely you’re crazy and wouldn’t launch a nuclear attack?”

“The Holy Kingdom is the country that blew up London and Paris with nukes, simply because they had dangerous monsters in them.”

“······.”

“······.”

Joseph Meyer nodded. If the treaty breach was merely a war of nerves, then there was no problem. This side had information that King Vladimir Kalin was a natural noble.

“What if, rather than simply resorting to brinkmanship, the Holy Kingdom had chosen war?”

Even if it were a very unlikely event, there was a need to prepare for the eventuality of war. Virginia Langley was originally a company that did just that.

“The Holy Kingdom has its population and production concentrated in Detroit. If the enemy chooses war, Detroit must be nuked.”

“This is the country that launched nuclear bombs at London and Paris. If war is certain, the most effective way to destroy key cities is with a preemptive nuclear strike.”

“The Aegis ships and air defense network are dense?”

“You don’t have to hit it. You can neutralize it by increasing the radiation intensity and detonating it nearby, and generating an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) at high altitude.”

“The Holy Kingdom is a country run by artificial intelligence, so an EMP would be fatal.”

“If we can neutralize Detroit, the Holy Kingdom will be finished.”

The outcome of the meeting was simple.

The Holy Kingdom is now trying to gain the upper hand in the talks by using brinkmanship tactics. There is no reason for them to give in, whether it is a conventional war or a nuclear war.

To simultaneously strike and destroy the Confederacy, which was made up of seven states, would require hundreds of nuclear weapons, but the Holy Kingdom does not have that many.

If the Holy Kingdom shows signs of going to war, a preemptive nuclear strike will be enough. The story is that if we just destroy Detroit, the center of the Holy Kingdom, it will be over.

Joseph Meyer nodded.

“Send the meeting materials to the military and the House of Lords, and connect with Generalissimo Den Brown.”

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The results of the emergency meeting that Dan Brown called were no different from those of the meeting of the Confederate Virginia Langley Company.

If the reason for blowing up London and Paris with nukes was to wipe out the monsters, then there is no reason to fight a nuclear war with the Empire.

So, the conclusion was that the current abolition of the non-aggression pact was a political act to gain the upper hand in future talks.

Even if war broke out, the ones who survived until the end were the Empire and the Confederacy. No matter how advanced the Holy Kingdom’s technology was, the ones who would end up in the end were always humans and infantry.

‘The rats, crows, and wolves of the Holy Kingdom can be neutralized by the Confederacy’s psychic generators.’

So the Confederacy would have no qualms about using it. Even if the Holy Kingdom were to use hydrogen bombs, how many hydrogen bombs would be left after blowing up London and Paris?

Five or ten shots? That wasn’t enough to wipe out the Empire and the Confederacy. If anything was scarier than the hydrogen bomb.

‘It’s a guerrilla warfare centered around Vladimir Kalin and Yania Kim.’

What Dan Brown found truly frightening was guerrilla warfare and urban fighting.

If Vladimir Kalin and Yania Kim had gone into a big city like New York or Houston and started fighting in the streets, they might have to destroy the city block by block.

Imagine if a war broke out and Vladimir Kalin came to New York. It would be better to act boldly, even if it meant blowing up half of New York, to minimize the damage.

‘Fuck. I need time. Time.’

I needed to know what the Holy Kingdom’s future policy would be. Should they buy time by negotiating on the edge and then go to war? Or should they buy time, raise their tech, and then negotiate to release what they consider to be old-generation technology?

To predict, we needed to know the direction in which the Holy Kingdom was turning, and we needed information.

‘It’s hard to get information on Detroit, but there’s still room in Canada. I’ll have to dig as deep as I can in that area.’

General Dan Brown felt like his heartburn was returning.

[Your Majesty, we have received a communication request from the Confederacy.]

“Go now.”

A biometric communicator placed on one side of the President’s office.

The human brain and spinal cord floating in a transparent glass tube. The sight of thin wires, parts, and living tissues tangled together was almost grotesque.

Why do I suddenly feel this way? After writing so much.

General Dan Brown took a deep breath, thinking that it was all because of the Holy Kingdom.

Pogurururuk

After the bubbles rose like a scream, Joseph Meyer appeared on the monitor. He briefly explained the conclusions reached by the Virginia Langley Company.

“This was a similar conclusion.”

[Tsar Vladimir Kalin has no choice but to accept this offer. If he wants to maintain the title of savior and the merit of being the center of faith.]

There was a firm confidence hidden in Joseph Meyer’s voice. It was as if he had discovered Vladimir Kalin’s weakness.

‘Is there any weakness? If there is, it’s that it’s my little sister who has no answers. Even that’s all I’ve taken back.’

Vladimir Kalin’s private life was extremely clean. Considering his age and position, he could be compared to a monk or a hermit. How could such a Vladimir Kalin be vulnerable?

Joseph Meyer whispered at the suspicious look in Dan Brown’s eyes.

[He is a man. He is not an ordinary person.]

Dan Brown’s eyes immediately changed to ‘What. Is. Sick.’

Isn’t that obvious?

Do normal people go around stabbing mutated monsters in buildings?

[Ah···. That means he is actually a human here.]

“···What are you talking about?”

You’re a Confederate person?

So does that mean Vladimir Kalin is a cannibal, a vampire, or a test subject? Before Dan Brown could continue his questioning, a small sound leaked out from the monitor.

‘The Holy Kingdom declared war?’

‘Yes. This morning, a drone robot arrived at the headquarters desk carrying a declaration of war document.’

‘Why are you saying that now?’

‘A cute drone robot came into the front desk of the disguised headquarters carrying an old-fashioned envelope sealed with wax. I thought it was a joke.’

That would be the case. Would anyone take it seriously if a little robot came crawling in with a wax-sealed document in its mouth?

Moreover, since it was a disguised headquarters, most of the people working at the desk were ordinary madams, so it was even more so. The termination of the non-aggression pact with the Holy Kingdom had not yet been officially announced.

The report was hurriedly uploaded only after the head office employee checked the envelope in the file. Joseph Meyer turned his head away from the monitor and a look of bewilderment appeared on his face.

[The Holy Kingdom has declared war on the Confederacy. What about you?]

“Are you talking about a declaration of war? No. The embassy will be withdrawn this morning…”

Pogurruruk—

The bubbles rose as if struggling, and then suddenly the biocommunicator was disconnected.

“What is this···.”

Did they cut off communication? It was too sudden for that to be the case.

[Your Excellency the President. There has been an artificial earthquake in the Texas area at this time. The magnitude is 5.8.]

“······.”

[Current artificial earthquake occurrence area. Artificial earthquakes observed in Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas.]

“···oh my god.”

Dan Brown’s legs gave out.

Pogurruruk—

Oh my god.

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Ki-sun wondered how to send the text.

In fact, it was a matter of choice. If you declare war, the high-ranking cannibals and vampires will run away, and the ones who will probably die will be the low-ranking cannibals and ordinary people. However, it would not be good to attack with nuclear weapons without declaring war, considering the future.

[A preemptive nuclear strike without even declaring war will inevitably be a burden later.]

“I plan to declare war.”

Hood, PD, and nurses were having a hard time withstanding even a preemptive strike. Maru was thinking of declaring war for their sake.

‘What should I do?’

If we declared war directly through our bio-communicators, there would be no point in launching a preemptive strike. We needed a way to make it so that they wouldn’t know it was a declaration of war even if they received it.

Maru took a cue from Kim Yang’s exosuit. It started out as a small and cute 4-drone suit, then grew to 8-drone, and later even operated 16-drone suits.

And Kim Yang’s drone operation was quite effective. Who would have thought that a drone smaller than the palm of one’s hand could conduct reconnaissance and suicide attacks?

‘It goes small and cute.’

If a cute little drone robot came along carrying a declaration of war, would you take it seriously?

As lunch was winding down, texts came in from the blimps heading to Texas.

[Operation successful.]

The result was a success.