Rust - Chapter 690



Only Krnovel

RUST -690

Den Brown was still there.

A young middle-aged man for the head of a vast empire. His rapidly bleached blond hair made him look older than he actually was.

“Your hair wasn’t that color until recently. Did you dye it?”

Maru, who received Gi-sun’s signal, started talking calmly.

“···It wasn’t a situation where I could be dyeing my hair or anything.”

“I guess you’ve been through a lot of emotional distress.”

Dan Brown changed the subject.

“Do you know why Virginia Langley turned into a terrorist organization?”

“It must be because the head was cut off.”

When a high-ranking cannibal or vampire dies, the control they had over the lower-ranking individuals is released. And those who have been freed from control begin to struggle to become higher-ranking individuals, so as not to be controlled again.

Knowing this, Virginia Langley turned the process of struggle into a contest: Who will be the next president when Joseph Meyer dies?

If there was anyone with as much dominance as Joseph Meyer, it would be him, but what if only those with mediocre dominance remained?

Will we kill each other and fight and destroy ourselves? Or will we set rules and make sure that the organization survives by following those rules?

“If the Chairman dies suddenly, the person who finds the cause will be given huge bonus points. If the cause is an organization or a country, the person who destroys it will be given huge bonus points. If the Chairman dies during an operation he was directly commanding, the person who successfully completes the last operation will be given huge bonus points.”

The text message sent by Ki-soon appeared on the AR (Augmented Reality) lens.

[The old man has a cold expression. The secretary standing next to the bodyguard is hostile.]

There was no guarantee that what he said was true, but if he assumed it was true, he would only get tired in the future.

Joseph Meyer’s cause of death? It was the floor.

Any group or nation associated with Joseph Meyer’s death? It was the Holy Kingdom.

His last mission before he died? To persuade Dan Brown and uncover the secrets of Vladimir Kalin, the natural(?) nobleman.

So, it’s a tired story that Virginia Langley ended up playing a decisive role in the direction of her succession to power.

“Isn’t it something that can be done by uprooting all the tangled knots at once?”

“Virginia Langley is not an organization that can be taken down easily. There are countless HUMINT units, and there are also a considerable number of personnel deployed for cross-validation.”

There are quite a few cases where the husband or wife you live with for your entire life is that person, so much so that they have been used as material for movies and dramas.

The Empire used diagnostic kits to screen out cannibals and vampires, as Dan Brown did, while the Confederacy forcibly turned suspects into cannibals or made preserved food sets for families.

“It’s not easy to get rid of them because they are intertwined like a net.”

Let’s say an employee dies during an operation. Approach the parents and say, “Who killed your son? Do you want to avenge him? If you want to avenge him, help us.” In this way, when one employee dies, two willing collaborators appear.

It was not a situation where they could just push through the villages, and if they caught and killed each of the Virginia employees who were scattered into guerrilla groups, they would end up turning their families, relatives, friends, and even lovers into enemies.

“The Holy Kingdom doesn’t care. Depending on the nature of the crime, the criminal’s family can also be punished.”

You’re doing spy work? If you get caught, you’ll be sucked into the information extraction machine, and you’ll be sent to a crazy place while the rest of your family will be banished.

“It’s not something you can catch like that.”

This was something we experienced in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam. It was a problem to single out enemies who were closely linked to civilians, and even if we took the risk of harm and singled out only the enemies, nothing changed.

To this side, he is a terrorist, but to civilians, he is a young man from the village, the kid next door, and someone’s lover.

“Then we just have to banish the entire village.”

“Even if we push out the entire village that has become hostile, it will be of no use. In fact, the resistance will only increase.”

Maru’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“So what exactly are you trying to say? Are you trying to say something like, ‘If we try to destroy the Virginian tangled network, we’ll only end up with more hostile people.’ Or are you trying to say something like, ‘If we try to mess with the tangled network, we’ll end up poking a beehive, so let’s join hands with the Empire.’?”

“If we don’t join hands, we will sink into a swamp as time goes by.”

Maru looked blankly at Den Brown.

The letters that appeared on the AR lenses appeared to float over Dan Brown’s face.

[You remain calm despite my provocations. Your emotions are not changing color.]

Through intel gathered from New York via the Rat, Drone and Narouz, we learned that President Dan Brown is in a political crisis.

There were a few traitors emerging from among the imperial legislators and administrative officials. The number was not large, but the problem was that they kept appearing.

In addition, the people who had supported President Dan Brown were gradually turning their backs. This was partly due to malicious rumors spread by Virginia Langley, but also because the economy was momentarily shaken by the interruption of trade with the Holy Kingdom.

The trading post was reopened, but many citizens were worried that it might close again at any moment. Rumors were spreading that Dan Brown was responsible for creating this unsettling situation.

In the silence of the room, Den Brown’s persuasion began.

“Have you ever thought about why Virginia Langley didn’t use terrorism from the beginning? Why didn’t she use terrorism when she knew that the Empire and the Holy Kingdom would fall into chaos if she continued to harass them like she did now?”

“······.”

I never thought about it.

“Because there was a Confederacy.”

It means that they did not use terrorism because they had something to protect. In addition, Maru and Kim Yang were people who could commit terrorism if they wanted to. If they provoked them wrongly, they might end up ‘giving and receiving in return’, so there was no reason to use terrorism.

“But not only did they blow up Texas, the center of the Confederacy, in the Holy Kingdom, but they also killed Joseph Myer, the chairman of the Virginia Company. What will the rest of them think? They will think that the shackles that restrained their use of terrorism have been lifted. So what will happen next?”

With the Confederacy’s center of gravity, Texas, gone, its high-ranking officials were evaporated. The remaining six states fought for control.

The power struggle that began with the pretext of uniting to take revenge on the Holy Kingdom gradually intensified.

This was because, due to the nature of cannibals and vampires’ dominance, once they went down, they could not go back up until they died.

“Right now, Virginia Langley is the main terrorist, but in the future, the states belonging to the Confederacy will also send terrorist agents. The more damage they cause to the Holy Kingdom, the stronger the voice in the Confederacy will become.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Dan Brown’s brow furrowed at Maru’s calm answer.

‘What? It doesn’t matter?’

The question, “Does terrorism seem like a joke to you?” rose to the top of his lungs, but Dan Brown swallowed it down.

“Autonomous security systems linked to CCTV have been deployed in almost all towns in Michigan, and assistive AI and automatic turrets are also scheduled to be deployed before the end of this winter.”

“Can you distribute it to all of Canada?”

Dan Brown was quite surprised by the productivity of the Holy Kingdom.

“The Canadian side is a problem, but it’s just a matter of time. Rather than being threatened by terrorism, we’re going to close down small towns and move them to the cities.”

It was a policy that was literally reckless. Forced migration. In the empire, forced migration was really the last resort.

“It’s not just small-scale terrorism, they could also commit biochemical or radiological terrorism.”

“Although nerve gas attacks and radioactive backpack attacks are dangerous, I believe we can sufficiently respond to them by establishing a surveillance and reconnaissance system using drones, crows, and field mice.”

Dan Brown’s expression changed slightly at Maru’s explanation that strengthening the border would prevent terrorism at its source.

“Did you figure out how to get past the rat defenses using the psychic generator?”

Instead of answering, Maru shrugged his shoulders.

The Holy Kingdom means that you can live on your own.

A face that asks for a reason to join hands with the Empire, a reason to help Dan Brown’s regime.

[It looks like Mr. Den is angry. His color has changed. Huh? The bodyguard on the far left. The hostility that was directed at you is now directed at Mr. Den.]

At that moment, the left bodyguard who had thrown the secretary away reached out to Dan Brown.

Bang- The water bottle placed in front of the floor exploded as if it hit the bodyguard’s head. Everyone’s attention was focused on the bodyguard who was lying down with his head bent backwards.

Maru’s senses were stirred.

Thump-

The secretary was lying face down on the floor, having been thrown, aiming a ballpoint pen.

Fit-

Maru kicked the table with his toe, accompanied by the sound of compressed air bursting.

Bam!

A poisonous needle was stuck in the table that was floating in the air.

[Secretary! Den-]

Maru’s actions were faster than Ki-soon’s warning that the secretary was targeting Dan Brown.

Just one step.

Maru’s shoe landed on the secretary’s neck as she aimed her pen at Dan Brown.

Ugh-

With the sound of a broken neck, a poisonous needle was stuck right next to where Dan Brown was sitting. The secretary’s arms and legs, holding the pen, convulsed and foam poured out of her mouth. She had swallowed poison.

Maru asked Den Brown, who was surrounded by bodyguards who were hastily blocking him with their entire bodies.

“What the hell is this?”

“······.”

‧

‧

‧

Maru verified all of the party from the Empire using psychometry.

“You want to use your psychic powers? This is outrageous.”

“You’re trying to steal the empire’s secrets like this?”

Regardless, the inspection continued.

“Huh? This guy is a bit weird. He’s gone crazy.”

“How did you get out?”

“It’s different from normal people. It’s like it’s been torn to pieces.”

“That person’s feelings are only hatred towards you.”

Ki-soon confirmed their feelings.

“So you’re saying that you’ve lost your mind and brought people who hate you as your attendants?”

Den Brown shook his head at Maru’s words.

“Why would I do that? And they’re not cannibals or vampires. We tested everyone with diagnostic kits before departure, and we tested them again upon arrival.”

Dan Brown’s expression was not good. He was a bodyguard and a secretary, and the two had a long history together.

As a result of extracting information with the Brain Dungdung Information Extractor, it was revealed that the bodyguard had a grudge against his mistress for dying in the rat incident, and that the vampire’s mental waves had shaken him during that gap.

“Why are you telling us what you’re doing to the rats?”

Kim Yang said this while looking at the face of the bodyguard who was trembling as information was extracted.

“I guess you thought the damage was too great by taking away the Naruzu clones.”

Hood replied in a voice that seemed to be sorry.

“How about the secretary?”

“My brain melted.”

The secretary, like Joseph Meyer and the other vampires present at the time, was brain-melted and unable to retrieve any information.

“There were no problems before departure.”

Although Dan Brown replied that he had no idea, Maru’s eyes were cold.

“Tell Naruzu, who is waiting at the trading post, to begin the operation.”

The operation to completely eliminate nuclear weapons from the Empire has begun.