Rust - Chapter 696



Only Krnovel

RUST -696

The nurse who had to leave immediately to find the ants was depressed.

She hated bugs.

I hated cockroaches, flies, mosquitoes, and ants.

The bugs remind me of the earthquake, the tsunami, and the back alleys of Japan starting to collapse. At that time, it was not cockroaches but ants that were eating the flesh of the dead cat.

It was the same with Erica the Psychometrician. She remembered the unpleasantness of using psychometry in the cockroach-infested sewers of New York.

Buzz buzz buzz buzz

Are they any different from ants?

[Why are all your faces so pale? Everyone lighten up and have fun. Yeah.]

Mr. Kim teased the two women like an old man.

[Cockroaches taste like shrimp, ants taste sour.]

[Insect larvae are a great source of protein that everyone loves-]

[The nurse said it was delicious – Motto-Motto- Psychometry is a jjajjajjajja app -]

The surroundings became quiet as Kim Yang’s singing voice, mumbling in a lively rhythm,

[······.]

[······.]

[Why is it that everyone acts like they’ve never sucked an ant’s butt when they were young?]

[No way. You don’t have any experience?]

What is this···.

What’s wrong with ant butt?

[If you catch an ant this time, I will definitely let you taste it.]

Hueeeeet-

Heeeeek-

Miss Kim laughed out loud as she watched the two women being shocked as if they had heard something terrifying.

‘You bastards with a full belly. This time, I’ll show you the real taste of shrimp and sour flavor.’

It was Ms. Kim who thought she would faint if the two found out.

She had already been keeping the rebellion of Unit 1 in her heart. Although Ms. Kim was usually the type who didn’t have any lingering feelings, she was confident that once she decided to ‘linger’, she would be second to none.

Ki-sun shook his head when he saw that.

‘I thought there was no other reason.’

I thought he would drag the nurse out without a word, but it seemed like he was aiming for this. Ki-soon said this to Ms. Kim through her personal channel.

[I think it would be better to do it in moderation?]

[Green Sun. Are you interrupting me now?]

[I’m telling you not to get in the way or cross the line. If the kids act weird, Maru will get really upset. Do you think you can handle that? I can’t.]

[······.]

[I won’t stop you from getting caught up in the military, so let’s just go moderately.]

[Okay.]

[Still, I can’t get rid of the ant’s butt.]

huh.

Ki-soon laughed in vain.

Yeah, that’s what this woman was like originally.

Something a little strange.

It was spring.

The ice that had been frozen to a thickness of 2 to 3 meters had completely melted and was flowing along the roadside.

All the unpaved areas are mud. Even the paved roads are mostly cracked and torn here and there. Now that the weather is getting warmer, weeds will grow in the cracks, and the roots of the weeds will tear up the foundation of the road.

In midsummer, when temperatures exceed 40 degrees Celsius and the asphalt melts, a terrible heat wave continues for nearly two months, then at some point it becomes fall and then winter for another six months.

[Ah- Also- If there is this much water, won’t the ants drown?]

The nurse said as she looked at the water stream that had turned into muddy water.

[There are even stories of ants running around normally in areas that were submerged in water due to floods or tsunamis after the water receded, so it should be okay.]

[Is that okay?]

Kim Yang was quick to respond to Ki-sun’s question. She asked if it was okay for the ants not to die, even though they have to be slaughtered every spring and summer.

After stopping the nurse from picking her up a few times, she felt like Kim Yang was after her. Ki-sun coughed and closed her mouth.

It must have been a long walk. Erica grumbled, as if it was a bit burdensome to move around in the exosuit.

[Why not take an airship or an armored car?]

[Are you crazy? I don’t know what would have happened to the ground if the ice had melted. An armored vehicle?]

[··· What about that airship?]

[The weather is clearing up and the birds are going crazy, what if we go by airship?]

While it wasn’t a problem to ward off flocks of birds with crows and flying drones, it was difficult to investigate them slowly.

[There are field mice waiting ahead.]

Kim Yang responded to the communication sent by the reconnaissance team.

[Standby in place. Unit 1 dispatched.]

[Huh? Where to?]

[Go to the field mouse and ask him about the ants.]

[···all right.]

[I’ll go too.]

The nurse and Ki-sun approached the reconnaissance team waiting in front.

[Are you there? Do you see that 70m down on the right? It felt like the field mice were coming out to greet us.]

[···yes.]

The nurse opened the exosuit helmet visor and approached the rat.

Who is it? (Who is it?)

Sizzle sizzle? (Did the god of death send you?)

It was the Holy Kingdom that sent a small amount of food to the field mice guarding their borders during the winter. Not enough to breed, but enough to taste.

Even after the long winter, the fear of the god of death continued, with only one or two generations increasing compared to before.

“Yes. He praised you for doing a good job defending the border.”

Jjieeeek-

Take-

Sizzle!

The field mice cheered. It was a sight of delightful colors blooming. Ki-soon relaxed at the sight of the bright colors.

[I really like it.]

“Yes, I think so.”

The nurse felt that her powers had become stronger. In the past, she could understand the mice, but the mice did not understand her, but now they did.

[Your abilities have become stronger.]

“Uh- Again- I think so.”

[congratulations.]

“Go. Thank you.”

He would like it if he knew, right? The nurse felt a little suffocated by the exosuit covering her body.

The field mice welcomed the humans sent by the god of death and escorted them to the border.

“Have you ever seen an ant?”

Sizzle? (Ant, what is that?)

Take a picture? (Are you eating it?)

The nurse showed them pictures of ants on her tablet, but the rats just shook their heads. She told them that all the rats in the scout team that had gone deep below the southern border had gone missing.

“They say they sent out a large-scale reconnaissance just before winter, but not a single one returned until the end of winter.”

[Large-scale reconnaissance?]

“Yes. A group of renegade rats fled south, so we sent out a pursuit and scouting party to find them, but the results were not good.”

Ki-sun’s squinted eyes narrowed. If he couldn’t catch the renegade rats, they could multiply explosively and launch a counterattack.

‘No. Maybe it was pushed by ants.’

The renegade rats may have lost their home base and wandered away, only to be pushed out by the ants, or they may have used the ants as nutrients to reestablish their home base and repopulate their colony.

[Was there any other information?]

“Uh- So, a monster that weaves webs? Oh! I said spiders are dangerous.”

Ki-sun’s footsteps stopped.

‘Spiders also mutate?’

The mutation that had occurred in animals was spreading to insects.

‧

‧

‧

Detroit. Vladiak Tower.

The last report came in a text message informing him that he had arrived in the southern border area.

“What happened to the communications network?”

[The stratospheric communications craft has established position, but is unable to connect.]

“Can’t you still send text messages even when there is radio interference?”

[It has been reported that when the density of mutant monsters exceeds a certain level, transmission delays or transmission failures occur.]

It means you have entered an area with many mutated monsters.

It seems that the field mice have entered that area, as they cause communication problems when they gather in large groups.

‘I don’t think it’s dangerous since I’ve attached the guards and Naruz.’

If possible, we tried to send them all at once to the border by airship, but unlike last year, there were large flocks of birds flying around.

A flock of birds flying like a tornado.

With crows and flying drones, it might not be impossible to escort the airship, but it seemed inevitable that it would require enormous sacrifice.

So, I sent the ant expedition overland. I thought it was not worth sacrificing crows to go by airship when I could have done it by land.

Beep-

The text I was waiting for arrived.

[The field mice say that insects are dangerous. It seems that insects are mutating.]

[Aside from ants, other bugs too?]

[First of all, they say you have to be careful of spiders, and wasps too.]

[Ants?]

[They say all the scout rats that went deep in there have gone missing.]

It was difficult. Maru thought for a moment and replied.

[It seems like it will get more dangerous as time goes by. I think it would be right to check for ants first.]

[I think so too. And I think nurses’ communication skills have improved.]

That was fortunate.

[The text messaging network seems to need an upgrade. There are so many rats that it’s almost dead. At least the new exosuits can communicate over short distances.]

As soon as the text message exchange with Ki-sun ended, a text message report from Ms. Kim appeared.

[No sign of southern field mouse betrayal. Warning of insect mutation risk. Unit 1 retraining required.]

Huh? Why do nurses need retraining?

Maru sent a reply telling him to work hard and called the artificial intelligence Diana.

“Tell them to research countermeasures against mutant insects. Especially pesticides.”

[Delivered.]

A little while later, Na Ju-yeon contacted me.

[Pesticide research is difficult to show effectiveness.]

Considering the mutant cockroaches that can quickly adapt to nerve gas, research on pesticides is likely to be a waste of time.

“It doesn’t matter since I won’t be using it multiple times.”

[···It’s called insurance.]

It would have been enough to use it only once and then throw it away.

“I wish they could make several different types with a single ingredient.”

[That’s right. If you only use it once while changing the type, it’ll be hard to build up tolerance. Okay. And the results of the structural and component analysis of stilettos have come out.]

This was the result of an analysis of the stiletto that could not be cut with Eclipse.

[As expected, the structure was quite similar to Eclipse. And fragments of the altar were detected among the components.]

The fact that fragments of the altar were detected meant that the Virginia Langley guys knew something. And it was similar to the structure of the Eclipse?

Eclipse was given to me by Dan Brown during my time at the Department of Homeland Security. The similarity in its structure means that Virginia Langley studied Eclipse, or that there is something similar to Eclipse.

Maru took out a red ampoule and a clear ampoule from the drawer. It was the ampoule that contained Joseph Meyer’s memories and the ampoule that created vampires.

Can I leave this to Na Ju-yeon?

It would not be an exaggeration to call her a mad scientist. She was the one who would always focus on any research topic, including the construction of floating cities. This was because there was no guarantee that she would not cross the line.

If a cat kills a hamster, is it the cat’s fault or the owner’s fault for not taking proper care of the hamster?

If we could reconstruct Joseph Meyer’s memories and extract information, we could resolve the questions we have. However, is it worth it for Na Ju-yeon to take the risk of being exposed to the knowledge contained in that information and being changed?

after-

Maru closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

‘no.’

Now, it was Na Ju-yeon who created the frozen Kim Sil-jangs. She was also the one who made her father, Nao Jin, into a test subject.

She used various medicines under the pretext of doing it for Maru’s family, but was it really 100% for the purpose of a cure?

If you look at the information about Manager Hong that Ki-soon had mentioned, you can see that Maru himself was being managed like some kind of test subject.

So, there was no need to argue about whether Na Ju-yeon changed or not.

Because that’s the kind of woman she was originally.

However, it is up to you to decide whether or not to give Joseph Meyer’s ampoule to such a woman.

Maru summoned the artificial intelligence Diana.

“Tell Na Ju-yeon to have a private meeting tonight.”

[I have forwarded it. I have received a request to confirm whether or not you would like to have dinner together. How should I respond?]

“···Okay, let’s eat together too.”

[Delivered.]

‧

‧

‧

In the mirror was a woman who could be described in just one word.

‘Crazy bitch.’

This needed some changing.

‘I need to sort out my eyes first.’

Na Ju-yeon put eye drops in her eyes that were so blurry that they were dull. The eye drops had a label that said, “Sparkling, Sparkling.” The moment a few drops fell into her eyes, her eyes began to change as if by magic.

What should I say? The eyes that had seemed dark and dangerous turned into the eyes of a flower deer. She checked the eyes here and there and nodded.

‘Next, let’s get rid of dark circles.’

But if you look too normal, it will look like you skipped the research and just slept on it, so leave a slightly haggard look.

‘Is this situation from scenario 76 to 108?’

There was also a dinner event in the Mayan City scenario. If you say it’s good, more than half of the endings will be deaths, so you have to avoid that.

‘What are the hot topics? The construction of a floating city, the results of the Eclipse analysis, and pesticides?’

‘I guess I should spray some perfume…?’

The smell of medicine and the hospital smell was a bit like that.

But perfumes that increase favorability are out. I’ve even gone through the ending after using that.

She, who had gathered all her experience as a mayonnaise worker and had been using her strength, carefully entered the restaurant where dinner was prepared.

The moment she entered the reserved room following the guide robot, her whole body began to tremble.

The sight of Maru forcibly making your heart flutter.

There was a floor so deep in thought that she didn’t even realize she had come.

ah-

It was a scene you couldn’t see in Mayan City.