Rust - Chapter 698



Only Krnovel

RUST -698

At the same time that Ki-sun said that they were hostile, Kim Yang gave the order to attack.

[Target forward. Commence pointing fire. Prepare flamethrower.]

Tudadadadadak!

Special armor-piercing bullets containing monster byproducts were embedded in a black chitinous wave 300 meters ahead.

Every time a 7.62mm bullet was fired, a small hole appeared in the black cloth, which then seemed to close again.

[Flamethrower!]

[There is nothing behind.]

[Shoot the floor!]

Puhwaaaaaaaah

As the heavily armored exosuit-equipped guards began to breathe flames, the damp wood and asphalt burst into flames, spewing out black smoke.

Wheeeeeeing-

The exosuit’s chemical, biological, and radiological response system automatically activated. Kim Yang and his party slowly backed away from the valley of flames.

[Move only to places where a path has been made with flames.]

The exosuit was able to withstand high temperatures for a certain period of time, so it was not affected by napalm blasts from flamethrowers.

The black waves that had been about 300 meters away were now approaching within 100 meters. Kim Yang used his aiming gun and flamethrower to impede the advance of the ants.

[Drone bombing?]

[Support request is not possible due to long-distance communication failure.]

[The electronic device is malfunctioning badly, so it is difficult.]

As I got closer to the ants, their images began to appear on the HUD screen. The small ones were the length of my palm, while the large ones were as big as my forearm or thigh.

[What kind of ant is that···.]

[Oh my goodness. How many of them are there?]

The scary thing was the numbers. Wherever I looked, all I saw was shiny black chitin.

[Taking a detour to avoid the flames.]

[Don’t worry about detours, just focus on retreating. Shoot before moving.]

It was fortunate that napalm fireworks had been prepared in advance along the retreat route, otherwise they would have been surrounded like a savage. Ki-soon had no choice but to acknowledge Kim Yang’s command.

Short and clear commands.

A decision that prioritizes survival.

[Sensor malfunction.]

[The sensor is dead.]

[Check the floor with psychometry.]

[I can’t do it because it’s hot.]

Psychometry requires you to touch the ground directly, but the area where the napalm flames had swept through was still hot.

Kim Yang opened the water bottle and sprinkled it on the floor. Chiiik—once. Chii—twice. The white vapor that rose gradually weakened.

[Check.]

Erica put her hands on the floor one by one. She flinched and withdrew her hands, perhaps because the heat had not completely cooled down, but when Ms. Kim asked, “Do you want to die?”, Erica put her hands on the floor again.

[Tsk- There is no trace of the ants.]

[depart.]

‘This is it.’

Honestly, I thought it was too much to involve Kim Yang, Nurse Erica, and even myself. But that wasn’t it.

Without the nurse, we wouldn’t have been able to determine the possibility of communication, and without Erica, we wouldn’t have been able to find a safe route.

‘If I wasn’t there, you wouldn’t have been able to respond so quickly.’

If I had allowed him to approach me without confirming my feelings, I would not have been able to retreat so easily.

‘Did Maru develop an eye for the board?’

If you have such eyes, you should pay attention to the administrative side as well. At least check on the people in Vladislav Tower and do some manpower supply.

Ki-soon recalled the past as he watched Kim Yang retreat while using Erica to check the safety zone. Even when he came to America on a yacht, he could not have imagined such a sight.

‘Well, if you put it that way, am I like that too?’

huh?

In the direction where Erica had said she could not feel any traces of ants, there was a dark aura. It was not clear, but it was the color of hostility and murderous intent.

[for a moment.]

The group’s steps stopped at Ki-sun’s words.

[What is it?]

At Kim Yang’s question, Ki-soon’s gaze turned from the floor covered in hostility to Erica. Erica’s expression was full of question marks, as if asking why.

Ki-soon’s narrow gaze moved from Erica’s face to her shoulders, arms, and then to her gloved hands.

Hands without gloves.

Erica’s psychometry is reading residual thoughts, so she had to make direct contact to know.

So what moves in the dirt?

What if they dug a tunnel and moved instead of coming up to the surface?

Could that also be confirmed with Erica’s psychometry?

[There is hostility in the ground.]

[Direction?]

[The direction we are moving in.]

[Flamethrower. Fires forward.]

Puhwaaaaaaaah

As the red flames began to burn the ground, the dark colors began to fade, as if they had moved to a different place.

As the heat subsided a little, Kim Yang nodded as if asking what was going on. What was going on? Ki-soon also nodded slightly, signaling that it was safe.

[It’s faded. It seems to have moved to another place.]

[Okay.]

Kim Yang immediately changed the formation. Together with Erica, Ki-sun took the lead and checked the direction of the ants. The nurse who was following Ki-sun spoke with a worried voice.

[The ants didn’t seem to hear my voice.]

[Probably so.]

The nurse was dumbfounded by Ki-sun’s answer as if it was obvious.

Is it normal not to be able to hear voices?

Does taking it for granted mean you knew it would happen?

[to?]

[Don’t ants communicate by hearing?]

I was so nervous that I forgot. Ants don’t communicate vocally like rats, crows, or wolves. They use unique pheromones to convey information.

[Then why me···.]

Did you send it knowing that you wouldn’t be able to communicate with the ants?

[Because conversational skills may not be mediated by sound.]

[Ah- Yes. I see.]

Ki-sun continued explaining to the nurse who understood.

[Once you have obtained the ant sample, take your time and use your abilities properly. If possible, you may have to use a different method.]

[Yes, I will.]

‧

[How much napalm is left?]

[You can use it 2~3 times.]

The napalm that had been brought in abundance by the steed-type porter robot began to run out. This was despite the fact that a considerable amount had been brought in anticipation of the possibility of a fight with the ants.

‘We’re running low on napalm.’

Whenever she thought like this, Kim Yang thought of Maru first.

What would Baekjeong do?

If you had the highest dignity, what choice would you make here?

If it were the same situation now.

‘He would have just rushed in and killed them all!’

But will it be edible?

‘It’s edible. It’s edible enough. Yeah.’

Buy that. Even the AI ​​years couldn’t move.

I really wanted to learn it.

Maru’s unique sense resembled the ability to foresee life and death, and his ability to kill was something that was difficult to express in words, beyond ordinary abilities.

‘Well, at least a little bit···.’

It can’t be helped because life is a realm outside of humanity, but can we say that I can feel, even if just a little, finding the path of life?

Thinking back now, I felt that way a bit when I was working at the company. At the time, I thought it was luck, but it wasn’t just luck.

It was the same when I first encountered Baekjeong. If I hadn’t had a subtle sense, I would have been defeated as soon as I got close.

huh.

She felt somehow proud.

‘You’re doing well.’

He was steadily heading towards the great next door. Kim Yang, who was praising herself a little, opened up a map on her HUD.

[Show the map, the path taken so far, and the locations of the ants.]

Her brow furrowed slightly as she looked at the map and situation output by the assistant AI.

[Look at this. It looks a little strange.]

Ki-sun’s eyes narrowed as he received the map.

[···It’s definitely strange.]

As Kim Yang said, it was a bit odd to think that the escape route taken so far was a coincidence. Looking at the map, the shortest route to the Holy Kingdom was blocked.

It wasn’t completely blocked, but it was being pushed sideways little by little, to the point where you could say it was being guided to go sideways.

‘How did you push it sideways?’

It was impossible for the ants to surround the expedition.

It was because they moved while using flamethrowers to create a sea of ​​fire around them, and because Erica and Gisun found a hole to escape through before the encirclement was formed.

‘Was that escape hole a trap?’

Ki-sun’s eyes, which had been staring intently at the map, opened halfway.

‘No. No.’

I knew that there were ants all around due to sensor malfunctions and communication failures.

If they were so spread out, why would they show up and chase them so openly? Why not just mobilize the ants waiting underground?

Ki-sun analyzed the situation from the ants’ perspective in reverse. If he had mobilized all the waiting ants to block the escape route, they would not have been able to stop the flamethrower and would have been able to get through. It was clear that they would have failed to catch the expedition team.

[Fuck.]

By openly chasing them, they wasted their firepower. In addition, they continuously applied psychological pressure through the pursuit and ambush.

What really pissed me off was the direction of travel that was tilted to the side. Looking at the map, I could see that the direction of travel was tilted to the side due to an intentional hole.

‘After confirming that there was an entity that noticed the ambush, I intentionally left a weak hole.’

The ants knew about Erica and Gisun’s existence and intentionally created a hole.

What is its purpose?

[I guess napalm is being used up.]

The distance traveled increased as it moved almost horizontally along the border. Since it moved while using a flamethrower to deal with ambushes, its usage was bound to be high.

Kim Yang’s eyes sharpened at Ki-sun’s explanation.

Why do the guys reading the numbers go around in circles like this? Isn’t it to capture the expedition team? So

[You can use the flamethrower 2-3 times. How about escaping by taking the shortest route right now?]

[It’s dangerous if you think that ants can read numbers.]

Kim Yang questioned Ki-sun’s hesitation.

[If the reason for using numbers like this is to capture us, isn’t it? If the ant bitches had pushed us back with numbers, it would have been a do-or-die fight, but isn’t going around in circles just to catch us while minimizing their own losses?]

[······.]

Kim Yang thought of Maru.

If it were Maru, he would have dug inwards and taken the head off, or he would have broken through the encirclement in one breath.

[Since they are the ones who can read numbers, if we charge forward without hesitation, we can actually seize the opportunity.]

Ignorance is poison to those who think too much about this and that. Often, the best method is to just criticize them openly.

Kim Yang gave the order to prepare to break through without waiting for Gi-sun’s answer. This kind of leisure could also be part of their plan.

[Once you get to the border area, you can get support from field mice and crows.]

The border of the Sacred Kingdom was only about 10km away. Since the ants had not invaded the border of the Sacred Kingdom, they should be able to shake off their pursuit if they made it that far.

[Napalm, standby. Do not fire until ordered.]

[ancient.]

Following the orders of Field Commander Kim Yang, the expedition force’s formation changed. Erika and Gisun, who had been detecting ambushes, retreated to the ranks of lieutenants, and flamethrowers were placed at the front and rear.

[Ambush. Ignore all traps and advance.]

[No matter what happens, no matter what happens, we will not stop.]

The story of not stopping even if there are injured soldiers who cannot move or people fall behind in traps.

[charge!]

She started running in front, carrying a flamethrower and a machine gun.

[Let’s go back!]

[Gandyaa!]

The charge of the guards followed her.

And then

Phew-

The ground that Kim Yang stepped on collapsed.

?

A pair of vicious pincers grabbed the exosuit’s ankle and began to pull it downwards.

[Captain!]

[What are you doing? Charge!]

[Are you planning to disobey the captain’s final order?]

[Don’t stop!]

[Don’t look back and move forward!]

[The Captain will always live in our hearts.]

‘These little bastards.’

Kim Yang fired his flamethrower at the giant ant that was hanging on to the exosuit’s ankle. The napalm flames mixed with the crumbling dirt and belched out a blast of heat.

But the giant ant was still biting and hanging on. If it had been a rat or some other animal, it would have put down its bite and run away long ago. But this crazy ant bitch was not letting go of its bite.

[Propulsion engine in operation]

[It’s dangerous.]

When the assistant AI warned of danger, Kim Yang revealed his teeth.

[It looks like it’s going to break right now. Turn it on.]

[Propulsion ignition. 3. 2. 1. Start.]

Puhwaaaaak-

Kim Yang’s exosuit, which had been sucked into the hole with a strong recoil, began to rise upwards.

[Right thruster. Burner damaged.]

[Left thruster. Pressure relief.]

Beep beep beep beep – the warning sound started to ring loudly.

[Shut up and get maximum output!]

[Maximum output.]

Puhwaaaaak-

She rose into the sky through the collapsing mound of dirt and roasted the head of a giant ant that was clinging to her leg.

[Oh. Fuck!]

[Did you see that?]

[I was right.]

[I told you, the captain won’t die.]

There were guards standing guard over the hole she had fallen into.

‘Fucking kids.’

‘He said he was going.’

‘I told you to go.’

[Propulsion overheating.]

[Right propulsion failure. Landing. 3. 2. 1.]

You fucking idiots.

A giant, crispy-roasted ant fell from the air.