Rust - Chapter 699



Only Krnovel

RUST -699

There was nothing particularly ticklish about Kim Yang.

If you had any concept of what you believed in from the beginning, it was when you worked with Maru?

‘If it’s Baekjeong, I can trust him. Yeah.’

It’s a feeling of pride and repaying what you owe by saving each other’s lives.

But what should I say in a case like this?

Should I say it’s embarrassing?

What are we going to do with all these worthless things hanging around like this?

If I were alone, I could run away quickly, but what if these things are hanging around here?

‘You said you could go as much as you want. What are you doing?’

Ms. Kim looked annoyed and ticklish.

[You guys are all disobedient.]

When I told them to do one person’s share, they just wouldn’t listen to me.

[What are you doing? You’re not going quickly.]

[The captain should take the lead.]

Are these guys real?

Are these Yankee bastards like this?

‘Girae. Where have you been?’

Let’s see how far we can go.

The guards were engraved on Kim Yang’s list of targets for hand care, next in order.

[advance.]

Because the booster had gone bad, I couldn’t go as recklessly as before. The ants that were swarming in were all different sizes.

The small ones were about the size of the palm of your hand, the large ones were as big as your forearm, and the very large ones were about the size of a medium-sized dog.

The one that dug a trap that fell into the ground and bit Kim Yang’s ankle was that big one. Despite the presence of that big one, most of the ants that surged in like a black wave were the size of a palm.

Those guys are worthless even for a bullet.

Kim Yang’s exclusive exosuit trampled the ants and started running. Even the small ones were mutants, and the sensor errors were severe.

[Can the ground detect traps?]

[It is difficult to detect traps due to sensor errors.]

Detection was essential, as the ants might have set another trap.

[Analysis of impact point using high-speed camera.]

Mr. Kim lowered the gun and pulled the trigger.

Pavabababak-

A 7.62mm bullet pierces the ground. The auxiliary AI uploaded the impact video to the HUD. There were sections where the bullets disappeared as if they were falling out.

[Mark the part that is now sunken in on the map. Send it back -]

[Data transfer failed.]

I asked the escorts following me to share information, but the assistant AI was capable of simple communication, but had difficulty transmitting large amounts of information.

[Then tell the kids to follow me closely. Just follow where I step.]

[Delivered.]

It seemed like there were a lot of ant years scattered around, as it was difficult to even mark them on a map.

[Who went first? Connect them.]

Kisun, Unit 1, Erica, and Naruz went first as they had initially discussed.

[Out of proximity communication range.]

It went by so quickly.

Babababababak-

The ground was riddled with holes from bullets that had scraped the floor. There were empty spaces here and there, like in a game of whack-a-mole. Large ants were waiting underneath.

As the ceiling of the trap made of saliva and dirt suddenly collapsed, Ms. Kim threw a napalm grenade at the giant ant, which was busy moving its antennae to figure out the situation.

Hwaruk – The red-hot flames and the rising black smoke became a landmark for the guards who followed behind, and a signal of survival for Ki-sun and his party who had gone ahead that the unit following them was alive.

As Kim Yang and his bodyguards escaped the trap zone, Ki-sun and his party were seen surrounded by a swarm of ants at the bottom of the hill.

[Flamethrower!]

The guardsmen equipped with flamethrowers stepped forward. Every moment, swarms of ants surrounded Ki-sun and his party, and gunshots could be heard loudly from inside the sunken pit, as if there were any party members who had fallen into traps.

[Group 1 advances after flamethrower.]

[Group 2 leaves after spraying flames at the trap.]

[yes.]

[Huiha!!!]

Ms. Kim intended to move forward as she had previously discussed.

[Chick- Nurse and Erica are trapped. The ants are focusing on them.]

Kim Yang’s eyes rose at Ki-sun’s urgent voice.

[The guards advance as ordered.]

[yep!]

A wall of flames rose between Naruj, who was trapped in the pit and engaged in a fierce battle, and Kisun, who was trying to break through the encirclement outside the pit.

Kim Yang and his guards run along a road burning with napalm. Group 1 advanced forward, turning the front into a sea of ​​fire, and Group 2 followed, pouring flames into the pit.

[Crazy Bitch!]

[If you’re going to shoot a flamethrower, you should talk before you spray it!]

[Pull out the magazine! Pull out the magazine!]

[Fire on the gun. Fire!]

[It’s a troll!]

[Same year as the main year!]

The Naruj, who had been suddenly doused with napalm fire, screamed in the fire pit.

[Stop being so noisy and come out quickly.]

[Hey. You crazy bitch!]

[Even if you save me, why bother? I’ll go first.]

Ki-soon, who had been blankly watching the backs of Kim Yang and the guards running along the flames, pulled Nanae and Erika out of the trap that had now become a pit of fire. There were melted traces all over the exosuit.

[What’s wrong with the exosuit?]

[Ants. The ants spread the acid with their butts.]

The nurse shuddered as she spoke of ant poop.

‘Forest mountain!’

Ki-sun’s eyes narrowed.

Chew- The ants were making an acid attack.

The new exosuit adopted composite armor that can withstand acid attacks. It was literally made up of layers of armor with acid-resistant materials coated between them, so it would not melt away in the face of acid attacks.

But the heat-resistant gloves were the problem.

Although the acid-resistant coating succeeded in blocking the acid attack, the heat from the flamethrower began to penetrate through the heat-resistant armor that was melting here and there.

The only good thing was that the armor was made up of multiple layers, so even if the first layer of armor melted, there was still heat-resistant armor inside, so the heat wouldn’t penetrate right away.

‘If you continue to expose the coating to heat, the coating will break.’

If that happens, the armor will be eaten away little by little. Ki-sun followed the group and moved along the escape route that Kim Yang and the guards had dug.

How far did they run? Ahead, Kim Yang and his bodyguards were seen fighting with giant ants.

On the floor, ants the size of a palm were swarming, waiting for an opportunity, and the exosuit was swarmed with ants the size of an adult man’s forearm, spraying acid.

[How far is it to the border?]

[If you go over that hill, you’ll reach the border.]

Ki-sun immediately increased his speed in response to the assistant AI’s answer. Since there was a relay station just near the border, he could request assistance.

As Ki-sun passed by Kim Yang and the guards who were engaged in a desperate fight, the nurse made a sound like, “Huh?” as if to say, “Are you just going to leave without helping me?”, but Ki-sun ignored her and led the group.

As we crossed the hill, we found ourselves in a swarm of field mice and sacred rats.

‘shit.’

With so many rats swarming around, it was difficult to communicate even with a repeater. Ki-soon shouted at the nurse through an external speaker.

[Tell them to attack the ants on the other side of the hill! Quickly!]

I had to save Miss Kim and her guard.

[Our forces are under attack from across the hill!]

[The ants are attacking our allies. Everyone, attack the ants!]

At the nurse’s shout, the rats waiting in defensive formation at the border area began to move.

Jeeeeek! (It’s war!)

Tsk-tsk! (To the God of Death – Victory!)

Sizzle! (Let’s kill!)

Click!!! (Attack!!!)

It rolled over the hill like a tsunami, overflowing with dark gray and brown waves.

The smell of melted meat and the smell of meat burned by explosions and flames began to spread strongly.

‧

‧

‧

Maru looked at the ant sample that Kim Yang brought.

If we categorize them by size, there are roughly three types. Worker ants the size of a palm. Soldier ants the size of an adult male’s forearm. And so-called general ants that are about the size of an Olympian’s thigh.

The nurse’s communication skills were not effective, and Erica’s psychometric abilities were only of limited use.

Maru’s brow furrowed slightly at the thought of Ki-sun’s story of how he had figured out the weak point of the encirclement thanks to Ki-sun’s ability to read emotions, but then used that to deplete their supplies.

“More importantly, they know the exchange rate. They even tried to capture us while minimizing their own sacrifices.”

“Are you sure?”

Considering the exchange rate, Maru reaffirmed that trying to capture a human was a behavior that neither rats nor wolves would do.

“It’s not really evidence, but they were clearly targeting Nanae and Erika.”

It was clear from the fact that the trap was triggered precisely at the moment when the group following behind, Nanae and Erika, passed by without collapsing the trap as Kisun and Naruzu advanced on the last hill.

It was strange that they were pinpointing nurses and psychometry, but the exchange rate was even stranger. Ants are talking about the exchange rate?

“What does that mean?”

“They didn’t rush in like a pack of rats, but attacked in formation one after another.”

The story goes that the ants had flamethrowers, and when they got a taste of the heat, they sequentially deployed troops to induce the flamethrowers to be consumed.

“Even when we fought against the rat army, we fought while calculating the exchange rate, and when we crossed a certain line, we retreated without hesitation.”

A group of excited field mice chased the retreating ants into their burrows, but none of them returned. This suggests that they were preparing for pursuit as they retreated.

If the guys had fought to the end, saying they would settle the matter without retreating on their own after discussing the exchange rate, the damage would have been enormous.

“The damage from field mice was extensive.”

The nurse remembered what the mice had said.

“It is said that it is difficult to penetrate the ants’ hard shells with a single spear. And the ants are also very strong.”

The basic weapon given to the field rat was a short spear with a sharp tip like a skewer. It was good for throwing and was not bad as a close combat weapon. Above all, it was highly productive and was advantageous for mass production.

It was not good that the single spear that had served him well until now was not well-received by the ants. In addition, the ants’ great strength was also a problem.

The average weight of a field mouse was well over 10 kg. The body length alone was 50 to 60 cm, and if you include the length of the tail, it was easily 1 m.

The strength of the forelimbs of such a field mouse was withstood by a worker ant the size of a palm. The soldier ant, which was as big as a forearm, went even further and even threw the field mouse with its jaws. The general ant simply had no answer.

The field mice dug traps to catch the soldier ants and the general ants, but the ants did the same. They dug holes and made traps for each other, and the more the dogfight went on, the more the ants gained the advantage.

Because a small worker ant had infiltrated the melee and started spraying formic acid. The story goes that if the sacred rat had not responded with a holy self-destruction to maintain the front line, it would have been dangerous.

Maru recalled the battle situation in his head.

If the melee had continued, the ants could have breached the border.

But you retreated?

Why?

Ki-soon and Kim Yang said that the ants seemed to have retreated because they were thinking about the exchange rate, but Maru felt uneasy for some reason.

‘If the reason the nurse’s ability didn’t work is because of the ants’ way of communicating…’

Ants communicate with pheromones.

‘It’s a pheromone.’

Maru’s gaze turned to Na Ju-yeon.

There was a woman here who had been developing pheromone perfume since middle school.

‧

“Queen ant pheromone?”

“Yes. If we could synthesize the queen ant’s pheromone, we could induce the ants to fight each other.”

Na Ju-yeon took a moment to collect her thoughts and answered.

Ants were already using pheromones to exchange information, but with the mutation, it was highly likely that any simple imitation would not work.

“···It seems possible. However, we need a queen ant to synthesize a pheromone signal that is enough to confuse the ants.”

And alive, too.

Na Ju-yeon explained that this was because it was necessary to identify and synthesize various pheromone signals.

I have to get through those crazy ants and kidnap the queen ant?

A queen ant whose whereabouts you don’t even know?

Maru nodded while everyone was shaking in fear at the terrible difficulty.

“First, let’s run a simulation using the information we’ve obtained so far.”

It was Maru who was promoting the operation to capture the queen ant.