Rust - Chapter 704



Only Krnovel

RUST [RUST]-704

Maru found it difficult to go into the ground.

No matter how much they sensed danger, they would be buried underground and that would be the end. However, there was no other way to catch the queen.

‘Lure won’t work.’

We also considered methods to bring them out by setting them on fire or injecting gas, but simulation results showed that it was useless.

‘If you put in smoke or toxic gases, I won’t be able to get in either.’

This was due to a phenomenon that occurred when the density of mutants became extremely high. A phenomenon that started with communication failures and, at worst, caused electronic device errors.

It wasn’t an EMP, but it was a sort of biological EMP that was effectively the same as an EMP, so there was a high probability that the Raven Suit’s chemical, biological, and radiological countermeasures would be disabled. Judging by the unpleasant feeling you get every time you try to spray poison gas into a hole, it’s definitely true.

Even with the technology that had reached the singularity, the cause could not be identified. The more research was conducted, the more contradictory results were obtained at the same time, so there was nothing that could be done.

The criteria for what constitutes high density were arbitrary, and the density that causes communication interference and electronic device errors was also the same.

This is a phenomenon that occurs when the density of mutant monsters is high, but since the specific criteria are unknown, a countermeasure method has not been found.

Even crows were like that right now. When you loaded a thousand crows onto an airship, it was fine, but when you fought a thousand rats, long-distance communications were disrupted.

Since the exact cause could not be determined, whether it was the crows, the rats, or the synergy effect of the two fighting, it was not possible to just set fire to it or spray pesticide.

This was especially true because the goal was not to kill the queen, but to capture her.

And now. The ants are not only causing communication problems, but are also causing errors in the sensors. What if this electronic interference phenomenon becomes stronger and affects the exosuit?

As the field mice responded with their own numbers to the ants’ onslaught, all electronic devices in the southern border area were rendered inoperable as if they had been hit by an EMP.

‘shit.’

The last reported situation was tense.

It was because they had prepared for the ants’ night raid, and they had also stocked up on flamethrowers, a poison for insects, and a special insecticide made by Na Ju-yeon.

‘You won’t be able to gain resistance all at once, so you have to catch as much as you can when you use it.’

The pesticides and flames sprayed all over the front lines were enough to send the ants into hell. The problem was the amount of pesticides and napalm.

It had only been a few days since the declaration of all-out war and the activation of the wartime system. Naturally, there wasn’t much inventory. In comparison, the number of ants was unexpectedly much larger.

If the number of rats that came up to the surface to attack New York was 7 to 8 million, then the number of ants currently attacking the Holy Kingdom was estimated to be at least 80 million. And that number did not include the ants attacking the Canadian side.

‘An air raid?’

It’s not that I didn’t think of the Winged Ants, but I didn’t think there would be enough of them to fight the Crow Army and drop the Soldier Ants.

This was because the winged ants themselves were male ants, and the male ants were the ones that played the role of mating with the princess ants and then being driven out or killed.

[Activate map.]

[Location information verification system is working. Auto-mapping will begin.]

The Raven Suit’s assistant AI began to create a map of the intricate maze of ant holes. Maru’s eyes glowed coldly.

‘If auto-mapping is possible, it means that the external sensor is working normally.’

That means there aren’t many ants around here. So, wouldn’t it be okay to set fire to them or use pesticides?

Thump-thump-

A faint heartbeat warning that the ant population is low. A warning that it is dangerous to use.

‘shit.’

It was a passage leading into the cave with swear words.

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The ant hole where the queen ant resided was quite large.

If the ants’ outpost(?) was connected by a tunnel with a diameter of about 90 to 110 cm, the queen ant’s hole was close to 250 to 300 cm in diameter.

That means they dug a tunnel this large.

‘That means there is a large object and that it can handle a large amount of water at the same time.’

You fucking ants, there’s nothing normal about them…

If you just pass by, it looks like just a cave with nothing special, but if you look closely, the scale and construction method are beyond words.

Even if you assume that you are burying a 3m diameter drainage pipe, it would require fairly good reinforced concrete technology and construction skills. But the ants did it without a single tool.

Maru gently knocked on the tunnel wall.

Knock knock-

A wall that was dull but had a slight elasticity. It wasn’t a tunnel made by simply compacting dirt. The floor, where samples were taken by tearing off a bit of the outer wall, gradually went deeper.

Ssuk-

Maru’s gait, equipped with the Raven Suit, was somewhat strange.

Footsteps that don’t even feel the slightest vibration.

Movements that seem as if you have no weight.

That’s why the soldier ants realized something was strange only when the floor was almost close to their antennae. It was as if it had suddenly popped out of thin air without any movement of air or rumbling of the ground.

Even the being that appeared like that was a mixture of the pheromones of the same soldier ants and the pheromones of the general ants.

What is this?

Just as he was about to check with his antenna, Maru’s blade split the soldier ant’s head vertically. Even though he killed it with a single stroke, Maru’s heart began to pound.

Thump-thump-thump-

‘?’

‘no way?’

Ants can still spread pheromones even when their heads are cut off.

The fact that it is a living creature that can maintain its jaw strength even when its neck is cut off.

Danger. Intruder.

The pheromones released by the vertically split soldier ants began to spread in all directions.

And what’s more dangerous is that while other animals and insects tend to avoid places where their comrades die, ants tend to check the places where their comrades die.

Ants starting to approach the floor.

Starting with soldier ants, we now have large general-level ants.

‘It’s completely different from the simulation, isn’t it?’

This was not the case in the virtual reality simulation that was conducted up to the second round.

Ants with high intelligence would surround the area when a fellow ant died, or lie in ambush nearby to catch the enemy who killed their fellow ant, rather than just rushing in like they do now.

What the fuck-

If things continued this way, it would be swarming with ants swarming everywhere, front, back, left, right, up and down.

‘Kill me!’

The murderous intent that Maru unleashed spread like waves.

Let’s grab it and sweep it away in one breath.

A surefire pattern that drove away swarms of rats and birds. A thick murderous spirit that even made cockroaches run away exploded.

!!!

The ants did not stop moving, only their tentacles that had been moving furiously froze for a moment.

Is this also different from simulation?

[Motion detection sensor error.]

[Optical sensor error.]

[The density of mutants is rapidly increasing.]

[Auto mapping ends.]

At least the infrared detector was holding up.

The Eclipse of the floor flew in following the green light.

Kwajik-

The ant’s body fluids and death pheromones began to splatter.

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The sound of the biological armor, which even bounces off 12.7mm armor-piercing bullets, being torn apart like aluminum foil.

The sound of hard carapace being cut and fleshy shells being torn to pieces filled the dark ant hole.

Crunch – crunch – crunch –

The sound of ants being ground in a cutter must have been the sound of death, but the ants walking inside showed no hesitation.

What was flowing in the drain was not groundwater or rainwater, but the body fluid of ants. The pheromone of death filled the entire passage, as if to prove their fleeting death.

Maru didn’t stop for a moment, even as he was covered in bodily fluid from the torn ants.

Forward. And forward again.

Because he couldn’t predict what would happen the moment he stopped, he went deep inside and a huge cavity appeared before Maru’s eyes.

Ants larger than generals blocked the front of the den, as if to prevent anyone from entering the den.

Churik-

Antacids shot from a square. You couldn’t avoid the antacids by retreating or avoiding the jaws that attacked your side.

Thump-thump-

A heartbeat that warns us that every moment is a choice.

Maru didn’t look back.

The moment you step back, you can collapse the entrance into the cave.

The choice is forward.

Formic acid, which was more concentrated than the acid shot by the regular soldier ants, hit Maru’s entire body.

Cheeeeeeek-

Even as white smoke rose from the acid-resistant Raven Suit, Maru continued to advance.

Puk-puk-

He drove Eclipse into the head of the guard ant blocking his way, and then followed it up with a body slam. The ant lost its balance and fell backwards, grabbing Maru’s body with its middle leg.

!!!

Even though the blade that pierced its head pierced its thin neck and tore through its torso, the guard ant did not stop attacking. Even though it was already biologically dead, it was still aiming for Maru’s head with its huge jaws.

Maru applied force to the Eclipse that was stuck in the ant’s head and cut it down. As the rough feeling of the shell being cut came together, the jaw that had been tightly tightened loosened,

puck-

Maru, who had been knocking away the ants of the guards that had clung to him with a front kick, managed to enter the cave.

[······!]

The high ceiling. In one corner of the space, where faintly scattered phosphorescence shone like stars, there was a giant ant.

······?

Somehow I felt like I had made eye contact with the queen ant.

[······.]

······.

It was too big to be an ant.

Maru could see why a tunnel measuring 3 meters in diameter was needed, and he could also roughly guess the size of the male ants that mate with these giant queens.

‘Even if the wing tip is less than half the size, it’s still huge.’

It was obvious why the crows had gone missing.

!!!!!!

The guard ants that had been spraying formic acid from the square threw themselves to drive out the ants. A black full moon rose twice toward the ants that were pushing in while surrounding them in a semicircle.

The antennae were cut off in the black moonlight, and the heads of the ants that touched the circular moon shadow were crushed.

The smell of death rose up as the sticky fluid mixed with formic acid, but the ants swarmed to save the queen ant.

The ants that filled the passageway surged toward the hollow, like machines that knew no fear of death.

Tsk-

‘If you were smart, you could survive···.’

The ants were not getting any relief.

Chick-

As soon as I put in the neutralizer, the heat that had been burning my whole body subsided and calmed down.

after-

It took too long to cut them with a knife. The ants that could withstand the cutting power of the Eclipse to some extent, especially the guard or general level ants, were really hard and tough. Are you going to cut them all raw?

‘It’s a mess from start to finish.’

The number of regular ant troops was smaller than expected, but the number of excellent escort troops protecting the queen ant was larger than expected.

If I cut all of that, it was obvious that the side effects of the neutralizer would come first.

‘Should we block the passage with napalm grenades?’

The sense that had initially reacted as a sense of danger had now calmed down. Maru immediately threw a napalm grenade into the passage.

Phew! Phew!

Flames exceeding 1,300 degrees burned through the passageway.

In an instant, the smell of burning ant shells and black smoke filled the passage, but the ants’ construction skills were truly amazing.

Maru was momentarily speechless at the sight of black smoke being emitted from the ventilation shaft in an instant.

‘A ventilation system in a groundwater treatment plant? That’s ridiculous.’

Now that we’ve bought some time with the napalm grenades, it’s the Queen’s turn.

The queen’s assistant ants blocked the way to the floor, but they were just trampled down. Even though the worker ants were trampled to death, the queen ant did not move at all.

‘How do I drag this along?’

It was too big, even though it was big. It was like a tanker truck.

It was a floor where I didn’t have the courage to drag this out.

[System recovery. Restart successful.]

[System is operating normally.]

[All sensors are operating normally.]

[External camera working normally.]

[Robots and drones can operate.]

The assistant AI started to function normally.

Hmm? The ant density has dropped? Why?

Did you change your response direction because you couldn’t enter the passage because of the flames?

He abandoned the queen and took care of the princess to separate from the family.

Maru’s gaze turned to the ant queen.

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Is this a human?

So what have humans eaten so far?

The queen ant could smell the pungent death pheromone emanating from the human body.

There weren’t just one or two of them.

A pheromone trail left behind by hundreds of dying sisters.

A tough shell and strong jaws. Even the powerful formic acid couldn’t stop it.

Seeing the hardened guards of the war fall like mere ants, she developed an idea along with pheromones.

It was too alien to be human.

That’s why she

(What do you want?)

An ability that was developed after eating a human.

I used an ability I thought I would never use.