Rust - Chapter 709



Only Krnovel

RUST [RUST]-709

Belt——this—-

As if there was nothing around, only a low, monotonous sound came out from the motion detection sensor.

Belt——this—-

The sound that repeated indifferently dug into Heeyeon’s ears as if it were a hypnotic sound. The sensor didn’t pick up anything, but the feeling that something was there didn’t go away.

At some point, the sensor sound became inaudible. The soil, soaked in moisture, changed into a wasteland, leaving deep footprints of the exosuit.

?

Across the yellow, dry fields, a rough hill with protruding rocks. The sight of soldiers walking along the roadside with nothing in sight.

As the wilderness of Iraq and Afghanistan came to mind, Director Yoo’s memories and experiences that had been embedded in Hee-yeon warned her that this was an ambush.

chuck-

As soon as Hee-yeon, who was in the lead, raised her hand, the Newport News defense unit members who were following her immediately became alert.

[Clear.]

[Clear.]

[Clear.]

No left or right abnormalities.

Even though a message came in saying that the rear was safe, Heeyeon did not advance. She couldn’t do anything.

[······.]

There was definitely something there.

There was nothing in front of me and neither the motion detector nor the bio-sensor could detect it, but there was something.

Time passes by in a very tense atmosphere.

[······.]

[······.]

[······.]

The soldier right behind her reached out his hand to Hee-yeon, who was frozen like a statue. He lightly touched her shoulder and shook it slightly as he spoke.

[Are you okay?]

[Don’t move.]

Hee-yeon’s eyes quickly scanned the front and sides.

does not exist.

there is.

does not exist.

there is.

The fantasy and reality of the wilderness overlapped, and my head began to ring.

Heeyeon’s breathing gradually becomes rougher.

[There are signs of hyperventilation.]

[Hoo-huff-]

Hee-yeon reflexively controlled her breathing, but memories of Director Yoo began to haunt her.

[Hueuh-heup-]

The assistant AI responded automatically.

[To maintain fighting power and enhance judgment, type A combat stimulant is administered.]

Chick-

A cool, almost cold liquid began to spread throughout my body, along with the tingling sensation in my neck.

The pounding heart calmed down. The memory of Director Yu, which had been eroding away like a drill, was organized and the link became stable.

‘It’s tough.’

Director Yoo’s memory was tenacious. He clearly thought he had drawn a line.

‘Did the link go backwards?’

It seemed that Director Yoo’s memories embedded in the U+ clone had affected her, who was connected to the link. Hee-yeon quickly sorted out the situation.

[Thank you for your support.]

[···Nothing is detected by the motion detector.]

There seemed to be a hint of embarrassment in the assistant AI’s voice.

[No. I was ambushed.]

From the moment he discovered the spider web, he had to think of this as the spider’s territory. Perhaps due to the effects of the battle stimulant, Hee-yeon’s mind was spinning rapidly.

Hee-yeon’s gaze, which had been looking around, suddenly turned upward. A bare tree appeared, thick enough to be about an armful in circumference.

There was a spiderweb swaying between the bare branches that had not yet sprouted buds. It was an old spiderweb with leaves and dust all over it.

Although it was a natural appearance, Hee-yeon could tell that it was a disguise. It was an experience left behind by Director Yoo’s memories.

[Tree at 2 o’clock. Flamethrower towards the top spider web.]

[Flamethrower!]

The soldier following him blew out flames along with his bow.

Puhwaaaaaaaah!

As the entire tree covered in spiderwebs was set on fire, the low tones of the motion sensors cut through the high tones.

belt—–

Beep- beep- beep- beep-

[It’s a tree!]

[It’s an ambush!]

[Stay away from the trees!]

Hee-yeon mixed Director Yoo’s memories with the information in the video footage taken by the acid rat to make her judgment.

‘The road we came from will already be ambush by those guys.’

They were spiders that had adapted to fire while fighting humans. So they weren’t going back the way they came. Her eyes flashed.

[Blow up the tree at 2 o’clock. Throw a grenade!]

A new grenade landed on a burning tree stump. With a loud explosion, the tree fell sideways with its trunk ripped off.

thud!

The trees engulfed in flames fell, sending sparks flying everywhere. As the sparks and embers spread, spiders that had been hiding in camouflage like chameleons began to emerge.

[Not picked up by bio-sensor!]

know.

[Surrounded.]

What’s the siege? It was just broken through.

Hee-yeon silently led the scouts in the direction of the fallen tree. The spider webs on the ground were shrunken like squid legs from the sparks and embers.

[Adhesiveness disappears when exposed to heat.]

[It doesn’t burn easily, but the adhesive strength is definitely reduced.]

[Take a sample of the spider web. And the spider corpse over there.]

She cleared her way while the scouts retrieved the samples.

[Flamethrower. Fires from 2 to 3 o’clock. Then moves to 4 o’clock.]

Hee-yeon planned to attack the spiders that were lying in ambush, blocking the retreat route.

‘You have to show them how hot it is so they won’t rush in without a fight.’

The fact that the spiders were out in the middle, spinning webs and lying in wait meant that they were aware of Newport News.

‘Have you ever caught a human in the city?’

Heeyeon’s eyes turned menacing.

[Spider web sampling completed.]

[I picked up 3 bodies.]

[Some are alive, what should I do?]

[Take it. Once you take it, move right away.]

It was a smoke that moved while setting fire to the trees on both sides of the path, and blocked attacks using spider webs.

Are you going to let them do some action scenes like the spider-man movies where they’re swinging on spider webs?

Her judgment was correct. Let’s light all the trees near the moving route and use them as torches to move. The spiders that had been blocking the rear retreated like the tide.

[The spiders appear to have retreated to Richmond.]

[We’re going to cut down all the trees and dig a firebreak from here to there.]

It was a smoke that burned down the entire middle ground so that the spiders would never see the liver again.

‧

‧

‧

[An emergency report has arrived from Newport News.]

Artificial intelligence Diana brought news of Heeyeon.

“They say a mutant spider has taken over half of Richmond.”

Footage followed of the Acid Rat Reconnaissance Unit filming the encounter between survivors and spiders.

“Isn’t that what those spiderlings are learning by fighting people?”

Kim Yang, who had a keen eye for battle, noticed the spider’s movements changing in real time. Ki-sun also agreed with Kim Yang’s opinion.

“The problem is that the spiders seem to be quite intelligent. The way they respond to torches and the traps they set seem to be traps aimed at humans.”

The footage showed the survivors hunting while slowly losing strength until the fire went out, even though they were attacking with torches.

Maru nodded slightly and asked how to deal with it.

“What do you think about Hee-yeon cutting down and burning the forest in the middle zone to prevent the spiders from moving south?”

“If we build a defensive line and put up guard posts, won’t we run out of troops? Oh, right. There were acid rats and fire rats there. We could use them to keep watch.”

Ki-soon realized Maru’s intention behind the question. Since he was a smart spider, it seemed like he was thinking of negotiating with him like he had recruited ants.

“Ants and spiders are completely different. I wonder if simply creating a defensive line will solve the problem.”

Spiders were creatures that looked different from other insects. They did not have the antennae that insects have, and they had a body made up of an upper body and an abdomen with four pairs of legs.

It is clearly different from insects in that it has a head, chest, and abdomen, and a pair of antennae and three pairs of legs. The difference in the basal ganglia is not limited to the external appearance.

“Ants can negotiate with the queen or princess above them if they can communicate with them, but spiders don’t seem to have that guarantee. This is also subtle if you watch the video now.”

In the video, the spiders were fighting in groups against survivors.

“What is subtle?”

“That’s because spiders hunt in groups.”

The animals that had relationships with the Sacred Kingdom, including rats, crows, wolves, and even ants, were either animals that hunted in groups or, at times, hunted in groups before they mutated.

Crows are birds that basically hunt alone, but sometimes hunt in groups or attack in groups.

But what about spiders?

They were originally creatures that hunted alone. The story that such spiders hunted in groups gave us a lot to think about. Hunting in groups meant that they could communicate.

Ants communicated with pheromones, mice and crows, and wolves communicated with sounds.

So how do spiders communicate?

How can spiders form groups when they have no vocal cords, no sophisticated pheromone system like ants, and no ability to send and receive signals with their antennae?

Diana immediately answered my curiosity.

[Research results. It was revealed that spiders communicate using the vibrations of their webs.]

Maru’s gaze turned to the nurse for a moment and then to Ki-sun.

‘Even if I send Nanae, it seems like it’ll be difficult to talk.’

Since they communicate by vibration, it was assumed that the nurse’s ability would not work. Then what about Ki-soon? At least, wouldn’t it be possible to judge whether there is hostility or not?

[The sample and body analysis sent by Hee-yeon are in progress. Through the captured spider, we can obtain the basic spider web vibration signal system.]

The signal using the spider web was one-way. If the signals were sent simultaneously, the vibrations would collide in the middle and the meaning would be lost, so it was natural.

“Make the spiderweb vibration analyzer and vibration generator as quickly as possible. After you make them… the two of you go.”

Maru’s gaze turned to Ki-sun and Kim Yang.

‧

‧

‧

[No, really. Shouldn’t you be resting now?]

Now that the war with the ant empire is over, shouldn’t we take it easy? Kim Yang’s face was sullen. This was such an unfair treatment.

[There’s nothing I can do. Our king is being rude.]

Ki-soon said in a cheerful voice.

Who doesn’t know that? It was a story about asking for a janggu. Huh-

Ki-soon smiled faintly as she saw Kim Yang’s head turn to the side. She was a bit of a dangerous woman, but sometimes when she showed this kind of behavior, the tension eased.

[The drone won’t be available for the time being and the crow unit is busy, so you have to understand.]

[······.]

The cruel spring has tired people out in many ways.

The biggest problem right now is flocks of birds. They start to swoop down on anything that flies, whether it’s a drone or an airship.

There was no problem so far, as the air routes were simple. It was enough to maintain only one route between Detroit and New York, so it was sufficient for the crows to take turns escorting it.

But now there is a need for regular flights to several cities in Canada.

From Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec to the northernmost and easternmost coasts, and even to the Newport News Shipyard, the crows, already busy with reconnaissance work, were called upon to escort airships.

Although they had been providing overtime pay, night shift pay, business trip pay, and even bonuses, the crows were the type of people who preferred work-life balance, so the air support was bound to be poor.

[We need solid evidence to call in the Crow Bombardment Support, so let’s just hold off for a bit.]

[······.]

Even though the relationship with the Ant Empire changed from a ceasefire to a ceasefire, and from a ceasefire to a virtual alliance, Maru did not change his war system. That is why the development of the spider web vibration communicator used by the spiders was able to happen so quickly.

[So, by the way, I would like Ms. Kim to talk to the spider.]

[why?]

[I have to focus on the spiders’ emotions.]

[······.]

It was unclear whether diplomacy would be possible, as the captured spiders had limited signals at their disposal, but they were still able to attempt to communicate with the command entity.

Sizzle-

Spider webs that stick to the exosuit’s legs.

?

[Wasn’t this the middle area?]

Mark missed 2 years!

Kim Yang frowned as she removed the spider web from her leg.

Beep—- beep-beep-beep-beep-