Rust - Chapter 727
Only Krnovel
RUST -727
The expedition advances along a dark corridor.
There are two options.
Do you search with infrared equipment to silence the presence, or do you search openly with a searchlight that provides perfect visibility?
‘There were chameleon spiders too.’
There were also spider webs that were jamming the sensors, so who knows what else could come out? Kim Yang made a split-second decision.
[Turn on the searchlight.]
There may be survivors in the base, but seeing as there was so much dust and no traces, it was okay to shoot.
[Shoot anything that moves.]
As I turned on the searchlight with the overwhelming amount of power extracted from the core, the pillar of light melted away the darkness. The brightness was incomparable to that of the simulation training, and the tension disappeared.
[No footprints.]
[Judging by the condition of the floor, it appears to have been abandoned for at least a year.]
The strong light revealed bloodstains buried in the dust. The dark red marks overlapped and overlapped. Bullet marks were evident on the walls and ceiling.
Wheeeeeeing-
As the expedition advanced, a powerful light bathed the entire corridor in white.
And suddenly, Ms. Kim felt uneasy.
‘There are no windows?’
How could there be no windows in the naval base corridors? When I turned my head, I saw traces of bricks and cement blocking off the windows here and there.
[stop.]
Kim Yang examined the traces of the window blockage in detail. It was not a crude blockage, but a solid blockage made of steel bars, bricks, and cement.
‘Why on earth?’
[Fox. Fly the drone and check if there are any windows from outside.]
[It looks like it will break down soon due to volcanic ash and dust. Would you like to check it yourself?]
[I know it’s broken. He told me to send a drone so that I don’t go there myself. Just check the window area on the side with the drone.]
[All right.]
Fox Team, who had been waiting at the entrance to guard the retreat route, raised their drone. The drone’s vision was instantly darkened by the thick fog of volcanic ash and dust.
The tactical lights came on, casting light across the dark screen. As the outskirts of the naval base began to blur into view, Kim Yang’s prediction was confirmed.
All the windows, both inside and outside, were blocked.
[This is the limit. The drone will be recovered.]
[Stop searching. Join Bravo and Charlie as they go to check the armory and supply depot. Grab what you need and leave immediately.]
Ms. Kim immediately pointed the angle.
Testing the power of the new core armor and exosuit? There were plenty of opportunities to do that in the future.
[Set up booby traps at every interval in the hallway. Make sure they are angled all the way to the ceiling.]
[ancient.]
Maru might have gone all the way to the end, but Kim Yang had no intention of doing so.
Why are you mixing something you don’t know? Is it cracking?
It’s best to just pack what you need and go.
huh.
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[The armory is a mess.]
[Only anti-ship missiles, torpedoes, and shells for the AK-130 130mm naval gun remained, but the Marines were left with no weapons that could be used.]
[If there’s nothing useful, just come out.]
[ancient.]
It was Kim Yang who immediately retreated the Bravo Team and the support troops. Then, Charlie Team’s communication came in. The communication was connected by spreading five repeaters in the middle because the communication distance was extremely short.
[The supply depot is in poor condition.]
[Oxygen tank?]
Still, since it was a communications network with the latest technology, there wasn’t much noise. They said something about AI correction technology. Ms. Kim was satisfied that she couldn’t hear that damn ‘tsk- tsk-‘ sound.
[Operational supplies such as oxygen tanks were left mostly intact.]
[Okay then, grab what you need and come out right away.]
There was no sign of food or supplies, but there were quite a few spare parts for the ship.
[Okay. And… no. I’ll pack my gear and retreat right away.]
[?]
By the time the boats that had been pulled up to the landing point were lowered back into the sea, all the guards who had gathered everything of useable value had gathered.
The boat we had on board was spacious, but not enough to carry all our luggage. The guards guarding the landing point had brought in a landing craft used by the Russian Navy, so we decided to use that.
[Take that apart and make a paddle.]
[ancient.]
Anyway, the sea was muddy so the engine couldn’t be used. In an instant, one of the landing craft was reborn as an oar. Just as we were packing up our luggage, the rubber boat and landing craft slowly started to leave the shore.
A loud explosion rang out.
Kwaaaaang!
It was in the direction of the naval base.
[D-Sector repeater self-destructs!]
[The booby trap has been triggered.]
[Confirmation of video transmission just before explosion!]
Boom! Boom!
[C-Sector repeater self-destructs!]
[Sector B repeater also exploded!]
Something from the naval base was heading towards the landing point.
[No, keep going.]
Kim Yang took his place at the back of the landing craft, behind the guardsmen who were rowing hard.
chuck-
Because of the thick volcanic ash and dust, even with the searchlight on, it was impossible to see anything 20 to 30 meters behind, but Kim Yang’s HUD (head-up display) showed the image of the coastline on the monitor.
The sight of the twinkling repeaters scattered on the sea covered with floating debris looked as dangerous as bread crumbs from a fairy tale.
And through that precariously connected communications network, a shadow of something appeared on Kim Yang’s HUD. The moment the image sent from the repeater was reflected in Kim Yang’s eyes.
A line between the landing craft and the shoreline appeared in her mind. As the powerful electricity generated by the core pushed a charge into the coilgun, Kim Yang pulled the trigger.
Creek-
Puggieeeeeee!!!!
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
The bullet, which simultaneously utilized the explosive power of gunpowder and the electromagnetic power of the coil, extended out, creating a beam of light. At the same time, the bullet struck the deepening shadow.
thud!
The shock wave spread out in a circular motion, and the ash and dust disappeared for a moment.
A king crab with one of its front legs crushed was captured on video staring with both eyes in the direction of the bullet.
I saw a spider doing crazy things, so it was no surprise that a crab would glow. After mechanically reloading, Yang Kim pulled the trigger.
Pfft!
And she could see the king crab’s ability to use its pincers to block bullets. A round from a composite coil gun, with the penetrating power of a main battle tank, was stopped by just crushing one of its pincers.
Above all, it was protecting the weak point of the crab subject. One of the pincers that blocked two coilgun chambers was tattered and ruined.
The claws were so mangled that they could no longer be used as shields. The creature used its intact claws to precisely cut off the joints of the damaged arm and hid its body.
Tsk-
Kim Yang clicked his tongue. The thing was moving so fast that the repeaters placed along the coastline began to explode one after another in response to the monster king crab’s movements.
Since I lost sight and couldn’t make any additional attacks, it was time to get away.
[Stir quickly.]
The mines laid near the Russian naval base port were meant to block something. Probably not that monster king crab, but something else.
I don’t know what it is, but it was Kim Yang who didn’t want to know.
Since it’s a landing craft, it’s not that big, so it won’t attract aggro, right?
Kim Yang fiddled with the miniature nuclear grenade hanging from his waist.
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Fortunately, there was no need to use a nuclear grenade. Even if the timer was set, there was no way to row out of the nuclear blast radius.
‘That’s why we’re saying let’s make the reactor the core.’
If you drop one of the armors that caused the reactor to go out of control as bait, you could see the ending where the guy who caught it goes ‘Bam!’ in his stomach.
Armed with a small nuclear torpedo, the submarine cautiously and timidly went out to the waters where the Black Drake was waiting, under the urging of Kim Yang.
[Communication established with the Black Drake.]
The assistant AI on the submarine said.
[Connect.]
The Black Drake began to modify itself while it waited. It changed its air conditioning system to minimize filter usage, as Kim Yang had said. It modified its infantry nuclear grenades to be used as bombardment bombs.
So it could literally be operated as a nuclear bombing airship. Officially, they decided to refrain from excessive nuclear use, but that wasn’t what Kim Yang thought.
Rather than holding a nuclear weapon and then hesitating and dying, shouldn’t we use the nuclear weapon that was made to be used? Why are we just holding on to it when it’s a small nuclear weapon that’s easy to use?
[···We did our best to respond to the volcanic ash and fine dust, but we were unable to resolve the drivetrain issue.]
[So how much can you move around in the contaminated area?]
[The limit is 3 hours, with a maximum of 4 hours.]
[I think that would be enough to travel back and forth from Tokyo in safe waters?]
[I think at least 6 hours are needed for a safe operation. Above all, the safety zone is being pushed back due to the influence of the westerly winds. An operation time of 3 to 4 hours is extremely dangerous.]
[I’m heading that way now, but I can’t get the submarine to go fast enough. So come this way.]
There was also a need to check if the upgrade was done properly. Since the situation was such that they were trying to block it by laying mines while roaming around the sea, Kim Yang wanted to get up quickly.
[···All right.]
The Black Drake’s auxiliary AI was reacting with an unusually slow tempo.
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After reviewing the latest reports and video footage sent by Kim Yang’s expedition team, Maru called a meeting.
[Suddenly king crab···.]
[Wait a minute. Let’s rewind that scene. Is that the left claw blocking the coil gun?]
Ki-sun was surprised when he rewinded the video. The others were the same. The spider had become dangerous, and the king crab that the expedition team had just sent was also unusual.
The most impressive part is its defense. The monster king crab was hit by a dozen booby traps and was caught in the explosion of a repeater that exploded like a landmine, but it was still intact.
The only thing that caused damage was the new coil gun that Kim Yang had brought. It was called a sniper coil gun, but in terms of destructive power, it was a weapon that was comparable to the new 130mm tank gun.
But even after hitting it twice with that coil gun, I could only cut off one left pincer. If that monster came over to land and attacked, there seemed to be no way to stop it unless there was a proper tank unit.
“···Doesn’t that mean that for its size, it actually has stronger armor than a main battle tank? Honestly, I can’t help but think that it’s fortunate that it has infantry nuclear weapons.”
The PD looked at the screen and started to speak. Everyone seemed to agree with him.
The king crab in the video is about the size of a mid-sized SUV (sports utility vehicle), but its defensive power is incredible.
“I guess we can say that there was no damage because Ms. Kim retreated quickly.”
Najuyeon and Hood had slightly different thoughts about Maru’s story.
“Still, it would have been possible to obtain samples with the expedition force’s firepower, but it’s too bad.”
“If you think about the future, it seems like you should have caught at least one, even if it meant pushing yourself.”
“No. I told you to avoid it at all costs if it seems dangerous.”
Maru looked at the two people and said.
“You can get the sample later, but the future is now. It is only meaningful when you survive the present. I hope you don’t forget either of them.”
There is nothing more meaningless than excessive ambition leading to unnecessary sacrifice. That is why it is right to avoid any risk that can be avoided as much as possible. Especially in the case of the current expedition.
“···all right.”
“All right.”
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Kim Yang’s expedition team was trying to choose one of two courses.
“Please upload Diana’s data.”
[Uploading the expedition course plan.]
A red and blue line were drawn on the map of East Asia that appeared on the monitor. It was a line dividing the north and south.
The red line was a line that crossed the Sea of Okhotsk, largely circling Russian territory, and headed toward Manchuria, China. It was a Manchurian warlord who gained independence when the northern theater of the seven Chinese provinces was militarized.
If you go this way, you can see what the Northern Lights, which were so crazy in Japan, are doing.
‘The northern lights were no joke either.’
There were some performance issues, but it was good for things like being able to use the terminal even when communications were cut off due to a stealth robe or volcanic eruption.
Before the Holy Kingdom created a new communication network utilizing singularities, the basic technology for building a SNS for posting texts and pictures was based on technology derived from there.
So it wasn’t a bad idea to look into the situation of the Manchurian warlords. After all, that was where the mutant cockroaches first spread.
Given the nature of the Northern Theater, there was something that could be used in warfare, so Maru would have liked to do something with cockroaches. He secretly hoped to investigate the Manchurian warlords.
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Huh-
So, are you saying that you want to start with the Manchurian warlords?
no.
I can’t do that.
‘You told me to run away if it was dangerous, but now you’re telling me to scout out a dangerous neighborhood. What do you mean?’
He was a warlord from the start.
Even if the Black Drake’s defenses are excellent, would it be a good idea to enter the airspace of an established warlord? Really?
Therefore
[We will search from Tokyo.]
The expedition led by Kim Yang began to move south.