Rust - Chapter 753



Only Krnovel

RUST -753

Namsan underground.

In the bunker, where past and present facilities were intertwined, the voices of administrative and signal soldiers echoed.

[Report communication failure.]

[Communications are disrupted in the Dongtan Bundang area.]

[It appears to be caused by a biological EMP (electromagnetic pulse) generated by pigeons spreading out.]

[Cheonmu multiple rocket launcher hit!]

[Enemy confirmed. Crow.]

[I repeat. Hit by the Crow’s airstrike from the Thousand-Mu Multiple Launch Rocket Launcher!]

[Check information.]

[The crows are attacking the Cheonmu multiple rocket launcher.]

“What the hell is that anti-aircraft gun doing!”

“We didn’t go together because we were dispatched for emergency training.”

bang!

“Are you in your right mind or not? It’s Yongin. Yongin! If Dongtan falls, it’s right in front of you, and Bundang is within the range of self-propelled artillery!”

[······.]

[······.]

“You didn’t know that an unidentified armed group had set up a base in Yongin? You’re just beating the drum after the crows attacked the security unit? What kind of people are you!”

If we were to be honest, that was true. If they had fired a cannon at the Yongin Golf Course currently occupied by the Holy Kingdom, they could have turned Gangnam, Seocho, and Songpa into rubble, but the general only mentioned Bundang.

It was a distance that could easily blow away Bundang with just 105mm, not 155mm K9 self-propelled howitzers. However, the general’s shouting to justify Bundang so that the Gangnam threat theory could not be raised was truly an extraordinary statement.

“A crow attacks a Cheonmu multiple rocket launcher.”

“Didn’t you send all the crows with power to Ulsan and Changwon?”

“Are the crows from Ulsan or Changwon betraying you?”

“That’s not it.”

“I can’t be sure given the current situation.”

“Whether it is a betrayal or not is an issue, but the problem is that reports have stopped coming from Changwon, the habitat of crows.”

“If the crows in the Changwon region betrayed, that means as many as 70,000 crows would sweep across the southern region. We must immediately go into emergency alert mode.”

“The crows in Changwon are fine. There are 210,000 in Ulsan, so what are you worried about? As long as they don’t betray each other at the same time, there won’t be a big problem.”

The general, who had been mediating the raised voices here and there, called attention to them.

“It doesn’t matter which crow from which region attacked the military or why. What matters now is how we respond.”

“That’s right. Pigeons were supposed to dominate the northern part of the metropolitan area. Now that that’s broken, if other birds fill the void, it’s going to be a headache.”

Representative examples include magpies, hawks, red-crowned cranes, buzzards, owls and night owls.

Except for magpies, these birds were mostly solitary or foraged in pairs, but they changed a lot after being affected by the mutant virus.

They would move in groups of several to several dozen, and would openly raid villages and cities. So the alternative that was put forward was pigeons.

Through the agreement with the pigeons, the pigeons increased in number with abundant food(?) and help from humans, and now they maintain a single force of over 150,000.

They had driven the carnivorous birds to the DMZ and the Gangwon mountainous region and seized supremacy by using overwhelming numbers and violence and their increased size, but when they sent a flock of pigeons, a catastrophe occurred.

“The flock of pigeons that were supposed to control the northern part of Gyeonggi Province suddenly scattered to Yongin, Dongtan, and Bundang.”

“Since we lost contact with the pigeon leader, it seems they have scattered… It will take a long time to gather them again.”

“······.”

“······.”

It was a headache to think about the trouble that pigeons scattered in hundreds or thousands would cause. If they were to fly in groups of thousands and start damaging power lines and wired communication networks, it would be a disaster.

Even their size was similar to that of a goose. If a few of them landed on a transmission tower, a power outage was certain.

“The chicks ate so much that they were only getting fat.”

“The number of pigeons was over 150,000. As a single force, it was second only to the Ulsan Crow, but it collapsed.”

“The numbers are numbers, but each and every one of them is equivalent to the firepower of a regular platoon.”

“The most important thing is that the connection was cut off at the same time as the subordinates sent to Yongin.”

I sent quite a few subordinates, but at some point the connection was suddenly cut off. This is impossible.

“Below… big- hmm- I sent those with problems, so unexpected things may happen.”

“The fact that an unidentified armed group has established itself in Yongin is problematic in itself. If it had no ties to local residents, it would not have been able to remain hidden until now.”

“You’re a native of Yongin? Who are those natives? Yes?”

“I guess that’s the line that took power this time. Didn’t everything change in that direction?”

The emergency meeting became noisy. The topics of discussion and responsibilities were divided along regional lines, and later even split along political lines.

But what is different from before is that they have already become a privileged class. And they can always come together as one to protect the privileges they have worked so hard to create.

“Let’s all stop. Isn’t this an issue we can argue about later?”

“······.”

“······.”

They knew that now was the time to come together. The government and martial law command pushed for a surprise switch to central bank-issued digital currency to secure control.

They succeeded in grabbing people by the throat, but this was Korea, a country traditionally known for its group action.

So, to prevent any possibility of them forming a group, they conscripted all the young men and sent them around in circles, and they were double- and triple-checked and controlled to prevent the formation of armed resistance groups.

In the end, an unidentified armed group appeared. Not only did it have considerable firepower, but it was also believed to be connected to the local residents.

“If it happened to our children···.”

“He must be capable.”

They had figured out all the people with abilities and were taking their families hostage and controlling them. It was not that there were no people with abilities that they had not been able to secure, but they had not expected that they would have such powerful abilities.

“I guess we need to consider someone with the ability to control the birds.”

It was possible that they had controlled crows or pigeons to attack us. If we assume that there is someone who can control birds, it would fit the current situation.

The conference room became quiet for a moment.

Breaking through the silence, the martial law commander opened his mouth.

“We must catch those with abilities no matter what.”

“We can put a bounty on it.”

“Since all items are managed anyway, there shouldn’t be any problem with throwing away bits of data.”

“Even if we’re looking for those with hidden abilities, what are we going to do with the ones currently in Yongin?”

The Cheonmu multiple rocket launcher was attacked. And 18 K9 self-propelled howitzers were also destroyed. It would have been nice to have made a precision strike with the Hyunmoo, but the satellite was useless.

If there were people out there who could control birds, then it was obvious that balloons or reconnaissance drones capable of transmitting GPS signals would also be shot down.

“It is great that the pigeons have scattered.”

“Let’s stop firing Hyunmoo missiles for now and try to make full use of the 120mm anti-tank mortars and 105mm self-propelled howitzers (K105A1).”

“Are you kidding me? You’ve lost air supremacy because those idiots are stuck over there, and you’re sending in mortars and 105mm self-propelled howitzers? Are you in your right mind?”

“You just need to attach the ability people and the protective anti-aircraft gun.”

“Can you handle it when you don’t even know the enemy’s numbers?”

If a crow was flying over the mantle, it would be impossible to hold out with a shield.

The atmosphere turned cold.

“Then what do you want to do?”

“Shouldn’t we send them with intermediate level as the main focus and advanced level as well?”

We can’t afford to lose manpower on just one side, so we have to do it fairly for each faction.

“Command?”

“It should be with the strongest one. Then there will be no noise.”

“···Let’s do that.”

“Okay.”

“Let’s do that.”

“I agree.”

Somewhere on Namsan Mountain.

Several military vehicles, seemingly emerging from the ground, began to drive south.

======

======

The sound of gray falling debris continued for a long time.

Traces of the collision with Maru fell like hail from 4 to 5 km above the ground to near the clubhouse.

Iron Flute

Kudeuk

—–

Spread—-

Gugugugugugugu-

A pigeon with its wings twisted abnormally struggled desperately, but its broken wings gave out no strength.

Around them, there were those with broken legs and those with their necks dangling and their whole bodies shaking. The eyes of those dying pigeons were filled with nothing but fear and despair.

[Ha- ha-]

[I’m still out of breath.]

The new recruits who had experienced death were floundering with half-open eyes.

[Stop talking nonsense and just walk straight.]

[What is that kid muttering? He’s out of breath?]

[You’re doing that even though you have breathing room?]

[All the kids are gone. They’re gone.]

[Motion compensation, AI does it all with an exosuit, what the heck.]

[Should I just manually turn those bastards over?]

[Then it really gets crazy.]

[What can I do? I have to keep rolling.]

In order to prevent the psychological shock from becoming a deep wound, it was best to move your body unconditionally. If you keep pushing yourself to the point of death, a brief cardiac arrest will feel like a normal thing.

[Stop. Now work on the pigeons.]

They were senior soldiers who dragged out all the new recruits who had lost their souls to live in order to operate like that. The task was to confirm the kill and slaughter.

[Are you talking about a confirmed kill?]

[Yeah. If you look over there, there are still some things fluttering around. That’s what killing them is.]

It looks like it’s dying now, but who knows what might happen if it were to eat the pigeons around it, heal its wounds, and undergo further mutations. So it’s best to clean it up cleanly.

[Kill them. Cut their throats, take out their intestines, and sort out the feathers and down.]

Pigeon feathers will help you survive this winter. So will meat. The seniors repeated the precautions to the new recruits.

He kept nagging the new recruits until their ears were about to bleed, but they all knew that no matter how much he repeated, the trolling torturer would come out.

[Don’t go near the fluttering guy, shoot from afar.]

[If you think he’s alive, just shoot him first.]

[Ha- ha- ha!]

[Keep breathing and moving quickly.]

[The kid who keeps nagging while watching the situation will have his assistant AI turned off.]

[If you’re a kid who just mumbles around because it’s hard, you’ll get caught. I’ll make you move manually, so do it moderately. Got it?]

[School- School- No!]

[What’s wrong with not winning? I’ll wait and see if it’s inside or outside.]

[Study- study- I will work hard.]

There weren’t that many pigeons that died from stabbing. Most of them died from cardiac arrest after entering the living zone.

Food Duck

Spread

Woooooo! (Eww!)

Gooosh! (Save me!)

The new recruits’ exosuits began harvesting the pigeons’ necks like farmers harvesting a wheat field.

‧

‧

‧

Mr. Kim and his elite team gathered.

[You can’t miss a single one. Ha- Can you all move?]

We caught most of the cannibals that approached, but there were some we missed.

[Ouch! Haa- haak.]

[Whew- It doesn’t move. Whoosh-]

It doesn’t budge.

Kim Yang calmed her shaky breathing.

The range of the bullets fired by Maru did not seem to have expanded that much.

The problem is the density of living.

‘I almost lost it all.’

The pre-written cardiotonic agent was the third latest version. I mixed it with a combat aid, so I thought I wouldn’t die in vain, but what is this?

If her reaction had been delayed, the whole group would have been wiped out.

‘I’m getting used to living here.’

Kim Yang shook his head as if he was shivering and divided the units.

[I repeat, there should never be a miss. Do you understand?]

[ancient!]

[yes!]

As the elite soldiers, who had caught their breath, formed teams of three or five and stepped out, the crows, who had somehow become very disciplined, began to search.

‧

‧

‧

While the expedition was cleaning up, Maru changed into a ripper suit and began to backtrack. The target was a detective who seemed to have found the expedition’s base.

Someone who is that good at tracking would be helpful in tracking down cannibals.

The swaying shadow disappeared toward Dongtan.

======

======

“Huh? Are you saying they were all wiped out?

A detective couldn’t hide his bewilderment at the sudden phone call from his superiors.

The Executors were an organization comprised entirely of superhumans called the New Humans. And they were all wiped out?

[Yeah. They were all wiped out.]

“······.”

[As you predicted, they were at an abandoned golf course in Yongin. They were probably digging a trap.]

“······.”

[I don’t mean to blame you. I just wish you would look into their true nature.]

“······.”