Rust - Chapter 852



Only Krnovel

RUST -852

As soon as the rat in the rear made its final sound, the rats scattered in all directions. This was because they had sensory organs that allowed them to move naturally even in the dark.

With antenna-like whiskers, eyes sensitive to the dark, and even sensitive noses and ears, the rats used vibrations and even smells to find safe places.

But unfortunately, the unidentified enemy was also agile and had good senses to catch the mutated rat.

Kwajik-

Jjieeeek-

Sharp claws slashed at the body of the rat that was running away. The rat made a sound even as it died. The other rats could tell where the enemy was by its final scream.

Rats trying to get away from there. Some thought the rear was empty and chose to climb back up the watchtower, while others chose to go deeper down.

Kim Yang said as she watched the darkened video.

[Wake up! There’s a flash grenade! Detonate it.]

A rat running away frantically pulled out a flash grenade the size of a 200mL can from the bundle it was carrying.

Boom! (Flashbang!)

The rats running in all directions quickly put their goggles back on.

◯◯◯◯◯◯◯◯◯◯◯◯◯◯◯◯—-

The flash grenade, unique to the Holy Kingdom, which shines for a long time rather than just for a moment, ignited. In the intense, never-ending light, a monster in the darkness appeared.

A size that is well over 2m tall. The shadow of a bipedal figure stretches out long, and the lower body, different from that of a human, is clearly visible. It looks like a wolf standing on two legs.

‘A werewolf?’

Despite the distortion of the image due to the bright light of the flash grenade, Kim Yang recognized the shadow’s identity. So she had seen it before. It was the one among the cannibals who had transformed into a werewolf using an ampoule.

‘Why is it here?’

The werewolf howled as he lost his sight due to the strong flash of light that burst out in the darkness. And when he realized that his enemy had lost his sight, the movements of the fleeing rats changed.

Sizzle!

Click!

The rats rushed through the still burning flames. Their powerful front teeth, capable of gnawing through reinforced concrete buildings, fiercely bit the werewolf’s ankles.

Kwajik-

He bent down and tore at the rats hanging from his ankles with his powerful claws and teeth, but the price he paid for lowering his head was horrific. A swarm of rats clung to his face, clinging to his nose, eyes, neck, and shoulders.

The werewolf cried loudly, unable to bear the repeated cycle of being torn, having his wounds heal, having his carotid artery punctured, and being reattached.

Kwaaaaaaaah—

A rat stuffs a 200mL can-sized napalm grenade into its gaping throat. As the rat, who had stabbed the grenade with both hands he had free, jumps down, a swarm of rats follows him, falling from the corn tree’s head and neck.

Ugh- ugh-

The werewolf fell down with a dull explosion, spewing flames from its mouth. The werewolf’s limbs trembled as its eyes melted from the intense heat.

Click- (I won-)

Jeeeeek! (Victory!)

The rats, who had enjoyed their small victory, began to actively search the stronghold. And Kim Yang dropped more rats.

‧

The rats were ambivalent.

He was belligerent yet cowardly, and he did not hesitate to commit suicide yet feared death.

When they were in a group, they were rats who did not hesitate to kill and kill, but when faced with the overwhelming death shown by Maru, the entire group completely surrendered. And this dual nature was clearly revealed in the search of the stronghold.

At first, when he didn’t know the identity of his enemy, he realized that the rats that ran away were werewolves, and even after killing them, he was not afraid.

A swarm of rats that swarms in even when dozens of them die at once.

Biting, hanging, and self-destructing. They were killing werewolves that would normally be impossible to defeat even if attacked by hundreds of them. Using flashbang grenades, napalm grenades, and syringe knives that could inject poison.

Kim Yang snorted involuntarily as she watched the group of rats accumulating combat experience as time passed. Contrary to her petty snort, her eyes were serious.

‘I can’t ignore it.’

The rats that were brought in just now are rats that have recently changed generations. Of course, they had no real-world experience, and all they had was training and the experiences of the older generations, but they quickly adapted.

‘You’re so adaptable.’

Without rapid growth using cloning technology, it would take at least 15 to 18 years for a human to reach the level of a single human.

In contrast, the gestation period of rats is around 20 days. They can even grow to maturity and reproduce in 3 to 4 weeks. In theory, when a pair of rats breeds on grass, it is possible for them to increase to 50 million in 2 years.

It was a tremendous productivity that literally rivaled the reproduction rate of ants or cockroaches. Those rats mutated and even gained the ability to use tools.

[I think that’s a lot more dangerous than I thought.]

Na Ju-yeon reacted immediately after seeing the search video of the increasingly densely moving group of rats. The rats’ movements were changing to resemble an army, to the point where she felt uneasy even though they were on the same team.

[It is certainly true that rats process and distribute information.]

[Assuming that the rats that betrayed and left are that adaptable… it would be difficult to just leave them alone.]

Hood and Gisoon agreed that the rats were dangerous. Some of them ran away immediately towards Chicago, while others ran further away towards Minneapolis.

The Chicago side was once cleared, but the Minneapolis side was not properly cleared. If they continued to increase their numbers there, we would have had at least millions of them.

[I wonder if we could increase the limit and clear it all the way to Minneapolis.]

PD suggested that we increase the number of field mice and sacred rats, and move away from a passive border defense strategy to an active suppression strategy.

[We are limiting the reproduction of rats, but the resulting stress is considerable. We need to relieve the rats’ stress, even if it means controlling their numbers through war.]

The Holy Kingdom was restricting the breeding of rats. This was causing the rats to become stressed. The younger rats who had been replaced by the new generation were also dissatisfied.

The lifespan was extended, and the existing rats were still active. The offspring they gave birth to grew up and they also had to reproduce(?), but when the opportunity to reproduce(?) was taken away due to the number limit, it was only natural that dissatisfaction would build up.

[It is possible that this is why the rats that changed generations were initially rebellious.]

The fact that he was crooked before seeing Maru’s power at the Rogers Center. The fact that he couldn’t stand his greed and rushed without checking if there was an aura of death or not. The analysis was that it might have been a problem caused by stress from breeding restrictions.

[It’s possible. Reproductive control definitely stresses the instinctual part.]

Na Ju-yeon agreed with the PD’s opinion.

Maru, who had been quietly listening to the story, approached it from a different perspective.

[Considering that there haven’t been any major problems so far, aside from the field mouse incident and the New York rat incident, I guess we can say that a kind of balance has been achieved.]

[balance?]

Miss Kim tilted her head.

Considering the reproductive rate of a typical rat pack, it should have been difficult to stop them with the rats guarding the borders of the Holy Kingdom.

[Isn’t that because we provided weapons and medicine?]

[I’m talking about this with that in mind.]

Although the Holy Kingdom rats received various supports, their original numbers were not great. As time went by, the number of enemy rats would have increased exponentially, and if things had gone as they were, they would have been pushed into a situation where it would have been difficult to defend the border.

But the reality was different. The rats at the border were well-kept and there were no major problems. Why?

[It’s likely that the balance was achieved because of the ants.]

[Ants and mice? Huh-]

[indeed···.]

[I guess that could be the case for ants.]

[Ant···.]

[······.]

Maru’s prediction was that there would not have been a major problem because there was a certain balance between the rats and ants.

There were no field mice near the ant colony, and no ants in areas occupied by field mice or rats. It was a hypothesis, but it was a very probable situation.

As Maru had expected, the balance between rats and ants was somewhat maintained. What would happen if a spider controlled by cannibals appeared in this situation?

[Are you saying that the balance could be broken because of a spider?]

Maru nodded to Ki-sun’s question.

[maybe.]

What would happen if spiders upset the balance between ants and rats in an area not adjacent to the Holy Kingdom?

Will the spider break the balance and create a stable equilibrium between ants, spiders, and mice, or will one side eat the rest and the whole thing will be a mess?

[Let’s think about the spider problem and the balance problem for a bit later, and check out the werewolf head that the rats caught.]

I had to look into why there were werewolves in northern Canada.

Kujik-

The information extractor was stuck in the hideously distorted head of the werewolf. And no image appeared on the monitor.

[What is it?]

[Ah- I think it’s because my brain has matured.]

Brain cooked? Napalm grenade?

Because the rats had burst their throats with napalm flames to catch the werewolf, and his brain had been roasted. Tsk- Maru clicked his tongue and sat up.

[Are there any more werewolves in the fortress?]

[The rats have found traces, but have not encountered them yet.]

[Get behind the rat pack. I’m coming.]

[Okay.]

As the sleek, white airship lowered its altitude, Maru jumped down and landed on the roof of the central fortress.

‧

The stronghold was left with empty spaces exposed here and there, as the Holy Kingdom withdrew and took with them all the auxiliary AI, automatic turrets, and modular nuclear power plants.

Ignore the supply problem. Even if they brought a generator, it would be meaningless because the facilities needed to operate the stronghold were torn down.

‘Even if you minimize the necessary things, you would have to have basic heating to survive the bitter cold.’

I looked everywhere and couldn’t see any heating related products.

‘How on earth were you going to live?’

When the Holy Kingdom was in operation, everything was solved with the abundant power from the modular nuclear power plant. Now that there is no modular nuclear power plant, it is strange that even the minimum of heating equipment is not visible.

Maru headed towards the center of the fortress, holding a dagger containing something similar to a shard.

‘Were you trying to stop the outside from coming in? Or were you trying to stop the inside from going out?’

All the windows were closed and the emergency lights were off, so it was a completely dark space, but there was no difficulty moving around because several sensors displayed spatial information on the HUD (Head-Up Display).

Beep-beep-

For a moment, a red dot appeared briefly and then disappeared.

A movement as if checking this side. Maru did not chase the red dot, but moved slowly, checking each space one by one.

Whatever the red dot was, the moment it left the fortress, it would become a target for Kim Yang, the crows, and the rats. There was no reason to move hastily.

After examining them one by one, there were some suspicious points. This was because there were traces of human life a week ago at the most, and 3-4 days ago at the least.

So where did those people go?

Beep- beep-

The red dot appeared on the HUD again. It was a little closer than before. Maru adjusted his grip on the dagger and released it.

If you provoke them so openly, it means you are confident in your trap. Is there really a need to go in there?

Mungkul-

A circular space began to unfold around the floor. In an instant, a black garden blossomed in a space with a radius of 120 meters.

Beep- beep-

The red dot suddenly stopped moving.

Beep-beep-beep-

The red dot that had been struggling for about 2-3 seconds gradually turned gray.

The HUD also turned off.