Rust - Chapter 856



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RUST -856

Dan Brown went straight into training.

“All the video footage I just uploaded will be classified as top secret. Seal it so that no one can see it without my permission. Get a non-disclosure agreement from everyone who watches the video.”

[···All right.]

Immediate action had to be taken to avoid the Empire’s tone becoming that of a semi-divine kingdom.

‘Things are different than a few months ago.’

As the empire was established, its people were looking to regain their pride and self-respect.

Those who began to seek stability wanted confirmation that the empire was strong.

The Empire wanted to be recognized as the sole successor to the United States.

Who should I check with? How should I get recognized?

Coincidentally, there was a small but strong country.

A country that swallowed up Canada in an instant and then spat it out without a second thought.

Yes, the Holy Kingdom was there.

There was a being by the Empire’s side who could confirm whether the Empire was strong or whether the Empire was its sole successor.

The Holy Kingdom is a startling empire.

An empire where the Holy Kingdom kneels and begs.

That was the story.

‘So that’s why you were obsessed with nuclear weapons?’

Politicians have a way of figuring out what voters want.

What do people want when they can afford to eat and live safely?

What can move the hearts of people who are safe but not like before, and who can make a living but not like before?

Perhaps it’s nostalgia for a stronger past.

You want to feel the United States of America again, the strong and wealthy one. That’s what the congressmen and military personnel were after.

‘Why should we keep an eye on the Holy Kingdom?’

‘Arming ourselves with strategic nuclear weapons would be a symbol of our regained strength.’

‘Once the food problem is solved, the next priority is to strengthen military power.’

‘AI technology is essential to accelerate the development of new weapons.’

The common denominator in these claims was that they reflected the psychology of the imperial people.

‘Fuck···.’

Dan Brown’s mind became complicated.

Why did the agents searching for the cannibal go to the outskirts of the city?

If Vladimir Kalin is the type to sneak in without a trace using a ripper suit, then why doesn’t he do that?

If you knew there was something in Syracuse, whether it was a cannibal or a vampire, wouldn’t it be normal to let them know first?

‘If you said you wouldn’t get involved, what are you going to do if you say you’ll handle it yourself?’

“Blizzard and all, keep sending signals until you receive them.”

[ancient.]

We went straight into information control, so the urgent fire was put out.

Now, as long as nothing irreversible happens, we can move on.

‘What on earth are you thinking?’

Dan Brown’s gaze was fixed on the still image.

Vladimir Kalin’s personal airship. The screen showed a sleek, marble-white airship hovering at a low altitude.

======

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“So, there are at least three of their strongholds in the empire?”

As the number of werewolves captured by Maru while raiding the northern Canadian stronghold reached double digits, the fragmented information extracted from the werewolves was pieced together.

[That’s right. It’s not one organization. It says that each faction is cooperating.]

Even the Virginia remnants were competing with each other, and those from the Confederacy were also competing with each other.

Even if you just look at what happened when the Imperial Rangers controlled the refugees, they were not united but rather kept in check.

But now, information has come out that those who don’t mix like oil and water are uniting in northern Canada.

“There’s no way they would do that.”

For lower-ranking cannibals, dominance was an unreasonable system. Before they could even begin to feel confident that they could do anything outside of humanity, if they were unlucky, they would be defeated by a higher-ranking cannibal.

If you didn’t want to spend your whole life as someone’s subordinate, you had to secure dominance, and that meant having a steady supply of humans.

When they eat humans whole, they become stronger. The stable reproduction of humans was a necessary condition for cannibals to become stronger.

A necessary condition, not a sufficient condition. The irony that a cannibal who eats humans must paradoxically protect humans.

So the cannibals did not hesitate to say that they were a new species and that they were protecting modern humans.

The claim is that in the end times, the new humans will receive tribute in exchange for protecting modern humans from mutated monsters.

It is essentially the same as how knights in the Middle Ages ruled over serfs instead of protecting them from thieves and wild animals outside their manors.

So the Confederacy was similar to a feudal system. Likewise, because it was similar to a feudal system, it was natural for them to check each other, and it was natural for them to fight over territory to secure more people.

To break out of the continuous disorder, high nobles and kings were needed. They could make promises and treaties and regulate them by law?

In a world where dominance actually worked, such things had no meaning, because if a superior entity used dominance, that was it.

Maru, who figured it out, dropped nukes on major Texas cities where many high-ranking nobles and higher-ranking entities were gathered, and the Confederacy was torn apart.

‘But they joined forces?’

There is something.

[···There was a lot of strangely fragmented information. It is certain that there is information control technology over there, but it takes time to figure out what kind of technology it is, so we have to wait. The quantum computer repair and the bio-terminal test operation are not yet finished.]

“······.”

The aftermath of the Garden of Death being summoned in virtual reality was greater than expected. Maru, who had put the quantum computer and the grapes out of season, kept his mouth shut. He didn’t have the shame to urge them.

[Remember that girl who came in to kill Erica a long time ago? Her mind control abilities are more advanced than back then.]

As you can see from the previous incident of mind control agent infiltration, their information control technology is quite advanced. They are even applying it to werewolves.

[···I confirmed that there are three of their research labs and secret bases. Of the three, I only know the exact location of one.]

The city of Syracuse was there.

“Let’s hear the rest of the information as we go.”

Maru and Kim headed straight to Syracuse.

‧

Syracuse was a strange city, Maru thought.

The city population is 140,000 to 150,000. In such a small city, there was a huge hospital with over 10,000 employees. Even though it is a university hospital, it is a hospital with over 10,000 employees.

Considering that Asan Medical Center in Korea has around 9,000 employees and Severance Hospital has around 8,000 employees, it was definitely an unusual scale.

[What’s strange?]

Miss Kim blinked.

“There are a lot of people around Severance Hospital and Asan Medical Center. They are in Seoul. But Syracuse has a population of only 140,000, or at most 150,000. It’s strange considering that the population must have decreased by nearly 30% due to the initial virus outbreak.”

In a city with a population of only 100,000, a hospital with over 10,000 employees is running? How can they eat and live? No. Can they even gather enough patients to maintain the hospital?

Even in this small town, there were two more medium-sized and large-sized hospitals with over 1,000 employees. If you consider not only hospitals but also medical device companies and pharmaceutical companies, it was a really strange town.

[Huh- So you’re saying that it’s suspicious that there are too many medical professionals compared to the population?]

“The information extracted from the werewolf is the same. Didn’t you say that whatever it was, it was definitely here?”

Kim Yang nodded slightly as she watched Maru pack his equipment.

[Are you sure you’re okay? President Dan will be tired if he finds out later. That guy is the type who only takes the hard path.]

“That’s true.”

Maru also agreed with Kim Yang’s interpretation that it was a difficult path. He was the person he was most attached to and he was a gentleman with whom he could do business, so he wanted to go well if possible. But the situation was not good at the moment.

It’s been over two weeks since I’ve been out and about chasing down werewolves in the northern Canadian stronghold. Even if they’re allied forces, that’s plenty of time for news to get through.

If we relayed information to the Empire here and stalled for time while the Empire resolved the issue on its own, there was a possibility that the truly important data and key figures would all escape, leaving only the shell behind.

I’m not bragging, but since it was me, I was able to catch the werewolf easily. If the Imperial Army went in to catch it, there was a high possibility that there would be a lot of casualties.

“I don’t know about cannibals, but werewolves are dangerous. But it doesn’t seem like the Empire will show any will to catch cannibals and werewolves by any means necessary.”

Syracuse was a city in New York State. It was hard to believe that they didn’t know that this cannibal was lurking in the center of the empire, New York State.

At best, they could have carried out a joint operation to eliminate them. But Maru himself could not participate directly. He could not use the Garden of Death, which he could not yet completely control, and it was not the time to reveal information about dealing with death.

In that case, it would be necessary to deploy Kim Yang and the guards. It would not be easy to catch a werewolf without any sacrifices.

It was true that the days of hearing good things about helping others had passed. If the Royal Guard exosuit exploded during an operation or something like that, something bad might happen.

[Not a good thing?]

“You saw signs of that last time, too. During the large-scale fighting in Seattle.”

[Did you have an eye on our technology back then?]

“We passed by because we were currently engaged in a battle with the Confederacy, but this time we’re in the process of clearing out a city within the Empire.”

Even a shit dog eats half of its food in its own house. What if a few imperial soldiers are carrying guns and making a fuss? If you watch that and fail to control your emotions and mind and get angry, the ending will be annihilation.

[ah–]

Ms. Kim deeply sympathized.

That was definitely the case. The best thing to do was just quietly search for their secret lab, clean it up, and leave.

[I was worried that it might be a trap for Ki-soon.]

“It’s not a trap. But if we stall for time, we’ll end up giving them time to dig a trap.”

You laid a trap in Syracuse? That had to be based on the assumption that Maru would personally go to the Canadian stronghold to clear it out.

So, to sum it up, the Holy Kingdom forces that had decided to withdraw from the Free Canadian League will suddenly return to Northern Canada.

We’ll retake the stronghold and extract information from the werewolves in the information removal device before coming to Syracuse, so let’s set a trap in Syracuse and wait.

So you planned it like this? Does that make sense? You even anticipated that Maru himself would come and set up a trap?

Even if he had dug a trap, it would have been meaningless. As the Garden of Death became more concrete, the typology of the concrete garden became stronger.

‘Well, it easily stopped bullets and napalm,’ Kim Yang muttered.

It wasn’t a bullet or napalm problem. It happened in virtual reality, but when I think back to when I ate a small nuclear grenade… Huh-

[I think it would be better to quickly organize and leave.]

“When crows and drones fly, it’s advertising our presence. Send in the rats.”

[Okay.]

Mr. Kim gave orders to the group of rats preparing to descend.

[Search the entire city of Syracuse and its surrounding areas. First, cut off all communications with the outside world.]

Click! (Got it!)

[Cut off the power. Search the suspicious area where the emergency generator is running.]

Clang. (Of course.)

Well, the rats that attacked the village also cut off the electricity and communications.

[Hmph- Alright. Cannibals, vampires, and werewolves must not be missed. And find a secret laboratory or research center.]

Sizzle! (The body is ours!)

Greedy rats descended on Syracuse.

‧

‧

‧

A swarm of rats swarmed the city, which had been engulfed in a sudden blizzard (a snow storm accompanied by strong winds).

Snow removal equipment had to move quickly to clear away the snow that had started to pile up in an instant, but for some reason, they were all at a standstill.

Snap! (Eat quickly and change shifts!)

Rain, rain, rain-

The rats, who had been chewing on the high-calorie combat rations, took turns digging holes. Their front teeth and sharp claws, which could even tear through reinforced concrete, quickly penetrated the frozen ground. A truly terrifying speed.

Sizzle? (Did you find the communication line?)

Jji-jijik. (I don’t know – cut it all off.)

Communication lines buried more than 1m deep were cut off so easily.

The same goes for power lines.

The wires extending from the modular power plant were instantly cut, and darkness fell.

“There is nothing wrong with the modular reactor!”

“It seems to be a short circuit.”

“The wires buried in the ground suddenly snapped? All of them?”

“Based on what has been confirmed so far, it has been determined that there was a problem with the power transmission line.”

Feeling ominous, the city defense commander checked the status board again.

“Send out a search party to the key point.”

“ancient.”

It was minus 60 degrees, but it was an emergency so there was nothing we could do.

“Communication with the Defense Forces Command?”

“Not connected.”

“Then we should connect by radio. What are you doing?”

“It’s dead, maybe because of the snowstorm.”

what?

The electricity went out, and now I can’t connect to wired communication, and wireless is down too?

All three at the same time?

“Emergency! Sound the alarm!”

Waaaaa …

Only after the greedy darkness descended did the sleeping city awaken.