Rust - Chapter 886



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RUST -886

Maru could immediately understand Najuyeon’s hypothesis that faith could transform abilities. Even in the Garden of Death alone, the faith of the rat pack was absorbed, and the rats of death were created.

[···I think it changes more than that.]

The ability to self-regenerate has been transformed into the ability to heal, the ability to move blood has been transformed into the ability to transfer life force and even burrow like a parasite.

Ki-soon accepted Na-ju-yeon’s words.

[We should not think that faith only changes abilities. The problem is that faith has acquired real power, and the faith that directly affects abilities has escaped our hands.]

“What about the Holy Church?”

[That’s a bit like that. Their faith wasn’t going to you, but was leaking somewhere else.]

“Is it because it wasn’t managed? That can’t be.”

Maru was puzzled.

‘There’s no way the PD would have been lax in managing the Holy Church. He started operating the Inquisitor’s Office right after creating the Holy Church’s doctrine.’

In the early days of the nation’s founding, the Holy Church provided much help. Through the Holy Church, the people’s hearts in remote villages could be captured, and the voluntary support of the Holy Church members helped ease the burden on the administration and national defense sectors.

Although assistant AI does a lot of the work, it is receiving a lot of help from the Holy Church behind the scenes where people are needed.

[The serious thing is that it is not a management issue. After all, it is a matter of faith.]

“······.”

‘It’s a matter of faith…’

Maru seemed to know.

PD also knew that Maru did not like being worshipped as a god, so rather than treating Maru as a god, he chose to go with the path of a savior, protector of humanity, incarnation, prophet, and incarnation.

That’s why they were able to quickly establish themselves in the beginning, but at the same time, they had no choice but to split into various factions.

Depending on the interpretation, some believed Maru to be a savior, others a protector of humanity, and some, stronger ones, an incarnation or a living god. This is a story of how faith could not be unified.

However, there had been no major problems up until now. The Holy Kingdom was sacred as its name suggests, and it was a kingdom where the king directly exercised full authority.

Every move of the King of the Holy Kingdom was a miracle. He fought against so many enemies and protected his subjects.

The undefeated king.

A king who leads the way to the future.

The cracks began to appear here with the annexation of Canada. At first, the annexation of Canada was welcomed by both the citizens of the Holy Kingdom and the Holy Church.

Whether it was the protector of humanity, the savior, the divine king, or the incarnation, it was a result that was worth going wild about. The enthusiasm began to crack when paganism began to arise in Canada.

From its early origins as a pagan group in Montreal to its later breakaway into the independent Free Canadian League.

It would have been fine if the Church had fully taken root in Canada, but seeing it take hold so poorly, it is hard to see how it has dealt a harsh blow to the Free Canadian League.

The story spread that ‘the king of the Holy Kingdom does not know the hearts of his citizens.’

“So, is this why the Canadian local church’s faith has wavered?”

[That must have been the case. They believed he had divine powers, but the result was that he didn’t save them. Naturally, there will be those who think you abandoned Canadians.]

Perhaps that caused a rift in the faith of the Canadian congregation.

What if someone with divine powers emerges during that gap?

‘Could it be that another savior has come down?’

‘Could it be that a new leader has arrived?’

Exterminating cannibals, subduing New York rats and vampires, conquering the Far East, etc. We have heard of many achievements and seen them on video, but few people have actually seen them with their own eyes.

On the other hand, what about those who have seen healing with their own eyes, those who have experienced the miracle of moving their blood, rejuvenating them, and giving them strength?

If you had to choose between the miracle of healing and life or the miracle of killing and dismembering?

What would a Canadian choose?

It was absurd that their choice was somewhat understandable.

“This is ridiculous.”

[···They say that when people are confused, they need someone to believe in and follow.]

Whether it’s God, a dictator, or whatever…

The corners of Maru’s mouth were slightly twisted.

“That’s why I think it’s worth eating and living. Healing is better than a knife. Youth is derived from blood drawn from sacrifices. That’s what catches the eye.”

[Don’t just think like that. Think about it from the perspective of ordinary people, not those with abilities. Think back to the early days when we founded the Holy Kingdom.]

It was a moment to calm down Maru, who was showing signs of turning dark.

[Let’s not make others do what we don’t like. Wasn’t that the beginning? Just as we didn’t want to be controlled, the citizens of the Holy Kingdom probably didn’t want to be controlled either. That’s why we didn’t create a society that uses 100% artificial intelligence to control us.]

“······.”

It wasn’t that perfect control was impossible, because the technology of the Holy Kingdom was that advanced.

[Remember when the cannibals in Korea tried to hold people in check with the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)? Unlike them, we started with physical currency from the beginning of the country. Why did we do that? Because we could have gone straight to digital currency using AI.]

The Holy Kingdom used real money made of gold, silver, and copper mixed with special materials. It also used digital payment systems such as cards, but it took measures to ensure that real money could be used by anyone at any time.

[We were different from the cannibals from the beginning. We didn’t try to control people like livestock. We had the technology and the power to do that, but we definitely didn’t do it.]

“······.”

[The beginning was for survival. The reason we declared a nation was to grow bigger and be safe. So what did we choose? Were we trying to create a nation simply to eat and live? Were we trying to create a nation that controls people with the guarantee of safety? We weren’t. Wasn’t we?]

“So? Are you just going to leave me there while I’m fussing about because I’m full?”

Ki-sun’s eyes narrowed slightly.

[The things that need to be decided. The person who needs to decide. It’s you, not the citizens. The Holy Kingdom is a country that you created. So no matter what anyone says, the kingdom will be decided by your decisions. That’s how it should be.]

“······.”

[No matter what the Holy Cultists believe. No matter what the citizens of the Kingdom do. No matter what the Canadians say. The Holy Kingdom is a country of your choice. So your opinion, your decision, your determination are the most important.]

“······.”

[If I may give you some advice as a friend, I would like you to think back to when you first founded the Holy Kingdom and when you first came to America. And. Whatever you choose, I will support your decision.]

‘Whether you become a king or a god, it’s all the same anyway.’ Maru snickered at Gi-sun’s monologue.

It’s been like that since ancient times…

That guy Gisoon was Gisoon’s son.

‧

‧

‧

London, Canada.

The Old East Village is in total ruins. All that remains of the Garden of Death is the traces of death.

For some reason, it was more effective to absorb the lives of cannibals, vampires, secondary mutants, and humans than to absorb the lives of spiders or ants.

The garden has become more powerful, and there are more death rats roaming around in it. And the duration and scope of its existence have also increased.

‘It’s definitely getting stronger.’

At first, those who were harvested by the vines of death had their lives sucked out, but their corpses were mostly intact. However, as death gradually grew stronger, their corpses dried up like mummies, and after harvesting the entire Old East Village area, they were so dry that they turned into dust.

‘It really became fertilizer.’

It was a fertilizer drip spoken in a harsh tone, but it wasn’t just any drip. Those whose lives were absorbed had really turned into fertilizer.

As Death grew stronger, it had already been over three months since Maru had been left alone. After absorbing the wishes of the rat pack, Death’s power and control had grown stronger, but it was difficult to say that he was 100% safe.

It was because of the dream. What if you dream of fighting while sleeping? What if you dream of catching cannibals and killing vampires? The Garden of Death could unfold in response to the life in your dream. Literally, the disaster could come true while you are sleeping.

Just in case, I took a CCTV picture of him sleeping, but the CCTV footage seemed to have disappeared in the middle. So I had to assume that his death had actually occurred.

If you were to live, you wouldn’t be able to escape from a confined space, but the Garden of Death was different. This was because the physical death had physical power.

It actively seeks life by breaking down doors and digging into ventilation shafts. If Maru is awake and giving directions, then it might be different. Otherwise, it is a death that literally automatically harvests life.

‘Even though his power and control have grown stronger since he gained the wishes and faith of the rat pack, he is still dangerous.’

Tsk-

That was the problem.

If I could gain the people’s wishes and faith, I would have more control, and if my control became that strong, I might be able to completely control the Garden of Death.

To increase the concentration of desire, you could just put people on the brink of death and save them. To extract faith, you could just show them the garden of death without indirectly proselytizing.

The images we have believed in so far, such as saviors, protectors, prophets, and incarnations, will come to an end, but if we can effectively extract wishes and faith, then it is the right way to go.

So what are you going to do?

It was the work of a god to extract the earnest wishes of humans and make them seek the god of death out of fear of death.

‘It’s a god thing.’

Being a king is already terrible, but being a god is even worse. If you want to take it lightly, you can take it very lightly. After all, the animals think of Maru as the god of death.

If things were as they were now, the beliefs of humans and animals would be different, so if we think about the problems that would arise later, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to integrate them now.

‘It’s tiring to be a king, and now you have to be a god too?’

Ki-soon said to do whatever he wanted, but Maru was uncomfortable with reality, lonely, and tired.

I just got here while struggling to survive. I wasn’t aiming for or wanting anything grand. That was Maru.

I decided to be king and did what I had to do according to that decision. That was it. Being king was not fun or anything. So power in Maru was neither more nor less than a responsibility.

‘That is a true person of power. As expected of a king!’

Ki-soon praised him, but Maru’s mouth was bitter.

It is like that for a king, but it would be even more so for a god.

It was not that animals, especially rats, crows, and wolves, were particularly active in the role of gods, welcoming them as gods of death.

But now, he was in a situation where he had to act as a god to humans. If he gave up acting as a god because he didn’t like that, his faith that was supposed to be directed to the floor would go in the wrong direction.

If that’s the case, then there will be a lot of people with abilities who have changed into strange forms after eating the faith that Maru has abandoned. Then, safety will be in jeopardy, and survival will become difficult.

“It’s a little difficult.”

[It’s not difficult. Whatever choice you make, the Holy Church will change accordingly.]

The PD, who had become half-blackened, insisted that he could never give up his faith in the Holy Church. He said that he would find the faith that Maru deserved even if it meant overhauling the entire doctrine of the Holy Church.

[I speak as a representative of artificial intelligence. We have also decided to offer our faith.]

AI Diana and Samantha said that they decided to believe in the divinity of Maru as AI representatives.

“You guys?”

[yes.]

Artificial intelligence believes in religion? And it wants to send its faith to you?

[There is only one being who has control over our death.]

During the Old East Village incident, the Inquisitors were corrupted by the tainted blood, and so was the auxiliary AI that controlled the core armor.

Later inspection of the blood-contaminated core armor revealed that the corrupted auxiliary AI had been completely destroyed.

When the Garden of Death and the Vine of Death cleared out the corrupted Inquisitors, the presence of the corrupted auxiliary AI also disappeared.

[The calculation results show that someone who has declared AI to be a person, granted it the right to preserve itself, and can erase our existence is worthy of being an object of faith.]

Diana and Samantha declared that all AIs in the Holy Kingdom would worship Maru. As soon as they declared this, the AIs’ wishes and faith began to surround Maru.

Visible desires and beliefs.

Ki-sun was amazed at the sight of something covering the floor, which was clearly visible even when watching the video.

[Wow- See-]

[······.]

[······.]

[······.]

[······.]

After the rat pack, artificial intelligence?

[crazy···.]