Rust - Chapter 920



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RUST -920

No one laughed at the story of the appearance of a saint and a Virgin Mary in the Philippines.

no.

I couldn’t laugh.

Haven’t you seen with your own eyes the King of the Holy Kingdom who brought an end to the Chinese refugee crisis in an instant?

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It was too alien a power to be simply understood as the ability to bring death. The strangeness of it seeming as if its very existence was in contact with death was deeply ingrained in the minds of the Korean government and lawmakers.

“What are their abilities?”

That’s why I couldn’t just look at the report sent by the intelligence agent without any care.

“There is a story that there was a saint on the rebel side who lifted the monkey’s curse.”

“The monkey’s curse?”

“It is said that some tribes in the Philippines continue to tell the story of the cursed monkey.”

“Ah- That- I’ve heard that too.”

“It’s about a monkey casting a curse, or a sorcerer using a monkey to cast a curse.”

“There are similar stories in Indonesia and Thailand.”

“Did you find out exactly what the curse was?”

“Yes. It was called the Curse of Death.”

“So the monkey put a death curse on him and the rebel saint took it away?”

“If it is as reported, then yes.”

When you are under the monkey curse, bruises that look like they were grabbed by a monkey will start to appear on your arms, shins, neck, etc.

At first, it was just a red handprint-like bruise, but it gradually turned into a black bruise on each finger, and when all five fingers turned black, it was a curse that would lead to death.

“They say that one bruise on each finger will turn black every day, and after five days when all five fingers have turned black, you will die.”

“The curse of death.”

“Your bruise is black.”

It seems like a ridiculous story in general, but all the ministerial and vice-ministerial officials and members of the National Assembly were lost in thought. In a place where there is a garden of death that takes life and expands itself, there could also be a cursed monkey.

“What would happen if a curse were placed on the King of the Holy Kingdom?”

“Would you like to be cursed?”

“He is the god of death and the lord of terror.”

“I don’t know.”

“I don’t know because it’s a curse that leads to death.”

“Do you have any information on how to place a curse?”

“Can you cast a curse from a distance?”

“It would be very useful if we could analyze the mechanism of the curse.”

“We must secure materials and evidence related to the curse.”

In an instant, the conference hall was filled with noise.

“Let’s discuss the details later.”

The president calmed the mood.

“The saint said he lifted the curse of death, so that’s fine. What kind of power does the saintess have?”

“There is a rumor that a saint in the government army saved a man who was fatally wounded to the point where his internal organs and marrow were exposed.”

“Healing power. The saint has the power to lift curses, and the saintess has the power to heal. Both are intuitive powers, and good for swaying public opinion.”

“Yes. So, it is said that the rebels and government forces are fighting fiercely.”

The Philippine rebels were overwhelmingly inferior to the regular army. China secretly supported the rebels, but after the country split into seven Chinas, the support was woefully inadequate.

At the moment when it seemed like he was being pushed back, the saint appeared. Up until now, only the ability to remove curses had been reported, but there was a high possibility that he had more than that.

“Let’s decide on the Philippines after gathering more information. Let’s move on to Indonesia.”

“There are strange rumors going around in Indonesia too.”

“Is Indonesia also a surreal rumor?”

“yes.”

In the Philippines and Indonesia, there were still differences between tribes.

There were even areas where languages ​​and cultures were mixed, and areas where indigenous religions and foreign religions were mixed. And such mixing caused complex problems.

“Indonesia is predominantly Sunni Muslim.”

“Islam.”

Religious conflicts were already severe before the disaster, but after the disaster, bloodshed and arson broke out. Buddhist temples, Catholic churches, and Protestant churches were set ablaze, and this violence occurred virtually throughout Indonesia.

“It is a dangerous religion.”

“If there is one thing the cannibal regime did well, it was physically eradicating Islam.”

Unfortunately, historically and statistically, this has been the case. When the number of Muslims is small, most behave like well-mannered foreigners, good religious people, and tolerant intellectuals.

But as mosques began to appear and the Muslim population began to grow, Muslim-majority areas began to claim that they would govern themselves according to their own Sharia.

Sharia (شَرِيعَة) refers to the laws of Islam and also to social norms. And to follow Sharia means to judge and act in an Islamic way, from the food you eat to your life.

What does it mean to come to the country you immigrated to and not assimilate into its culture or follow its laws, but to do things the Islamic way?

The problem was that if the number of Muslims there increased any more, violence would almost inevitably break out.

When Islam was satirized or criticized in newspapers or novels, journalists, writers, newspapers, and publishers were terrorized for insulting Islam. In extreme cases, people were killed.

“There was a beheading terrorist attack in France.”

“There was an arson incident in Germany.”

“There was a bomb attack in England…”

This was actually an incident that took place in Europe, which accepted Muslim refugees.

There were too many cases to be attributed to the aberration of an individual or a group, and it was difficult to interpret the de facto civil war that broke out with Muslim refugees after the catastrophe in any other way.

“Indonesian Muslims are attacking those of other religions. They were at a disadvantage because they were such a small minority, but now the battle is being fought over those who claim to have been blessed.”

“Is this a blessing?”

“Yes. The report said ‘blessing.’”

“Are you saying that God answered?”

“There is no such content, but it is said that it is a power that is completely different from that of those with powers who have awakened their abilities.”

“The ending is different?”

Does that mean the quality is different?

In an instant, the hall was filled with the sound of commotion.

“Could it be that the reason why pseudo-religions were able to rapidly expand their influence was because of ‘blessings’?”

“If they have received actual blessings from a divine being, can we call them cults? Isn’t it the established religions that have not received blessings that are the problem?”

“If we assume that blessings are a response from God, then the King of the Holy Kingdom who dealt with the blessed under the pretext of being a cult… is saying that he intentionally eliminated those who received God’s blessings.”

“It’s just speculation.”

“It’s not speculation, it’s a reasonable statement. You could say that he killed his rival before he could grow up.”

The story of the ‘blessed’ saint and saintess in the Philippines caught fire in another direction. Analysis and speculation about why the King of the Holy Kingdom moved in the way he did began to spread like wildfire.

As more and more fragmented information piled up, strange things began to appear in Maru’s behavior.

“What is certain is that he did not tolerate the leaders of groups he called cults or heretics.”

“They even pushed away places that were said to have displayed miracles or powers.”

“Rather than rescuing Giheung-Pyeongtaek, I went to the monster on the coastal container ship near Busan first.:

“It’s clear that even monsters have secrets.”

It seems like they revealed all the information through the live broadcast, but that wasn’t the case. If actions are a means to an end, then they hid the end and only showed the means.

“At the very least, we need to know the reason why that being acted that way, and the principle behind it. Only then can we negotiate further. Only then can we successfully carry out the southern operation.”

The ministers, vice ministers, and members of the National Assembly agreed with the president’s opinion, each with their own thoughts.

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After a moment of silence, Maru said.

“The choice is mine?”

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“That’s right… That’s right. Ki-sun. Try using that ability on me.”

Maru, who had interrupted her conversation, told Gi-sun to use her ’emotion’ ability. Gi-sun’s squinted eyes turned to Maru. There was a slight anger and confusion. And should I say disappointment? The color of her faint emotions was changing from moment to moment.

“You brought it up frankly. I should do the same.”

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“I was more of a person who wanted to hide the fact that I could handle death.”

When I caught the Count and used the Garden of Death, I left no witnesses or evidence. I made it public when I decided to support Korea.

It was in accordance with Ki-sun’s advice that ‘It is more advantageous to gain a lot of divinity than to hide one’s abilities.’ If it is advice, one can listen to it and make a judgment.

As a result, even though I revealed my abilities in Korea, I received far less faith than I expected. I thought that if I just kept doing what I was doing, faith would come in like vines, but it wasn’t the case.

It may have been burdensome to get results that were completely different from what you expected.

The original position of an advisor is to carry that kind of burden.

“But if we talk like that now, can we call that advice?”

Some might say that it is advice that analyzes personality and situation. Well, if you call it advice, then it could be advice.

But the problem with the Southeast Asian case is that it feels more like a well-planned situation than advice. Regardless of whether that is true or not.

“That’s why I feel bad.”

“Sorry. Sorry.”

Ki-sun apologized neatly.

It was true that I had predicted the Korean government’s moves. I also expected that if they got involved in Southeast Asia, hell would break out on the Korean military.

The more they get involved in Southeast Asia, the more the Korean military and government will have no choice but to appeal to Maru. It was also right to think that faith would develop in the process. If they tell Maru about this, he will move.

It could be seen as advice based on a prediction, or it could be seen as setting the table and inducing a certain reaction, but Ki-soon apologized.

Even if it is advice from your perspective, if it seems like the other person has set the stage for feeling and accepting it, then it is not advice at that moment.

“It wasn’t something I did on purpose.”

“What the heck. But is there even a world tour schedule?”

“Since it’s more effective to go around the world once and save time anyway. I just thought about going around the world once. Right?”

“What are you doing?”

“If you are involved in advancing into Southeast Asia and gain the faith of the Korean military and Southeast Asians, then it would be right to turn around once you have built up faith. You wouldn’t just let other people build up their faith, right? Right?”

“That’s where the problem starts.”

Maru said in a serious voice.

“If you open the Garden of Death, you have to assume that everyone will die.”

An ability that presupposes that once it is deployed, any living being within the area will die. Strictly speaking, it is closer to a kind of authority than an ability, but in any case, its root is death.

“If you only look at the results, it means that it is a faith gained through the death of others.”

So, the PD talked about ‘God of Death’ and ‘Lord of Terror’.

“Your thoughts are based on that too. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong. It’s just that.”

Maru didn’t particularly dislike or oppose gaining faith through death.

I had no intention of denying that death creates faith, especially when there was faith gained by killing swarms of rats in the hundreds of thousands.

“If you create a situation where death is necessary and try to gain faith through death, you may become a public enemy. I don’t think that’s good.”

Maru’s judgment was that faith gained through death would inevitably be subject to caution and, at worst, could make everyone an enemy.

If we go by Ki-sun’s words, only after there have been a large number of casualties will the Korean army think of Maru and beg for help. To save them. To save them.

After you push the enemy back into the Garden of Death, faith will come in.

But what would the families and friends of those who have already died think?

What judgment did the enemies make after they attacked the Korean army and won, only to be swept away by Maru’s death?

The loss of soldiers is a loss, but what would the Korean government think if the surviving soldiers began to blindly follow the King of the Holy Kingdom?

What Maru pursued was survival and safety.

Is it really advantageous for survival and safety to spread death and intervene in Southeast Asia?

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[It seems the Korean government has found a clue to faith.]

[We have discovered that faith can enhance abilities. We have successfully conducted experiments to enhance the abilities of government-affiliated power users using faith.]

Ki-sun’s eyes widened at the assistant AI’s report.

‘Ah, it’s twisted.’

It’s tangled.