Rust - Chapter 943



Only Krnovel

RUST [RUST]-943

Since they decided to attack three places simultaneously, Maru headed to a base between Kyoto and Osaka. Kyushu was to be taken by Kishun, and Hokkaido was to be commanded by Roy Stern.

‘Opposites can attract.’

That’s why Maru told Gi-sun to set a standard. Gi-sun after his resurrection(?) was definitely different from before.

It was true that he was overly obsessed with humanity or objectified humanity as a reaction to it. Although there was a good reason for it each time, he occasionally showed signs of anxiety.

Even though Maru thought that this was just a revelation of Ki-sun’s true feelings, Ki-sun herself seemed to feel ashamed of even changing her mind.

‘I guess the same goes for the opinion that we should limit artificial intelligence.’

In Maru’s view, the two people seemed to need to limit the authority of artificial intelligence in order to protect human values.

However, the AI ​​of the Holy Kingdom was already a being with a self and consciousness that could create faith. Even knowing this, Ki-sun and PD insisted that they should be distinguished from humans.

This is probably because they thought that if artificial intelligence were given the same rights as humans, even a small crack could cause human society to collapse.

Small crack. The logic that if someone with hacking ability, the ability to interfere with AI, or the ability to conduct electronic warfare appears, AI can be completely neutralized.

In Maru’s eyes, humans were the same. No. Humans were more vulnerable than artificial intelligence. Beings easily subjugated by the dominance and aura of cannibals or vampires.

Although only a few have the capability to engage in electronic warfare, aren’t humans more vulnerable to security given that they can encounter cannibals and vampires at any time?

Mental attack. Isn’t it more trustworthy than humans who can be brainwashed by the dominance at any time and voluntarily choose to become followers?

Maru, who had stopped thinking about his tail chasing its own tail, grabbed the handle of Newclips. He pulled out Newclips, who was claiming, “I am a sword.” “I am just a sword that knows nothing.”

Srrrrrrrr-

The neatly pulled out new clips showed off their gentle appearance.

Ting-

Flick the blade with your finger.

Eeeeeeeing-

The sound rang out.

The sharp sound and trembling vibrations mixed with Maru’s breathing.

after—-

As soon as I pulled out the sword, my complicated thoughts started to calm down.

If I were alone, I could just pass by as long as the cannibals and vampires didn’t bother me. Their dominance, aura, and psychic abilities didn’t work on me.

The problem is, what if they control the people around them?

What if you try to tie up people around you by taking them hostage?

It certainly will be so.

If you give me a chance, definitely.

That’s what I’ve been watching them for so far.

Cannibals did not stop eating even though there were alternatives, and neither did vampires.

More power.

A will to a stronger force.

They were beings that maximized human desires.

Would it make sense for such people to talk about peace or coexistence?

It didn’t matter what they said.

Because it was clear that it was bullshit.

‘You know that too.’

Maru turned his head towards Kyushu.

It was the direction that Ki-soon was supposed to take charge of.

‧

‧

‧

Faith in humanity can only be an imperfect faith.

Because it was imperfect, choices and beliefs were necessary.

The choice to trust humanity.

The belief in trusting humanity.

Ki-sun looked at the gray landscape.

“······.”

Everything was a gray slush.

Mountains and fields, ruined cities and villages, and even memories.

Ki-soon thought that she had to create options so that Maru wouldn’t have to make an extreme choice.

A world where beliefs influence reality.

Because in a world where faith is a real force, friends transcend humanity.

What if Maru, who has transcended humanity, begins to distrust humans?

What if we start trusting artificial intelligence more than humans?

What happens to humans?

I didn’t know that maybe it was self-deception.

Even though they were half-brothers, they were still brothers, and the one who tried to kill them was a family member. His father, who asked him to forgive the brother who tried to kill him, may have thought that they were more precious than himself.

However, he knew that if he chose revenge, he would have to give up everything. Even the friend who saved his life.

One of the reasons why Ki-sun gave up on the war of succession was because he knew that the moment he chose to fight, he would be involved all the way to Maru.

That was the succession battle of the conglomerate. A fight where no means were spared in order to win. I didn’t want my friend and his family to get involved in that dirty mud.

What should I do with the friend who saved my half-brother from the people who tried to kill him by drowning him in the valley? What should I do with that friend’s house?

What if my friend’s already ruined house got involved in that? Even if it was dirty, there was a high possibility that it would get even dirtier.

So, Gi-sun used her father’s will to avoid a clean break from the fight for succession.

So do you regret your choice at that time?

That has never happened before.

However, the crisis of death and revenge. The giving up of revenge remained like a scar on Ki-sun’s heart.

Humans are creatures who are willing to kill their own families for money and power.

Also, humans are creatures who risk their lives for their friends without any cost.

To Ki-sun as a child, humans were inevitably contradictory beings. That’s why Ki-sun ‘believed’ that humans were positive beings, even if that wasn’t the case.

I ‘believed’ that humans were beings that needed to be protected.

I ‘believed’ that humans are beings with good potential.

That was truly a matter of faith.

In Ki-sun’s experience, most people, except for a very small number, were like worms. The same goes for love.

Thinking back now, I don’t know if it was love or the result of drugs or hormones, but that’s what Ki-soon’s love was like.

Love is what does not change. Tolerance and patience is love. I believed that love is what can make humans human.

What could be better than marrying the younger sister of a friend you can trust?

but

What may be everything to some, may be just a bore to others.

What may be sincere to some people may be annoying to others.

Because Ki-sun had an experience that was slightly different from that of a human, she could feel the difference even better.

Ki-soon’s love ended fleetingly.

So he died and was resurrected as a clone.

Likewise, a woman who was thought to be the only one in the world was revived as over a thousand clones. If you instilled memories of love into her when making her a clone, you could obtain the love you wanted.

How fleeting is this love?

How vain a human being is!

That is why Ki-soon’s choice to limit artificial intelligence was bound to be contradictory. It did not matter if the action to protect human rights centered on humans was contradictory.

That was the realm of choice for humans. It was the realm of belief. That’s why Ki-soon was influenced by the memories and actions of this vampire.

This was because I thought that there was no difference between myself, who thought that I needed humans for faith and belief, and those who thought that I needed humans for the supply of meat and blood.

They fought to the end even though they had the chance to escape.

Can we say that a woman who chooses to commit suicide despite being able to run away is inhuman?

They are trying to create an asymmetric situation through floating cities and stratospheric colonies, but how long will the asymmetric situation last?

Just like the development competition during the Cold War, if one side creates an asymmetric situation, the other side will also develop accordingly. Endless competition and war of attrition will continue.

What if someone dies in that war?

What if they kill someone here like Maru killed them?

What will Maru do if Ms. Kim, Nurse, Hood, and PD die?

Should we give up revenge and focus on taking to the stratosphere for survival and safety?

Or should we choose revenge and focus on the war?

Whichever you choose, it won’t be good.

If the highest-ranking ones are willing to self-destruct, then they must have convictions as well. Ki-sun examined the belt with the psychic response device attached.

Anyway, the Holy Kingdom was going to move to the stratosphere and then into space. There was no need to kill each other and hang on until the end.

Next to the palm-sized psychic response device was a small nuclear grenade.

‧

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Southern tip of Hokkaido.

A panzer over 5 meters tall was slogging through the ice-covered field.

Wow-

The humanoid robot was able to move forward without stopping through snow piled up to 7 to 8 meters deep.

[Chief, Colonel. There’s water running on the floor.]

[Beep- The water is flowing?]

[Yes, I think it’s because of geothermal heat.]

[stop.]

Roy Stern stopped marching because the water flowing under the snow and ice was dangerous.

[Send out scouts to find solid ground. It doesn’t matter if they bypass the operation area.]

[ancient.]

[Stand by at your current location. Rest.]

[It’s a break. Be on guard!]

Unlike Honshu, Japan, the volcanic eruption in Hokkaido had stopped. With the volcanic eruption stopped, all that was needed was for the volcanic ash and dust to settle, but strangely, the volcanic ash and dust were not settling.

Electronic equipment was prone to errors and sensors were malfunctioning. Visibility was poor, not exceeding 150 meters compared to the Tokyo area.

Because of the volcanic ash and dust, airship support was difficult and air support from the Crow Air Corps was limited, so it was natural to emphasize vigilance.

[Unfold the bunker.]

[Installation of machine gun.]

Roy Stern’s force, consisting of armoured personnel carriers, core armor, and supply armoured vehicles, began to construct temporary positions. Having experienced the Battle of Togo Island where paratroopers were beaten back before they could deploy bunkers, erecting bunkers and constructing positions became almost a reflex.

[Bunker deployment complete.]

[Machine gun installation complete.]

[Border guard?]

[No problem.]

[The reconnaissance team checks within a 4km radius.]

[After eating, we take turns taking a nap.]

Roy Stern slept whenever he could.

[Make sure you get at least two hours of sleep. If the scout is late, we’ll camp here today.]

Even though it was an operation to raid the cannibal stronghold, he did not rush. Given the defense posture of Dogo Island, it was not something that could be done by raiding unconditionally.

‘The question is whether we can get as many of them out as possible.’

The reason the landing force was hit was because they didn’t know that the guys had set a trap.

‘Weakening the defense line comes first.’

Their base on the map was within 50km. According to information, their main force was the unit that controlled the mutant monsters. So, they were assigned to this place with a force centered on armored personnel carriers and core armor.

[It is necessary to check to what extent control is achieved.]

[Yes. Mutant monsters are monsters. No matter how much you control them, it will be difficult to completely control their nature.]

There was an opinion that using fresh blood and meat as bait might allow control to be temporarily relaxed.

[It seems better to target the cannibals at the back rather than the mutant monsters.]

[If you attack the one controlling it, the mutant monster will retreat and try to block it, so what if you attack it during that gap?]

As various stories were being exchanged, a report came in that the reconnaissance party had identified an enemy stronghold.

The location of their stronghold matched the information. The problem was that the enemy’s defenses were stronger than the information.

[Start the lure operation.]

The plan was to lure the enemy to the target point and strike them, but they didn’t move an inch. They didn’t respond like a turtle curled up with its entire body.

It was important to capture the enemy’s stronghold and obtain as much information as possible, but it would be bad if they were just defending like this. If there were any signs that the defense line was being breached, they would destroy the information.

It wasn’t that they were wasting time because they were afraid that the enemies would destroy the information. They were the ones who could control the mutant monsters. The longer they were wasting time, the more mutant monsters they could bring in.

Roy Stern made a decision.

[All-out attack.]

It was Roy Stern’s unit that began to break through the defensive line, centered on the armored personnel carriers.

[breakthrough!]

[Shield up!]

[Let’s move forward with the wired robot!]

A robot with a long wire attached to it advanced forward fiercely, firing its 20mm machine gun. Then came an explosion.

[It’s a mine!]

The armored personnel carriers advanced with their shields in front, following the trail left by the robots.

[Mutant Monster Confirmed!]

[A group of mutant monsters are approaching from the rear.]

Roy Stern’s eyes sank heavily.

[The fact that they’re rushing like that means there are no more mines. Charge!]

The armored personnel carriers responded to the mutated monsters targeting their rear with hammers, axes, and 30mm machine guns.

Kuwaaa-

The mutated bear wearing a steel helmet and armor howled. It was a cry mixed with fear, but it was useless against the armored soldiers and core armor equipped with psychic countermeasures.

Kwajik- Kwadddeung-

When a giant bear that was over 6 meters tall when standing on two legs collided with an armored soldier that was over 5 meters tall, the sound of bones breaking and blood spurting out, along with the sound of steel armor being crushed, were heard.

How long did the tense fight last? Suddenly, the guys started retreating.

[The guys run away.]

[Don’t chase them. Our target is their stronghold.]

It could have been a trap. If they run away, we can just attack their base.

Roy Stern led his troops straight into the stronghold.

[Chief- Colonel. Strange. There is no resistance.]

[They abandoned their stronghold.]

No way.

Are you trying to pull me in and blow myself up?

Roy Stern sent in a scout party.

[No trace of trap.]

[Suicide device not confirmed.]

You gave up the defensive battle and abandoned the stronghold?

why?