Rust - Chapter 944



Only Krnovel

RUST [RUST]-944

Despite reports that the suicide device had not been activated and that there were no bombs planted, Roy Stern withdrew his unit.

[Mental wave countermeasure device at maximum output.]

[Chi-Ik – Increase the mental wave countermeasure device to maximum output!]

[Beep – No mental contamination among the unit members.]

Unless they were mentally attacked, they really did abandon their stronghold and leave, but there was no way to know why. In Roy Stern’s experience, the most dangerous times were when the enemy acted without reason.

‘What on earth is going on?’

[Check the ground and build a base.]

Roy Stern took a moment to collect his thoughts.

The operational objective has been completed. So is that the end?

There are two options.

The enemy leaves and the empty stronghold is considered a success and the operation stops.

Or chase them down and destroy them.

I’ve just been given sole command for the first time, so is this how it should end?

I didn’t even get proper information and I couldn’t check their power?

[Set up a guard. And… Track them down.]

‘At least check their power.’

I needed to check the limits of my ability to control mutant monsters so I could prepare for them.

A fort was set up near the abandoned stronghold, and a pursuit force of panzers and core armor began to pursue the enemy’s trail.

‧

Although it was April, the weather was still below zero, so the snow and ice that had frozen to a height of 6 to 7 meters looked solid on the outside.

[There is water flowing below.]

[There’s ice on top, but the floor is melted.]

It had been a long time since the volcano had ceased its ceaseless eruptions, but the geothermal heat rising from the ground was not cooling down easily.

Although there was no problem in moving the core armor, it was a dangerous environment in many ways for a 5-meter-tall steel doll to move.

What if you take out the armored personnel carriers? The core armor the size of a full-body armor would be difficult to handle against the mutant monsters. Roy Stern decided to build a giant sled and use it to lay the armored personnel carriers down and drag them across the ice.

[Vulnerable to surprise attacks.]

[There’s nothing I can do.]

There was no other way than to send the search party further away. How many days had they been tracking like that? The enemy’s traces were becoming clearer and clearer.

[They are taking a detour.]

If you look at the enemy’s movement path spread out on the map, it forms a large semicircle.

[It’s the 5th day now···.]

If we continued to move in this circular orbit, it meant that the enemies would return to their base.

Did you think I’d be gone in ten days?

If you’ve been away for 10 days and they’re still here in the stronghold, do you think they’ll fight?

Anyway, since we found the enemy’s movement pattern, it was a chance to ambush them.

[Ambush them ahead of them.]

‧

As expected, the enemy was turning around and returning to their base. That meant that Roy Stern’s unit had successfully ambushed them.

[For the mental world.]

Although they were enemies who mainly used mutant monsters, it was difficult to assume that there would be no top-level cannibals or vampires.

[Chi-Ik – The equipment has been activated.]

[The armored personnel carriers are in charge of the mutant monsters. The core armor units are in charge of the snowmobiles.]

[All right.]

The bear they were focusing on was a mutant bear. At first glance, it looked like a bear with a body length of 6~7m, so if it stood on two legs, it would be close to 9m tall.

If we compare only the size when standing up, it was almost twice as big as the armored soldier, but no one was afraid of it.

Because I had a lot of experience fighting bear monsters of that size in the Canadian North. And that experience proved useless in the first clash.

thud!

The sound of a huge shield blocking a bear’s blows.

[I blocked it. I drew aggro.]

[Okay! Just hold on a little longer.]

The idea was to have one cavalryman block with his shield and distract the bear while striking from both sides with spears and rocket launchers.

Swish-

The bear struck the shield with its forepaw and twisted its body, grabbing the shield as if tackling it. Unable to withstand the heavy weight and strong force, it twisted and fell.

[crazy···.]

[Shoot!]

As we fire a rocket at the monster that instantly detached the head of a fallen armored soldier, the bear blocks it using the torso of the fallen armored soldier as a shield.

[Die!]

Huh-

The bear, who had avoided the giant monster spear by weaving, dug into the inside of the spear and tackled it. And then the mount posture continued like flowing water.

Roy Stern couldn’t believe the battle footage that appeared on his HUD (Head-Up Display). There were times when mutated monsters with smarter brains would detect traps set by humans and counterattack, but never before had they fought in this manner.

‘Is this what it means to control a mutant monster?’

The bears they controlled were wearing armor. Armor with active reactive armor in some parts. That was why the first attack using anti-tank missiles failed.

[Retreat.]

[retreat!]

The enemies did not pursue the armored unit that fell back, taking advantage of the gap left by detonating tear gas grenades to paralyze the mutant bear’s sight and sense of smell.

It’s basic to attack a retreating enemy, but why?

The enemy was just letting a golden opportunity to attack slip away.

A moment later, a bear monster with a white flag tied to its helmet and a man came forward.

“Hey, let’s talk.”

[······.]

‧

‧

‧

While moving towards a base located halfway between Kyoto and Osaka, Maru came across a group of survivors.

‘······.’

I thought they wouldn’t survive because of the volcanic ash and dust. Humans are tougher than cockroaches and their abilities are almost mysterious.

“There. The person who is hiding. It’s okay. You can come inside.”

[······.]

I wondered if cannibals or vampires would notice, but how could human survivors detect the stealth? I wondered if the stealth function of the Ripper suit could be detected so easily.

As soon as he released his hiding place, the man opened his eyes wide in surprise at the sight of Maru appearing from thin air.

“Uh. Are you a stealth user?”

[······.]

The man, who had been looking extremely nervous towards Maru, who nodded instead of answering, made a conflicted expression, unlike at first.

“Please come inside. If he had wanted to harm us, he wouldn’t have been able to escape.”

“Excuse me. Please come inside.”

The transparent hemisphere with a radius of about 50m was more like a filter than a shield. It had no physical defense capabilities, but it filtered out volcanic ash and dust.

[Does it filter out things like poison gas?]

“Yes? I don’t know about poison gas, but things like fire smoke were filtered out.”

He was a man who answered carefully.

The awakening that occurs in the midst of a crisis of death has become a means for humans to survive even in an apocalyptic environment. The problem is that there is a group of survivors near their base. That part bothered me, so I accepted the invitation…

The woman caught in Maru’s sharp senses, the woman at the center of the translucent filter, was clearly not human.

“Welcome. Are you Prince Vladimir Kalin?”

[······.]

It was as if he knew she was coming. How?

“I hope you don’t think anything strange, because no one betrayed me. And can we talk face to face?”

[What do you believe in?]

Srrrrung-

As Maru pulled out Nuclipse, the survivors around him started to fight. Those who backed away like squirrels, making sounds like “Euhhic-Euht-“.

‘What kind of idiots are these?’

It’s been several years since the great disaster. Japan has become a mess just like the Warring States period. Those who survived this chaos are these idiots…

That couldn’t be happening.

It’s unlikely, but if their appearances are real, then someone must have protected them, and if they survived without getting blood on their hands, then that’s possible.

Tsk-

Maru put the Nucleus back into its scabbard. Perhaps because he put it back in without seeing any blood, the Nucleus floated for a moment.

[Is this child’s play?]

“That’s not it.”

When Maru asked if she was playing house with humans, the woman answered no. Maru took off the helmet of his Ripper suit.

If he used his dominance or his mind, it would be the end. Even if he didn’t, Maru was planning on taking the woman’s head.

“So what are you trying to say?”

“I have a contract with the people here.”

“contract?”

“Yes. I decided to protect people with my abilities and get paid for it.”

The story was that he received blood donations in exchange for using his filter-like abilities and protecting them from mutant monsters and marauders.

“So? What are you trying to say?”

“What do you want?”

“That’s what I want.”

“Is your goal to kill us? I heard it was for safety and survival, wasn’t it?”

Maru chuckled at the woman’s story. It was a laugh that was full of the spirit of death.

Safety and survival. How did this year know that?

Only one thing came to mind. Gi-sun was caught by those guys.

“Did you touch Gisun?”

“No. He asked to talk first.”

Ah- chew-

A wrinkle formed between Maru’s eyebrows.

‘That little Kisun was acting nervous, so what did he do?’

“so?”

“They said they had no choice but to keep fighting because it was a threat to their safety and survival.”

“however?”

“We also have several factions.”

There were several factions, including the faction that believed that humans should be perfectly managed and ruled, the faction that humans were nothing more than livestock, and the group that believed that humans should coexist with humans.

They had come together to create a new world, but when a series of unexpected natural disasters, catastrophes, and other unexpected events occurred, they were unable to narrow their differences and became divided into factions.

Although they agreed on the broad outline of a new order, the methods for achieving it were different.

“As you can see, the faction I belong to is the one that wants to make contracts with people. The one that believes that nobles are not simply rulers, but have a duty to protect the people.”

“Ah- really?”

It was a world where dogs and cats were raised like people, so it was not surprising that there were cannibals and vampires who made contracts with humans.

The woman’s eyes sank as she noticed Maru’s commotion.

“Until now, each force and individual has moved individually, but not anymore.”

The story is that since a key base was attacked, they will respond jointly. That was originally how it should have been, but Ki-soon intervened in the middle.

The Holy Kingdom does not necessarily want war unless its survival and safety are threatened. If the area currently under the effective control of the Holy Kingdom is not attacked, there is no reason to fight.

There was even a story about trying to conquer the sinkholes and immortal monsters in Japan and the Philippines. It was because if they were left alone, there was a high possibility that they would pose a threat to the survival and safety of the Holy Kingdom.

The New World Council decided to have a conversation after Ki-sun explained that if the Holy Kingdom is not provoked, the Holy Kingdom has no reason to respond.

“Conversation? You guys?”

“···You may think whatever you want, but I hope you don’t waste the opportunity your friend risked his life to create.”

Maru turned his head at the woman’s words.

This kid, Kisoon. Seriously-

Should I just hit him?

Maru’s hand slowly grasped the handle of the new clip. The woman continued talking, whether she knew it or not.

“If you don’t believe my story, then there’s nothing I can do. If you kill me, what will happen to them? If my powers disappear, they will suffocate in the ash and dust. Will you protect them in the Holy Realm? There are five other places besides this one.”

“······.”

They were the ones who were left behind, who might kill the woman who had protected them until now. Judging from what they were doing, it seemed that this female vampire was not using her power or brainwashing.

“There are five more places with guys like that?”

“yes.”

“So what do you want to talk about?”

“We will officially recognize the Holy Kingdom. It would be nice if you joined the new order, but if you don’t, there will be no hostile actions in the future. If there are any new humans who are hostile, they are not related to us.”

It was a nice thing to say. It was just nonsense that they would just make a mess of it and say, ‘That guy has nothing to do with us,’ but Maru nodded as if telling them to keep going.

“We will stop researching sinkholes and immortal monsters for the time being.”

“for now?”

“This is what they say they will do after the Holy Kingdom moves its base into space.”

“and?”

“Let us keep our hands off Korea, which is in the shadow of the Holy Kingdom.”

“Even though Korea is advancing into Southeast Asia?”

“Yes. Because the economy is the economy.”

“···The Holy Kingdom currency will be used as a base currency?”

“There is no law that says you have to use only one reserve currency.”

“······.”

The wild ants started to move. Soon the spiders would also start to stir. Considering the mutant monsters, it was not a good idea to play endless hide-and-seek with them.

“How can I trust you guys?”

“My friend suggested we exchange hostages.”

what?

“Your friend said he willingly became a hostage.”

“Hey- How would I know if Ki-soon did it willingly or if she was under the influence of a psychiatrist? Do you really want to die?”

“Since you decided to come here, you should check it out for yourself.”

“Kisun is coming here?”

“yes.”

“······.”

‧

‧

‧

“Are you crazy? What are you going to do if you break up with those guys?”

Ki-soon made a bitter expression at the voice from the low floor.

“sorry.”

“I’m sorry. What about the unit that went to attack the Hokkaido stronghold?”

“There won’t be any damage to you either.”

“No. What the… What the heck are you thinking?”

When they said there would be no damage, they meant that they had also said so.