Rust - Chapter 952



Only Krnovel

RUST [RUST]-952

Panama Canal.

At first, it was a strategic point that was controlled by cannibal forces centered around the riser restrictions, but was later recaptured by Maru and the Department of Homeland Security.

The Panama Canal, which connects the eastern and western parts of the American continent, will clearly remain one of the world’s most important strategic points even after the apocalypse.

That’s why, even after the United States split into the Confederacy and the Empire, they fought over the Panama Canal, but the Confederacy was ridiculously eliminated from the competition.

The result was the annihilation of the Confederate leadership in the Holy Kingdom’s Blitzkrieg. The Holy Kingdom had no interest in restoring the world economy from the beginning, nor in taking over the Panama Canal.

Since the Holy Kingdom believed that it was self-sufficient in what it needed and that if it was lacking it could just import from the empire, control of the Panama Canal naturally passed to the empire.

The empire sought to regain influence in Central and South America, starting with the Panama Canal. It was a short-term plan to at least rebuild trade with Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Venezuela and thereby regain economic power.

“Distress signal? Are we under attack?”

“Yes. I heard they are being attacked by ants.”

“ant?”

“yes.”

I remembered the Holy Kingdom warning last year that ants and spiders would run rampant when spring came, and that we had to launch an extermination operation.

“What do ants gain by attacking the Panama Canal?”

“yes?”

In the Holy Kingdom, it was warned that ants were forming a considerable level of society.

“If the ants had developed a high-level society, they wouldn’t have just moved. There must have been a reason for them to attack the Panama Canal.”

“······.”

“······.”

“······.”

The aides, staff, and secretaries were unable to answer Dan Brown’s sudden question: Why did the ants attack?

Should I give you the Holy Kingdom case? Or the New York case?

It was reported that the reason the ant empire attacked New York at the time was to control their population and secure food.

What about the Panama Canal?

There weren’t many people or soldiers there. The story is that it wasn’t because of securing food.

Likewise, it should not have been seen as an attempt to control the population by attacking humans. If they had intended to reduce the number, they should have attacked Colombia.

“Turn the stratospheric reconnaissance craft towards Panama.”

“ancient.”

The Empire also succeeded in building a stratospheric reconnaissance aircraft. In fact, the Empire was the first to research stratospheric reconnaissance aircraft technology.

The large airship technology was originally an imperial technology researched during the United States era. However, the Holy Kingdom developed it to create a very large airship that could operate even in extreme cold.

“We will rescue the troops in Panama using airships and Aegis ships.”

“All right.”

“If it’s a rescue operation, are you thinking of giving up the Panama Canal? There will be a lot of opposition from the military.”

“If we fight the ants in the Panama Canal, the empire will be empty?”

We still didn’t have enough troops. We were recruiting clone troops, but it would take more time to recruit 100,000 units and deploy them.

“First of all, we don’t know the ants’ goals. What they want? We need to know why they attacked. If the military complains, tell them to come up with an alternative.”

“yes.”

The Empire’s rescue operation was swift. Fortunately, the ants did not pursue and kill the humans who escaped on their boats.

[The escape operation was successful.]

[Most survivors appear to have suffered from PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder).]

I wondered why the ants didn’t attack the escapees, but I quickly forgot about it. It was because of the footage sent back by the stratospheric airship that was reconnoitering the Panama Canal.

“What do you think the ants are doing?”

“A dam? No, it looks like they’re building a bridge.”

At the same time, more than ten bridges were being built. The thin lines crossing the canal were clearly bridges.

“Are you saying that they occupied the canal area to build a bridge?”

Building more than ten bridges at once means moving a lot at the same time.

after-

Let’s say that’s true.

So what kind of work requires so many legs?

Dan Brown swallowed a headache pill for his nagging headache.

“It would be difficult to check the surroundings with a reconnaissance aircraft, right?”

“yes.”

Stratospheric reconnaissance was not a panacea, as it was difficult to detect ants moving in the jungle.

“What does the Colombian government say?”

“No response.”

“No response? Suddenly?”

“Yes. When I asked about the ants’ movements, there was no response after that.”

You answered everything else well, but then you lost contact after asking about ants? That’s not something an alien would do.

“Where is the local source?”

“Contact has been lost.”

We lost contact with our informant who had been sent to check the area near the bridge the ants were building. We had no idea what was going on.

Trade with Southeast Asian countries was set to resume. And just around the corner from Southeast Asia was India.

More population than China.

A country younger than China.

India.

If we could revive trade that extended to Southeast Asia, India, and Central and South America, we would be one step closer to rebuilding order.

But the ants attacked the Panama Canal, which was essential for rebuilding that order. The ants occupied the Panama Canal area and started building bridges. And they were building more and more bridges.

“How about destroying the bridge?”

The operation to destroy one bridge with a ship-to-ship missile from an Aegis ship was approved.

As the cruise missile blew up the bridge made of dirt and wood, the ants immediately started building more bridges.

Drones could not be sent into the jungle because of the biological EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse), informants would lose contact if they got close, and the Colombian government remained silent.

“It is said that the Colombian ants fought a large-scale war.”

It wasn’t until early May that the ants took over the Panama Canal and built dozens of bridges that it became clear why.

“After a war with the army ants, it appears that the Colombian ants have decided to make way for the army ants.”

“······.”

“······.”

Are the dozens of bridges across the canal meant to send army ants up?

[Army ants are crossing the bridge.]

Army ants in Colombia began to move north across the Panama Canal.

In an instant, northern Panama became prey to army ants, and Costa Rica, famous for San Jose, collapsed in less than ten days.

The cannibals who had taken over Costa Rica also quickly became food for the army ants. The army ants, which moved in numbers of tens of millions, literally chewed up everything and grew in number.

Mutant animals, including a small kingdom of ants native to Costa Rica, began to move north to escape the army ants.

As mutant animals and insects moved north to try to survive, the countries above Costa Rica – Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador – quickly turned into hell.

Army ants slowly advance into Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador, where defenses have collapsed after a swept-over invasion of mutant monsters and insects.

The mutant monsters and insects that ran away to survive ended up becoming the advance guard of the army ants.

If the army ants that had eaten up Costa Rica had multiplied by more than a factor of two, then they would have eaten up Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador, there was no telling how many times they would have multiplied there.

“We have to use nukes before it gets any bigger.”

“The Holy Kingdom said it would not intervene.”

After the declaration of non-intervention by the Holy Kingdom, the Empire began to build nuclear weapons again. The idea of ​​using the newly-created hydrogen bomb was raised.

“Are you suggesting that we use strategic nuclear weapons in the Ring of Fire?”

“It is certain to stimulate the already unstable seismic zone.”

Even without that, major cities in California had been devastated by an earthquake. Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand were all in chaos, so using Mt (megaton-level) strategic nuclear weapons in Central and South America was a dangerous idea.

But the military and hardliners thought differently. Even if they couldn’t say it out loud, Costa Rica was now finished. Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador were also effectively finished.

Those who were not eaten by mutant monsters and insects would surely die when the army ants came in. What if an earthquake or volcano erupted in a country that was already ruined?

On the contrary, it was a good thing. After all, if the volcano erupted and spread ash and dust, it could wipe out all the mutant monsters, insects, and even army ants at once.

A heated debate ensued, and a vote was held on whether to use hydrogen bombs to stop the army ants.

“The use of the hydrogen bomb has been approved.”

The Empire decided that it had to stop the terrible chain of chaos before it could spread to North America. Even if it meant a tragic loss of life, it had to happen outside the Empire.

One day in mid-May.

Six strategic nuclear bombs created a huge mushroom cloud, and the army ants advancing toward Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador, as well as the mutant monsters and insects trying to escape the army ants, were instantly melted.

And the next day.

Kururururung-

Colombia’s Nevado El Luiz volcano erupted.

Urrrrrr-

Earthquakes hit three places at the same time: Matias Romero, Baja Calafia and Mexico City.

“Volcanic eruptions have drastically reduced ant colonies and army ant populations in Colombia.”

“Fighting between Mexican cartels has reportedly broken out in the wake of a series of earthquakes.”

Mexico was essentially a coalition of cartels. The balance of power between the cartels was shattered by the earthquake, and a fight for dominance began.

The northward advance of mutant monsters and insects, the emergence of army ants, the use of strategic nuclear bombs, and even a cartel war following earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

People in Central and South America began to move north again. Refugees numbering in the millions began to pour into Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.

It didn’t matter much to the empire in the East whether refugees flocked to the ruined California and the Confederacy or not.

“Texas is experiencing a series of earthquakes exceeding magnitude 5.5.”

“A magnitude 7 earthquake struck California.”

The chain of earthquakes that a few scientists had warned of became a reality, but the Empire was in the East, so it had nothing to worry about. As long as Yellowstone did not erupt or an earthquake struck the East, who would care what happened to the West or the South?

But things took a strange turn.

“The fresh guys are flocking in.”

“This is your chance. Catch them all.”

The influx of millions of fresh meats to Texas’ cannibals, who were fighting and competing for supremacy.

Given the nature of cannibals, who grow stronger the more they eat, this free(?) prey was simply a thank you. This was also the case for cannibals in New Mexico, Arizona, and California.

Cannibals who had been rolling around the border as low-level cannibals rose to mid-level cannibals in just a few days, and cases of class reversals began to occur more frequently.

In the Confederate territory, where there were only a few cannibals and vampires left, a new wind began to blow in the Confederate States of America, which had been keeping each other in check.

“How long will we remain divided and at odds with one another? Will we forget the Confederate ideal of creating a new order and collapse like this?”

The newly promoted cannibals and vampires, who had risen to the ranks of the middle and upper ranks, called for the reestablishment of the Confederacy. And as the powers that be began to support them, the Confederacy began to reunite.

The Western region, including California, was also experiencing the emergence of new powers.

The West, once swept away by Director Yu and swept away by Maru, which had been a battleground between the Confederacy and the Empire, had been cleared of gangs and cartels.

While the big cities that were once filled with criminals collapsed, the small towns and villages away from the big cities were places where people could live stably, such as California, Oregon, Washington, and Iowa.

But a series of earthquakes has devastated the infrastructure, and a steady stream of refugees from the south are moving north along the coast, giving rise to a resurgence of gangs and cartels.

A world of death where gangs and cartels fight, vigilantes and criminal organizations fight, and hordes of rats and mutated monsters take advantage of the gaps to prey on people.

In the western region, many people began to awaken as power users, and they began to hate the Confederacy and the Empire.

“A nuclear bomb exploded?”

“Yes.”

“You fucking bastards, you knew the ring of fire would explode when you nuked it?”

“You damn Yankee bastards!”

The Confederacy was resurrected, an empire in the East that was hated by the West.

‧

‧

‧

And there was another problem.

[It has been discovered that army ants, mutant monsters, and insects produce many offspring.]

Artificial intelligence Diana reported that she had discovered something near where the strategic nuclear device had fallen. Maru grabbed the back of his neck after watching the video footage.

“Ha- This is driving me crazy-”

It was a backlash that caused the numbers to suddenly decrease after being hit by a nuke.

furthermore.

Kurrururur-

The earthquake that struck Texas was moving northward, gradually increasing in intensity.