Rust - Chapter 968



Only Krnovel

Rust [RUST] – Episode 968

It seemed a little bluish in late May, but as June came to an end, the world suddenly turned bright blue.

“Damn it. Let me borrow your core armor. It’s just an exosuit.”

“Stop talking nonsense, Sam. The core armor is top secret. If it breaks down while we’re hunting, we won’t be able to recover it, and then it’ll be self-destructive. Can you handle that?”

A small but powerful one that explodes. If such a situation occurred during hunting, you would have to move away at least 100 meters, but that was impossible.

Even that was only possible when wearing an exosuit, it was different when I took off my broken core armor and ran away.

In order to survive with bare body without armor, you had to open the distance by at least 300m. If you hold it as long as possible, within 10 seconds. Even with a body enhancement, that was difficult.

Sam, who was full of greed for equipment, only frowned at Michael’s words and didn’t respond. Because what he said was true.

The core armor itself was top secret, but so was the exosuit. It had an assistant AI in charge of control, new batteries including nuclear batteries, and moving parts that were well beyond the second or third generation.

The exosuits produced after breaking through the singularity were not for distribution. So the ones distributed to the public were the second and third generation exosuits.

Even though it was the 2nd generation, the Imperial Army still used it for outer defense. The 3rd generation was actually the main machine used by the Imperial Army.

“Then you should have at least given me a good battery.”

“Batteries are also confidential. If they were to be released, there would be a lot of people selling them and stealing them.”

It was a situation where they were procuring items so that rumors would spread that they had replaced the batteries with new ones instead of new ones. In urban areas, there was strong security, but it was different when they went hunting.

In a harsh environment where only short-range communication was possible, other humans were just as dangerous as monsters. Originally, there were four of them: Sam and Michael.

I lost one on my first day as a hunter, and before I could make it past two weeks I lost another. That’s how we became a duo.

“If I get my hands on this, I’ll have to increase the coil gun’s firepower.”

“Didn’t you decide to install a stealth module?”

“What’s the point of hiding if you get caught by the smell? It’s better to just increase your firepower.”

“If you increase the firepower with the coil gun, the battery will run out.”

“I guess I should carry extra batteries.”

“I’m still pulling the exosuit around on a cart, so let’s add a battery to it?”

The machine that Sam and Michael use is about level 2.5. They are serious about modifications and have dismantled the exosuit. They have put a lot of personal taste into it.

As a result, the operating time was cut in half, and since it became an exosuit that was full of personal taste, it was impossible to sell it used at a fair price.

As expected, I had no choice but to pay off my mortgage, and hunting monsters became something I absolutely had to do.

Kaaaak!

Caw!

When I raised my head, the two crows circling in the sky were changing their movements. They were flying in a figure eight instead of a circle.

“Found it.”

“What distance?”

Sam watched the crows’ movements. They quickly repeated the figure eight, then the circle ten times. Then the figure eight, then the circle ten times.

“One. Two. Three. Four… Ten. 800m.”

“Half a mile? Okay. Let’s go from here.”

Even the wolves pulling the carts skillfully untied the rings hanging from their shoulders.

Krrrrrr- (Everyone gather together-)

Four wolves gathered around the alpha wolf, their tails raised, like trained soldiers.

“The wind blows this way.”

“I smelled something.”

Sam and Michael were armed with exosuits and grabbed battery packs in less than ten seconds.

“Okay guys.”

“Let’s do it like before.”

Woof-

Woof woof woof-

The two people lowered their face shields at the wolf’s low and honest answer.

“Just give it a go.”

“We will finish it.”

Woof-

Five wolves disappeared into the tall bushes.

[Let’s go too.]

[okay.]

The HUD (Head-Up Display) quickly began to fill in a map of the surrounding area. As the wolves ran, the sensors on their collars mapped out the surrounding terrain.

Five blue dots spread out to the left and right near the target, and an aerial image appeared in one corner.

The footage was taken from a camera carried by crows. The crows lowered their altitude and established a data connection.

Plants also mutated slightly, making long-distance communication difficult in dense forests. Although it was not as severe as the biological EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse) that occurs when mutant monsters gather, communication failures in dense forests were common.

Kaaaaaaah!

Knock!

Not there!

Over there!

The wolves changed direction without a sound. And the camera on the wolf’s collar filmed the prey. At the same time, Sam and Michael cursed at the image that appeared on the HUD.

[SHIT!]

[FUCK!]

[You’re like a bunch of crazy crow chicks!]

[I told you to find suitable prey!]

Shiriririt!

The footage captured by the wolf showed two giant rattlesnakes, which appeared to be a male and female pair.

[Michael, that one looks like a rattlesnake? Why is there a rattlesnake here?]

[A snake and a rattlesnake are mating? Are these guys getting married? What should I call this? Do snakes do that too?]

The wolves began to herd two snakes that were probably about 10 meters long. The wolves themselves were about the size of a small car, but they were still big snakes.

[What the hell do I know? Snakes weren’t on the hunting list.]

[The stones are crow chicks! They asked for dirty things because they were not dangerous.]

Snakes were expensive prey. Their scales and skin were expensive, as were their teeth and venom sacs. Even their meat was famous as a delicacy.

But there is a reason why it is expensive. The viper was a monster known for being dangerous. The combination of fangs and venom that could penetrate even the most armored of animals was so dangerous that even professional hunters would die in an instant if they made a mistake.

[Should I leave?]

[It’s too late. The wolves have started to drive, so if you fall back now, it’s dangerous for the wolves.]

The moment the venomous snake, nearly 10 meters long, turned its back on me, all I could hear was a call to use the wolf as bait and run away.

[Let’s catch it.]

[What about coal?]

[With special bullets, straight away, without any restraint.]

[Okay. Get in position.]

This is what happened. I gave up on the leather and decided to hold on.

[I’m on the left.]

[okay.]

Sam moved to the left and Michael to the right. As the two men entered the crossfire position and gave the signal, the wolves, who had been threatening as if they were aiming for the head of a snake, stepped aside.

Shuriririk-

Shhh-

As if not wanting to let go of the wolves, the two snakes split into left and right sides. The coil gun’s signature gunshot sound erupted.

Papapapapapak

Tushushushushush

The sound of electromagnetic force being applied to a caseless bullet. The gun barrel, aimed by the fire control device, hit the heads of vipers and rattlesnakes accurately.

[Good!]

[Got it!]

Sam and Michael both shouted at the same time as they saw her entering so neatly and cleanly.

Ting-

Tiddidding-

The joy of hitting the target was short-lived. The special bullet for giant monsters hit the snake monster’s head, but failed to penetrate.

[What?]

[······.]

Even though it was a 7.62mm caliber, it was a special bullet for giant monsters that had a power that surpassed that of a 12.7mm bullet. You didn’t even flinch after hitting it dozens of times with that outrageous thing?

[Are you a bad person!]

[Fuck! No way! This is a genuine product purchased from the association!]

The snakes that had been shot shook their heads as if they were trying to rip off a fly that had landed on them. The two people who were so distracted by the shaking of their heads did not see the snakes’ bodies converging into an S shape.

And that was deadly. The snake, curled up in an S shape, stretched out in a straight line. As the 10-meter-tall snake monster stretched out with determination, the distance of about 100 meters was shortened in an instant as if it were jumping in place.

The sound of air being pierced.

A space narrowed by the speed of Mach.

The snake cleverly did not open its mouth until the very end.

Too—ta—

The coilgun’s muzzle shook and Sam and Michael screamed.

[Eww!]

[Fuck!]

In an instant, the snake that had come right up to my nose opened its mouth.

Kwajik!

The moment his mouth closed, the reactive armor of his modified exosuit exploded. Boom! The snake’s mouth, which had been closed, opened again.

Sam’s exosuit, blasted by the explosive reactive armor, hurriedly got into position.

The snake, licking its lips and frowning, stared at Sam, as if a thorn had been lodged in its mouth as the reactive armor exploded.

simplicity and honesty!

Unlike Sam’s exosuit, which escaped with the reactive armor, Michael’s was different. When the rattlesnake bit Michael, it was the thick armor that was embedded in its fangs.

Michael’s exosuit, with its multi-layered armor peeling off in an instant, leaving only the flesh falling out of the snake’s mouth.

[Die!]

Puhwaaaaak-

Michael bit the glove shell and fired a Javelin missile at the rattlesnake’s head, which was momentarily dazed.

bang!

In that brief moment, the rattlesnake shook its head and avoided a direct hit. The Javelin missile, which could easily penetrate 100mm of armor, only caused a small slash.

If he had been hit in the head, he would have had a chance, but he had dodged, so there was no answer. Michael tried to show off with the empty Javelin launcher, but the rattlesnake’s eyes looked down at him as if it were impossible.

A sound heard from somewhere.

♬~ ♪~

Michael’s mind was shaken by the sound of something shaking.

Fear? Numbness? Dizziness?

♪~ ♫~

Blink

Michael gritted his teeth and blinked to regain his senses. He blinked just once, and the gaping maw of a snake was right before his eyes.

[Eww!]

His body didn’t move. It was as if he was under anesthesia. He could hear the strange sound of the snake’s mouth opening wide as if it was about to swallow Michael in one bite.

Crunch!

A sound like an apple being cut. The rattlesnake’s head was cut off along with a sound that passed like an auditory hallucination heard just before death.

uh?

A black line passed through the tail, which was still shaking fiercely despite its head being cut off.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬–

The buzzing sound in his head disappeared and his stiff body began to move. The sensors didn’t pick up anything, but Michael’s eyes felt the ripples in space.

The rattlesnake’s dismembered ripples felt like they were jumping towards the viper on the left. And for a moment, the snake’s head, which had been wrapped tightly around Sam, split left and right.

[Eww!]

Michael felt a sense of affection for Sam’s screams coming from the communicator. At the same time, the rippling space disappeared into the bushes.

Michael shouted in that direction.

[Thank you for saving me!]

‧

‧

‧

Maru shrugged his shoulders at the gratitude he heard behind him.

Sometimes, when I was inspecting the field here and there, I helped out hunters who seemed dangerous, but only about half of the time I heard them thank me.

Half of them were cautious because of their ownership of the prey, and the other half were just grateful for the help. It’s really true that the probability of gratitude is 50/50 even though they are citizens of the Holy Kingdom…

‘I guess that’s because money is involved.’

Ki-soon’s cynical reaction came to mind.

Perhaps because of this, even though it had only been a month since monster hunting was permitted, there were frequent accidents and incidents. There were no CCTVs, and the tactical camera footage was deleted or turned off, making it difficult to grasp the situation of the accident.

There were also calls for mandatory video recording, but no agreement was reached as it only became noisy due to claims of protecting hunting know-how.

Alternatively, they released crows and wolves. Since crows and wolves have already begun to taste the taste of capital, they can be connected to side jobs(?) and the government can manage the cameras of crows and wolves.

Search and reconnaissance are essential for effective hunting, and military crows and wolves were proven resources.

As hunting with crows and wolves produced overwhelming results, the number of hunters who naturally accepted crows and wolves as team members increased.

Likewise, conflicts between hunters began to decrease, as evidence emerged of crows and wolves taking pictures.

‘It seems like the position has been somewhat secured.’

I went down there after hearing that there was a lot of damage caused by snakes with special abilities, and I was able to find it right away. It was thanks to the crow’s tip.

‘What should I do?’

How about we hear back?

Maru’s footsteps headed towards the nearby stronghold.