Rust - Chapter 976



Only Krnovel

RUST -976

“The winged ants came?”

[Yes. It’s a giant ant.]

Having wings meant that there were princess ants and male ants.

Maru was a little taken aback. Do you know what exile is?

“Are you sure about your exile? Do you know what exile means?”

a

[It’s hard to tell whether this is exile or surrender with the pheromone translator. In any case, what’s certain is that they’re asking to be spared.]

“No. We’ll talk about that later. How did you get here? There’s a crow scout and a magpie area.”

There were wolves, rats, and an ant kingdom. You avoided all of them and came to Vladiak Tower? How?

[It seems that the princess ant has the ability to conceal itself over a certain range.]

“Wide area stealth?”

[It’s hard to call this stealth, but it seems to be an ability that escapes the senses. That’s probably why our guys didn’t detect it. However, it was detected by biometric and motion sensors.]

The area around Vladislav Tower was covered with sensors, so it was immediately detected.

“What is this···.”

[What are you going to do first?]

To be honest, it was a bit disconcerting for Maru. The Ant Princess brought along a guard or a potential husband.

“Do other people know?”

[Not yet. Should I tell other people?]

PD was in Korea doing missionary work targeting Japanese refugees and Koreans. Erika was still recovering from the shock from last time, so she was keeping her psychometry and lifestyle to a minimum.

“Yes. The giant ant princess is either going into exile or surrendering. Tell the nurse to bring the pheromone translator. Tell Ms. Kim to stay in her seat.”

[Okay, I’ll do that.]

“Hey. Good luck.”

[······.]

Looking at the information gathered by Hood, AI Samantha, and the informants at the Imperial Trade Office, something felt uneasy.

It doesn’t feel dangerous, but it feels a bit uneasy. It feels similar to when the cannibals terrorized the Imperial Parliament, but it doesn’t feel that way.

‘It’s ambiguous.’

It was a pity that Maru’s sense of crisis became largely useless as he was able to handle death. In any case, it left a lingering feeling of discomfort in the empire.

‘I guess that means the ant princess who just came could be the cause.’

To find out if it was true or not, it was best to meet him in person. A white, shining special airship was headed to Detroit.

‧

From late September to early October, the lowest temperature began to drop below zero, and in November, it began to hover around -20 to -30 degrees Celsius.

While traveling from the floating city to Detroit, the artificial intelligence Diana reported the situation.

[The surrounding ant kingdoms have entered full-scale hibernation. The ant labor force will be difficult to use until next spring.]

“Is tunnel construction difficult?”

[Since they have entered the population control phase, it seems they intend to farm and raise livestock during the winter.]

“We will provide you with all the food you need.”

[Okay. Next is a report on the hunting grounds. It is said that the mutated monsters have disappeared in the northern region as the temperature has dropped to minus 30 degrees.]

“Have the hunters closed for business?”

[yes.]

“They say they’ll form teams of hunters to guard the area and pay them minimum wage and a bonus for their actions.”

[I will forward this to the Hunters Association.]

In fact, insects and mutant monsters began hibernating, and most birds began migrating to the warm south.

It had already been several years since we experienced the freezing winters caused by abnormal weather. The mutant monsters and people were now adapting to winter.

Even though it was still daytime and the temperature was around -5 degrees Celsius, the giant ants were not digging into the ground even though the temperature quickly dropped below -20 degrees Celsius as soon as the sun went down.

“Are you here?”

“Yeah. It’s nice to see you after so long. Is everything okay?”

The nurse bowed her head deeply to Maru’s greeting and answered quietly.

“yes.”

“Take care of me today.”

“Yeah-”

“Have you ever talked to the ants?”

“Yes- the Ant Princess and the Guard? That’s what they were. It’s hard to translate exactly, but they said they came here because they were told they could survive.”

“Who told you?”

“It seems like there are loose connections between the ants. So how did they get connected to our colony in the southeast?”

“Hmm. If we don’t accept you, you’ll freeze to death. What kind of guts did you have to come here?”

“I’m going to freeze to death anyway.”

“Right. It’s too late to start preparing for winter now. Let’s hear what other people think before we go.”

Na Ju-yeon, Kim Yang, Hood, and Ki-sun appeared on the monitor.

“Everyone heard the situation? What do you think?”

[You have to accept it.]

Na Ju-yeon, with her dark circles under her eyes like a lesser panda and her sparkling eyes, asserted herself actively.

[These are giant ants. They are somewhat radiation resistant and also fire resistant. Through them, we can expand the gene pool of our ants.]

[Wouldn’t that be a headache? If you call her Princess Ant. Hehe – what if she’s a smart girl and says she’s going to take revenge on the empire?]

[The Empire seems unaware that the Princess Ant has escaped. However, if we accept the giant ants and all of our ants grow larger through the giant ant genes, there is a risk of misunderstandings with the Empire.]

Kim Yang was wary of the Ant Princess’s revenge after she ascended to the throne, and Hood warned of the risk of later running into trouble with the Empire.

“misunderstanding?”

[Yes. If our ants grow larger overall, the Empire might think that we are the ones who unleashed the giant ants on New York.]

Even if that weren’t the case, Hood said that if the ants in the Holy Kingdom suddenly grew in size, there’s a good chance that they found out that they had taken in an escaped giant ant and introduced the giant ant’s genes.

There is a high probability that the Empire will hold a grudge because the Holy Kingdom accepted a giant ant that the Empire had subjugated.

“The Empire will also study giant ants and mutant monsters. We shouldn’t?”

Maru chuckled.

By now, it’s obvious that they’re experimenting with the giant ants they caught.

“Let’s meet the Ant Princess first and then decide. Can you tell me the story now?”

“Huh? Are you talking about now? What you said at the meeting?”

“Uh. Give me a summary.”

[Is it really necessary to do that?]

Maru shook his head at Gisun’s words.

“A princess ant’s brain starts to turn. If it were a properly intelligent organism, it would know why I’m giving that explanation.”

[······.]

If you’re such a stupid bitch that you want to ask for revenge or something like that after hearing my opinion, then there’s nothing left to look at.

The nurse, who had been talking intently with the Ant Princess and the Pheromone Translator, said:

“Ah, again. If you spare my life, I will do whatever you want.”

She wasn’t a stupid girl. She knew her situation well.

“Okay. I’ll give you a seat in the North.”

Giant ants would have been good as porters for hunters, as they could carry loads that were 100 to 300 times their own weight.

“I’ll give you the support you need to survive the winter. Settle down there and work with our hunters.”

As the nurse interpreted Maru’s decision, Princess Ant nodded her head in gratitude.

Kkuruk- kkuruk-

Maru turned around as he saw the princess ant carefully moving her antennae.

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empire.

The senior president and the executive branch, the imperial parliament and the military were in a dilemma.

“It has become too popular.”

“It would be difficult if I said I would become a politician after I was discharged from the military.”

It was good to promote victory and create a hero in order to hide the failure of the early military operations of the regime. However, the popularity of Lieutenant Colonel Leon Bonnard rose to an unexpected level.

“I guess the citizens of the empire were that emotionally unstable.”

“No matter how anxious you are, this craze has gone too far.”

“No way. Are you saying there is some force instigating this?”

“Dan Brown or someone who lost the election this time could do that.”

When I tried to ask the question, things started to take a strange turn.

“Then what should we do?”

“You have to go up to fall. Let’s go up more.”

“What do you mean, let’s raise it more?”

“I’m going to give you another two-rank promotion.”

“You went from captain to lieutenant colonel, and now you’ve been promoted two ranks in just two months? You’ll feel a sense of relative deprivation among the soldiers.”

“Yes. It’s already risky to get promoted by one rank, and then get promoted by two ranks. Then you’ll get a star.”

Should we give a star right from lieutenant colonel to colonel? It was not uncommon for a four-rank promotion to occur during wartime in the United States.

“The idea is to create a feeling of relative deprivation.”

“And at the same time, he gives the order to attack the Philadelphia Spider.”

Hoo- exclamations came from all over.

“If deprivation is your goal, I don’t think you need to use special promotion. Let’s use exhibition promotion.”

“I think we can discuss formal promotions after we successfully conquer the Philadelphia Spider.”

The idea is not to use a 1~2 rank special promotion, but to use a 2 rank exhibition promotion.

“That’s certainly true. I don’t think you’ll think about getting discharged from the military and entering politics right away after receiving your star in your mid-30s.”

“A star at such a young age. This will be the first time since World War II.”

The youngest general ever appointed in the United States was 35, a wartime promotion.

Anyway, since they are both about the same age, the media and the public will be excited.

“It’s a real cold front now. We’ll have to use the armored units on our way to Philadelphia…”

“Yes, that’s it.”

“Hmm – I guess we won’t have much time to use our armored units.”

“And at the same time, what if we let the media know about the situation?”

“If the media reports that a genius commander is using winter to attack even the Philadelphia Spiders···.”

Even if it fails, the losses will be small since the armored units are the main force. Even if it succeeds, it won’t be a problem since he was promoted two ranks during the war.

If it fails, the citizens of the empire who were filled with anticipation and excitement will come to their senses. If it succeeds, it will be a two-class promotion and a full-fledged push to emphasize the foresight of the president, congress, and military.

The new president nodded.

“Let’s do that.”

The increasing static of the future was a specification.

‧

‧

‧

(Lieutenant Colonel Leon Bonnard. Promoted during the war. Tie with the record for youngest general.)

(Same record as General Leslie McNair, who was promoted to the youngest general in World War II at age 35.)

(Why did you decide to promote him two ranks from lieutenant colonel to brigadier general?)

(The genius commander who defeated the giant ants now attacks the monster spiders that have taken over Philadelphia.)

(Operation Winter Offensive begins. Can we stop the mutant monsters targeting the Empire’s rear?)

Den Brown, now a savage, would watch the TV news and frown because he could read the thoughts of those raccoon-like guys.

Judging from the way they played the media, it was a trick to check and protect their own interests at the same time. If Lt. Col. Leon Bonnard was a patriotic soldier, I wouldn’t know, but if you have political sense, you would understand the trick.

‘Not good.’

Dan Brown felt a subtle sense of urgency.

The enthusiastic imperial citizens, the media hailing him as a war hero, and the genius commander and his troops. And then there’s political maneuvering.

‘It’s really not good.’

Even the unit he commanded was the Empire’s most elite force, armed with armored vehicles and exosuits.

“Take care of Lieutenant Colonel Leon Bonnard’s unit.”

[Are you talking about special forces? Okay.]

“And. Can I meet Lieutenant Colonel Leon Bernard in person before the expedition?”

[It’s too dangerous.]

I needed to see what Leon Bernard thought.

“I think it’s worth taking the risk and seeing it at least once.”

[It’s difficult.]

[Surveillance is still strict.]

[It is very dangerous to go outside.]

It was practically a situation close to house arrest. Then, Den Brown met the most popular genius commander in person? I didn’t know how the current administration would react.

‧

‧

‧

The Special Forces Command was abuzz with excitement over the news of the wartime promotions.

“You’ve been promoted two ranks.”

“It’s the same as the youngest general record.”

Leon Bonnard’s eyes were cold as he swept back his golden hair at the voice of the above-mentioned subordinates.

“Don’t be so excited. This is a display promotion.”

The news of the exhibition promotion was first reported and spread by the media? And on top of that, a winter offensive?

“If this operation is successful, even the youngest general can do it.”

“No, that won’t happen. I’ll give you the title of colonel.”

Looking at what you’re doing now, you can see the estimate.

They’ll try to make it last a few years, pretending to give you stars.

It was the first time that it was done in a timely manner because it could have been a problem from the beginning of the regime, but what they are doing now is crossing the line.

“Request supply for tactical nukes. If we’re going to take down the Philadelphia Spider, we’re going to need all available tactical nukes. And all the airships.”

“ancient.”

Then let’s see how it turns out?

Lt. Col. Leon Bonnard. His gaze turned out the window as he was promoted to general.

White snow was painting the world white.