Rust - Chapter 99



Only Krnovel

RUST -99

What the heck is that? It’s scary. What on earth did the helicopter do wrong?

Kim Yang was momentarily stunned as he watched the helicopter tearing apart in real time. Why are you doing that? Huh? You didn’t say you were going to bring gas, did you?

Maru, who had ripped the oil drum from the side of the helicopter with a thud-thud- sound, was stroking his sword with a satisfied smile. The gray-white blade and the oil on his face seemed to shine somehow.

ah-

Ms. Kim quickly turned her head.

‘It’s crazy. Yeah- it’s crazy. Really.’

It was Ms. Kim, flapping her palms and fanning herself.

Maru, who had torn off the side of the World Group helicopter and pulled out the entire oil drum, sprayed the oil with a proud expression. Meanwhile, the black lumps that had gathered here and there began to squirm as they were hit by the sprayed oil.

Miss Kim silently sprinkled oil. I wondered what she was dissatisfied with, but looking at her expression, it didn’t look like she was dissatisfied.

“Spray it over there. I’ll spray it over here. Ah- And burn Director Choi’s body over there too.”

“···Okay, I understand.”

The floor where oil had been poured left an impression on the traces of explosions all around the inside of the building.

“Ah- Shut up-”

[···]

[?]

[■■■!!!]

“······?”

“No. Not you.”

“······.”

Can’t you hear, Miss Kim? I think she feels something, judging from the way she’s shaking her head.

“Don’t you hear something like that?”

“I can’t hear anything, but I feel a little dizzy.”

“How dizzy are you?”

“It was like something was buzzing.”

“Really? Go over there. Over there. Are you dizzy there too?”

“Huh? Is it okay here?”

Kim Yang seemed to have question marks and exclamation marks floating above her head. So, she said this to people within a certain distance. When she blew it up, it multiplied into many? It wasn’t good for the pieces to be separated and express themselves. It meant that they multiplied as many times as the number of pieces.

‘Is it a planarian? The cut ones multiply.’

“I guess I’ll have to burn everything from there to the surrounding area. I’ll have to sprinkle plenty of oil so it doesn’t go out quickly.”

“······.”

“I don’t know how far the pieces would have gone when it exploded. It’s really unsettling.”

Kim Yang nodded in agreement after hearing Maru’s words. Without the suicide vest and detonator, it would have been difficult with just the Cremoa. More than anything, thinking about that crazy regenerative power definitely made me feel uneasy.

“Once you’ve sprayed everything, check around. I’ll be here checking to see if it’s all burning. Don’t go too far. Okay? If something seems strange, just shoot and see.”

Nodding- Yang Kim nodded and put on her optical cloak. The broken part looked a bit distorted, but overall, it still looked usable.

Maru, who was watching where Kim Yang had disappeared, lit a flare. Thump- As he threw the flare inside the oil-soaked building, flames began to shoot up in all directions. Starting with the first floor of the Yamatsuki New Drug building, the surrounding empty lot was engulfed in flames.

[■■■■■■!!!]

[!!!!]

[······]

The mental waves poured out from all sides as if they were being squeezed. Maru poured oil on the weak fire regardless. The space finally became quiet after burning for over two hours.

‘It’s quiet even though the fire is burning.’

The lobby on the first floor of the Yamatsuki Pharmaceutical headquarters was almost completely burned down, and the empty lot in front was also completely burned down, but there was not a single person in sight. It was strange that the fire alarm should have gone off, but no one came out.

[There is no one around. There is no sign of movement.]

“Come back first. There’s something strange here.]

======

======

After the flames that had burned the surrounding area died down, the two began to explore the building. They did everything they could, whether it was monsters or wheels. If things got worse after doing this, then so be it. Since this was something that would happen in a ruined neighborhood anyway, there was nothing they could do.

There were no people, so what could possibly happen? Even if there were, since we were going to North or South America anyway, there was no reason to worry about it.

‘By the way, why can’t I contact the president or the bodyguard?’

Kwajik-

Maru, who had stepped on the debris that was crumbling like a lump of coal, looked around. Was there a secret passage nearby like Takaichi Pharmaceutical? If he couldn’t find an elevator that went down from the headquarters building, he would have to go back to the Donohue Hospital where Ki-sun was. It was pitch dark when he thought about going back on his bike.

Kim Yang, who was looking in the opposite direction, made a hand signal. A signal that the elevator had been found. There were signs of fire on the elevator door, but it was still working. It meant that the emergency power was still coming in.

“But you need a key to go down to the basement.”

Like in the Takaichi Pharmaceutical Laboratory, a key was needed to go down to the basement.

“Control room over there.”

Since it was a control room, it was worth a visit. At least the control room had a main control center, so I could watch CCTV footage or recorded footage.

Knock- knock-

“Hey. Is anyone inside?”

Boom-Boom-

Clank- clank-

“It’s locked.”

“Get out.”

Kim Yang blew away the iron door of the control room with C4. There was no trace of people or infected people in the white dust that rose up.

“There’s none here!”

“There’s none here either.”

Kim Yang, whose experience searching through the Takaichi Pharmaceutical control room was helpful, quickly figured out what was going on. She quickly changed something like a fuse, pulled various levers, and pressed a button. The large screen lit up.

“From here to there, the screen is the first floor CCTV. Above that is the second floor and up. Below that is the second basement level.”

The CCTVs on the first floor were all black except for two. They were either melted by the fire or something happened before. The basement 1 and 2 were a mess, probably because the water came in during the tsunami. Perhaps because the area is higher than Takaichi Pharmaceutical, there seemed to be little damage from the flooding except for the basement 1 and 2.

“OK, I’ll check the recorded footage. Look for the master key and see if there’s a separate elevator that goes down to the basement. Oh- and check if you can control the elevator we saw earlier to go down.”

“Okay.”

I rewinded the footage recorded on the CCTV on the first floor. The screen was dark for a long time. Seeing that it was dark for almost a day, I thought it had been blown away when the electromagnetic waves exploded.

After a long rewind, the screen lit up and it was a tsunami coming in. The water was coming in but no one was seen evacuating. It was said that people had left before the tsunami arrived.

bang!!!

The sound of a bomb exploding as if the safe had been found shook the control room. A moment later, the triumphant voice of Ms. Kim was heard.

“I found the master key!”

“Hey- good job!”

I checked the footage from four days ago, but no one was seen.

“Didn’t all the people evacuate when the earthquake hit?”

“Could it have been so?”

That could have been it. I had a strange feeling and wanted to check, but wasn’t this the way to check? Maru smacked his lips.

“Is this the only elevator?”

“This is the only one that goes down. I couldn’t find anything else.”

When I put the master key in and turned it, the button to go down in the elevator was activated.

[The door closes.]

[Going down.]

Wheeing – The elevator descends with a low motor noise.

Unlike Takaichi Pharmaceuticals, I thought we had gone down to about 5 or 6 floors underground, but the elevator stopped. As Maru nodded, Kim Yang put on her stealth robe and hid under the shadows of the corner floor.

Ding-

[The door opens.]

Maru, who was tense, leaned against the wall and slightly extended his sword. The outside was reflected in the gray-white shining blade. The normal lights, not the emergency lights, were on, so there were traces of explosions and bullet holes here and there. The fact that the lights were on meant several things.

At Maru’s signal, a rippling shadow moved out of the elevator. Just before the elevator doors closed, Maru also took a stealthy step. The bullet shells on the floor and the blood stains here and there told us that there had been a fierce battle.

‘It’s mostly hardened blood.’

If the president, the bodyguard, and the helicopter pilot had leaked it, this wouldn’t have happened. Could they have gone down the other way? There’s also a possibility that they entered through a secret entrance like Takaichi Pharmaceutical.

“Boss- Boss- Please respond.”

[Chiiik- chic-]

Even after going down to the basement, there is no connection? There are hardened bloodstains here and there, but there is no body. Did someone else clean it up?

‘huh?’

A small buckle was lying near the bloodstain. It was a belt buckle. As the buckle with clear scratch marks here and there came into view, other things began to appear. A wristwatch, a gun, and a magazine. Metallic items and parts of urethane insoles were scattered here and there.

‘Prepare flash grenade.’

Maru sent a signal.

“You brought two shots and used them both?” Ms. Kim moved along the wall, planting tear gas and grenades in front of her, thinking she was a chicken instead of a pheasant.

‘huh?’

The wall was a bit odd. Unlike the smooth upper part, there were traces of damage concentrated from about calf height down.

Kim Yang crouched down and examined the marks. It seemed as if something sharp had gnawed at the wall. Would marks like these be left if a wall was scratched with a chisel or something like that?

Whoosh-

puck!

Something that had jumped out from the corner and was skewered by the butcher’s knife.

“What the hell kind of rat is this big?”

“Bigger than my forearm? It’s fucking huge.” Maru muttered in disbelief as he took back the knife. Kim Yang looked at the wall again after seeing that. There were marks of gnawing on the wall from one end to the other.

‘Uh. So. This.’

A rat gnawed through a concrete wall? From here to there? Do rats gnaw through concrete? Even if they gnaw through wood, what about the concrete finish? If they gnawed through all of this······

A drop of blood formed at the tip of the drawn blade and fell to the floor. A single drop of blood fell to the floor. A fair amount of blood came out from where the blade was drawn. The scent of blood began to disperse into the air.

A small sound was heard from afar. Miss Kim shouted with a start.

“Gas! Gas!”

“Gas? Why?”

At Kim Yang’s shout, Maru took off his gas mask from his waistband and put it on.

Jji-jjik jjik jjik

Crackle squeak squeak

“Fuck—!”

Before Maru could even tell her to throw it, Kim Yang threw a tear gas grenade at the swarm of rats that were swarming around her.

Boom! Pushshshshsh!

As tear gas was sprayed, rats, in a fit of frenzy, scattered in all directions.

Crunch- crunch-

puck-

Maru, who was cutting, chopping, and kicking the rat, looked around. The white smoke from the tear gas canisters filled the entire area. ‘If Kim Yang’s PTSD explodes, he’s screwed.’ He couldn’t kill him, so Maru’s nerves became tense.

[Exposure to toxic gases has been detected, and forced exhaust and air circulation are initiated.]

[Wear the oxygen mask provided according to the manual and keep it on until the air purification is complete······]

[Repeat.]

[Exposure to toxic gases is detected, and forced exhaust and air circulation are initiated.

[According to the manual······until the end······]

Tear gas began to be sucked out quickly through holes in the wall and vents in the ceiling from the ventilation system. There was a distorted space in one corner of the wall.

“Hey. Are you okay?”

“‧‧‧Huh? It’s okay.”

Kim Yang answered hesitantly. There was no major problem. She was of sound mind and in a good mood… She was fine.

“You were a bit like that with fog and smoke and all that stuff.”

“······.”

Kim Yang was also surprised. If it were like before, I would have had a seizure. Is it because of Baekjeong? Kim Yang stared blankly at the floor from inside the robe. As expected of Baekjeong. Nothing is impossible, right?

“Wow- I’m so glad.”

Maru muttered as he wiped the blood off the knife. Kim Yang nodded without realizing it, feeling goosebumps run down her spine for a moment.

Bam-

It was a heavy, thumping sound, the sound of Maru kicking a dead rat with his foot.

“There the wheels were noisy, and here a swarm of monster rats are running around? It’s ridiculous. If we had encountered this, it would have been the end for the boss and the bodyguard.”

I felt like I would have died without even being able to pick up my bones. Would it have been different if it had been through a different entrance?

“I told you to prepare flash grenades. Why did you suddenly use tear gas?”

“I’ve finished writing it all.”

“What? Then what’s left?”

“Three grenades, one tear gas grenade, one claymore, and plenty of C4.”

Thousands? No, more than that. It didn’t seem like a small number. It seemed impossible to stop them with a few grenades. Tear gas or flash grenades would be more appropriate. After the wheels and rats, what’s next? A cat or a dog? A pigeon? A crow? A snake?

“Has the archipelago gone crazy?”

“?”

In an instant, purified air poured out from the ventilation shaft that had sucked up the tear gas.

“Let’s keep going. We’ve come this far, so we need to get some neutralizers.”

If the boss is alive, I’ll contact him. If he’s dead, there’s nothing I can do.

The smell of tear gas had seeped into their clothes, so the rats didn’t come near Maru and Kim. Even if a few came, they were quickly cut down and left.