Rust - Chapter 990



Only Krnovel

Rust [RUST] – Episode 990

As I caught the dog, the vines’ movements got better and better. The vines naturally assisted Maru’s movements as if they were learning from artificial intelligence.

“Stay there.”

The vines, which were already moving like an automatic defense system, began to become more sophisticated in their attacks. Their movements became sharper and sharper as they dismembered hundreds of wild dogs with their vine daggers.

With the vines’ automatic response added to Maru’s recognition speed, it was literally like performing martial arts with a whip.

Choaaaak-

They say that if you swing your whip hard enough, you can break the sound barrier, and here’s a picture of a jumping dog disintegrating in midair with the sound of the air being torn apart.

Before the torn dog in midair could even hit the ground, the vines swirling in all directions caused the surrounding pack of dogs to turn red all at once.

From wild dogs as large as wolves to wild dogs the size of motorcycles, dogs that could fight one-on-one with anyone with decent physical ability were instantly turned into chunks of meat.

Krrrrrr- (all at once)

Kwaaaaang-

I gave up on the time difference attack and rushed in at the same time, but there was no blind spot in the dagger vines. More than 40 vines spread out in all directions from under Maru’s feet, and the slaughter was unleashed.

Even the vines that are naturally used to attract attention while the other attacks the hind legs or stomach of a wild dog.

The vines that were already moving freely began to drive away the dogs. It was a bizarre sight to see the floor standing still and the vines that rose from under his feet, slashing at the surrounding area with daggers hanging from them.

Kkieeeeing- (My hind legs-)

Keeeeeeng- (My side hurts-)

The dagger taken from the cannibal was certainly effective. It cut through the hide and muscles of the wild dog, which resisted even monster bullets, like soft butter.

Kkieeeeeng- (Save me-)

Kkeeeengkeung-(ha-surrender-)

The nurse felt a little depressed at the barking of the dogs. It was mentally difficult to watch them being slaughtered so unilaterally.

“Is it very difficult?”

“Yes? No. A little.”

Surrender was not accepted, and begging and whining for help was useless. Maru did not miss a single dog that showed its teeth.

“I- I’m surrendering. I’m asking for my life.”

“I know. If I surrender, won’t they attack me? If I spare their lives, will they be grateful and leave?”

The nurse couldn’t answer Maru’s question. It was just not easy to watch the dogs being slaughtered indiscriminately, even the ones that were curled up with their tails curled up.

“If it’s hard, you don’t have to come starting tomorrow.”

“No, just in case.”

Are you just going to give up like this?

That couldn’t be possible.

The nurse thought that the stray dogs were just dogs at first.

A friend who spends time with people.

Some may have been abandoned and harbor feelings of betrayal and resentment towards humans, but most would have left of their own accord to protect their masters.

‘I’m sure it will be like that.’

If it had become smarter after being infected with the mutant virus, it would have tried to keep its owner out of danger. So it would have gone to the forest where there were no people.

‘Those kids who have become like stray dogs will definitely be able to communicate.’

The nurse didn’t give up.

‘Because a wolf can’t replace a dog.’

Wolves lived in packs. Even if they were friendly with humans, they were essentially wolves and packs. Therefore, in order to live with wolves, a person had to belong to a wolf pack. Wolves did not live in people’s homes.

‘There are many people in the Holy Kingdom who need animal friends they can connect with emotionally.’

Nurses have experienced that dogs and cats are very helpful to people. Among elderly patients, those who raise dogs or cats are more emotionally stable and maintain good health.

Taking care of your health by playing naturally and going for walks together. Also, eating meals at regular times.

From the mutated monster overflow, to the Canadian Free League incident, to the great earthquake, people have seemingly become stronger after enduring various disasters.

It was true that as the hunter economy grew, more and more people began to develop their abilities. However, that strength did not necessarily prove mental strength or psychological stability.

The number of psychiatric and psychological counseling cases was increasing rapidly, and the isolated lives of people without families were gradually increasing.

The one who could provide comfort to such people was a nurse who thought of them as an animal friend.

Kaaaak- (Humans. There are so many idiots-)

The nurse’s brow furrowed.

Not these kids. I mean, kids who can be emotionally healed.

Cackle? Heh heh- (Healing? Heh heh heh.)

The crow sitting on the nurse’s shoulder giggled.

“Be quiet.”

The nurse’s eyes widened as she spoke to the crow.

“Wait a minute. Are you reading my mind right now?”

Caw? (What are you talking about?)

A crow tilting its head.

I could tell that the crow wasn’t lying. It was as if I could just read its mind.

“Don’t even think about shitting on his shoulder. You know what would happen if you couldn’t control your shit and pee in front of him?”

Kaaaak-

A crow is surprised and says, “It’s not a big deal.” Actually, he was just trying to pretend that it was a mistake and poop. But how did he know?

The nurse felt that her powers had become a little stronger. It seemed as if she had gone beyond understanding the crow’s speech to another level.

‧

‧

‧

[Are you a full-on druid?]

Ki-sun, who heard the nurse’s story, gave a one-word evaluation.

“Druid?”

[That’s right. You talk to animals and now you’ve gone beyond that to even communing with them.]

Miss Kim frowned.

[So does that mean I can communicate with wild dogs and cats? Wouldn’t that be dangerous?]

What could be more horrible than communicating with someone you’re supposed to kill? Or, to put it bluntly, communicating with the meat you’re going to eat tonight? That wasn’t exactly right.

[How about doing a detailed examination? We need to check if it is because the ability has become stronger or if there is a change.]

Na Ju-yeon looked at the nurse with a deep gaze.

“Huh? A detailed examination? I’m supposed to go out tomorrow too.”

[Wouldn’t it be dangerous to go straight into the scene? You could be mentally shocked by using the communication. So I think it would be better to do a thorough examination and also train your ability development.]

Although Na Ju-yeon seemed determined not to miss the food, the nurse’s resistance was not easy.

“···Still. I’m going to go tomorrow. I don’t know how long the inspection will take, and I feel like they’ll clear out the entire forest if I’m not there.”

That was it. If I were to do a thorough examination, it would take at least a week, and maybe even a month. Maru wouldn’t be waiting for me in the meantime. If I wanted to talk to stray dogs and cats, I wasn’t doing the examination right now.

“If the person you were in a relationship with dies, it’ll be mentally difficult. Are you okay?”

“We’re not completely connected yet. I think it’ll be okay since we’ve been together for a long time, like crows.”

Kaaaak-

The crow croaked as if to say so.

[By the way, if your communication is strengthened, won’t you eventually become like a real druid? Like seeing what a crow sees. Or hearing what a rat hears.]

[It’s good because it has real-time reconnaissance capabilities. But what if the crow or rat you’ve been communicating with dies? Don’t you get the same shock?]

As Ki-sun and Kim-yang said, it was a necessary ability, but caution was needed.

Kaaaak-

“No. I’m not saying you’ll die. I’m just saying to be careful.”

The nurse soothed him as he raised his voice as if to say, “Is the crow telling you to die?”

“Let’s go together tomorrow as planned.”

But, if you can’t stand it mentally, just go back.

“Thank you. I will be careful.”

‧

‧

‧

Foodduck-

The story of being able to communicate with crows was a fascinating experience. It felt like flying in the sky in a dream. The sensation of feeling the crows’ wings flapping.

It was as if she was dreaming of herself as a crow. It wasn’t clear or vivid yet, but it was definitely like flying in the sky…

At that moment, the crow spotted a pack of wild dogs. The direction was 10 o’clock. The size was between thirty-five and forty. The nurse found out naturally.

“There’s a pack of wild dogs at 10 o’clock. They’re moving this way, and there are about 40 of them.”

“Don’t wait.”

As the nurse said, shortly after, a pack of about 40 wild dogs approached.

Krrrrrr- (This is our territory. Human-)

Krrrrrr- (Get out- now-)

The nurse stepped forward, seeing that he looked like he was going to rush in at any moment.

“This is a forest close to the city. It’s a forest that people have cultivated and a hunting ground for hunters. So why is this your territory?”

The dogs were momentarily confused by the nurse’s words. They didn’t completely fail to understand human speech, but it was mostly word-based. However, they could understand what the female human said.

Kwaaaaang- (Because this is our territory.)

“Does that mean we took away the forest from humans?”

Krrrrrr- (Humans have abandoned the forest. Humans have abandoned us.)

“Humans have never abandoned the forest. And did humans abandon it or did you leave it? It’s not like people abandoned it altogether.”

The dogs that had been growling quietly looked at each other and then at the nurse. It felt somehow warm. I didn’t feel like fighting the nurse.

Krrrrrr- (So you’re telling me to leave this place?)

“This is a hunting ground. If you stay here, you have no choice but to fight humans.”

Kwaaaaang-

Woof woof woof-

Krrrrrrrr-

‘Humans are not to be feared.’ ‘We can fight.’ ‘This is our territory.’ The howling of wild dogs echoed threateningly.

The nurse, oblivious to the threat, opened her backpack.

?

!!!

As the bag of dog food opened, a sweet scent began to spread. A scent that brought back memories from 3-4 years ago.

The wild dogs that had been growling at the nurse suddenly became quiet. One of them licked her nose with his tongue, and the other dogs unconsciously licked their lips.

“This is too close to the city. It’s a hunting ground for hunters. If you go far away, I’ll give you this.”

The nurse groaned and pushed a large sack of food forward. The 20-kilogram bag of food was only a handful for the pack of nearly forty large dogs, but it was enough to bring back memories of the past that the smell brought back.

The abandoned stray dogs asked if they would give up their territory for a handful of food like that. The dogs that left their owners and became stray dogs of their own accord recalled past memories and said they would go back.

The leader of the dogs, who had put an end to such confusion, spoke.

Krrrrrr- (It’s winter. If we leave here, we’ll have to fight over territory. Food is scarce.)

“If you leave, we will feed you during the winter.”

The pack of wild dogs split in two. Some of the dogs left, saying they didn’t need the food given by humans, but they were a minority.

Kwaaaaang- (Humans will betray.)

Grrrrrr- (So how are you going to feed it?)

“Just wait a moment. We keep our promises.”

As a large quantity of feed was airlifted from the airship, the wild dogs looked at each other blankly. A huge amount of feed was quickly piled up, enough for each dog to return several bags of feed.

“There is plenty of sheep, so eat plenty.”

The dogs were out of their minds after eating food for the first time in a long time. The nurse spoke to them.

“By any chance… don’t you want to live with people again?”

The dogs’ tails wagged at the nurse’s words, such as “I want to see my former owner,” or “I don’t want to live with humans again.”

“Really? Let’s find the owner.”

“I will introduce you to a good partner.”

“Hey, it’s okay. The illness has calmed down now.”

“I don’t throw it away or anything because of the bottle.”

The nurse’s ability to communicate was strong even though it was not fully developed.

Maru, who had been watching her chatting away with the dogs, suddenly floated into the air using the vines.

“······.”

It was a floor facing the direction where the wild dogs were, not hiding their hostility. I thought they had gone, but they were not far away, emitting a scent of life.

There were wild dogs roaming the streets on the way back to the city, probably thinking there were only two people there.

Tsk-

The floor fell on the heads of the wild dogs preparing to attack.

Clang-

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Empire. Maritime city.

Dan Brown closed his eyes for a moment as he reviewed the report. If we were to look into the reason why the security of the sea city was breached, the biggest problem was the betrayal of insiders.

There were those who became cannibals and vampires, and those who brought in the offspring of mutated monsters without permission. The people who thought they were just kittens were the problem.

If there had been no automated security system, the kitten would have been missed and it would have been difficult to predict how far the aftermath would have gone.

‘The kitten is the host of the parasite.’

A kitten spreading toxoplasma. If something like that were to spread in a closed offshore city, it would be fatal.

‘That’s true, but I don’t know how the Emperor will react.’

He was an emperor who was almost assassinated. In fact, the guards were breached and the defense forces did not arrive in time.

‘But Leon Bonnard alone wiped out David White and his gang in one fell swoop.’

Dan Brown’s eyes deepened.

‘How did you get it swept away?’

Bullets were jammed into the Emperor’s throne room. Judging from the bullet casings on the floor of the throne room, there was a gunfight. The Emperor sat down and subdued them.

‘They say you’ve awakened your abilities.’

But I couldn’t guess what kind of power it was. I couldn’t even figure out what happened to David White and his group, who seemed to have become vampires. Because there were no bodies.

[It is said that His Majesty the Emperor will advance directly to the Confederacy after the conquest of Philadelphia is over.]

It was an emperor who started a war and a war.