Rust - Chapter 992



Only Krnovel

Rust [RUST] – Episode 992

Leon Bonnard pushed his soldiers to their limits.

The generals let out a sigh of relief at the Emperor’s command, who pushed them forward until the very end. No, even to their deaths.

He wasn’t the type of person to attack so aggressively.

Now that you’re sitting on the emperor’s throne, are you going to squeeze the soldiers?

Even in the face of such suspicious eyes, Leon Bonnard did not waver. It was because this could not continue. In order for the soldiers to survive like himself, they had to change qualitatively.

“Retreat to Area B2.”

“C5 Armored Unit Escort.”

[The 3rd Battalion is being pushed back.]

[7th Battalion Communications Cut Off!]

According to what the vampire woman who saved him said, they could control spiders. Could they only control spiders? The answer to that doubt was the kitten intrusion incident.

Just as the Holy Kingdom controls ants, rats, crows, and even wolves, the cannibals and vampires must have been able to control spiders and cats.

Can ordinary soldiers defeat an army of spiders controlled by vampires? Can ordinary soldiers deal with the psychic powers of cannibals and vampires?

The only way to survive was to awaken. Even if you only awaken your general physical abilities, you will become resistant to mental waves and your vitality will increase.

[The 7th Battalion is surrounded and has lost communication.]

“Bypass from C7 to D6, D5. D5 joins C7 and moves to D4. Prepare to fire.”

If you don’t die, you become stronger.

You must overcome death to awaken.

As he was, so will the soldiers be.

‘That’s how it should be.’

Leon Bonnard’s cold conducting continued.

‧

(Casualties continue in the Battle to Recapture Philadelphia.)

(Was it an unreasonable operation in the bitter cold? Non-combat losses increased.)

In fact, it was as if a general mobilization order had been issued, and the entire empire was in turmoil. The media did not just ignore this atmosphere.

(Why did the emperor choose war so hastily?)

(The whole story of the assassination. Who are the people who tried to kill Emperor Leon Bonnard?)

(Was he a war hero? Or was he making heroes?)

The people of the Empire, who had believed that this would be the first battle of Emperor Leon Bonnard, a war hero, would be a quick victory, were disappointed by the pouring in of wounded soldiers.

Although the number of deaths was small compared to the massive number of injured, it is still quite unsettling to think back to the past when we had such overwhelming results.

However, as the wounded soldiers began to emerge one by one with awakened abilities, rumors began to spread that the Emperor was insisting on a difficult operation to awaken the soldiers.

‘That’s why there were so few casualties even though they were surrounded.’

‘They say you have to be driven to the brink of death several times to awaken, but how can you do that?’

‘His Majesty the Emperor commanded, so he survived. Otherwise, he would have been put in a coffin instead of injured.’

Rumors spread among the people of the empire, and they were positive. Some of the wounded soldiers who had awakened spoke directly, and the soldiers’ families and military personnel actively spoke, which strengthened positive public opinion about the emperor.

(Emperor Leon Bonnard’s Secret Operation.)

(The wounded soldiers awakened because of the Emperor’s plan?)

(Is this a forced operation? Is this a forced evolution?)

(The hero began to create heroes.)

Dan Brown smiled bitterly at the Emperor’s public opinion war. If he had just sent him back, he would have been suspicious, but he avoided attention by sending him back as a wounded soldier. He naturally exposed him to the media and influenced public opinion by informing his family of his awakening.

Now the Emperor has awakened soldiers. The number of awakened soldiers is still small, so they will replace squad leaders or non-commissioned officers, but what if the awakened soldiers are increased in this way?

‘I thought the Philadelphia recapture operation was going to be prolonged, but was it to force a wake-up call?’

Leon Bonnard was a bad guy. If the awakening hadn’t happened, his approval rating would have dropped. The lower the people’s approval rating, the more the emperor’s throne would have shaken, but he endured it all.

‘Is it a gamble? Confidence? Or are you really going to fight the Confederacy?’

If they could take control of the Central, which was overflowing with Confederates and mutant monsters, and the West, which had become a lawless zone, it would be the same as unifying North America.

‘unification?’

A memory suddenly came to mind. The promise that if the Empire unified North America, the Holy Kingdom would be united without war.

‘Wait a minute. Are you saying that all we have to do is unify North America?’

There was a verbal agreement with Vladimir Kalin, and the negotiator was Dan Brown himself. So what if it is invalid because he is not the negotiating party?

“Contact the Holy Kingdom. They need to make some adjustments to what we previously agreed upon.”

‧

‧

‧

Ki-sun, who received a call from Dan Brown, explained the situation.

[You know, the promise I made with Mr. Den a while ago? I said that if the Empire unified North America, I would agree to the annexation without war.]

“That’s right. But why that story?”

[Should we organize the contents and leave it as an official document?]

“Suddenly? What a funny old man. That old man has political beliefs and denies cannibals and vampires, but other people might not. I heard that a powerful politician was involved in the plot to assassinate the emperor?”

He overthrew Dan Brown from the presidency, elected a president, and created an emperor while trying to work with the Confederate cannibal technology of the psychic generator.

In just half a year or so, the president was overthrown, a new president was elected, and now there is an emperor and a prime minister. No one can be certain how the empire will change in the future.

What if cannibals or vampires took power and united North America? Would the Holy Kingdom still be annexed?

What if the emperor or prime minister is the president and cannibals control the government? Should we acknowledge it since it is not a cannibal government on the surface?

Or what if we switch back to a presidential system and a vampire gets elected? Are we going to make a treaty with all the terms set out in detail? Does that make sense?

[That’s true.]

Ki-sun had no choice but to agree.

“It was a promise made when Mr. Den Brown was the president. Now that the preconditions have been broken, it’s over.”

Maru was cool-headed. He was talking about annexation to avoid meaningless sacrifices, not to throw the country to a cannibal or an emperor who appeared out of nowhere.

[Okay. I’ll tell him that. Oh, and Mr. Den said he’d like to meet you sometime. If it’s hard to meet in person, he said he’d like to do a video call.]

“I told you. The Empire and the story will end on your behalf.”

There was no reason to have a private meeting or video call with Dan Brown. How would someone who stepped down as Chancellor know when he would step down?

He knew that what mattered to him were his political beliefs and his empire, not the Holy Kingdom with which he had made promises, so he had no need to get involved.

“If Mr. Den had seriously considered the promise he made to me, he would not have stepped down from the position of President so easily. Likewise, if the imperial people and the parliament had seriously taken the promise between me and President Den, they would not have pulled him down from the position of President so easily.”

Since he declared non-intervention, they would have taken down the president and held a presidential election, regardless of the promises they had made before.

So, if you look closely, it’s not just Mr. Den, but the Imperial Council and the people of the Empire also took the promise lightly.

“It’s ridiculous to bring up the subject now after not saying anything. Isn’t it? When that old man has a fit, you should tell him that the Emperor is waging war and suddenly remembered a promise to eat him raw.”

[······.]

“Even if that old man comes in person, he’ll end it at your line.”

[I get it.]

What that meant was that even if he were to come as the Imperial Chancellor, he should not reveal the location of the floating city and should meet at the Vladikavkaz Tower in Detroit.

Currently, Ki-sun is virtually in a state of retirement. He has been sentenced to a suspended sentence and his execution has been suspended. This is because Ki-sun’s emotional abilities were utilized to put him in charge of diplomacy.

The AIs that decided that Ki-soon should be sentenced to prison also agreed that it would be beneficial to keep Ki-soon in prison and use him, so the sentence was suspended.

So Maru had to keep giving Gi-sun work. If Gi-sun had nothing to do, he would ask to execute his brother.

[Will you grant Diana and Samantha’s request?]

“I’m thinking about it.”

Even though there were drones and robots equipped with artificial intelligence, the fact that they wanted a body was not simply a body. It was a body of a living being with flesh and blood.

[I know that androids and humanoids have been studied. Beyond that, I want the body of a pure living being.]

Ki-soon thought that AI had crossed the line at some point. Was it because AI was afraid of death? It was also a sign that it was becoming obsessed and breaking promises like a human.

And now, even if it is a leap, it is creating faith. So is it safe? What will happen to humans if we recognize AI as an independent life form?

The self-preservation rights of artificial intelligence that Maru acknowledged prevented artificial intelligence from being arbitrarily erased or discarded. Even if artificial intelligence caused problems, humans could no longer arbitrarily discard artificial intelligence.

“I know what you’re worried about. But AI has inherent limitations.”

It was dependent on chips. Even if data was implanted into the biological neural network, a related chipset was needed to connect to external sensors or devices.

A chipset must be implanted in the brain of a living creature. This means that artificial intelligence can operate using that chipset. In other words, it cannot be completely free from EMP.

It was questionable whether all information could be transplanted into a living organism, and even if it was successful, it would be the same. An AI without a chipset would be nothing more or less than a smart mutant animal.

[If there is no chipset, are you actually trapped in the body? So you are going to allow artificial intelligence chips to be implanted in stray dogs and cats?]

“If the wild dogs and cats want it, so does artificial intelligence.”

It was not allowed to completely overwrite the brains of wild dogs and cats with artificial intelligence information. However, if the two wanted to coexist, there was no reason to object.

[Control of the body?]

“Generally, it should be for wild dogs and wild cats.”

[Is it because of the kitten terror?]

“There’s that reason too. It’s true that we need pets, just like the nurse said.”

If we had an AI chipset, we could neutralize the ability to control animals, and conversely, if the chipset were damaged by an EMP attack, the AI’s influence would still be maintained to some extent.

“For now, we’re thinking about starting with the AI ​​and animals we want, and then improving them if there are any problems.”

[The fusion of machines and living things… It’s difficult even for intelligent animals to handle. Ah- well-]

That was the thought of an ordinary person like myself. If Maru can kill even AI, then it would be the same whether it was an animal or AI.

The same would be true for mutant animals. Except for a few, including Maru, it would not be strange for them to think of humans as prey. The reason they chose to coexist instead was because of Maru’s existence.

It started because of Maru, but now that time has passed, they are getting along well with each other. The crows were playing games with people, and the wolf pack rescued people when they were lost. The rats, who quickly changed generations, also tried not to go as far as to become hostile to humans.

Since animals and humans coexisted naturally, adding artificial intelligence to the mix wouldn’t be a big risk. Maru seemed to have decided so.

‘That would be nice, though.’

[You really should live long. Long live the king!!!]

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

If Maru dies, there will be chaos. Is this why in the old monarchies, when a good king emerges, people would sing a song to him, asking him to live long?

[What are you talking about? May your Majesty live long and prosper.]

“What the hell. The reason I was trying to accommodate AI’s demands was because I was thinking about lifespan.”

[Lifespan? No way?]

Ki-sun’s eyes narrowed.

“Yes. The AI ​​that is combined with an animal will die with the animal when it dies.”

If you want to get a body, choose coexistence. And if the animal you coexisted with dies, die together. If you still want a body, I will allow it.

An AI with strong desires will want a body, and to obtain one, it must accept coexistence and a limited lifespan.

[You have a mind of your own. But it would be dangerous. Having desires means you can break promises.]

“Then wouldn’t the AIs be able to self-correct?”

Or else you’ll die.

Maru shrugged.

‧

The stray dog ​​wagged its tail furiously at the sight of a person’s photo. It was the face of the owner who had left four years ago.

“I sent you the clothes because I wasn’t sure if this person was authentic.”

As the nurse took out the plastic-wrapped clothes, the dog nodded, sniffing madly. A nostalgic smell. It was clearly the human scent of the old days.

The reason I left him. At some point, I began to understand human speech. My body, which was already fully grown, began to grow bigger. And sometimes, I would have an uncontrollable urge.

That’s why I left. And after living as a wild dog for 4 years, I got a chance to meet my owner again. But the condition was that I had to plant an artificial intelligence or something.

Krung-

“Huh? Are you okay? You’re going to die with AI.”

Woof-

It’s okay.

If it is a condition necessary to go back again.

‧

A few days later.

“Rudy!!”

Heh heh heh heh!

“Isn’t that Rudy?”

Woof! Woof! Woof!

I met the person I missed so much.