Ch.254254. Seoul Alliance (1)

# Mass Evacuation of Millions

The evacuation of several million people.

It was a sight that showcased Kim Su-ho’s achievement of literally saving millions of lives. The scale was so enormous that those who had opposed him might wonder why he hadn’t simply usurped the country and instead remained content with his current position. In reality, he could have easily established one or two nations with just these refugees.

Considering that Seorabel’s current population was only between 2-3 million, this meant Kim Su-ho was already controlling and providing for a population equivalent to Seorabel’s size.

“How did he manage to save all those people? More importantly, he can control a group this size? Is he even human?”

Even Jeong Dong-geon, who was preparing for a large-scale expedition to support Seoul, questioned how such a massive number of refugees could be saved and controlled. The reality was that by Korean Peninsula standards, Seoul’s damage was remarkably minimal.

It seemed strange to call this damage “minimal” when millions were evacuating, but by apocalyptic standards, the average survival rate for a city was merely 1/10, and even that required a powerful Awakened to appear within the city. Considering this, the mere existence of millions of refugees was an achievement worthy of being remembered as that of an unparalleled hero in future generations.

Jeong Dong-geon was amazed enough to declare that controlling this many people and helping them evacuate to other regions transcended human limitations.

“…If this information is true, I can sympathize with the sentiments of Seoul’s influential figures. Is this person even human?”

“Why… why didn’t he take over the country? This scale is enough not just for usurpation but for easily establishing a nation.”

Moreover, these millions were merely civilians from Kim Su-ho’s perspective—non-combatants he couldn’t immediately utilize. The population of territories he had reclaimed already far exceeded Seorabel’s.

Hwang Geun-chul and Park Cheol-gon found themselves nodding in understanding of how Seoul’s influential figures must have felt when facing Kim Su-ho, questioning why he hadn’t attempted to take over the country.

In reality, having reclaimed that much territory, Kim Su-ho had more than enough power to establish a nation without even needing to usurp one.

“Now I see why America didn’t consider Kim Su-ho a collaborator.”

“He even controls the capital. If they had supported him there, Kim Su-ho would have had too high a chance of winning alone.”

Hwang Geun-chul and Park Cheol-gon now understood why America had approached Seorabel instead of Seoul.

Someone with such capabilities would likely not have moved according to America’s intentions. Even Seorabel was significantly influenced by America economically, but Kim Su-ho controlled the capital, which would have freed him from such economic influence.

This meant that, like the Saint of Orleans in France, a nation free from American control could have easily emerged. With his abilities and public support firmly established, from America’s perspective, he wasn’t someone to actively support but rather someone to be wary of.

“Not the Yi Seong-gye of the apocalyptic era, but Yi Sun-sin?”

“Well… um…”

Indeed, with such overwhelming power, he could have established a dynasty like Yi Seong-gye of ancient Joseon.

The problem was that what he was doing with this overwhelming power resembled the actions of Yi Sun-sin, the heroic admiral of Korea. Hwang Geun-chul and Park Cheol-gon thought, “This must be Kim Su-ho’s trap!” and tried to discern his hidden political intentions.

Unfortunately for their expectations, Kim Su-ho had no such intentions whatsoever, which was truly frustrating.

“Have facilities for the refugees been prepared? Now I’ll reorganize the troops into teams: one to escort the refugees, one to monitor Seoul, one to attend to the refugees’ needs, and a mobile strike team to prepare for possible attacks.”

Kim Su-ho was purely a hero fighting for Seoul’s citizens, and whether intentionally or not, he was perfectly embodying the image of a storybook hero.

Whether he had always been a hero or was playing the role to meet people’s expectations didn’t matter.

What mattered was that Kim Su-ho’s political stature and public support were immensely powerful, and from Seorabel’s perspective, they couldn’t possibly treat him as a mere tool or take him lightly.

“If we’re not careful, we might be the ones getting absorbed!”

“At this point, if he could just convince the Dragon Priestess and the Dragon God, he wouldn’t even need Seorabel’s cabinet.”

Conversely, there was a sense of crisis that Seorabel’s cabinet might be swallowed by his overwhelming influence.

It became clear why Seoul’s influential figures had tried so desperately to check Kim Su-ho, and even the two talented officials couldn’t help but wonder if he had been hiding his true self for this moment.

The only reason Seorabel remained the sole nation on the Korean Peninsula despite Kim Su-ho’s presence was the existence of the Dragon God and the Dragon Priestess. If Kim Su-ho managed to convince those two, there would be no reason for them to remain attached to Seorabel.

“…What should we do?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know what that is. It’s scary.”

The biggest problem was that, like it or not, the two officials had to provide humanitarian support for the refugee procession according to Kim Su-ho’s intentions.

After all, protecting innocent citizens was the role of a nation, and from Seorabel’s perspective, these evacuees were innocent citizens who naturally required humanitarian support.

Not supporting them wasn’t an option.

If they failed to support these people, Seorabel would bear the dishonor of abandoning their compatriots, and all the reputation they had built would be shattered.

“How did Kim Su-ho feed Seoul’s citizens for a year and a half? Did food fall from the sky?!”

“I have no idea!”

But these refugees numbered in the millions, easily surpassing Seorabel’s population.

Seorabel lacked the capacity to distribute supplies to millions of refugees, and they were hurriedly contacting America to purchase large quantities of food and doing their best at the cabinet level.

Yes, they were merely “doing their best,” which was nowhere near enough to solve the problem!

“We thought it would be just a few thousand people!”

“Didn’t he lose? Didn’t he lose the political battle? How can millions of citizens evacuate following only Kim Su-ho? What does that even mean?”

“More than that, who knew there would be millions of people left in this apocalypse!”

This was a completely unexpected situation for Seorabel, and even the cabinet was mentally paralyzed by the unimaginable number of millions of refugees.

How on earth had Kim Su-ho managed and fed them? They wondered with something close to reverence.

“Is the ration prepared?”

“Yes. Today’s supplies have been safely transported.”

“Good. Make sure every citizen receives their share without exception.”

Of course, Seoul’s citizens weren’t engaging in economic activities like Seorabel’s citizens, and they were in a precarious state relying entirely on Kim Su-ho’s capabilities.

The refugees depended solely on the supplies distributed by Kim Su-ho, eating day by day as they evacuated. To conserve food, meals had been reduced from three to two per day. From Kim Su-ho’s perspective, providing abundant food was impossible from the start, so he was saving wherever possible.

“Is this even possible?”

“It’s hard for one person to control even hundreds of people, but he’s distributing supplies to millions. Kim Su-ho is truly a terrifying person.”

Nevertheless, the mere fact that he could distribute adequate food and water for daily activities to each citizen meant that Kim Su-ho’s abilities couldn’t be underestimated by anyone.

Rather, his exceptional capability to feed citizens and reclaim territory without foreign aid or special beings like the Dragon God naturally inspired admiration.

“As expected of Kim Su-ho! Only he can save us!”

“Long live Kim Su-ho! He’s truly the hero who can save Seoul!”

Unintentionally, the support of Seoul’s citizens was directed not toward Seorabel but solely toward Seoul’s hero. This could serve as the foundation for determining Kim Su-ho’s future position, effectively announcing to the entire Korean Peninsula that he could never be treated as a mere tool.

“Phew. The territorial reclamation policy has finally succeeded.”

Yet Kim Su-ho himself, oblivious to such political foundations, was simply happy that he had appropriately reclaimed territory to solve the food shortage, and was focusing more on food distribution.

As a warlord and politician, he might have been underestimating the influence he wielded, remaining insensitive to obvious political variables.

If Kim Su-ho had considered the influence gained through food distribution, he could have easily treated Seorabel as an equal ally or even exploited them, but he had no such thoughts. He was simply relieved and genuinely happy that the citizens had survived.

Seeing this, his subordinates thought he was indifferent to his own interests.

“Would you call that charm?”

“I would.”

“That’s why I decided to follow him.”

Conversely, perhaps he received the support of his subordinates and citizens because he appeared to have human charm rather than being a complicated politician.

His righteous image of pursuing justice and saving citizens, rather than coldly abandoning them or pursuing his own interests, was no different from that of a national hero, and Seoul’s citizens felt reassured seeing Kim Su-ho like this.

“Now I feel like we might survive.”

Of course, oblivious to Seorabel’s feelings, Kim Su-ho was greatly pleased, thinking that the pressure on him had been significantly reduced thanks to this alliance.

Though each day was busy, the workload concentrated on Kim Su-ho had decreased significantly. It was now a simple matter of transporting evacuating refugees to appropriate refugee reception areas.

Of course, it sounded easy, but evacuating millions of refugees was by no means a light task. His subordinates who had already gone to the field were beginning to complain of fatigue due to the excessive workload, but as for Kim Su-ho himself…

“Would you rather go to the front lines?”

“No?”

While transporting refugees was difficult, Kim Su-ho was handling an even more challenging task.

That was none other than the Seoul front line, where he was responsible for preventing the undead who had settled in Seoul from dominating the entire city.

It sounded simple, but the undead throughout Seoul and the guilds established there were Kim Su-ho’s enemies, and he was under pressure from the undead’s tremendous army.

His ally Seorabel had not yet arrived at the Seoul front, and only Kim Su-ho’s forces were responsible for it. However, using the defensive strongholds he had established during his time in Seoul, Kim Su-ho was pushing back against the enemy.

Rather, as if all the restraints that had held him back until now had disappeared, he was pushing back Seoul, proving that his reputation as Seoul’s hero was no illusion.

“…Do you understand the definition of ‘being pushed back’?”

“Aren’t we being pushed back? The front line is gradually moving toward our main base.”

“No, I mean… why didn’t you take over the country?”

Yes, he was actually counterattacking.

Despite being in the position of fleeing with refugees, he wasn’t just defending against the Cult of Immortality’s attacks but attacking Seoul’s main base. Seeing this, allied warlords who had joined the coalition before Seorabel questioned whether he understood the definition of “being pushed back.”

If he had this much power from the beginning, they wondered if they were really necessary, and indeed, Kim Su-ho’s skills as the first person on the Korean Peninsula to reach superhuman levels inspired awe even in his enemies.

Kim Su-ho himself had never been pushed back or defeated in battle, and with each victory, the defensive line he built became stronger, and citizen support for him continued to rise.

“No way. Even Jin A-yeon wasn’t this powerful! What kind of bug character is he?”

“I don’t know either!”

Even the opposing Cult of Immortality – Seoul Guild Alliance was astonished to see Kim Su-ho displaying such resilience even when they were in a position to declare checkmate.

After all, since most of his forces were being used to evacuate refugees, the force led by Kim Su-ho himself in the attack consisted of only 12 people.

Yes, leading just 12 people to charge against the undead army might remind one of Seorabel’s Jin A-yeon, but even Jin A-yeon had received thorough support from her police special forces and Seorabel’s military when charging, rather than leading a suicide charge with just a commando unit.

“Before there are more casualties, deploy the undead golem. I didn’t want to use it until Seorabel stepped in.”

“Understood.”

Kim Su-ho’s consecutive victories couldn’t be ignored even by the Cult of Immortality, and they decided to deploy the strategic weapon they had been saving to face Seorabel. There was a momentum suggesting that Kim Su-ho might recapture Seoul alone before Seorabel arrived.

To break this momentum, they deployed the strategic weapon, the undead golem, showing that the Cult of Immortality was not underestimating Kim Su-ho but facing him with full force.

“Undead golem! I, Kim Su-ho, have subjugated it here!”

“Long live Kim Su-ho! Long live the Kim Su-ho – Seorabel alliance!”

“…Insane.”

Who would have thought he could subjugate an undead golem alone?

Even Jin A-yeon had succeeded in subjugating an undead golem only with the help of dragon armor, but this damned Kim Su-ho had subjugated an undead golem without any such support.

What level was he to display such tremendous resilience?

From the Cult of Immortality’s perspective, their original plans were on the verge of collapse, blocked by someone unexpected.

“Damn it! Move our hidden allies! Thoroughly check Kim Su-ho so he can’t be deployed to the Seoul front!”

It was truly an unbelievable sight, and at the same time…

“…But why didn’t that guy take over the country or establish one?”

“I don’t know either! We’ve been jumping up and down like crazy over his incomprehensible actions!”

Even the Cult of Immortality was mentally paralyzed by the fact that Kim Su-ho hadn’t taken over the country or established one.

Why, despite having such unparalleled skills, hadn’t he usurped the country or established one?

That was truly the question.