Ch.282282. Pacification of South Korea (1)

The news was also relayed to the Seoul Allied Forces through the National Intelligence Service, but they had no intention of pursuing the Cult of Immortality. In fact, they preferred that the cult leave Seoul completely.

This was natural since the Seoul Allied Forces’ main objective now was the reconstruction of Seoul, and to achieve this, they needed to avoid unnecessary conflicts.

The Cult of Immortality, which had controlled the Gyeonggi Province area, was already fleeing one by one toward North Korea. Why corner them when they were leaving on their own accord?

A cornered rat will bite even a cat. Having the Cult of Immortality focus all their efforts on taking over North Korea rather than Seoul would actually help the Seoul Allied Forces.

This way, the Seoul Allied Forces could concentrate all their resources on rebuilding Seoul.

“Above all, considering Seoul’s current situation, we don’t have the resources to continue fighting.”

The current state of Seoul, which would serve as their base and headquarters, was utterly miserable.

Concrete dust still floated like ghosts through the air, along with broken steel structures, collapsed high-rise buildings, roads shattered by bombings, and contaminated traces left by the Cult of Immortality.

Even Namsan Tower, once a symbol of Seoul, stood half-collapsed, and the supplies remaining in Seoul had already reached their limit after the long war.

“Considering the depleted resources and casualties, the losses are at an unignorable level. If we continue the war like this, Serabol will go bankrupt.”

“I thought as much.”

The intense warfare had destroyed the remaining infrastructure and facilities. They were now in a situation where they had to worry about water, electricity, gas, and oil for the very next morning.

Seoul, which had firmly endured for a year and a half using South Korea’s legacy resources, was now like a critically ill patient who needed to be admitted to intensive care.

Lee Hyeon-a, the Minister of Finance who visited Seoul to inform Bahamut about Serabol’s current financial situation, directly warned him that at this rate, even Serabol could go bankrupt.

“In that sense, let’s focus on rebuilding Seoul.”

“That would be best.”

Even Serabol, which was in a relatively good position, was on the verge of bankruptcy. The Seoul Allied Forces agreed to end the war and focus all their efforts on rebuilding Seoul, each in their own way.

“We’ll eliminate the remaining enemies in Seoul! And we need to secure the supplies and internal documents that the Cult of Immortality couldn’t take with them. Move quickly!”

First, Seoul’s hero Kim Su-ho led a subjugation team composed of Awakened from central Seoul to hunt down hidden remnants and thoroughly investigate the internal conditions of the city.

They began meticulously checking whether there were any usable buildings left, any supplies still worth using, or any internal documents the Cult of Immortality couldn’t take with them. They managed to achieve some results.

They secured what little infrastructure remained and the cult’s internal documents that hadn’t been retrieved in time due to their hasty retreat. Kim Su-ho returned triumphantly and reported:

“There are no survivors. We’ve recovered all supplies and documents remaining in Gangbuk, so it would be best to proceed with the next task.”

“Understood.”

Despite efforts to find potential survivors, there were absolutely none in Gangbuk.

All Kim Su-ho found were undead and Seoul citizens who had just turned into zombies. After eliminating all enemies he encountered, Kim Su-ho informed Bahamut that Gangbuk was currently empty.

Upon hearing this, Bahamut personally descended upon Gangbuk, and the first thing he did was:

“We need to clear away all the unusable building debris.”

He magically removed all the collapsed building debris. With a flick of his finger, countless concrete fragments scattered across Gangbuk began to gather, and the collected concrete waste was prepared for recycling through magic.

After all the collapsed building debris in Gangbuk disappeared, Bahamut raised his hand and waved it lightly. The empty lots where buildings once stood vanished as if swept away by a broom, and simultaneously, the swept-away buildings were used to reinforce the collapsed ground in Gangbuk.

The next task was quite simple.

In cooperation with the Seoul Allied Forces, they began installing roads according to the New Seoul city design, and the recovered concrete waste proved to be a great help in road construction.

“What would have taken a month or two of hard work was completed in an instant.”

“Construction is also one of the Dragon Lord’s specialties.”

The concrete waste was recycled into clean tiles like those installed in Gwanghwamun, and under Bahamut’s direction, they began to be systematically reconstructed into New Seoul’s roads.

Through these newly constructed roads, redevelopment projects began throughout Gangbuk, which also meant that Seoul’s economy was coming back to life.

However, just because reconstruction had begun didn’t mean the economy could easily flourish again. The necessary infrastructure and facilities were still needed.

In particular, most modern civilization devices required electricity, and people needed water supply for their daily lives.

“That’s my specialty.”

But there was no need to worry.

The Dragon Lord could directly supplement those lacking resources.

Since the early days of the Balhut Cult, Bahamut alone had been providing the resources to maintain Gyeongju’s civilization. Even after Serabol was established and infrastructure rebuilt, they still relied on electricity and purified water supplied by Bahamut due to cost issues.

With Bahamut now deliberately supplying water and electricity throughout Seoul, the remaining infrastructure facilities began to function normally. Construction machinery used for rebuilding operated day and night, emitting engine noise, and amidst all this, flags bearing Serabol’s symbol of a dragon began to flutter in the wind.

While it seemed that the Seoul Allied Forces had settled in Seoul and were concentrating all their efforts there:

“We cannot delay the pacification of South Korea. Seolhwa, tell General Jeong Dong-geon in Serabol’s homeland to proceed with the South Korean pacification.”

“I understand, Sister Yuna.”

Only the Seoul Allied Forces had settled down; Serabol itself still had strength to spare.

Moreover, since they had conducted the Incheon Landing Operation with their ally, the Yamato Alliance, they hadn’t suffered significant losses. Thus, the Hwarang led by Seolhwa could return to Pohang and join Jeong Dong-geon.

With the addition of the elite Hwarang unit to the main force, which had been responsible for maintaining the supply route stretching over 300km, they no longer needed to maintain the supply route and could return to their homeland.

With maritime supplies now coming into Seoul, what reason was there to deploy troops to a supply route full of looters and monsters?

With most of Serabol’s forces returning to their homeland, and even receiving orders from Yuna, the Dragon Priestess:

“I obey.”

Jeong Dong-geon had no reason to refuse this order, and could even declare vengeance against the looters and bandits who had fearlessly attacked the supply route.

With Yuna and Seolhwa giving their permission, how could the military dare refuse!

Jeong Dong-geon reorganized the troops that had returned to the homeland and set out along the supply route Serabol had established, which became a new path for the pacification of South Korea.

“We’ll take control of Gumi, Daejeon, and Sejong, and then subdue Gangwon Province, where North Korean forces are reportedly rampaging.”

Many Awakened had evaluated General Jeong Dong-geon as skilled in defense but not particularly adept at offense.

Indeed, most battlefields where Jeong Dong-geon had been active were defensive battles, and the Ulsan battle, where he gained great fame as a general, was also a situation where Serabol was defending against the Cult of Immortality’s offensive.

Therefore, most Awakened believed that Jeong Dong-geon was proficient in defense but weak when on the offensive, or that he wouldn’t be able to demonstrate the same prowess as in defensive battles. In fact, Jeong Dong-geon had launched several offensives against the Cult of Immortality but had repeatedly been blocked by the wall of reality, either losing territories gained through offensives or barely maintaining the status quo.

However, that was only because the opponent was the Cult of Immortality, which revealed Jeong Dong-geon’s limitations. During the recapture of Pohang, Jeong Dong-geon had always taken an offensive stance and was a rising general who had accomplished many feats, such as negotiating with influential figures in Pohang and recapturing key points.

His skills were such that even Bahamut trusted and heavily relied on him, and mere looters or bandits could not stop Jeong Dong-geon’s advance.

“Attack! Attack! There is only attack! Without the Cult of Immortality, there’s no need to defend the territories we recapture! We just need to defeat the bandits and looters who oppose Serabol!”

Despite his reputation as a master of defensive battles, Jeong Dong-geon, who had set out to pacify South Korea, focused solely on offense.

He judged that with the collapse of the Cult of Immortality, there were no enemies that could stand in Serabol’s way, and he had indeed proven several times on the battlefield that Serabol was the ruler of the Korean Peninsula.

First, he subjugated the warlords based in Gumi, bringing them under Daegu’s control, and then advanced to Daejeon, where he began to clash with the military faction based there.

“Serabol is an invader of Daejeon! Citizens of Daejeon! We must fight against Serabol’s invasion!”

“No. We are not invaders! We are the liberation army coming to free Daejeon!”

The military faction, which had inherited the weapons and army of South Korea, hated Serabol for trying to control them, and thus defined Serabol’s arrival in Daejeon as an invasion, claiming they were invaders.

In response, Jeong Dong-geon claimed that Serabol was not an invader but a liberator, and simultaneously began to contact the militia based in Daejeon.

The militia in Daejeon had been supporting the alliance since the formation of the Seoul Allied Forces, and when Jeong Dong-geon first contacted them, they responded positively and were able to meet in person.

“Our goal is the liberation of Daejeon. We have no intention of staying in Daejeon for long. Once the pacification of Daejeon is complete, we will immediately depart for Sejong.”

“Under those conditions, we are willing to cooperate.”

Serabol met the conditions desired by the militia and strongly asserted that they were liberators, not invaders, promising to leave immediately once pacification was complete.

The Daejeon militia said they would cooperate under those conditions, but in reality, once Seoul fell into the hands of the Allied Forces, even if Jeong Dong-geon left Daejeon, Serabol already had the means to control all of South Korea.

Currently, they were not exercising control because the reconstruction of Seoul was urgent, but as the pacification of South Korea was completed and Seoul was gradually rebuilt to control South Korea, Serabol would clearly be reborn as the legitimate state of the Korean Peninsula, succeeding South Korea.

At that moment, Daejeon’s independence would essentially be lost, and Daejeon would clearly come under Serabol’s control. Unfortunately, from the perspective of factions seeking independence, they realistically had no room to think that far ahead.

Even now, they were keeping quiet because they couldn’t handle the military faction. Did they think they could check Serabol, which aimed for the unification of the Korean Peninsula?

Rather, they needed Serabol’s help to deal with the military faction to have any chance, so even if they noticed Serabol’s hidden intentions, they had no choice but to smile and follow the generous offer.

Thus, the public sentiment across the Korean Peninsula gradually began to turn toward Serabol, and with the support and public sentiment gained this way, Jeong Dong-geon began to carry out the South Korean pacification operation.

“Before next winter comes, we must take Sejong.”

Above all, Seoul and Gyeongju needed to be connected by land before winter came, and the presence of North Korean forces still rampaging in Gangwon Province posed a threat to Serabol.