Ch.4343. Pohang (1)

# Pohang!

A key industrial city responsible for South Korea’s manufacturing, commonly known as the city of steel.

At the same time, it was a city with sufficient geographical advantages, to the point where Bahamut openly mentioned its name to Yu-na, believing it could fill the shortcomings of the Balhut Cult.

Why should they go to Pohang?

To explain this, one first needed to understand the geography of Gyeongju, where the Balhut Cult had established itself.

“To the west of Gyeongju is Gyeongsan, through which we can reach Daegu. To the north is Pohang. And to the south is Ulsan. And if we pass through Ulsan, we reach Busan.”

“Lord Bahamut said that Pohang should be Gyeongju’s first expansion target.”

To the west, they could head toward Daegu through Gyeongsan; to the north was Pohang; to the south was Ulsan, through which they could reach Busan.

The east of Gyeongju could be mentioned, but with massive mountain ranges and reservoirs occupying that area, it was essentially impassable. Instead, it served as a natural defensive line blocking the path to Gyeongju.

In other words, Gyeongju’s defensive concerns were zombie hordes coming from the west, south, and north, and Bahamut had declared that they should first expand to Pohang in the north.

Upon hearing this, Yu-na gathered the executives of the Balhut Cult and hosted a council meeting.

“It’s not a bad strategy. Pohang has traditionally been strong in the fishing industry. Above all, it has POSCO, one of the world’s largest steel mills. With industrial complexes related to steel within the city, Pohang could greatly help with the cult’s weapon manufacturing.”

“I don’t see any particular problems with it.”

Most of the executives were favorable toward expanding to Pohang.

After all, it was extremely difficult to withstand the Apocalypse disaster with Gyeongju alone. Naturally, they needed to strengthen the cult’s power, and Pohang had most of the industries the Balhut Cult needed.

They could use the steel industry and industrial factories there to manufacture powerful weapons to eliminate zombies, and the fishing industry through the port could greatly help with stable food supplies.

Therefore, Lee Hyeon-a, who was in charge of the cult’s economy, nodded in agreement with this expansion, and her younger sister Lee Su-a passively agreed, apparently judging that there were no particular issues.

It seemed they had independently determined that expanding to Pohang would bring more benefits than drawbacks.

“Come to think of it, according to pre-apocalypse news, heavy industry factories had moved into Pohang, and the machinery industry was establishing itself alongside the steel industry. Additionally, though minor, I heard there were research institutes and factories related to the electronics industry.”

Furthermore, Hwang Geun-chul mentioned that recently there were not only heavy industry factories but also research institutes and factories related to the electronics industry.

In other words, they could assume that Pohang housed dormant South Korean technological research, and if they took Pohang, they could reasonably expect to acquire some of that cutting-edge technology.

“Whether we like it or not, Pohang is a city that has supported South Korea’s industry. Reclaiming Pohang from zombie occupation is a mission the cult must accomplish, sooner or later.”

“We need to show the entire Korean peninsula that our Korea has not ended yet.”

“Yes, that’s right. Not just the cult, but our compatriots in other cities need the confidence that they can win!”

Of course, there was also a symbolic aspect, not just technological benefits.

Park Cheol-gon continued Hwang Geun-chul’s words, arguing that expanding to Pohang could provide the Balhut Cult with an important justification.

Reclaiming Pohang, which had been responsible for South Korea’s steel industry since 1973, from the zombies was important for material gain, but it also had the ideological benefit of showing people living on the Korean peninsula that this land had not yet ended.

It was a hope that the world had not yet perished and that the Korean peninsula had not yet ended.

‘If we can gain passive or active resistance or support from various cities with that, it would be sufficiently beneficial for us.’

‘The cult alone cannot face all the zombies across South Korea.’

If that irresponsible hope could draw out passive or active resistance throughout the Korean peninsula, and if that resistance could reduce the momentum of the zombies even slightly, then the zombie offensive that the Balhut Cult had to bear would be greatly reduced.

Politicians Park Cheol-gon and Hwang Geun-chul, thinking of the political benefits to be gained from occupying Pohang, were actively in favor of expanding there.

The more the Balhut Cult’s influence expanded, the more the power of those who had served as its early executives would clearly grow.

“If we gain control of the sea, it would be possible to connect with Japan or the United States. Considering material trade through the sea doesn’t seem like a bad idea.”

Above all, they could interact with foreign countries through the sea.

Although most of Japan’s territory was reportedly being ravaged by zombies, there were still reports of cities being reclaimed, like the Balhut Cult had done. The United States, too, while its entire territory was in chaos, still had a functioning government.

Yu Su-seong vaguely thought that if they could physically connect with these two countries by sea, there would be additional benefits.

At least if material exchange was possible, there was the simple thought that they might be able to buy and sell necessary items or technology.

“I also think it’s a good idea. However, if there’s a problem, it’s that we haven’t yet produced our first-generation Awakened.”

“Liberating other cities is something the Balhut Cult must do eventually.”

“But is it possible to reclaim Pohang with just Gyeongju? As far as I know, Pohang’s population is twice that of Gyeongju. That means we’re likely to face more than twice as many zombies.”

However, Jeong Dong-geon, who was in charge of the military, seemed to have judged that it would be difficult to occupy Pohang with the cult’s current forces.

While expansion itself was a good idea, he was skeptical about whether they needed to forcefully undertake an expedition when they hadn’t even produced a first-generation Awakened yet.

One reason was that Pohang’s population was twice that of Gyeongju, so it was expected that there would be more zombies in Pohang than in Gyeongju.

“Above all, it has not yet been proven whether our army can reclaim a city from zombies without Lord Bahamut’s help.”

“Hmm.”

Could they drive out the zombies in Pohang on their own without Bahamut’s help?

At Jeong Dong-geon’s realistic statement, the other executives’ faces darkened.

“Come to think of it, do we have about 500 troops available at our disposal?”

“Yes, including the advance party and reconnaissance team, 550 is the limit.”

“If we lose all of them due to one fatal mistake, Gyeongju is finished.”

The executives looked troubled, having only thought about the benefits of gaining Pohang, not the reclamation process.

Could they occupy Pohang with just an army of 500 Awakened? If asked, the executives could only be skeptical.

Unlike North Gyeongju, Pohang was a real expedition, and fighting zombies in unfamiliar terrain was too burdensome.

Of course, all these worries could be easily resolved with one statement from Yu-na:

“If it’s a fight against zombies, Lord Bahamut will participate.”

Fighting zombies rather than humans meant Bahamut had no reason to hesitate.

When Yu-na promised through herself that Bahamut would participate in this expedition:

“I agree.”

“I agree.”

“I agree.”

“Of course I agree.”

“Conversely, there’s no one who opposes.”

“Yes! It’s unanimous agreement.”

With the Dragon God Bahamut participating rather than just the Balhut Cult, the story changed 180 degrees.

The flip was too quick, but the skeptical executives all turned to unanimous agreement.

Ah! How could they not change their stance so quickly!

Bahamut’s descent was essentially like cheating, and if Yu-na gathered the zombies as she had done in Gyeongju and eliminated them all at once, the problem just mentioned could be easily solved.

Even if stragglers remained, the Balhut Cult could handle that level on their own.

“…By the way, if Lord Bahamut participates, we will certainly reclaim Pohang. But given his nature, it’s strange. I thought he would declare expansion only after North Gyeongju stabilized and after the birth of the first-generation Awakened.”

With Bahamut’s participation confirmed, the cult’s meeting brightened.

Now, no longer concerned about the success of the reclamation, the meeting changed to understanding Bahamut’s intentions.

The executives had already recognized the value of Pohang, and with Bahamut’s participation scheduled for its reclamation, it had fallen to a level where they could move on.

If so, the rest needed to deeply consider why Bahamut had decided on expanding to Pohang at this point in time.

“The situation has changed. Our God has something in mind.”

“What do you mean?”

Yu-na told the executives that Bahamut had something in mind.

What could he be considering that made Bahamut himself mention it to Yu-na?

The Balhut Cult executives looked at Yu-na with tense expressions.

“Mutant zombies.”

“…Mutant zombies are formidable enemies that even ordinary Awakened find difficult to defeat. However, they are no longer enemies to the Balhut Cult, which uses Bahamut Bullets.”

Mutant zombies are certainly powerful enemies.

Before the Balhut Cult appeared, many survivor camps couldn’t withstand mutant zombies.

Now, with Bahamut Bullets invented at Mr. Choi’s ironworks, they could easily handle them by pouring powerful firepower, but before Bahamut Bullets, they were feared as catastrophic beings.

In fact, in regions other than Gyeongju, mutant zombies were still threatening; when they appeared, many survivors became zombies, or even Awakened became infected and turned into zombie Awakened.

“Yes, I know. Using bullets imbued with his power, mutant zombies are no longer our enemies. But… if there are zombies stronger than that, would Bahamut Bullets work?”

“You’re saying even stronger enemies might appear.”

Choi Yu-na mentioned zombies stronger than mutant zombies.

At those words, the other executives stared at Yu-na with expressions of fear or doubt.

“That’s…”

“No, it’s not impossible.”

To the doubting executive, Jeong Dong-geon asserted that it wasn’t impossible.

The reason was simple:

“Thanks to Lord Bahamut’s protection, all zombies in Gyeongju have disappeared. But that’s not the case in other cities. There are many survivors remaining within those cities who could allow zombies to evolve into mutants.”

The reason the Balhut Cult hadn’t seen zombies stronger than mutant zombies was because Lord Bahamut had dealt with all the zombies in Gyeongju.

“Like our Awakened, can’t mutant zombies also grow by consuming human blood and flesh? We had no problem because we swept away all mutant zombies before they could grow further, but I personally judge that mutant zombies in other cities still have the potential to grow. And cities other than Gyeongju are in no state to handle such growing mutant zombies.”

However, other cities did not receive Bahamut’s protection.

There would still be many mutant zombies within those cities, and if those zombies underwent new evolution, beings stronger than existing mutant zombies might be born.

And if such evolved mutant zombies were enemies against whom even the cult’s new weapons were ineffective:

“It’s terrifying just to imagine.”

At Jeong Dong-geon’s terrifying assertion, only Yu Su-seong, one of the more experienced executives, could express his thoughts.

The rest of the cult members remained silent, now understanding why Bahamut was targeting Pohang.