Ch.4444. Pohang (2)

The officials realized why Bahamut had chosen Pohang as the direction for advancement.

When Jeong Dong-geon shared his theory, Yu Su-seong called it a terrifying idea. The other officials remained silent, but their pale faces showed they all agreed.

“It’s a new mutant zombie.”

The emergence of a new mutant zombie.

Someone could have argued this was too speculative, but the existing mutant zombies provided sufficient basis for this theory.

After all, mutant zombies hadn’t existed at the beginning of the Apocalypse either—they had evolved from regular zombies over time.

Wouldn’t it be overly optimistic to assume these mutant zombies couldn’t evolve further?

“…That’s a terrifying thought.”

“If that’s the case, I understand Lord Bahamut’s concerns.”

“If more powerful zombies appear, our cult will have to accept some sacrifices.”

If powerful mutant zombies appeared as Bahamut feared, the Balhut Cult would inevitably suffer casualties.

Of course, this fight could also create new Awakened, and over time, these newly born Awakened might lead them to victory against the zombies.

But human nature prefers a perfect victory with minimal sacrifice rather than a pyrrhic victory after countless losses.

“Above all, our Balhut Cult is surrounded on all sides. The cult needs a secure rear base, and it seems Pohang has been chosen for that purpose.”

Thus, Jeong Dong-geon could logically explain why Bahamut was advancing toward Pohang.

Bahamut’s plan was to make Pohang the rear base for Gyeongju.

The reasons being:

“There’s a naval base stationed in Pohang. With luck, we might salvage weapons used by the military or recruit surviving soldiers. If we’re really fortunate, we might even acquire warships used by the Republic of Korea Navy.”

“Warships! That’s right! Pohang definitely had a naval base!”

He mentioned the naval base in Pohang.

Whether it still existed was uncertain, but the weapons left by the navy and any surviving soldiers would be valuable resources and human assets for the Balhut Cult.

Since it had been a naval station, they might even acquire ships docked at the harbor if lucky—there was no reason for the cult not to target Pohang.

“Moreover, through Pohang’s coastline, we can completely control eastern Gyeongju. While the eastern mountains protect Gyeongju’s east side, there must be some zombies or monsters that can cross those mountains.”

“So we can perfectly protect eastern Gyeongju.”

“Yes. Broadly speaking, we’re taking control of the East Sea.”

It would also reduce Gyeongju’s current frontline.

Even though Gyeongju’s east had natural defenses in the form of mountain ranges, they weren’t under the cult’s control, meaning Gyeongju was essentially surrounded on all sides.

Reducing this four-sided encirclement to three sides by securing Pohang might be inevitable.

In other words, once they acquired Pohang, the Balhut Cult could utilize the sea and stabilize eastern Gyeongju along the coastline.

The Balhut Cult officials’ expressions brightened considerably at Jeong Dong-geon’s bold statement.

If Gyeongju’s safety became more secure, it meant the citizens living there would be safer too.

Of course, the officials were also happy about their own increased security.

“The road to Pohang would be through North Gyeongju.”

“Yes. Though we haven’t fully established order in North Gyeongju yet, Jo Sun-do’s judgment has become widely known throughout the region. No foolish group of looters would dare raid our supply lines.”

The road to Pohang ran through North Gyeongju.

They hadn’t properly subjugated North Gyeongju yet, and looters were still rampant in the background, but Jo Sun-do’s judgment had already become known throughout North Gyeongju.

Of course, Jo Sun-do had shouted for an appeal, claiming he couldn’t accept such a trial, but the cult couldn’t dare overturn the verdict handed down by the Dragon God Bahamut.

Moreover, the evil deeds Jo Sun-do had committed would have warranted death even by pre-apocalypse standards, and he was universally considered a bastard even in the apocalypse, so no one in Gyeongju sympathized with him.

“I’ll train the prototype Awakened as security forces and deploy them additionally.”

But they weren’t being careless.

While they had captured and judged the ringleader Jo Sun-do and his executives, his remaining followers were still in North Gyeongju.

They were committing Awakened crimes in places beyond the cult’s influence, so Jeong Dong-geon said he would train the prototype Awakened as security forces to restore order in Gyeongju.

“I’ll personally persuade them.”

“Thank you.”

In response to Jeong Dong-geon’s words, Yu-na said she would personally make the proposal to them, indicating she wouldn’t spare any support.

If Yu-na personally stepped in, most matters would proceed smoothly.

“This expedition was directly ordered by Lord Bahamut. Therefore, the cult cannot take this matter lightly.”

Continuing from Jeong Dong-geon’s words, she solemnly declared to all officials present that this was not a trivial matter.

Since this was commanded by the Dragon God Bahamut whom the Balhut Cult served, it could even be seen as a holy war desired by the divine.

“On a small scale, it’s about Gyeongju’s safety. Going further, it’s about rescuing our compatriots suffering under zombies in Pohang! Yes, we attack Pohang to save our compatriots!”

But this wasn’t a meaningless holy war for Gyeongju either.

On a smaller scale, they could secure Gyeongju’s safety, and on a larger scale, it could be a righteous fight to save the citizens in Pohang.

Even if the real motive was coveting Pohang’s infrastructure, Yu-na had instinctively learned through her activities as the cult leader that the justification needed to be acceptable to the public.

That’s why she shamelessly framed it as rescuing compatriots to the officials who had just discussed the benefits of occupying Pohang.

“‘Attack Pohang to save our compatriots.’ That’s a good phrase!”

“The greater cause lies with the Balhut Cult!”

Politicians Hwang Geun-chul and Park Cheol-gon quickly caught onto Yu-na’s intention.

But they didn’t say it was wrong.

Rather, they highly appreciated Yu-na for being able to package the dark desire for Pohang’s infrastructure as a holy war with a greater cause.

Besides, it wasn’t entirely a lie—part of the cult’s expedition plan did include rescuing compatriots in Pohang.

‘Kids these days are scary.’

‘She’s growing at a terrifying pace. Does the position really make the person?’

Conversely, they considered it a natural talent that she had instinctively grasped this concept.

While amazed at Yu-na’s terrifying growth rate, Park Cheol-gon and Hwang Geun-chul simply responded to her appeal.

Growth rate was just growth rate, and Yu-na was clearly their superior and the head of state of the Balhut Cult.

If anything, having a reliable head of state in this apocalypse was immensely reassuring.

“I’ll inform the expedition team to prepare. I’ll notify Mr. Choi’s forge in advance for weapon preparations.”

“Please do.”

With that, the cult meeting concluded, and the Balhut Cult began preparations for war to advance into Pohang.

* * *

Naturally, the first place Jeong Dong-geon visited for the cult’s war preparations was Mr. Choi’s forge, which handled the cult’s weapons.

Doubling as Gyeongju’s industrial goods manufacturer, Mr. Choi’s forge vibrated with intense heat every day, with numerous workers sweating as they produced items for use in Gyeongju.

Therefore:

“That’s what I mean. I’m counting on you, Mr. Choi.”

“Go back right now.”

Mr. Choi told Jeong Dong-geon to leave immediately as he shamelessly placed a massive order that the forge couldn’t handle.

The workers were already swinging hammers every day to produce the military supplies Jeong Dong-geon had previously requested, and now this Mr. Jeong was placing an additional order several times larger.

Obviously, this was more than Mr. Choi’s forge could handle, and Mr. Choi felt contempt toward Jeong Dong-geon for shamelessly asking for it despite knowing this.

“Hey, why are you being like this? This is important business, you know?”

“No way. We already have backlogged orders—how can we handle this? To process that, all our workers would have to work non-stop.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

What angered him more was that it wasn’t impossible.

If everyone at Mr. Choi’s forge worked on it, they could complete Jeong Dong-geon’s requested military supplies within the timeframe.

“But in that case, we can’t do any other work. We can’t meet the expectations of the Gyeongju citizens who’ve given us work.”

“I understand. I guess I’m asking too much.”

However, if they focused on this, other orders would be delayed, causing inconvenience to Gyeongju’s citizens.

Jeong Dong-geon seemed to understand this as he scratched his head and sympathized with Mr. Choi’s words.

“But this is also at the request of our esteemed cult leader. Despite some side effects, we need to prepare thoroughly for this.”

However, Jeong Dong-geon had an ace up his sleeve.

He was using the name of Yu-na, the Balhut Cult leader.

Since he had already received permission, there was no problem.

“Ahem. I suppose it’s fine if some orders are delayed. Hey, you guys! Start with Mr. Jeong’s order first!”

Mr. Choi immediately flipped his stance, as if his previous concern about other orders had been a lie, and shouted to the forge workers to start on Jeong Dong-geon’s order.

It was an incredibly quick change of attitude, but Jeong Dong-geon spoke to Mr. Choi as if he was used to it.

“Hehe. It works like a charm, as expected.”

“Well, if our lovely cult leader says so, I can accept it, but hearing it from you, Mr. Jeong, somehow feels unpleasant.”

“Can’t take a joke?”

It worked perfectly.

The workers also started on Jeong Dong-geon’s order without complaint upon hearing it was Yu-na’s command.

Of course, Mr. Choi scolded Jeong Dong-geon for using Yu-na’s name, but Jeong Dong-geon brushed it off as a joke.

“So, is it another war this time?”

But if Yu-na’s orders had come down like this, it was evidence that something was happening within the Balhut Cult.

Mr. Choi asked if another war had broken out, inquiring about what was happening.

“It’s war. War against zombies.”

“Zombies? Aren’t there no zombies in Gyeongju?”

“Right. Not in Gyeongju.”

Jeong Dong-geon said it was necessary for war against zombies, and Mr. Choi looked at him with a puzzled expression.

Zombies had been cleared from the Gyeongju area long ago, so why was he suddenly talking about war against zombies?

Jeong Dong-geon himself had just confirmed there were no zombies in Gyeongju.

“Don’t tell me zombies are coming from another city?”

“No, it hasn’t come to that yet. But Lord Bahamut is concerned.”

“Him?”

When asked if zombies were coming from another city, Jeong Dong-geon shook his head, saying that wasn’t the case either.

However, at the mention that the Dragon God Bahamut was concerned about something, Mr. Choi looked at Jeong Dong-geon with a tense expression.

“Yes. So it’s a preventive war and a holy war to rescue our compatriots suffering in Pohang.”

“Pohang, huh? Are you after the steel mill there?”

“Yes, that’s part of it. If zombies get stronger, we need to arm ourselves with stronger weapons.”

Mr. Choi quickly grasped the ulterior motive when Pohang was mentioned, and Jeong Dong-geon didn’t deny it, openly admitting they were targeting it.

However, at the mention of zombies getting stronger, Mr. Choi didn’t refute Jeong Dong-geon’s statement.

“You’re not wrong.”

Instead, he agreed with Jeong Dong-geon about the necessity of powerful weapons.

While Gyeongju was peaceful now, the most important things in the current apocalypse were food and overwhelming military power to defeat zombies.

And the quickest way to gain that power was, as always, powerful weapons.