Ch.4545. The Road to Pohang (1)

Naturally, the Balhut Cult wasn’t going to march on Pohang right away.

War required extensive preparation, and stockpiling supplies and weapons for the soldiers was essential.

They also needed to formulate an operational plan for Pohang and secure a safe route there.

“There are two routes from Gyeongju to Pohang.”

Currently, there were two roads from Gyeongju to Pohang.

“The first option is to go up along the Hyeongsan River. Following the road along the riverbank will take you to Pohang. By vehicle, it’s about 30 minutes. Actually, with no traffic congestion, we could arrive in just 20 minutes.”

The first route involved taking the road along the Hyeongsan River.

Following the Hyeongsan River all the way up would quickly lead to the center of Pohang.

While it was the fastest route…

“From what I know, there are many villages and townships along the way.”

“Yes. We’d have to fight the zombies there. Moreover, the disadvantage is that there’s only one entry point into Pohang from this route.”

The problem was that numerous villages and townships lined the way, meaning they would have to fight zombies and mutated zombies that had settled there.

In other words, if they didn’t clear out the zombies in advance, they could face interference during their advance later, and the supply procurement for operations would be significantly affected.

Above all, from the perspective of the Balhut Cult, which needed to conquer the entire Pohang region, this route didn’t seem advantageous since there was only one entry point between Gyeongju and Pohang.

“The second option is to use the Geonpo Industrial Road. If we manage the mountain tunnels well, this route would be highly efficient for transporting supplies from the cult’s perspective.”

“Is that so?”

The second option was to use the Geonpo Industrial Road.

It was a route to Pohang through mountain tunnels, and once the area around the tunnels was secured, the rest was mountainous terrain, meaning there was very little chance of encountering zombies.

“Of course, I’m a bit concerned about zombies in the vicinity and monsters living in the mountains, but since the Geonpo Industrial Road itself is a straight path to Pohang, if we establish surveillance checkpoints along the way, we can manage the supply line with our forces.”

Above all, it scored points for being more efficiently manageable than the Hyeongsan River route, which required passing through numerous villages and townships.

And the advantages weren’t limited to just the route.

“From our perspective of conquering the entire Pohang region, we must use the Geonpo Industrial Road. If we go straight through it, there’s a path to POSCO, and if we use the Yeongil Bay Road midway, there are paths to the Hyeongsan River and Pohang Airport. With three different advance routes, the Geonpo Industrial Road can become the transportation hub for the Pohang operation.”

The route Jeong Dong-geon mentioned could also serve as a transportation hub for the Pohang operation.

If they diverted from the Geonpo Industrial Road to the Yeongil Bay Road, there was a path directly to the Hyeongsan River, and below that, a path to Pohang Airport.

If they continued straight on the Geonpo Industrial Road, there was a path to POSCO. From an offensive standpoint, they needed to target the Geonpo Industrial Road, which had three advance routes.

“Additionally, the size difference between Pohang and Gyeongju is significant. It would be difficult to conquer head-on. A flanking approach through the Geonpo Industrial Road would be best.”

Moreover, Pohang’s scale was roughly twice that of Gyeongju.

It was a city that boasted overwhelming power in terms of land, population, and industry compared to Gyeongju, so they had to assume that the scale of zombies in Pohang would be at least twice that of Gyeongju.

In the worst-case scenario, if all of Pohang had been zombified, the number of enemies they would face would be even greater.

“Then, how do you plan to approach the operation?”

“I’ll establish an appropriate location as an outpost and recruit local survivors living in Pohang.”

Jeong Dong-geon’s plan was to recruit survivors still living in Pohang.

While it would be very difficult for the Balhut Cult to fight alone, if they could get cooperation from locals living in Pohang, they could more accurately understand internal information and geography.

Above all, if the local collaborators were Awakened, they could use them as combat forces, which would reduce the burden on the cult, Jeong Dong-geon thought.

“Then Pohang and Gyeongju need to be physically connected. To easily recruit locals.”

“Yes. First, I’ll lead an advance team to secure the Geonpo Industrial Road.”

“I’m counting on you.”

Of course, there was also the option of recruiting through internet communities.

But in the apocalyptic era, not many people seriously believed posts on internet communities.

Some Awakened with fixed nicknames were posting reliable information and posts, but there were no such Awakened in Pohang, which was the cult’s target.

Even if collaborators existed, the Balhut Cult’s external credibility wasn’t very high, partly due to its name as a “cult.”

So they needed to recruit local survivors through actions rather than words, and for that, they needed to physically connect the road to Pohang with Gyeongju.

“Wow, there are a lot of zombies.”

“Be careful. This isn’t the safe southern Gyeongju area. It’s near northern Gyeongju, which was dominated by Jo Sun-do. Plus, Pohang is still under zombie occupation.”

“I know, captain.”

Upon receiving Yuna’s orders, Jeong Dong-geon formed an advance team with the most elite soldiers from the cult, and they began clearing the route to Pohang.

The path from northern Gyeongju to the Geonpo Industrial Road was filled with stray zombies.

Jeong Dong-geon and the cult’s soldiers advanced, dealing with these zombies one by one.

“Wow, outside we have to fight so many zombies.”

“It’s a zombie wave. A zombie wave. Are there really survivors in Pohang?”

They had to face an overwhelming number of zombies.

Using modified military trucks and buses as barricades, they fired continuously, causing the approaching zombie hordes to fall one by one. However, they were astonished by the sheer numbers, which were fitting for human wave tactics.

Since such large zombie hordes had never formed near Gyeongju due to Bahamut’s power, this was the first time the cult had engaged in combat with a large-scale zombie horde.

“About 100 zombies? Is that how many we’re fighting at once?”

“It could be more.”

While they usually engaged with about 20-30 zombies, now they were facing at least 100, and possibly 200 to 300 or more zombies rushing towards them, which was overwhelming.

The cult’s soldiers sighed and looked at their captain, Jeong Dong-geon.

“Can we break through to Pohang with just 20 people?”

“Haven’t we already made it halfway?”

Although the soldiers were complaining about the difficulty, they had already engaged with zombies multiple times and achieved overwhelming victories.

The Balhut Cult had won consecutive battles against zombies without any casualties.

So while they were verbally complaining, the soldiers’ morale wasn’t affected; rather, this experience was filling them with fighting spirit and confidence.

“Captain, there’s a suspicious zombie ahead.”

“A mutant?”

“It seems so.”

A report came in from a soldier who was scouting the surroundings with binoculars.

At the mention of a suspicious zombie, Jeong Dong-geon immediately asked if it was a mutant, and the soldier confirmed, tensing up.

“No one would look at those bulging muscles and say it’s not a mutant.”

“Is it coming towards us?”

“Well… yes. It seems to have… spotted us. It’s definitely coming at us with hostility.”

The mutant zombie observed by the soldier through the binoculars was distinctly different from other zombies.

Rather than having the typical zombie appearance, it had a unique form with some exceptionally developed features.

Some zombies specialized in jumping, some in strength, and some even had the ability to command other zombies.

The zombie the soldier saw seemed to be specialized in strength, as it was charging towards the advance team with fierce hostility after spotting them.

“Then load the bullets. Don’t accidentally set it to automatic fire.”

“I know.”

However, even though the mutant zombie was stronger than regular zombies, once it was caught in the advance team’s surveillance net, it was just an easy target.

The soldier with the sniper rifle loaded a special bullet and fired it at the charging mutant zombie’s head.

With a bang, the mutant zombie’s head exploded like a watermelon, and it collapsed lifelessly.

Discarding the spent casing, the soldier loaded a new bullet and fired again at the mutant zombie’s body. This time, a massive explosion occurred where the bullet hit, completely burning the surroundings.

“The performance is definitely reliable.”

A casing with fire and water depicted on it fell at the soldier’s feet.

As the mutant zombie fell silent, the soldier retrieved the fallen casing and muttered that the performance was reliable.

“Indeed. The performance is reliable. But if a stronger mutant zombie appears, will our current bullets be effective?”

Jeong Dong-geon agreed with the soldier’s assessment but expressed concern about whether the bullets would be effective against even stronger mutant zombies.

If a stronger zombie appeared as Bahamut had worried, the cult’s soldiers at the frontline could be seriously injured or killed, even if Gyeongju remained safe.

It was a bitter thought for Jeong Dong-geon, who had built camaraderie with the soldiers by fighting alongside them and sharing meals.

However, the soldier seemed unaware of Jeong Dong-geon’s anxiety and exclaimed confidently:

“They will be. Bahamut Bullets are invincible. It’s like firing artillery shells or water jet cutters from a gun.”

“Yes, they are invincible.”

But that was based on facts.

It was a weapon that fired artillery shells or water jet cutters from a simple rifle.

With a single rifle bullet, they could demonstrate the power of artillery or the penetrating and cutting effects of a powerful water jet cutter, allowing a single soldier to showcase tremendous firepower with just one bullet.

Moreover, although they hadn’t used them much since they were fighting zombies, there were also bullets specialized for subduing Awakened.

Having observed and used these, the Awakened had no reason to doubt the Bahamut Bullets.

“But our Lord Bahamut is concerned that stronger zombies might appear. It could mean that these bullets might not be effective against certain enemies.”

“That’s… scary.”

Jeong Dong-geon nodded heavily as if agreeing with this concern, but this worry had been directly mentioned by Bahamut, the cult’s dragon deity.

So even if they didn’t want to worry, they couldn’t help but be concerned.

At the mention that Bahamut was worried, the soldier also responded with a serious expression, saying it was scary.

“But I believe in the potential of these bullets. And not just the bullets—the performance of the guns will also improve, and with that, won’t the power of the bullets become even stronger?”

“That’s a reassuring thought.”

However, he said that the Balhut Cult would surely overcome it.

More precisely, he said he believed in the potential of the bullets.

He believed that while the facilities might be inadequate now, preventing the bullets from fully demonstrating their potential, the performance of the guns would gradually improve, and the power of the bullets would continue to increase.

Jeong Dong-geon nodded as if agreeing, ended the casual conversation, and looked at the battlefield.

The battlefield was filled with already decaying zombie corpses, and only the mutant zombie hit by the Bahamut Bullet was burning, engulfed in flames.

“Then let’s gather the corpses where the mutant zombie is and burn them. We’re creating a path for the expedition team to pass through later.”

“Ugh, I hate this job the most.”

“Can’t be helped. If we leave them like this, they’ll all rot and stink. And wild animals might eat them and give birth to strange mutants.”

The next task for the soldiers was to dispose of the zombie corpses.

If left as they were, not only would they stink, but wild animals might be attracted by the rotting smell and come for the corpses.

While there had been no cases of wild animals becoming infected by eating zombie corpses, Jeong Dong-geon always gathered the corpses in one place and burned them all to ashes as a precaution.

In cases where Bahamut Bullets were used, it was a simple matter of throwing the corpses onto the burning mutant zombie corpse.

Of course, the soldiers tasked with moving the corpses expressed their complaints, saying it was a tough job.

“Winter is approaching, won’t they freeze?”

“Even so. They were once human. It’s better to cremate them neatly than to leave them scattered like this.”

“I see.”

It was also to fulfill human duty.

Even the attacking zombies were once human, so it was considered proper to give them at least a simple funeral rather than leaving their bodies scattered on the streets.

And just as their noses were getting blocked and throats feeling stuffy from the smell and smoke of burning zombies…

“Hey, soldier uncles. Good job.”

The long-awaited snack time had arrived.

“What’s this? It’s the PX. Hello, PX soldier.”

“I’m not a PX soldier. I’m Kim Tae-hyun!”

“But what you’re doing is exactly what a PX soldier does, right?”

“I can’t… deny that!”

Although it wasn’t prepared by the cult but food bought from a mobile food truck, many soldiers looked forward to Kim Tae-hyun’s food truck.

Inside the food truck, hot food and refreshing drinks were already prepared.

“Yes, yes. I’ve prepared delicious food for you all. Ah, of course, I’ll still charge you.”

“Put it all on tab. Send the bill to the cult.”

“Will do.”

Of course, since they couldn’t carry coins while on an expedition, most soldiers settled with credit, or tabs.

As Awakened, they were already receiving good treatment and substantial salaries from the cult, so a little overspending here wouldn’t significantly impact their wallets.

Rather, for the cult’s soldiers who had heavy duties and few places to spend money, Kim Tae-hyun’s food truck was like a mobile paradise where they could properly enjoy a small daily pleasure.

To be honest, can portable combat rations, which sacrifice taste for long-term preservation, even be compared to hot, deliciously cooked food?

“Was the journey here okay?”

“Don’t even ask. There were so many zombies. If I wasn’t an Awakened, it would have been dangerous!”

“So your parents aren’t with you.”

“No. Since they haven’t awakened yet. I have to work alone.”

The same was true for Jeong Dong-geon, who led the soldiers.

As if he had been waiting, he settled at the food truck and, noticing that Kim Tae-hyun was the only one inside, mentioned Tae-hyun’s parents.

Tae-hyun replied that since this was a dangerous zone, he couldn’t bring his parents who hadn’t awakened yet, so he was alone. Jeong Dong-geon nodded in understanding.

“My mom and dad decided to do business at the market. And I decided to receive and sell goods from there. Plus, the expedition team is heading into dangerous areas, right? I need to ensure safety in advance.”

“Yes, it’s a dangerous place. For us, it’s a completely different world.”

Jeong Dong-geon nodded at Tae-hyun’s bitter smile, evaluating the world outside Gyeongju as completely different.

“By the way, the usual?”

“Yes, please.”

At Tae-hyun’s words, Jeong Dong-geon naturally ordered warm fish cake and a cool drink.