Ch.4848. Advancement (2)

After a brief silence, neither Jeong Dong-geon nor Son Sang-hui were the type to forget their duties.

They prepared to transport all urgent patients using the bus led by Yu Su-seong, loading them to be sent to the university hospital in Gyeongju.

“Have all the urgent patients been loaded onto the bus?”

“Yes.”

“Then depart.”

After loading the patients onto the bus with the soldiers, they sent them off to Gyeongju.

Once they arrived in Gyeongju, Hospital Director Han Jun-woo and his medical team would thoroughly examine and treat the survivors.

To govern Pohang in the future, they needed to secure public support, and Jeong Dong-geon’s actions could be seen as hypocrisy to win over the hearts of Pohang’s survivors.

“Thank you.”

“No. It’s only natural.”

But even such hypocrisy was necessary for many people in this apocalypse.

If left alone, the survivors in this camp would likely have died from disease, exposure, or starvation.

In such a desperate situation, Son Sang-hui accepted Jeong Dong-geon’s actions not as hypocrisy but as a noble decision that threw them a lifeline.

“Now. For our operation. I’d like to hear your opinion, Ms. Son. Shall we go inside?”

“Yes. Of course.”

Jeong Dong-geon listened to Son Sang-hui in a temporarily erected military tent, and she shared all the information she remembered.

They spread out a satellite map of Pohang, identifying the location of the mutant spider zombies causing the anomalies while also pinpointing the positions of survivor camps.

They then categorized which camps could be cooperated with, which couldn’t, and analyzed the tendencies of each camp leader.

“There are more camps willing to cooperate than I expected.”

“Isn’t that normal?”

“Well… Yes. I suppose that is normal.”

Surprisingly, the majority of survivor camps were willing to cooperate in reclaiming Pohang.

Jeong Dong-geon looked surprised at Son Sang-hui’s testimony that most camps would cooperate, unlike in Gyeongju, and she asked if this wasn’t the normal response.

‘I guess unlike Gyeongju, Pohang has zombies that are clearly identifiable as enemies.’

He realized that unlike Gyeongju, Pohang could unite with one heart and mind due to the presence of an external threat to their lives.

Before Bahamut’s advent, even Jo Sun-do had hidden his true nature and formed a normal survivor camp. With zombies as a powerful external enemy, no camp would be uncooperative in the reclamation operation.

They all knew better than anyone that if they didn’t reclaim Pohang from the zombies, they would be next.

‘This is troublesome. If most camps cooperate, it means camps that will later reveal their allegiance to the cult are among them.’

Jeong Dong-geon, who had intended to distinguish between survivors who would cooperate with the cult and those who wouldn’t from the beginning, looked troubled.

He judged that this could lead to conflict between Pohang survivor groups and Gyeongju after Pohang’s reclamation.

‘But there shouldn’t be a problem. If anyone rebels like Jo Sun-do did, we’ll just prove our strength again.’

He determined there wouldn’t be a major issue.

After all, the Balhut Cult had already faced several challenges from opposition.

They had crushed the challenge of self-proclaimed Gyeongju king Jo Sun-do and taken everything in Gyeongju, so they could crush any potential challenge from Pohang in the same way.

In this era, organizations needed to prove their strength to the masses to gain unquestioning obedience.

“They’re coming.”

“Wow.”

Then the main expedition force arrived at the outpost under construction.

Son Sang-hui gasped in admiration at the sight of heavily armed soldiers in combat gear disembarking from numerous troop transport trucks with discipline.

The disembarked forces were the cult’s elite troops, standing in formation, waiting for orders from the cult’s ruler.

Even if there were anomalies in Pohang, there was no delusion or wavering in their eyes.

“Who is that person?”

And at their center was a priestess in ceremonial robes who stood out the most.

The great dragon priestess who ruled the Balhut Cult.

She had come all the way to Pohang to fulfill the dragon god’s promise.

“The ruler of Gyeongju. Ms. Choi Yu-na.”

“The ruler of Gyeongju… Then she is…!”

The leader of the Balhut Cult.

Son Sang-hui looked at Choi Yu-na with astonishment, and perhaps sensing her gaze, Choi Yu-na smiled brightly and slowly approached where Son Sang-hui was standing.

“Ah. You must be a survivor from Pohang?”

“Ah. Yes. Yes.”

“Don’t worry. We will definitely reclaim Pohang from the zombies.”

She greeted her warmly, smiled kindly, and promised to reclaim Pohang from the zombies.

Son Sang-hui suspected this might be the fake smile of a politician as described on the internet, but she felt that the priestess before her might actually be capable of fulfilling that promise.

Just her presence was overwhelming, and moreover:

‘She’s so powerful…! This incredible magical power visible to the naked eye. Is this person really human like us? Even Seol-hwa wasn’t this powerful!’

The powerful magical energy emanating from the cult leader made Son Sang-hui worry that she might not be human.

Of course, she must be human.

If she weren’t human, so many soldiers wouldn’t follow her.

However, once doubt arose, it wasn’t easily dispelled.

“Um… that…”

“We will attack Pohang and definitely rescue our compatriots.”

“Y-yes!”

She couldn’t hide her bewilderment and was so startled by Choi Yu-na’s words that she could only respond with a simple “yes.”

Seeing Son Sang-hui’s dazed expression, Choi Yu-na thought:

‘She seems nervous because I’m here. I understand! Yes, yes!’

She had no other thoughts.

She simply thought Son Sang-hui was nervous about meeting someone important or exhausted from long-term survival activities, not at all considering that her own power might be the cause of that nervousness.

In some ways, she resembled the dragon god she served, though hopefully she wouldn’t resemble him in such trivial matters.

“Lady Yu-na.”

“Yes, Mr. Jeong Dong-geon. Is that… the suspicious object?”

“Yes. According to testimony, the creature that made it is similar to a spider or something like an alien from movies.”

Watching the nervous Son Sang-hui, Jeong Dong-geon tactfully stepped forward to bring Yu-na’s wandering mind back to focus.

When Jeong Dong-geon spoke, Yu-na immediately mentioned the spider web near the intersection, and Jeong Dong-geon confirmed it, saying the creature that made it was similar to an alien.

At the mention of aliens, Yu-na’s face darkened.

“That’s scary.”

“Haha. Surely you jest.”

She said it was scary.

Jeong Dong-geon thought Yu-na was making a joke to lighten the mood, not that she was actually scared.

Considering Yu-na’s strength, he thought she would quickly burn it away and defeat each mutant with a single blow.

However, the unfortunate truth for Jeong Dong-geon was:

“No. I’m really scared. I… I hate spiders.”

“…”

She really was scared.

When she honestly confessed her lack of tolerance for spiders and creepy things, Jeong Dong-geon was at a loss for words.

To be honest:

‘No, I think your Yu-na Death Beam is scarier.’

The Yu-na Death Beam that had dispatched Jo Sun-do in one hit was scarier than spiders or mutant zombies.

The sight of her pointing one finger, laughing cheerfully, and subduing Jo Sun-do with a single beam was certainly satisfying but also instilled fear.

For Yu-na, who had subdued Jo Sun-do as if playing with him, to say she was afraid of spiders… well, Jeong Dong-geon decided to make no comment.

After all, Jeong Dong-geon was an extremely intelligent and sensible soldier who didn’t voice the thoughts in his head.

“I’ll create a barrier centered on this intersection. We need a safe space for the expedition force to rest. Of course, I’ll also prepare a healing magic circle.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Fortunately, before Jeong Dong-geon could accidentally misspeak, Yu-na first announced that she would deploy a barrier at the outpost.

Jeong Dong-geon bowed his head and thanked her for her hard work as she explained her plan to create a barrier for the expedition force’s safety and a healing magic circle for their stamina.

While these two spells would greatly help the expedition force, they would also place a great burden on Yu-na.

The disadvantage was that Yu-na couldn’t join the front lines while maintaining these two spells, but:

‘The battle will end with the advent of the dragon god Bahamut anyway.’

Even without Yu-na on the battlefield, the Balhut Cult had a trump card to end the war.

If a battlefield suitable for deploying Bahamut could be formed, they planned to end everything with Bahamut’s advent, so there was no need for Yu-na to participate in such a small-scale battle.

“I was scared.”

“Were you that frightened?”

After Yu-na left to cast the magic that would complete the outpost, Son Sang-hui, who had been tense, let out a sigh of relief.

As she sighed and said she was scared, Jeong Dong-geon asked her why.

“She seems like a good person, but is she really human like us?”

“Why do you say that?”

“The magical power I felt from her… it doesn’t seem human…”

When she described the magical power as seeming inhuman, Jeong Dong-geon thought it wasn’t an incorrect assessment.

Sometimes even Jeong Dong-geon, who served Yu-na, thought she might not be the same kind of human when witnessing the numerous miracles she performed.

Of course, he wasn’t particularly surprised by Son Sang-hui’s statement because he already knew this phenomenon was possible because Yu-na had contracted with the dragon god Bahamut and become his proxy.

“It seems you can detect others’ magical power, Ms. Son.”

“Yes. My eyes have the ability to detect how much magical power a person has.”

“Oh my. Indeed. So there are Awakened abilities like that too.”

Normally, Yu-na concealed her magical power, so one wouldn’t feel much pressure, but Son Sang-hui had detected Yu-na’s magic.

When Jeong Dong-geon asked about it, Son Sang-hui explained without hesitation that her eyes made it possible.

Jeong Dong-geon expressed admiration that such abilities existed and smoothly moved on.

“Was that person from earlier the leader of the Balhut Cult, Choi Yu-na?”

“That’s correct.”

“And are you a soldier who follows her, Mr. Jeong Dong-geon?”

Son Sang-hui mentioned the Balhut Cult and asked if the girl she had just met was the cult’s leader, and Jeong Dong-geon answered honestly.

When Jeong Dong-geon answered honestly, Sang-hui gathered more courage and asked about Jeong Dong-geon’s true affiliation.

“Yes. I am a soldier of the Balhut Cult, not the Republic of Korea. Are you disappointed?”

Jeong Dong-geon answered honestly.

In fact, he wasn’t lying at all.

He had merely cleverly concealed his affiliation to prevent Son Sang-hui from panicking, but his profession and purpose for coming here were all true.

“No, no. Your consideration alone is enough. It’s just… I find it surprising that someone like you follows her.”

Son Sang-hui said it was fine, but at the same time expressed her inability to understand why someone like Jeong Dong-geon would follow Choi Yu-na.

He was trustworthy, serious, courageous, and had many loyal subordinates.

She couldn’t understand why he would be loyal to the Balhut Cult, which was publicly known as a cult.

“Hehe. I was skeptical at first too. But after seeing that, I couldn’t bring myself to doubt anymore. If I doubted that, I would have to doubt my own eyes.”

“What do you mean by ‘that’?”

“Soon. You will see it here too.”

Understanding her feelings, he honestly admitted that he too had been skeptical at first.

Jeong Dong-geon had initially expected but thought futile Choi Yu-na’s cause and call, and that thought remained unchanged even when Choi Yu-na faced the zombie army alone.

However, even such doubt disappeared the moment that person appeared before his eyes, and he couldn’t bring himself to doubt anymore.

No, if he doubted that, he would have to doubt everything he had seen then.

Recalling the memory of that time, Jeong Dong-geon smiled slightly and told Son Sang-hui that she would soon understand.

“Before that, we need to prepare for the operation. It will be a long battle.”

Before that, they needed to complete the operation plan to reclaim Pohang.

They were preparing for that battle even now.

“Ah. Come to think of it, I should prepare clothes for everyone. You can’t withstand the coming cold in those rags, can you?”

“Ah.”

“There should be uniforms among the military supplies. I’ll distribute them myself.”

For that, he also needed the help of Son Sang-hui, the collaborator before him.

Jeong Dong-geon told Son Sang-hui that he would personally distribute uniforms and checked the military supplies the cult had brought.