Ch.5454. Meeting (3)
by fnovelpia
As Jeong Dong-geon had said, the 12-member reconnaissance team he led was more than enough to recapture the industrial complex.
Immediately after the meeting ended, the heavily armed Jeong Dong-geon and his subordinates headed straight for the industrial complex, where they encountered numerous zombies.
“Fire the Bahamut Bullets.”
“Yes, sir.”
They generously fired Bahamut Bullets to clear out the zombies they encountered for the sake of the meeting.
Investing liberally in all types of bullets except for the flame bullets that could destroy the surroundings, they began to occupy each area one by one with tremendous firepower.
“Keeeeeeek!”
“That one seems to be the boss around here?”
“It has prisoners. Let’s deal with it quickly.”
During their operation, they discovered a giant mutant spider zombie in the center of the industrial complex, presumed to be the queen of the mutant spiders.
“Fire without restraint.”
“Aye Aye Sir!”
“Keeeeeeeeek!?”
Just like before, they eliminated it with overwhelming firepower using Bahamut Bullets.
As a result of their generous use of bullets, Jeong Dong-geon and his troops subjugated what was presumed to be the queen spider nesting in the center of the industrial complex without even getting a proper look at its face. After that, mopping up the remaining forces was very easy.
“Form teams of four. Proceed swiftly with eliminating the stragglers.”
“Yes, sir.”
The mutant spider zombies, thrown into confusion after losing their queen, were quickly crushed one by one. With practiced familiarity, they began searching the industrial complex thoroughly.
Son Sang-hui thought there was a sense of madness in the way they persistently eliminated zombies, as if determined to completely eradicate every zombie inside.
“Do-Do you need to be so thorough?”
“If we miss even one, that single zombie could later develop into a mutant zombie. So we need to eliminate them all while we can.”
“Ah.”
But this was a practice learned through experience.
If they accidentally missed even one zombie, and that zombie was reborn as a mutant zombie, dealing with it would be much more difficult.
So the easiest path was to thoroughly search the industrial complex now while they could eliminate them all, and deal with any hidden zombies.
“But since this is an industrial complex rather than a residential area, there aren’t that many zombies wandering around or hiding.”
“Yes. There were fewer than expected. Was it just dangerous because of the mutant spider zombies?”
“I suppose so.”
However, despite their thorough search, they didn’t find many wandering zombies.
They only encountered mutant spider zombies along the way, with very few regular zombies. Jeong Dong-geon judged that there were fewer zombies relative to the size of the complex because it was an industrial area rather than residential, and Son Sang-hui agreed.
And then…
“Captain. We’ve secured the cocoons.”
“…I see.”
Upon hearing that they had secured the prisoners captured by the mutant spider zombies, Jeong Dong-geon headed toward the cocoons with a slightly hardened expression.
The mutant spider zombies seemed to have captured dozens of survivors, as dozens of cocoons were hanging in a circular formation from the ceiling, and the insides were writhing as if life was stirring within them.
“Prepare Bahamut Bullets just in case.”
“Yes, sir.”
“…Hup!”
Jeong Dong-geon ordered his soldiers to prepare Bahamut Bullets in case of any unexpected situations, and Son Sang-hui and the soldiers stared at the cocoons hanging from the ceiling with grim expressions.
What exactly was inside them, and why had the mutant spider zombies captured people?
As curiosity arose, they also felt an ominous foreboding.
“Damn it.”
Jeong Dong-geon knocked down a cocoon from the ceiling with his knife, caught it as it fell, and cut it open to find a person in the process of mutating into a mutant spider zombie.
Whether they were originally a zombie, or had become one after being captured by the mutant spider zombie and placed in the cocoon, was unclear.
However, realizing that the mutant spider zombies had captured people not for food but for reproduction, Jeong Dong-geon cursed and immediately began cutting open other cocoons.
“Ugh!”
Another cocoon contained a woman.
The woman had at least maintained her human form, not having mutated into a mutant spider zombie, but it was difficult to say she was unharmed.
The woman’s belly was swollen as if pregnant, and upon seeing that swollen belly and realizing what was inside, Son Sang-hui couldn’t help but feel nauseous.
“Is she pregnant?”
“How horrific.”
Whether it was pregnancy or eggs laid in the woman’s uterus was unclear, but the woman’s belly was truly swollen as if pregnant.
Jeong Dong-geon pondered for a moment with an expression that suggested he wasn’t sure whether to consider her alive or dead.
If she hadn’t mutated into a zombie yet, the woman could still be considered alive as a human, but…
“All we can do now is pray that whatever is in her womb doesn’t hatch here.”
“Indeed.”
Conversely, if what was in her womb hatched, it would be difficult to know how to handle the mother, regardless of what happened to the hatched eggs.
“Process those who have completely turned into zombies. Transport everyone who hasn’t become a zombie to the forward base. We have the teleport given by Lord Bahamut, so let’s quickly deal with the cocoons.”
“Yes, sir.”
In any case, all Jeong Dong-geon could choose to do was kill those who were mutating into zombies and save only those who hadn’t mutated.
That was the maximum compromise the field commander Jeong Dong-geon could make, and it was the cold-blooded action of a commander who couldn’t sacrifice his subordinates for unknown strangers.
Moreover, as long as they hadn’t discovered technology to revert zombies back to humans, from a utilitarian perspective, it might be better to deal with them here and now rather than allowing new mutant spider zombies to emerge and create new victims.
So the soldiers didn’t question Jeong Dong-geon’s cold and harsh orders, and began breaking open the cocoons one by one, dealing with mutating zombies and rescuing those who hadn’t mutated.
“This isn’t pleasant work.”
“We have no choice.”
But it wasn’t pleasant work.
Their heads understood, but their hearts were deeply troubled.
Seeing this, Son Sang-hui comforted Jeong Dong-geon, saying it couldn’t be helped.
“Ah, Ms. Son Sang-hui. Please take photos of us.”
“What?”
“We’ve recaptured the industrial complex as they said, right? We need to show proof.”
“Ah, yes.”
Having fulfilled all the conditions for this meeting, they naturally needed to receive their due compensation.
Jeong Dong-geon asked Son Sang-hui to take photos of the industrial complex and themselves, and Son Sang-hui took pictures of them with her smartphone.
“Well then, shall we go back?”
The meeting would proceed after they confirmed these things anyway.
After finishing the cleanup of the industrial complex, Jeong Dong-geon gathered the people who hadn’t mutated, sent a signal to Bahamut to use teleport, and arrived at the forward base.
“Get all available transport vehicles out now! We have emergency patients!”
“Yes, sir!”
They loaded all the people who hadn’t yet turned into zombies into ambulances at the forward base and transported them to Gyeongju University Hospital.
They could have asked Yu-na for treatment, but since her healing arts might accidentally stimulate the eggs in the wombs, they transported them to Gyeongju University Hospital where surgical operations were possible.
“How horrific.”
When they showed Han Jun-woo the citizens captured by the mutant spider zombies, the hospital director Han Jun-woo said the sight was horrific.
More precisely, as soon as they arrived at the hospital, X-ray imaging was performed to check the inside of the bellies, and he was commenting on what he saw.
“Are they all spider eggs?”
“Yes, it seems so. Detailed examination shows their wombs are filled with unhatched spider eggs.”
As expected at the scene, the women’s wombs were filled with spider eggs.
“What should we do?”
“We need to surgically remove the eggs from the uterus by force. You said those are mutant spider zombie eggs, right? If we leave them as they are, the eggs in the uterus could have some effect on the mothers.”
In Han Jun-woo’s opinion, they needed to be physically removed through surgery, expressing concern that the spider eggs could significantly affect the mothers.
“I thought as much.”
“By the way, how strong are these mutant spider zombies?”
“At least twice as strong as regular mutant zombies. And they have a unique ability. They have acid that can melt even asphalt.”
However, there was one problem.
“…I’d like a few Awakened from Gyeongju to assist. I don’t want to die yet.”
If the eggs were to hatch during surgery, there was no way to guarantee the safety of the doctors performing the operation.
Han Jun-woo, seemingly frightened by Jeong Dong-geon’s words, asked for a few Awakened to be assigned.
“For during the surgery?”
“Yes. We’re risking our lives to perform this surgery.”
He wasn’t joking.
If those eggs were to hatch by accident, it could lead to a disaster, so Han Jun-woo needed Awakened who could guarantee the safety of the doctors and nurses.
“I’ll assign about ten.”
“That’s reassuring. Are you sure it’s okay?”
When Jeong Dong-geon declared he would deploy about ten Awakened, Han Jun-woo said it was reassuring.
Ten Awakened was more than enough.
However, it was a burden on Jeong Dong-geon who needed to fight on the front lines.
“I started this, so I’ll take responsibility.”
“…It’s a good deed.”
“It’s a burden on Gyeongju.”
But when Jeong Dong-geon said he would gladly accept it since he started it, Han Jun-woo comforted him by saying it was a good deed.
However, Jeong Dong-geon shook his head, rejecting the comfort, as it was indeed a burden on Gyeongju.
“Anyway, I’ll arrange for their surgeries right away. Not a single day of rest for me.”
“Did you think a doctor could rest easily during the apocalypse?”
“Well, I suppose the streets would be overflowing with patients. I guess I should be thankful I have some time to rest at all.”
When Han Jun-woo complained that he couldn’t rest peacefully for a single day, Jeong Dong-geon asked if he thought a doctor could rest easily during the apocalypse.
Unable to argue with that, Han Jun-woo said he should be thankful he had at least some time to rest, as he began preparing for surgery.
Jeong Dong-geon spoke to Han Jun-woo as if telling him to prepare himself.
“This is just the beginning. Many more patients will come, so be prepared.”
“I’d like to rely on Lady Yu-na.”
This made him want to entrust everything to Lady Yu-na, the head of the Balhut Cult.
As an excellent healer, she might succeed in treatment more perfectly than himself.
“Unfortunately, she’s currently preparing to summon Lord Bahamut.”
“The advent of the Dragon God.”
But sadly, Yu-na was now preparing to summon Bahamut.
Therefore, she couldn’t step in.
“Then I’ll just have to work harder.”
Han Jun-woo smiled bitterly and headed to the operating room, leaving Jeong Dong-geon behind.
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