Ch.7979. Ghost Ship of the East Sea (1)

That’s how the exchange with the United States began, and after half a year, Pohang’s old port welcomed a container ship arriving from America.

Massive American supplies began flowing through Pohang toward Gyeongju, and conversely, Awakened magic weapons developed in Pohang started heading to America through the port.

This situation was certainly not bad for Pohang, which had become an intermediate port between the two trade routes.

“People who weren’t registered in the administrative network, those who were missing, have started returning one by one.”

“That’s fortunate.”

The massive supplies coming through America benefited Pohang, which had just begun reconstruction, as some of the materials heading to Gyeongju were also used in Pohang.

Especially for Pohang, which had just entered economic reconstruction, they were able to restart a monetary economy through the good reputation of the United States and the consideration of the Balhut Cult. The private economy also began to revitalize rapidly.

Thanks to this, people who had been missing and unregistered in Pohang’s administrative network gradually began to be recorded, quickly restoring Pohang’s population, which could then be directly invested in reconstruction projects.

“There’s also a strong request from the United States. They want the POSCO steelworks to be quickly activated to produce steel there. They say there’s no problem with iron ore, so we can use as much as we need.”

With such a request from the United States, Pohang could definitely benefit from Gyeongju’s projects.

They could quickly proceed with the operation of the steelworks, their main business, with Gyeongju’s help, and also provide jobs for Pohang workers who had lost their livelihoods due to the apocalypse.

“Haha. It seems even the United States needed our Pohang steel.”

When Ha Jin-woo first heard this order, he proudly spoke with an expression full of pride, as if Pohang’s steel had been recognized by the United States.

“No. They want to receive Bahamut’s coins made from it.”

“Ah. I see.”

Seol-hwa flatly stated that the United States wanted Bahamut to process the steel produced in Pohang into coins.

Through Steven, the White House in the United States had been able to accurately understand the Awakened weapons used by the Balhut Cult, and they needed to research the Bahamut coins that were the materials for these weapons.

For this purpose, they wanted to import a large quantity of Bahamut coins through Steven, and in return…

“In exchange, you can receive advanced American technology. So work hard.”

“…Understood.”

They could receive some of America’s advanced technology and business rights.

If they received technology that America had somehow preserved even through the apocalypse, the Balhut Cult could grow even more.

‘With this, Pohang will head toward paradise. Hehe.’

Baek Seol-hwa was looking at the huge container ship entering Pohang’s old port, thinking that everything was finally returning to normal.

Unfortunately, if there was good news, bad news was sure to follow.

“Lady Seol-hwa. We’ve received a significant number of complaints from the harbor.”

“Is it dissatisfaction with the trade with the United States?”

“No, that’s not it. Rather, it’s trade that’s rebuilding and revitalizing Pohang. Residents wouldn’t voluntarily oppose that. They’re reporting strange phenomena in our fishing zone in the East Sea.”

Twenty days after proper trade with the United States began, many complaints came in from Pohang residents.

At first, Seol-hwa thought the residents were dissatisfied with the trade with America, but trade with the United States was the most important exchange for Pohang, which had entered reconstruction, so there was no reason for dissatisfaction.

Seo Un-jae stated that residents wouldn’t rebel, and contrary to Seol-hwa’s expectations, explained that strange phenomena were occurring in the East Sea.

“Strange phenomena?”

“They say ghost ships have appeared.”

Seo Un-jae calmly said that ghost ships had appeared.

Seol-hwa didn’t find this strange.

Rather, with a puzzled expression, she looked at Seo Un-jae and spoke.

“Well, it’s rare, but not unusual, right? Ghost ships drifting at sea.”

It was indeed rare, but even Seol-hwa, living in Pohang, had heard stories about ships where the crew and captain had gone missing.

It was an eerie story, but ships drifting at sea without owners was something that happened even before the apocalypse.

Moreover, now it was the apocalypse, so it was natural to have one or two ghost ships drifting at sea without owners.

While she could understand the sentiment of those who witnessed it and filed complaints, there was no reason to take it seriously.

“Yes. News of fishing boat crews and captains going missing. It was something that happened even before the apocalypse. In fact, most of the complaints were about that kind of ghost ship.”

“That’s common during the apocalypse.”

“Yes, it’s common. The Balhut Cult Awakened who responded to our request investigated the ship’s log and found that most were people who had gone fishing right before the apocalypse.”

Because it was common.

In fact, when the dispatched Awakened investigated the ship’s log stored inside the ghost ship, they found they were fishermen who had gone fishing before the apocalypse.

Although it was a cruel and tragic event, it could be lightly dismissed as unavoidable in this apocalypse.

“The problem is that after the Balhut Cult’s investigation, real ghost ships appeared. Yes, literally ghost ships.”

“What?”

But the problem came next.

After resolving the harbor fishermen’s reports, real ghost ships appeared.

“More precisely, ghost ships operated by zombies with intelligence.”

Yes, ghost ships of the sea operated directly by zombies.

“What? That’s scary.”

Seol-hwa said it was scary.

She understood that mutant zombies had intelligence, but if asked whether that intelligence was capable of navigation, Seol-hwa would immediately give a negative answer.

They had intelligence, but that intelligence barely exceeded the level of most infants.

“We suspect the ghost ships currently being sighted are fishing boats that went missing after the apocalypse. Based on the information we’ve received, it seems the crew on board became zombies, with the entire crew turning into zombies. Afterward, the captain or one of the crew members mutated into an intelligent zombie, and the ship became a ghost ship. That roughly explains it.”

Seo Un-jae was able to provide a brief explanation of the situation to the headquarters based on the reports received so far.

It was a reasonable explanation even to Seol-hwa, and what was frightening was that based on their experience, it could really happen.

“This sounds like something from a movie.”

It really was like something from a movie.

But even if it was a terrifying story, it was an enemy disrupting the East Sea.

“Does the headquarters know?”

“If it’s Jeong Dong-geon, he might know. Since we found out through Pohang residents’ complaints, Jeong Dong-geon, who controls the coastline, might have actually encountered them.”

So this fact needed to be reported to Gyeongju headquarters, and Seo Un-jae speculated that while Gyeongju headquarters might not know yet, Jeong Dong-geon, who was on site, might be aware.

“Then I’ll report to headquarters.”

“Please do.”

Even if Jeong Dong-geon knew this fact, Seol-hwa judged that the news might not have reached headquarters yet, so she immediately reported this to Choi Yu-na through the Scrying Mirror.

“Sister Yu-na. Ghost ships have appeared in the sea.”

“Hmm. It’s the apocalypse, so there could be ownerless ships, right?”

At first, Yu-na also said that because it was the apocalypse, ownerless ships could appear, and didn’t pay much attention.

Seol-hwa smiled bitterly at the response, which was the same as her own just moments ago, and with a serious expression, conveyed the meaning more aggressively.

“No. Real ghost ships operated by ghosts have appeared.”

“What? That’s scary.”

Yu-na also looked at Seol-hwa through the mirror with a fearful expression, saying that was terrifying.

Upon Seol-hwa’s report, Choi Yu-na immediately summoned Jeong Dong-geon, who had gone to the field to stabilize the eastern part of Gyeongju, to headquarters.

“We also spotted one from a distance once. The problem was that it didn’t appear to be a South Korean vessel but a foreign one, so we didn’t make contact first.”

Jeong Dong-geon, summoned to the cult headquarters, also reported that he had spotted an unidentified vessel suspected to be a ghost ship, albeit from a distance.

However, in preparation for any unforeseen situation, the cult did not make direct contact.

“How was it?”

“Though slow, ship operation itself was possible. It could only be operated, but I don’t think it could fulfill the actual role of a ship.”

Jeong Dong-geon testified that the ship’s operation was indeed possible at a functional level, as reported by Pohang fishermen.

However, Jeong Dong-geon’s assessment from his distant observation was that while operation was possible, it would be difficult for the ship to fulfill its primary role.

“The patrol ships and speedboats stationed in Pohang should be sufficient to subdue it.”

If that’s the case, the marines and patrol ships stationed in Pohang would be more than enough to subdue it.

“The problem is that there are naval vessels from Pohang that went missing after the apocalypse. If these have become ghost ships like what we saw, it’s quite serious.”

The problem was that Pohang’s navy wasn’t completely intact.

Taking advantage of the chaos of the apocalypse, some naval vessels had gone missing without a word, and if these had become ghost ships, the Balhut Cult would greatly lose its power to control the East Sea.

In the past, it would have been enough to protect just the East Sea coastal zone or fishing areas, but now they were exchanging with the United States, and this exchange was bringing enormous wealth and prosperity to the Balhut Cult.

From the cult’s perspective, they couldn’t leave the unidentified ghost ships that appeared in the sea alone.

“This is troubling. I’ll quickly inform Mr. Steven about this. Please bring Special Ambassador Steven from the temporary embassy to headquarters.”

“Yes.”

Yu-na understood the seriousness of the situation after hearing Jeong Dong-geon’s report, and immediately summoned Special Ambassador Steven.

In response to Yu-na’s sudden summons, Steven David came to the headquarters where Yu-na was, with a relaxed appearance.

Steven’s expression showed he was pleased with the successful trade between the Balhut Cult and the United States, and he seemed to think he had been summoned for formal greetings due to the success of this exchange.

“Ghost ships have appeared in the East Sea.”

“It was rare before the apocalypse, but common now. Ships lost at sea without owners, while tragic, are not unheard of. I express my condolences.”

However, contrary to expectations, Yu-na said with a serious expression that ghost ships had appeared in the East Sea, and Steven dismissed it as common during the apocalypse.

Fishing boats lost in the vast sea were rare but occasional occurrences even in the United States.

So Steven only replied that it was tragic but not unusual.

“Not that kind of ghost ship. Literally ghost ships.”

“…What?”

At Yu-na’s words, Steven asked again as if he had misheard.

What was she saying?

So…

“Are you perhaps talking about ghost… or to be blunt, ships operated by spirits?”

“Yes. If our reports are true, they really are ghost ships operated by ghosts. Considering the apocalypse in East Asia, zombies would be more accurate than ghosts.”

When asked if real ghost ships operated by ghosts had appeared, Yu-na said that if the reports were true, ghost ships operated by ghosts had appeared in the East Sea.

Of course, since the East Asian region was suffering from a zombie apocalypse, the ghost ships were likely operated by zombies rather than ghosts, but the concepts of zombies and ghosts were similar, so the explanation wouldn’t be much different.

“What? That’s scary.”

However, Steven responded to Yu-na’s words with a pale face, saying it was scary.