Ch.8484. Anomaly

# The Ghost Fleet’s Retreat

The Ghost Fleet’s disgraceful retreat was relayed in real-time to the Balhut Cult through Bahamut, who had been observing the battlefield.

“The Ghost Fleet retreated?”

[Yes. The fleet led by Seol-hwa encountered the Ghost Fleet and engaged them. The Ghost Fleet fled without putting up a proper fight.]

At Bahamut’s statement that they had simply fled without much of a battle, Yu-na stared at him with a genuinely dumbfounded expression.

Then again, the fact that zombies, which had shown nothing but hostility toward humans, had fled was enough to shatter conventional wisdom.

Even when the dragon god Bahamut had descended, the mutant spider zombies had shown signs of retreat, but that was only because they recognized Bahamut as special.

However, in this battle, Bahamut had merely been observing and showed no signs of participating in the battlefield.

So it was difficult to say they had fled out of fear.

“Was there a difference in military strength…?”

[Even with the Turn Undead variable, the undead side had the advantage in fleet size.]

“Hmm. I can’t understand why they ran away.”

Even when she asked if they had fled due to an overwhelming difference in power, the answer was only that the opponent had the advantage.

Even with the Turn Undead variable, the undead had the advantage in terms of size.

Since they were using warships that South Korea had used, there wouldn’t be a difference in performance. The opponent had fishing boats to disrupt their route, high-speed vessels, and their command ship was a full-fledged combat warship.

Even if Seol-hwa’s side gained momentum through the Turn Undead variable, the undead side could have easily pushed through with sheer numbers, just as they had done on land.

However, the fact that they abandoned their advantage and chose to flee disgracefully only made Yu-na wonder: why didn’t they use their advantage and instead ran away?

[For now, the Pohang fleet is pursuing them and gradually wearing them down. Even if they can’t completely eliminate the Ghost Fleet, they can at least weaken it.]

“Seol-hwa is going to have a hard time.”

Thanks to this, they had gained an excellent opportunity to weaken the Ghost Fleet.

The Pohang fleet led by Seol-hwa immediately began pursuing the fleeing Ghost Fleet, gradually reducing their ships one by one.

With Turn Undead and Seol-hwa’s ability to remotely detonate the keels of fishing boats, she could force attrition on the enemy as soon as they came within range.

Even if they couldn’t eliminate the entire fleet, if they could weaken their forces, this battle could definitely be declared a victory for the Balhut Cult.

[Based on the information obtained from this battle, the Ghost Fleet that appeared at sea was indeed operated by the undead, as we suspected. The Turn Undead magic worked quite well.]

“Then that means the zombies on land might also be affected by Turn Undead. I’ll test it later.”

[Do that.]

Yu-na said she would personally test Turn Undead against zombies on land.

If it worked on the Ghost Fleet at sea, there was a good chance it would work on zombies on land as well.

If the Turn Undead magic really worked, they could determine the direction of the Awakened project going forward and develop new weapons accordingly.

[By the way, let’s inform Steven David, the special envoy, about this fact.]

“Understood. Please call Steven.”

The Balhut Cult decided to share this information with the White House.

Regarding this matter, the Balhut Cult and the White House had agreed to cooperate to secure safe sea routes, and naturally, they needed to inform Steven, the plenipotentiary ambassador, about this battle.

Yu-na immediately invited Steven to her office, and upon receiving the invitation, without a moment’s hesitation…

“It seems there’s good news, Ms. Yu-na. And Lord Bahamut.”

He arrived at Yu-na’s office.

Breathing heavily, Steven’s eyes showed signs of fatigue from managing embassy affairs, but he was looking at Yu-na with expectant eyes.

If Yu-na personally invited him, it meant there was important information for the White House.

In fact…

[Yes. To put it simply, the Ghost Fleet did exist, and the fleet’s masters were undead. Reports indicate that the Turn Undead magic worked when the Pohang fleet engaged them.]

“I see. Then, is the apocalypse that appeared in East Asia not a zombie apocalypse but an undead apocalypse?”

It was Bahamut, not Yu-na, who directly explained today’s engagement.

With that information, Steven asked with a fearful expression whether it was an undead apocalypse rather than a zombie apocalypse.

[Zombies and undead are just a paper-thin difference. You can still call it a zombie apocalypse if you want.]

“Haha. I suppose that’s true. But that’s not what’s important right now. What’s important is that our trade flows smoothly.”

In response to the joking remark, Bahamut said either term was similar, and Steven agreed that wasn’t the important issue right now.

What was important now was stabilizing the route between Pohang and the White House.

[You don’t need to worry about that. The Ghost Fleet’s strength has been weakened, so the safety of the route will soon be secured.]

“That’s good news for us as well.”

Bahamut said the safety of the route had been secured and that the Ghost Fleet had been weakened.

There was no mention of complete elimination, but since Bahamut said so, Steven understood that the major danger had passed.

In fact, it wasn’t wrong to say that the Pohang fleet would now be active to ensure the safety of the route.

[But it’s suspicious.]

“What’s suspicious?”

[No. As soon as exchanges with the United States began, a Ghost Fleet led by undead appeared. Moreover, before Seol-hwa awakened as the Dragon Priestess, mutant spider zombies that could counter Seol-hwa’s abilities appeared in Pohang.]

However, Bahamut told Steven that the current situation was suspicious.

Indeed, the timing was suspicious enough to raise doubts.

As soon as exchanges with the United States began, a Ghost Fleet led by undead appeared, seemingly to block it.

Moreover, if you consider what happened before, mutant spider zombies that were hard counters to Seol-hwa had also appeared in Pohang.

At first, one could dismiss it as a coincidence that mutant zombies had evolved to become hard counters to Baek Seol-hwa, but the appearance of the Ghost Fleet was too much to ignore.

Wasn’t the Ghost Fleet now on display blatantly a means to interfere with the exchange between the Balhut Cult and the White House?

“Indeed. The Ghost Fleet never appeared before our exchanges began. The timing is too perfect to call it a coincidence.”

[Yes. I’m suspecting that the zombie side is not just growing, but deliberately adapting to counter the growth direction of their opponents.]

Steven agreed, saying the timing was too perfect to be a coincidence.

If the Ghost Fleet had appeared before the exchanges began, they could have understood it as “oh, there were zombies at sea too,” but since it suddenly appeared just as exchanges were becoming active, conspiracy theories were inevitable.

It was blatantly interfering with the exchange between the White House and the Balhut Cult.

Moreover, the dragon god Bahamut’s statement that the zombies’ growth itself was adapting to their opponents was difficult to ignore.

“We’ve also been experiencing enhanced tactical abilities from monsters, forcing us into hellish urban warfare, which is too much to dismiss as mere suspicion.”

Similar suspicions had arisen in the United States as well.

Monsters that were initially defenseless against American weapons later became smarter in countering them, turning into skilled urban guerrillas.

As a result, the US military and American heroes were being forced into hellish urban warfare.

Steven, who had experienced that hellish urban warfare as an Awakened, couldn’t ignore the fact that humanity’s enemies were gradually growing to match humanity’s growth.

[If we explain that ships that left before the apocalypse became ghost ships, there would be no argument against my logic. But the fact that the Ghost Fleet appeared precisely when exchanges with the United States are most important… Even without physical evidence, one can sense something suspicious.]

“Are you suggesting it didn’t occur naturally but was caused by someone’s will?”

[Yes. After all, the reason why this zombie apocalypse occurred in East Asia hasn’t been revealed yet. Right now, we’re focused on survival, but we still don’t know why, for what reason, this zombie apocalypse occurred in East Asia. We know nothing about the culprit.]

Above all, humanity still doesn’t know why the apocalypse occurred worldwide.

Since nothing has been revealed, suspicion could only breed more suspicion.

While they were currently struggling for survival, someday humanity would need to find out why this apocalypse erupted.

“Does even the dragon god not know?”

[From my perspective, I only became active after the apocalypse began, through my contract with Yu-na. Until then, I was quietly sleeping in the temple.]

“I see.”

Frankly, it’s mind-boggling that Bahamut spent months messing around to fulfill his own fantasies.

In response to Steven’s question, Bahamut, as if feeling guilty about something, lied that he had been asleep in the temple before contracting with Yu-na.

Well, since he had actually been inside the temple for construction work, it wasn’t entirely a lie, which made it even more insidious.

“So Lord Bahamut, you suspect that this situation didn’t occur naturally but was artificially created. Is that what you mean?”

[I have no physical evidence. Only suspicion. This is just my personal opinion.]

Steven neatly summarized the logic that had emerged, asking if this was correct.

In response, Bahamut took a step back, saying it was just his personal opinion, with no physical evidence, only suspicion.

“But this is an apocalypse where imaginary mysteries have appeared in reality. Even without physical evidence, if a dragon god has suspicions, we humans would like to accept it as a prophecy, even without physical evidence.”

Even without any physical evidence, since the dragon god expressed his suspicions, from an ordinary person’s perspective, it could only be accepted as a prophecy.

Indeed, if a dragon god with overwhelming power says, “I’m suspicious of this, so be careful,” how many people could ignore that?

So Steven took it seriously, organizing the facts Bahamut had stated, and calmly explaining the reasons and logic for believing it.

‘I can’t… deny it!’

Even Bahamut couldn’t deny that.

Even he would probably believe it if a magnificent dragon god made a meaningful statement.

[In any case, we can’t know why the apocalypse occurred at this point. For now, what humanity should prioritize is not investigating why the apocalypse happened, but winning the survival competition.]

“Yes.”

[First, I’ll order the fleet led by Baek Seol-hwa to clean up the Ghost Fleet that appeared in our waters as much as possible. Do you have any good news on your end?]

So what Bahamut could do was solve the problems right in front of him.

He said that the fleet led by Baek Seol-hwa would clean up the Ghost Fleet, and then asked about matters related to the United States.

“In the Pacific and Atlantic areas we manage, we haven’t detected the Ghost Fleet that the Balhut Cult discovered. Of course, there were many ghost ships drifting at sea, but these were fishing boats with starved fishermen on board.”

Fortunately, the US side had not detected the existence of the commonly known Ghost Fleet.

Even if they had found something, they drew a line saying they were ghost ships drifting at sea, and that they had never been operated by undead.

This testimony could accelerate the suspicion that this Ghost Fleet might also be limited to East Asia.

“Ah, one notable point is that pirates have appeared near the Atlantic. Not undead-operated pirate ships, but actual pirate ships operated by Awakened criminals.”

However, while the Pacific might be clear, pirates had appeared in the Atlantic.

At this, Bahamut looked dumbfounded, as if finding it ridiculous.

‘What is this, the Age of Exploration?’

How could pirates appear in modern times… especially during this apocalypse?

With an expression of complete incomprehension, he looked at Steven.

[Pirates… you say?]

“Haha. Lord Bahamut is surprised too. I was also shocked. But it’s true that pirates have appeared in the Atlantic and are plundering container ships headed for Western Europe.”

However, Steven seemed to share similar feelings, sighing helplessly at the revival of pirates in modern times.