Ch.8585. New Venture (1)

In the end, this information exchange only resulted in formal statements about mutual cooperation to protect each country’s sea routes.

In reality, there were likely numerous pirates in the Atlantic, and there was no guarantee that the ghost fleet in the East Sea was the only one of its kind.

Both the Pacific, including the East Sea, and the Atlantic were vast, and with pirates representing countless variables, the only option left was to stabilize shipping routes through mutual cooperation.

Neither the United States nor the Balhut Cult could independently devote all their resources to countering what had appeared in the seas.

Both powers had more urgent internal and external issues than maritime problems.

“The cult must expand outward.”

Yes, it was about time for the Balhut Cult to focus on external matters.

[Expansion, huh.]

“Yes. Pohang is now on track, and what’s most important for the cult now is exchange with other countries. Therefore, Gyeongju must expand again.”

Within the Balhut Cult, officials were beginning to argue that since Pohang had been stabilized, it was time to expand to new territories.

While expansion itself was related to military matters and could have been Jeong Dong-geon’s opinion as the military administrator, the one who presented this view wasn’t Jeong Dong-geon but Lee Hyeon-a, an economic official.

She emphasized that the most important thing for the cult now was exchange with other countries, and stressed that Gyeongju needed to expand somewhere else again.

It was essentially an argument to stop focusing on internal affairs and instead assert the Balhut Cult’s authority throughout the Korean Peninsula.

[So, where should we target?]

“Ms. Lee Hyeon-a, where do you think we should expand to?”

Surprisingly, Lee Hyeon-a’s proposal seemed to be well-received by both the dragon god Bahamut and the upper echelons of the Balhut Cult.

Perhaps gaining confidence from the exchange and alliance with the White House, no one questioned or objected to her proposal. Instead, they asked her where they should expand to.

Frankly speaking, while the sea route connected to the United States was somewhat disappointing, the Balhut Cult was currently on an upward trajectory, and its continuous growth in power was an undeniable fact.

Through the massive influx of supplies from the United States, Gyeongju was undergoing redesign as a city for the Awakened, and Pohang was developing as its supporting base.

‘Just in time, as the first generation of Awakened from my project will be emerging soon. We should be able to expand somewhere without suddenly breaking our momentum.’

Unlike before, there was now flexibility due to the emergence of new Awakened.

It was time to not only focus on internal affairs in Gyeongju but also pay proper attention to the situation across the Korean Peninsula.

‘We’ll have to reclaim the entire Republic of Korea eventually anyway. Sooner or later, it’s something we must do.’

To normalize the entire Korean Peninsula, they would need to reclaim each city in South Korea one by one. It was something that had to be done to achieve their goal.

“Ulsan and Busan.”

[Ulsan and Busan. But Daegu in the west is missing. What’s the reason for that?]

Lee Hyeon-a proposed reclaiming the major cities of Ulsan and Busan near Gyeongju.

Bahamut found it strange that Daegu was omitted and looked at Lee Hyeon-a.

“Ulsan and Busan would strengthen maritime exchange with the United States and enable smooth exchange with our neighboring country, Japan. However, inland Daegu makes this impossible.”

Lee Hyeon-a explained using economic logic that Ulsan and Busan were important regions for the Balhut Cult because they were coastal areas connected to the sea, allowing for exchange with Japan.

However, Daegu was located inland on the Korean Peninsula, and the only way to connect with other countries was by air, which was a serious disadvantage.

[Indeed.]

Certainly, Lee Hyeon-a’s argument wasn’t wrong.

When considering the value as a port, everyone knew that Busan and Ulsan were more valuable than Pohang.

While the cult had made Pohang its port due to current circumstances, if they were to be ambitious, they would want to reclaim Ulsan and Busan to fully utilize the port areas there.

“Busan is South Korea’s largest trading port. If we can capture Ulsan and then Busan, we will have obtained the economic backbone that once supported South Korea.”

And though she didn’t mention it, Ulsan, the city above Pohang, was the largest industrial city on the Korean Peninsula, surpassing Pohang.

Even if they wanted to turn their attention to Daegu, Ulsan was an economically important city that couldn’t be ignored.

There was a reason why Lee Hyeon-a considered the reclamation of these two cities more important than Daegu.

“Well, considering our location, Japan is closer in distance than the United States, to be honest.”

Additionally, considering where the Balhut Cult was based, exchange with nearby Japan would naturally come to mind before the United States, which required crossing the Pacific Ocean.

Yu Su-seong, who had been quietly listening to the meeting about expansion, expressed agreement with Lee Hyeon-a’s opinion, saying that logically, they would exchange with Japan before the United States.

Just as trade with the United States had brought great benefits to the cult, he seemed to expect that trade with Japan would also bring significant advantages.

“Of course, I’m not just thinking about exchange with Japan. Reclaiming the ports of Busan and Ulsan will also have the effect of stabilizing the sea route connected to the United States. Therefore, the Balhut Cult must acquire these two ports, Ulsan and Busan.”

“Especially since Fukuoka in Japan has been reclaimed even before Pohang was, a trade route through Fukuoka is also possible.”

Lee Hyeon-a clarified that she wasn’t just considering Japan but also had exchange with the United States in mind, persuading the officials and Bahamut that this was necessary.

If Japan couldn’t exchange with the cult, there would naturally be questions about Lee Hyeon-a’s proposal. However, administrative official Lee Su-a appropriately supported her argument by explaining that Japan’s Fukuoka had already been reclaimed and could be activated as a trade route.

Jeong Dong-geon, who had been silently observing the meeting, finally spoke up.

“I also see no problem with this opinion. It’s about time for the first generation of Awakened, who have been training in Bahamut’s temple, to complete their awakening and graduate. We can reassign the existing Awakened who were handling security to the expedition force, and the first generation can take over their security duties.”

Jeong Dong-geon expressed that he had no issues with the two sisters’ opinions and mentioned that the Balhut Cult was starting to have some flexibility.

He stated that the Awakened born from the Awakened Project were about to complete their training and graduate, allowing the existing Awakened who had been used for security activities to be deployed as an expedition force.

In essence, he was claiming that their existing forces had more than doubled and expressing confidence that the cult’s soldiers could reclaim Ulsan and Busan.

[But what about Daegu to the west of Gyeongju? Isn’t Daegu militarily important?]

Still, Bahamut found it strange that even Jeong Dong-geon, a military official, didn’t mention Daegu to the west at all.

Despite its disadvantage of not being able to exchange with the outside world, Daegu was just as large a city as Ulsan or Busan.

“Pohang already had some resistance. How much more resistance would Daegu have? From Gyeongju’s perspective, it’s easier to first gain Ulsan to increase our strength before taking Daegu or Busan.”

[That’s true.]

Yu-na countered Bahamut’s question on the spot.

Just as Seo Un-jae had mentioned Pohang’s size to secure its interests, Daegu and Busan might also mention their city sizes to protect their interests.

In other words, from Gyeongju’s perspective, these were major cities that could potentially overwhelm them if they weren’t careful, so they would want to significantly increase the Balhut Cult’s strength before attempting to conquer them.

Bahamut nodded in agreement with Yu-na’s logic, recognizing that Pohang’s resistance had been strong.

[Still, you mentioned Ulsan before Daegu.]

“Moreover, from Daegu’s perspective, it’s surrounded on three sides except for Gyeongju, which we control. We don’t need to go out of our way to acquire Daegu.”

Jeong Dong-geon further mentioned the geographical conditions.

Unlike Gyeongju, Daegu was currently surrounded on three sides, and including Gyeongju, it was essentially a lonely island surrounded on all four sides.

While zombies would no longer appear from the east (Gyeongju) due to the Balhut Cult’s control, the north started with Daejeon, the west with Gwangju, and the south with Busan.

Considering that Daegu’s three sides were major cities currently occupied by zombies, there was a high possibility of zombies gathering from these three directions.

From the cult’s perspective, they had reduced the zombie front to two sides by controlling the east and north, but if they were to target Daegu, the front would expand to three sides again.

[True. If we seek more safety, targeting Ulsan and Busan along the coastline would be easier.]

Therefore, it was advantageous for the cult to acquire Ulsan and Busan along the coastline to completely normalize the southern part of the Korean Peninsula.

Bahamut immediately understood after hearing Jeong Dong-geon’s explanation.

[Then, we should prepare to target Ulsan. From what I know, Ulsan and Busan are even larger cities than Pohang.]

“Yes. Ulsan is twice the size of Pohang.”

The Balhut Cult prepared to begin preparations for targeting Ulsan and Busan.

But Lee Hyeon-a mentioned that Ulsan was twice the size of Pohang and added:

“Busan is three times the size of Ulsan.”

[Oh my. Given that we had difficulty taking control of just Pohang, we can expect challenges ahead.]

She said Busan was three times the size of Ulsan.

If Pohang was already challenging, how much more challenging would these two cities be?

Bahamut anticipated that the future would be full of difficulties, but:

“However, it’s also an opportunity.”

Instead, Lee Hyeon-a told Bahamut in a voice filled with excitement that she was really looking forward to what was to come.

“We have already been officially recognized by the White House as the only government on the Korean Peninsula. If we acquire just these two cities, Ulsan and Busan, the cult can assert its presence on the Korean Peninsula as a proper country.”

[A new country on the Korean Peninsula.]

They had already received recognition from the United States and were recognized as a government.

With this legitimacy, the Balhut Cult could assert its presence on the Korean Peninsula as a powerful legitimate government… in other words, as a country.

Yes, Lee Hyeon-a was urging Bahamut to establish a new country on the Korean Peninsula by acquiring Ulsan and Busan.

“In that sense, how about having Bahamut decide the name of the newly born country? It would be most fitting for a country ruled by a dragon.”

“That’s a great idea. Perfect for a country protected by the dragon god!”

And at Lee Hyeon-a’s suggestion that the dragon god Bahamut should name the country, Yu-na said it was truly a great idea and actively joined in Lee Hyeon-a’s proposal.

Other officials also seemed to think that if the dragon god Bahamut directly named the country, it would have sufficient symbolism as a country ruled by a dragon, and they all looked at the scrying mirror showing Bahamut with expectant expressions.

“Haha. That’s really a wonderful idea.”

“It’s fitting for the reason this country was born.”

Honestly, wasn’t it true?

It seemed a thousand times more impressive to have the dragon god directly name it than for the officials to put their heads together for naming.

‘I don’t know about that. Can a country’s name be decided so casually without any problems?’

However, Bahamut was only intimidated by the expectant expressions of the Balhut Cult officials.

He sincerely wanted to lament whether it was okay to entrust such an important task to him, but:

[I’ll think about it.]

“Thank you!”

He couldn’t possibly disappoint those expectant gazes.

‘What should I do? Should I just name it Seorabeol?’

Bahamut decided to deeply contemplate the name of the newly established country.