Ch.8787. National Tax Service (1)

The direction for the cult’s expansion had been decided, and now it was time for the officials in charge of each organization to carry out their respective duties according to the decisions made at this meeting.

“You called for me, Ms. Lee Hyeon-a?”

“Yes. I have something to ask you.”

As soon as the meeting ended, Lee Hyeon-a, who worked as the cult’s chief economic official, called Jeong Dong-geon, the military affairs representative, to her office to discuss the direction of their upcoming offensive.

It might seem strange that she, an economic official, was leading a meeting about the Ulsan offensive, but this initiative had been Lee Hyeon-a’s suggestion, and since other officials had accepted it, she may have summoned Jeong Dong-geon to her office to fulfill that responsibility.

“What did you want to ask?”

“I have a plan. If I proceed with it, can I count on your cooperation?”

“Well, that would depend on hearing what this plan of yours is first.”

Perhaps she had some strategy already formulated in her mind.

“How would you evaluate the united government that the three major camps of Pohang showcased before negotiating with us, when they were trying to inflate their size?”

“That’s something Son Sang-hui, my deputy, would know better than I do. But according to internal sources in the military, regardless of appearances, the internal situation is far from unified—it’s a complete mess. They managed to band together initially, but there was absolutely no consensus on anything, and they nearly reached the brink of civil war.”

Jeong Dong-geon responded to Lee Hyeon-a’s summons without any suspicion, and she first asked about the former three major camps of Pohang, which had formed a coalition like Daegu had.

Regarding the former Pohang camps, Jeong Dong-geon said that while Son Sang-hui would know better, he informed her that internally things were a mess, and they had nearly descended into civil war.

“A complete mess, you say.”

“Yes. Each faction pursued different interests.”

Though it was technically a united government, each constituent organization pursued only its own interests, leading to a lack of cooperation and nearly triggering a civil war among the three major factions of Pohang.

Naturally, the interests pursued by members of each Pohang camp differed, and if one faction benefited, another would inevitably suffer—making severe internal conflict inevitable.

However, despite these drawbacks, they were able to significantly inflate their apparent size, which is why during negotiations with the cult, Seo Un-jae mentioned Pohang’s combined weight, providing the momentum needed to protect all the interests Pohang could defend.

Daegu must have also believed in this artificially inflated size despite the many drawbacks of a coalition government, leading them to integrate their camps and form a united government.

“Internal conflict, huh. Come to think of it, even we who merged relatively smoothly experienced what was essentially a civil war during the Gyeongju unification process, with divisions into North Gyeongju and South Gyeongju. That means Daegu’s interim government must also be experiencing tremendous internal chaos, right?”

Thinking about it, the Balhut Cult had also been a faction that engaged in civil war among Gyeongju residents.

Despite the Dragon God Bahamut personally meeting with the survivor leaders representing Gyeongju, having sincere conversations and debates about the future, half of those who attended did not join the Balhut Cult while the other half did.

If such internal division occurred even with Bahamut’s direct involvement, it was inevitable that the integration process in other cities without Bahamut would involve considerable bloodshed.

Of course, it might be possible to achieve integration without bloodshed through social consensus, like Seo Un-jae did in Pohang, but how common are such courageous politicians?

It was no wonder that Gyeongju’s politicians praised Seo Un-jae’s courageous decision.

“But according to community reports, they haven’t reached the hopeless situation that Pohang did. It seems a leader with strong resolve and leadership skills, or an Awakened with powerful abilities, has firmly grasped control of Daegu’s governance. And they’ve apparently made significant progress in reaching compromises.”

“So you’re saying that even after we take Ulsan, Daegu could remain intact to our west.”

“Yes. I think that’s highly likely.”

However, the fact that they had formed an interim government meant that some form of social consensus had been reached internally.

Jeong Dong-geon mentioned this, highly evaluating that there must be actual results, and as his assessment rose, Lee Hyeon-a’s expression gradually grew colder as she mentioned that Daegu could remain intact even after the cult conquered Ulsan.

She seemed somehow jealous or irritated by Daegu’s resurgence, but Jeong Dong-geon simply answered her question honestly, saying that such a possibility was high.

“I don’t like it.”

“Pardon?”

Lee Hyeon-a’s face grew even colder, as if displeased by the resilience Daegu was showing.

Jeong Dong-geon finally sensed something strange, but before he could mention it, Lee Hyeon-a spoke first.

“No, never mind. What would you think if we were to support Daegu?”

“Support Daegu, you say?”

Despite her increasingly cold expression, which had led Jeong Dong-geon to suspect she might be jealous of Daegu’s resurgence, she instead suggested supporting Daegu.

At those words, Jeong Dong-geon pondered briefly.

“Well, from our perspective, it would be problematic if Daegu fell to the zombies before our Ulsan offensive. We would have to handle the front lines that Daegu is currently managing. The relationship between Daegu and Gyeongju is one of mutual dependence.”

From a military expert’s perspective, he warned that if Daegu were breached, Gyeongju would be next, and that Gyeongju was currently bearing the burden of the front line that Daegu was managing.

Due to their geographical proximity, Daegu and Gyeongju were inevitably closely connected, and if Daegu fell, Gyeongju would be significantly affected.

Simply put, Gyeongju would have to take over the front lines that Daegu was currently managing, meaning they would need to invest more in the eastern front’s defense line.

“Haha. Exactly, right? If Daegu really falls to the zombies, their next target would be our Gyeongju.”

When Jeong Dong-geon issued this warning, Lee Hyeon-a responded with a bright smile, as if piecing together his logic, saying that if Daegu fell, Gyeongju would be next.

“If zombies are closer to undead than the zombie apocalypse we knew, there’s a high possibility that a more powerful entity is controlling them. Such an entity could destroy Daegu.”

“I agree.”

She then amplified the suspicion Bahamut had mentioned, arguing that if Daegu fell to the zombies, it would be extremely dangerous.

When she mentioned the suspicion the Dragon God had warned about, Jeong Dong-geon accepted her argument without any doubt.

From the Balhut Cult’s perspective, the Dragon God’s warnings were as good as prophecies.

“In other words, Daegu’s interim government must survive. Even if it dies, the Balhut Cult will forcibly revive it.”

As if that was what she had been aiming for, Lee Hyeon-a argued that Daegu’s interim government must absolutely survive.

She declared that even if the interim government were to fall, the Balhut Cult would keep it alive.

“Are you thinking of using Daegu as a buffer zone between the Balhut Cult and the zombies beyond Daegu?”

It was like a buffer zone caught between two great powers.

Of course, neither the Balhut Cult nor the zombies had established countries, but in terms of power dynamics, Daegu was serving as a protective wall for the Balhut Cult, blocking the hordes of zombies across the Korean peninsula.

So from the cult’s perspective, having Daegu’s interim government act as a buffer was more reassuring than directly bordering the zombies beyond Daegu.

“Yes. A buffer zone that blocks zombies coming from Daegu and beyond.”

They didn’t want to deal with zombie hordes coming from Sejong or Gwangju beyond Daegu right now.

It was essentially a cruel proposal to use Daegu as Gyeongju’s shield, but…

“A buffer zone. Not a bad idea. As it happens, we have massive food resources and construction materials obtained from selling Balhut Cult weapons. We could quickly procure whatever supplies Daegu needs.”

Surprisingly, Jeong Dong-geon was in favor of using Daegu as a buffer zone.

‘I could reassign soldiers stationed at the western border checkpoint to the expedition force.’

From Jeong Dong-geon’s perspective, this meant he could use the soldiers stationed in the west for the Ulsan offensive.

In a situation where even a single Awakened was precious, such a reaction was inevitable.

‘It’s not our position to worry about Daegu’s residents. We’re not their rulers.’

Additionally, the fact that the Balhut Cult was the ruler of Pohang and Gyeongju, not Daegu, played a role.

If the cult’s influence had reached Daegu, Jeong Dong-geon would have fiercely opposed Lee Hyeon-a’s proposal and reported it to the cult’s upper echelons, but the cult’s influence had not yet reached Daegu, and Daegu already had a government elected by its citizens.

The citizens of Daegu should be the responsibility of the government they elected, and there was no reason for the Balhut Cult to awkwardly intervene.

Moreover, he seemed to think that they could establish a trading relationship if Gyeongju supplied the scarce resources to Daegu—an inland area with insufficient farmland and severe food supply difficulties—in exchange for using it as a buffer zone.

“Yes. Inland Daegu has no way to trade with foreign countries. They do have an airport, but we don’t even know if it’s been recaptured by zombies.”

“Haha. Then, as Daegu’s close neighbor, the cult should help them.”

And Lee Hyeon-a, as if cleverly reading Jeong Dong-geon’s psychology, argued that only the Balhut Cult could supply resources to inland Daegu, and Jeong Dong-geon accepted this, thinking it was a necessary trade for Daegu.

“Yes. Our Gyeongju should help Daegu. We supply resources to Daegu, and in return, they defeat the zombies coming from outside. Isn’t that a mutually beneficial trade?”

“Haha. Then we should contact agents of Daegu’s interim government.”

“I’ll take care of that.”

And with that, Lee Hyeon-a successfully took the initiative in this matter.

One might question how Lee Hyeon-a could contact Daegu’s interim government agents, who were presumably in Daegu, without military assistance.

“From what I know, Daegu’s interim government has established a communication network through the Daegu community. Most messages are about danger alerts for specific areas.”

“Still, we can make contact through the community site.”

Even without direct contact, they could easily connect through community websites.

It was possible to receive news from outside or share internal news externally through internet networks that were still maintained despite the apocalypse.

Using this function, communication with the outside was entirely feasible, and its practicality had been proven during the Pohang offensive.

“Then, what Daegu needs…”

And what Daegu needed was…

“Food, I suppose.”

“Food, indeed.”

Of course, it was food.

“Now that we’re entering the sixth month of the apocalypse, even the shelf life of ramen is reaching its limit. Canned goods and dried foods might still be plentiful, but Daegu lacks suitable places to produce food.”

Unlike Gyeongju or Pohang, which had formed breadbasket regions thanks to the Hyeongsan River, Daegu had few farms that could supply food independently.

While lotus roots, apples, and cucumbers were famous there, such farms were mostly on the outskirts of the city, not inside.

“They must be reaching their limit soon. If we want to support them, we need to do it quickly.”

“Ah, I understand.”

This was completely different from Gyeongju and Pohang, which had ways to supply food independently thanks to the Hyeongsan River breadbasket.

Daegu needed to receive food supplies from outside.

‘When a situation full of despair arrives, I should grab their lifeline with a dramatic presentation.’

Lee Hyeon-a smiled brightly, thinking about using the food situation to gain control over Daegu.

“Then our military will help you.”

As the discussion about Daegu was coming to an end, Jeong Dong-geon offered to dispatch military forces to help with Lee Hyeon-a’s task, but…

“Ah, that won’t be necessary.”

“Pardon?”

“Our agents will handle this matter.”

Lee Hyeon-a stated that they could manage just fine on their own.

“…Huh?”

Only then did Jeong Dong-geon sense something was amiss.

Well…

“Y-you’re not thinking of using that organization, are you?”

The National Tax Service she mentioned was the most vicious and terrifying organization among those affiliated with the Balhut Cult.

Only then did Jeong Dong-geon stare at Lee Hyeon-a with an expression full of fear, sincerely asking if she was thinking of using that forbidden organization.

“The Balhut National Tax Service!”

Wait, what?