Ch.9191. Preparation (2)

The National Tax Service had successfully collected all the overdue taxes and even arrested Kim Hyun-a on tax evasion charges.

In truth, it wouldn’t have been strange if Kim Ha-yeon, as the boss, had fiercely resisted the NTS agents who came to enforce collection, even if her lower-ranking members didn’t.

“I-I surrender! I’ll surrender! Please just spare my life!”

“Tch.”

However, there was no resistance from boss Kim Ha-yeon.

Once she realized she was facing the Balhut NTS, Kim Ha-yeon lost even the will to resist.

“Why would I be crazy enough to go against the NTS? I’d rather go to prison and repent! It’s easier on my mind!”

‘She’s a criminal, but I feel sorry for her.’

She believed that Lee Hyeon-a, who led the NTS, was more vicious than the security forces led by Jeong Dong-geon.

The NTS had already created numerous infamous victims, and they embraced their notoriety as a badge of honor, publicizing in detail the fate of those who opposed them through various channels to tax evaders in hiding, deliberately instilling fear and dread toward the NTS.

Yes, as criminal organizations fell one by one to the NTS, they trembled in fear, thinking they would be next.

Perhaps it was psychologically easier to be captured by the NTS now and quietly go to prison on tax evasion charges.

They say there’s no paradise where you flee, but here at least there might be some peace of mind.

“With this, their business and name become ours.”

‘This isn’t collection… it’s more like conquest.’

In any case, through this collection operation, Kim Ha-yeon’s business, organization name, and legal identity fell into Lee Hyeon-a’s hands.

From now on, Kim Ha-yeon’s organization and its name would be used however Lee Hyeon-a pleased.

After looking around the interior of the business that had been thrown into chaos by the NTS’s commotion, Lee Hyeon-a smiled brightly and made a request to Jeong Dong-geon, who had been quietly observing the situation.

“Mr. Jeong Dong-geon. Could you set up the surveillance checkpoint on Daegyeong Road heading to Daegu at a point where it’s not visible from the Daegu side?”

The Daegyeong Road that Lee Hyeon-a mentioned was a road to the west of Gyeongju that connected to Taejong Road in Gyeongju.

It was an important road connecting Gyeongju to Daegu, allowing access to the Gyeongbu Expressway heading to Daegu via Daegyeong Road, and even reaching the center of Daegu Metropolitan City directly through Daegyeong Road.

In other words, from Gyeongju’s perspective, Daegyeong Road could be considered the transportation hub connecting to Daegu, and zombies had actually come from Daegu to Gyeongju through this road.

“That’s certainly possible. It’s just a matter of dismantling the checkpoint and setting it up again.”

Knowing its importance, Jeong Dong-geon had established surveillance checkpoints and gateways in the area after recapturing it, to control and monitor zombie movements toward Gyeongju.

If it wasn’t about completely removing it, but rather adjusting the position so that the surveillance checkpoint wouldn’t be detected by Daegu, it was a request he could accommodate, even if the field personnel would find it annoying to reinstall the checkpoint.

“But is that really necessary? The checkpoint is operating perfectly fine.”

However, why would they need to set up the surveillance checkpoint in a place hidden from Daegu?

To be frank, relocating a checkpoint required manpower and money.

“Well, from Daegu’s perspective, we need to make them certain that there’s a route that isn’t detected by the Balhut Cult in Gyeongju.”

“Don’t tell me you’re talking about a smuggling route to Daegu?”

At Lee Hyeon-a’s words, Jeong Dong-geon seemed to intuit something and asked if she was talking about a smuggling route, to which Lee Hyeon-a smiled brightly and said:

“Yes. We’re going to create a smuggling route to Daegu ourselves.”

Calmly, she confirmed that Jeong Dong-geon’s guess was correct, proposing that the Balhut Cult create a smuggling route.

Of course, to be honest, since it would be intentionally created and managed by the Balhut Cult out of necessity, it couldn’t really be called a smuggling route used by smugglers—it would be a smuggling route in name only.

“I understand that, but is there really a need for this?”

Above all, if asked whether Daegu was worth it, Jeong Dong-geon couldn’t help but tilt his head in confusion.

Daegu was certainly a major city with solid industrial infrastructure, but unless they completely recaptured the city, those facilities were as good as useless.

Though they had formed a provisional government, the war with zombies continued, making Daegu a region that needed external supplies rather than one that could export internal resources.

If anything, it was a region that would only drain the cult’s resources, which is why no one at the meeting considered Daegu an attractive region.

“I need a narrative that somehow Kim A-hyun’s organization was able to get Gyeongju’s goods into Daegu.”

However, what Lee Hyeon-a wanted wasn’t profit generation through a smuggling route to Daegu, but a kind of narrative—a story that Daegu could accept.

From Daegu’s perspective, they needed a level of plausibility to accept this narrative, which is why she needed help from Jeong Dong-geon, who managed the route to Daegu.

With Jeong Dong-geon managing the route, it would be easier to fabricate the narrative Lee Hyeon-a wanted.

“Work for a story, huh. I don’t know what you’re aiming for, but is this definitely for the cult and not for personal gain?”

“Yes. I swear in the name of Dragon God Bahamut.”

What exactly was Lee Hyeon-a ultimately aiming for, to go to such lengths to establish plausibility?

No matter how much Jeong Dong-geon racked his insufficient brain, he couldn’t figure out what picture Lee Hyeon-a was painting, but as a soldier of the Balhut Cult, he warned her.

To his weighty statement that what she was doing should be for the cult and not for personal gain, Lee Hyeon-a swore without hesitation in the name of Dragon God Bahamut.

Considering the weight of Dragon God Bahamut within the cult, Jeong Dong-geon thought, “This must be the truth,” and sighed deeply.

“Tell me everything you want.”

“Please build us a specific route where we can secretly go to Daegu.”

“That’s a simple matter.”

He asked for Lee Hyeon-a’s real request, and she asked him to build a specific route for them to secretly go to Daegu.

It wasn’t a difficult task, and since the surveillance checkpoints and gateways were deployed by Jeong Dong-geon’s side, if they could internally coordinate timing and communication, it was entirely possible for no one to be discovered and to avoid suspicion.

After finishing her collaboration with Jeong Dong-geon, the next person Lee Hyeon-a visited was:

“Su-a, I have a favor to ask. It’s important.”

“Yes? What is it, unni?”

It was Lee Su-a, who was in charge of administration within the cult.

Diligently resolving petitions coming into the administration department every day with swift decisions, Lee Su-a asked what was going on when her sister suddenly visited her office.

“Find someone in the Daegu community who can cooperate with us.”

“That’s easy. Didn’t we say we were going to Ulsan at the last meeting? Has Bahamut changed his mind?”

“No, that’s not it. The Ulsan operation is still planned.”

When Lee Hyeon-a mentioned finding someone in the Daegu community who could cooperate, Su-a replied that it was an easy task, but then mentioned the previous meeting’s content about advancing to Ulsan due to the sudden mention of Daegu.

Once a decision had been made from above, Lee Hyeon-a wouldn’t have a way to overturn it, so why was she mentioning Daegu?

She asked if perhaps the revered Dragon God had changed his mind, but Lee Hyeon-a shook her head and said that wasn’t the case.

“Still, Daegu is near Gyeongju. It’s better for us to prepare in advance.”

“I guess so. Alright.”

Then, with the excuse that Daegu was also near Gyeongju and they should prepare in advance, she persuaded Su-a, who accepted her sister’s request without any questions.

Su-a’s heart wasn’t hard enough to refuse outright, and the justification Lee Hyeon-a gave was one that Su-a could accept on her own.

Even from Su-a’s perspective, while the cult might concentrate all its forces on Ulsan, they should also be prepared for Daegu, which was nearby.

Thus, Lee Hyeon-a’s scheme gradually came together piece by piece, forming a bigger picture.

“We’ve hidden the surveillance checkpoints visible from Daegu’s perspective as much as possible to make the surveillance network appear loose.”

“This is perfect. Then, when we pass through here…”

“We’ll pretend not to notice.”

“Good.”

First, with Jeong Dong-geon’s help, a secret path to Daegu was created.

Of course, it was a path well-known within the cult, and frankly, it was a staged operation, but they decided to claim this was a smuggling route.

After all, only one organization would use this path, and there was a high chance that no one would know if this path had ever existed in the future.

Thus, while securing a route to Daegu, Lee Hyeon-a also:

“I’ve compiled this list. I’ve also filtered out people from the internal community who can cooperate with the cult through that community.”

“Perfect. Thanks to you, Su-a, we can choose who to contact first when we arrive in Daegu.”

“Contact…?”

Through Lee Su-a, she was able to select internal news from the Daegu community and organizations that could cooperate with the cult in Daegu.

Lee Hyeon-a began examining each resume list handed over by Lee Su-a, and Su-a, seemingly curious about her sister’s sudden interest in Daegu, asked her question.

“You’ve suddenly become very interested in Daegu? Are you choosing someone to cooperate with in Daegu in advance?”

“Something like that.”

“Then who are you thinking of choosing? Is it Heo Jin-ho, the key figure in Daegu’s provisional government?”

Lee Su-a recommended Heo Jin-ho, someone she had selected to cooperate with the cult.

He had a good personality and was also a key figure in the provisional government established in Daegu.

He had a good reputation in the Daegu community and was also a powerful Awakened. Su-a had a feeling that if he cooperated with the cult, the conquest of Daegu would progress quickly.

“He’s not bad. But… let me see. Is there someone greedy or interested in power, like Jo Sun-do?”

However, for some reason, while Lee Hyeon-a didn’t think the person Su-a introduced was bad, what she wanted now was someone greedy like Jo Sun-do.

With a stunned expression, Su-a retorted to Lee Hyeon-a:

“Huh? There are such people, but they’re not ones we should cooperate with, and they’re not worth cooperating with, so I didn’t include them in the list.”

“Bring them to me.”

“Hmm. Alright.”

The cult wasn’t so corrupt as to cooperate with such individuals in the first place, and in fact, the cult’s leader, Choi Yu-na, was someone who despised individuals like Jo Sun-do.

Naturally, they weren’t included in the list of potential cooperation targets and were considered out of the question, but for some reason, Lee Hyeon-a wanted someone like Jo Sun-do.

‘My sister, who believes in Bahamut more than anyone, wouldn’t betray us.’

Su-a felt a bit ominous, but she still provided the list of individuals Lee Hyeon-a wanted, believing that her sister, who was more loyal to the Balhut Cult and Dragon God Bahamut than anyone else, wouldn’t betray them.

“Go Jun-woo, 19 years old. Formed a representative camp for Daegu at a young age. However, due to personality issues, the camp has disbanded or dissolved several times. Joined the Daegu provisional government as a key figure, but is not satisfied with his current position. Perfect.”

Su-a seemed to have done a thorough job as instructed, providing the information Lee Hyeon-a wanted.

However, even though she had personally gathered and selected this person, Su-a asked Lee Hyeon-a with an uncomfortable expression, as if to say this wasn’t right:

“W-what’s perfect about him?”

“He’s perfect to manipulate. He has some strength and a desire for power. But his social skills aren’t that good. Isn’t he perfect as an internal troublemaker?”

It wasn’t wrong.

If the plan was to use him as an internal troublemaker, he would be the best talent.

But why would they need an internal troublemaker to mess up Daegu?

“I guess so, but…”

“I don’t want Daegu to grow into a real government. I want to announce that the Balhut Cult is the only legitimate government across the entire Korean Peninsula.”

It was a very simple matter.

The Balhut Cult… no, Lee Hyeon-a didn’t want the birth of a competitor that could compete with the cult.

Therefore, she wanted to check Daegu, which had the potential of a major city, as much as possible.

“But, we’ve already been recognized by the United States.”

“Yes, but there are still those who don’t understand that recognition. Especially those who declare they’ll form a provisional government need to be taught a lesson.”

Su-a asked if there was a need to aim higher when they had already been recognized by the United States, but it seems Lee Hyeon-a was displeased with Daegu’s declaration to form a provisional government.

She seemed intent on sabotaging the future of the Daegu provisional government, hinting at pulling the ladder up.

“I’ve just realized how terrifying internal conflict can be through Pohang. We need to make them suffer a bit from the troublemaking of a young kid.”

“But… people in Daegu could get hurt or die.”

However, much blood could be shed.

Considering that a civil war almost broke out in Pohang, Su-a’s concern was at a reasonable level.

“They won’t die. They won’t die. I don’t want Daegu to collapse, so I’m actually planning to gift a lot of supplies to Daegu through Go Jun-woo.”

“Huh? A gift?”

However, Lee Hyeon-a said that Daegu wouldn’t collapse.

Rather, she hinted that she would give them breathing room, saying she planned to gift many supplies to Daegu.

“Since we plan to gift many supplies, they won’t collapse easily.”

“…You could blackmail them with those supplies.”

However, Su-a didn’t miss the phrase “through Go Jun-woo.”

Since it was a person she had introduced herself, she had already grasped what kind of person Go Jun-woo was.

Would he be more likely to distribute the supplies purely or to monopolize them for himself?

Su-a could be certain it would be the latter.

“That’s Go Jun-woo’s choice. And we’ll do it in the name of a common anti-establishment group, not from the position of the Balhut Cult.”

“You’re cruel, unni.”

And all of this would be carried out not in the name of the Balhut Cult, but in the name of an anti-establishment group opposing the cult.

Yes, this matter has nothing to do with the cult.

It was a method that was incomparably cruel, but:

“It’s the apocalypse.”

In an era where everything could be excused with the single word “apocalypse.”