Ch.9292. Sabotage (1)

Lee Hyeon-a created a smuggling route to Daegu with Jeong Dong-geon’s help.

Through Lee Su-a, she was able to select potential collaborators in Daegu.

The next step was incredibly simple.

“Good. Finally got a response.”

She would contact these selected collaborators through Daegu’s community websites.

At this point, everyone knows that any survivor camp with resources uses internet communities to communicate.

Especially now, over six months into the apocalypse, accessing internet communities is a luxury and a sign that one has resources to spare.

Of course, that was only true from an outsider’s perspective—it meant nothing to Gyeongju or Pohang, which had already formed secure safe zones under Bahamut’s protection.

“Sis? Are you really planning to contact Go Jun-woo?”

“Yes.”

Su-a asked if her sister was sure about this, clearly concerned about her actions.

Go Jun-woo was the influential representative of Daegu whom Su-a had first introduced—someone flexible enough to cooperate with the Balhut Cult.

Above all, he was trusted and recognized by Daegu’s citizens. If they could work with him, future operations would become much easier.

“Isn’t it dangerous? You asked me to recommend someone like Jo Sun-do. I did recommend him, but still…”

However, what Hyeon-a had requested was someone dissatisfied with Daegu’s current power structure. If the Balhut Cult was caught contacting or supporting such a person, relations between Daegu and the cult would inevitably deteriorate.

Daegu’s internal structure would collapse due to Go Jun-woo’s disruptive actions, and there was no guarantee that any new organization formed afterward would be friendly to the Balhut Cult.

Even if Go Jun-woo seized power, would he actually be favorable to the cult?

‘No way.’

Su-a judged this impossible, considering Jo Sun-do’s past actions.

So why was her sister planning to contact someone like Jo Sun-do?

“Is it because of what happened in Pohang?”

Su-a mentioned what happened in Pohang, sensing that those events had changed Hyeon-a.

Back then, the cult had made many concessions for Pohang’s stable governance.

But Hyeon-a surely knew about the sinister intentions of Pohang’s three major camps, who were dissatisfied despite this mercy and tried to interfere with the Dragon Priestess selection to make her their puppet.

“Yes. At that time, both the Dragon Lord and the Balhut Cult approached negotiations mercifully. But those foolish people who didn’t submit to Lord Bahamut had complaints. Honestly, I’m just venting. I admit it.”

Having witnessed those events, Hyeon-a deeply distrusted Pohang’s three major camps and had considered retaliation.

However, before she could act, Baek Seol-hwa, who was selected as the Dragon Priestess, ruled Pohang not as a puppet but as a proper Dragon Priestess, and still governs Pohang as Bahamut’s Priestess.

Hyeon-a still wanted revenge against the three major camps for their betrayal of Bahamut’s mercy, but doing so might create suspicion that Baek Seol-hwa had politically purged them, so Hyeon-a ultimately abandoned her plans for bloody revenge.

“But it was resolved well in the end. Pohang has the Dragon Priestess, Lady Baek Seol-hwa. They won’t betray us anymore.”

“True. Pohang can’t betray us now. But besides Gyeongju and Pohang, do we need to take responsibility for the future of cities that aren’t on our side yet?”

“Well…”

Truthfully, they didn’t need to.

To be frank, Daegu wasn’t under the Balhut Cult’s control, and it had its own provisional government responsible for the city.

It was the provisional government’s responsibility, not the Balhut Cult’s.

“There are moral issues with this.”

“Yes, I know. I’m doing this despite knowing that.”

From an ethical or moral standpoint, Hyeon-a’s actions would lead to bloodshed.

Su-a pointed this out, and Hyeon-a acknowledged it wasn’t wrong.

“But this is the apocalypse. Survival of the fittest is the basic principle now. Pre-apocalypse ethics have long since fallen by the wayside.”

“…”

“The weak are devoured by the strong. We need to subjugate others with power and prove our strength throughout the Korean peninsula. Weakening opposing forces is something we must choose to do.”

The apocalypse was a time when survival of the fittest strongly prevailed.

Working at the NTS, Hyeon-a felt more than anyone that the Balhut Cult’s trigger finger had been too loose.

Even legitimate administrative actions were met with armed resistance from freelance Awakened who claimed their property rights were being violated.

Seeing them, she realized that this world needed demonstrations of power and violence, not words and mercy.

Su-a couldn’t argue against her sister’s logic.

‘She’s not wrong, but isn’t what we’re doing problematic? If we end up governing later, we’ll have to fix the problems we created.’

Su-a had been in the field many times for administrative orders and knew the considerable stress citizens were under due to the apocalypse.

She tried to stop Hyeon-a by reminding her that the longer these problems persisted, the more damage it would cause the cult, but—

“Our agents have already prepared transport trucks loaded with supplies. When the time comes, I plan to leave for Daegu.”

“Already?!”

Unfortunately, it was too late for Su-a to stop her.

Hyeon-a announced that transport trucks for Daegu were already prepared and that she would depart for Daegu when the time came.

Surprised by her sister’s swift actions, Su-a asked:

“Where did those supplies come from?”

“We confiscated them from Kim Ha-yeon’s hideout.”

“Ah.”

When Su-a asked about the source of supplies she knew nothing about, Hyeon-a explained they were forcibly confiscated from Kim Ha-yeon’s hideout.

With nothing left to argue, Su-a sighed and spoke:

“So, are you planning to negotiate personally? Is that why you’re getting makeup done by an NTS agent right now?”

“Yes, of course… I have to negotiate myself. Who else could I trust with this? I started this, so I should take responsibility and complete it.”

Currently, Hyeon-a was receiving makeup from a professional NTS agent.

This wasn’t makeup to look pretty, but a disguise—her face was gradually transforming to match the criminal Kim Ha-yeon’s facial features.

To thoroughly deceive her negotiation partner, Hyeon-a was disguising herself as Kim Ha-yeon.

“Ah, ah. Uh, uh. Hmm, hmm. Let me try lowering my voice a bit. How’s that?”

“I can’t hear you, sis.”

“Then let’s go with this tone.”

To complete her disguise, she was even modifying her voice to match Kim Ha-yeon’s.

The transformation was so thorough that even her sister Su-a wondered if the person before her was really her sister. Despite watching the makeup process firsthand, Su-a could barely recognize Hyeon-a after it was complete.

“Well then, let’s depart.”

“Yes.”

Ignoring her sister’s trembling gaze, Hyeon-a headed to Daegu with her NTS agents.

Five transport trucks began moving toward Daegu along the route provided by Jeong Dong-geon. Hyeon-a and the NTS agents arrived safely in Daegu without any resistance or interference.

When they headed to the designated meeting place arranged through the community, their contact, Go Jun-woo, was already there waiting for them.

The young man, who had been nervously tapping his foot, waved happily when he saw the large trucks Hyeon-a was leading.

“Are you the one investing in us?”

“Yes. If you’re the famous Go Jun-woo of Daegu, we’re here to invest in you.”

Go Jun-woo appeared to be about 19 years old, a young man who had just reached adulthood.

With a delinquent face that still showed signs of youth, he was putting on airs as if showing off his authority. Inwardly finding him ridiculous, Hyeon-a slowly bowed her head and calmly matched his pace, preparing to deceive and persuade the naive young man.

“I can’t believe it.”

“Yes, it’s hard to believe someone would suddenly invest in you. But we lost our righteous leader to an evil cult.”

She had prepared a convincing false narrative before coming here.

Especially for this foolish and greedy young man before her, she had crafted a story he could easily sympathize with.

“To that pseudo-religious cult?”

“Yes. We followed the leader of North Gyeongju, Jo Sun-do. But due to the vile actions of South Gyeongju, which was taken over by that cult, we lost our precious leader.”

Hyeon-a introduced herself to Go Jun-woo as a follower of Jo Sun-do.

It wasn’t exactly a lie, as the original owner of the identity she was using had indeed been under Jo Sun-do’s forces.

“So?”

Go Jun-woo seemed to know about Jo Sun-do, the ruler of North Gyeongju, as he didn’t ask for details about him, but his gaze questioned why a subordinate of such a person would come to him.

However, Hyeon-a could see a certain expectation in that gaze.

She smiled slightly, invisible to Go Jun-woo, and slowly uttered words she knew he would like to hear.

“So, we want to entrust our fate to you, who will become a powerful leader.”

“Powerful leader…!”

“Yes. Doesn’t this world need strong, young leaders rather than old rulers? Aren’t you sick of those damn old men who hold power just because of their age, even in this world of survival of the fittest?”

She called Go Jun-woo a powerful leader and said she wanted to entrust her fate to him.

He must have been quite vain, as he grinned at being called a powerful leader, as if he had been waiting for those words. Hyeon-a’s next words scratched an itch Go Jun-woo had been feeling, addressing his inner dissatisfaction so perfectly that he confidently and boldly exclaimed:

“Right! I can rule Daegu. How dare those old men try to control me just because they’ve lived longer?”

“Yes. This is a world governed by power. With power, you can do anything.”

He must have been greatly dissatisfied with the current power structure, as he immediately complained about Daegu’s situation.

Hyeon-a encouraged him, slowly advising him from the side to seize power.

She especially emphasized the law of survival of the fittest that strongly governed the apocalypse, telling him that anything was possible if he had the power.

“Our leader tried to create a better world through power. But sadly… he fell to that pseudo-religious cult.”

“I’ve heard about them. The Balhut Cult, right? That’s how cults are. Ha, you must have had a hard time!”

At the same time, she mentioned a narrative Go Jun-woo could easily sympathize with, and he indeed sympathized with her story, offering words of comfort about her suffering due to the cult.

“Of course, we have a conscience. We didn’t come empty-handed. We brought supplies from Gyeongju as a gesture of goodwill!”

“S-supplies…?”

To dispel any suspicion, Hyeon-a showed Go Jun-woo the supplies from Gyeongju she had brought as a gesture of goodwill.

The trucks were filled with numerous daily necessities and luxury items precious in this apocalypse.

Though some items were close to their expiration dates, there was everything from ramen to canned tuna and ham (used as currency in the apocalypse, though in limited quantities), plus cigarettes and alcohol for luxury.

These supplies were irresistible to the young man, and indeed, Go Jun-woo couldn’t take his eyes off the impressive display.

He was already hungry, and just imagining cooking and eating even one pack of ramen from before him made his mouth water.

“T-this is…”

“Yes. Unlike Daegu, Gyeongju still has granary areas. We’ve brought just a portion of that.”

“This? This much food is just a portion?”

For Go Jun-woo’s forces, these supplies would be enough to eat well and indulge in luxury for a week, with plenty left over. With these supplies, he could enjoy many pleasures, making it impossible to look away.

Go Jun-woo’s eyes began filling with desire, and Hyeon-a, not missing this opportunity, smiled gently and spoke:

“With this many supplies, you could surely seize control within Daegu, couldn’t you, Mr. Go Jun-woo?”

“O-of course I can. No, I will! I can definitely do it!”

“That’s all we need. If you rule Daegu and stand against the Balhut Cult, we’ll be satisfied.”

Could he really rule Daegu with just these supplies?

‘Impossible.’

The answer was that it was impossible.

Hyeon-a knew that if Go Jun-woo’s inferior forces could take over with just these added supplies, the Balhut Cult would have conquered Daegu already.

“Hahaha. Of course! So Gyeongju has this much food, you say?”

“Yes, there’s plenty.”

“Then after I conquer Daegu, I’ll just target Gyeongju next.”

What Hyeon-a wanted was for Go Jun-woo to use these supplies to cause internal disruption, and it seemed she had already succeeded.

Without thinking deeply, Go Jun-woo declared that Daegu was already in his hands and expressed his ambition to rule Gyeongju as well.

Hyeon-a inwardly sneered at his greed-blinded attitude.

“Good. Very good! Oh, by the way, what’s your name?”

“I’m Kim Ha-yeon. Leader of the Ha-yeon faction from North Gyeongju.”

When Go Jun-woo asked for her name, she simply answered with the identity she was currently using.

All of this would be attributed to Jo Sun-do’s gang, not the Balhut Cult.