Ch.9393. Sabotage (2)

Lee Hyeon-a successfully made contact with Go Jun-woo using the name Kim Ha-yeon, and managed to deliver supplies to him.

“Those supplies I delivered… if used sparingly, they could last a month. Can you really control Daegu with just this much? No… can you even expand your influence or power with this?”

After checking the quantity and list of supplies that Lee Hyeon-a had given to Go Jun-woo, Lee Su-a assessed that if Go Jun-woo’s faction used them sparingly, they could last about a month. However, this was only if they conserved the supplies as much as possible. If they consumed the delivered supplies without restraint…

“What if they use them extravagantly?”

“If they conserve even a little, two weeks. If they use them extravagantly without thinking, they’ll run out within a week.”

In the apocalypse filled with intense battles, food consumption exceeded imagination, and even truckloads of food could be consumed in an instant. So even though Lee Hyeon-a had delivered five trucks worth of supplies, if a sizable camp consumed them extravagantly, they would be gone within a week. That’s why Lee Su-a coldly pointed out that while they might last two weeks with some conservation, they would be completely consumed within a week if used thoughtlessly.

“Which do you think it will be?”

“The latter, right? Considering that guy’s tendencies known in the community.”

“Hehe. Correct. He’ll probably be begging me for more supplies in a week when they run out.”

Considering Go Jun-woo’s personality, Lee Su-a predicted that he would consume everything within a week, and she gave Lee Hyeon-a a reproachful look for handing over such valuable supplies to him. Honestly, now that trade with America had been established, the supplies given to Go Jun-woo were insignificant to the Balhut Cult. The food coming through Pohang Port through trade was beyond imagination, and they had even established factories to process food products, so the cult had somewhat overcome food shortages.

“But giving him canned tuna and ham was too much. Those are used as currency in other regions.”

However, supplies were supplies, and considering how the value of physical goods kept rising in this apocalypse, it was understandable to feel regretful about giving items that could be used as currency elsewhere to Go Jun-woo. Above all, it was painful that they would disappear for nothing more than Go Jun-woo’s extravagance. These weren’t free—they were supplies that the Balhut Cult had invested time and effort to obtain.

“I’m sorry about that. Could you think of it as necessary expenses? I diverted most of the canned goods that could be used as currency back to our side and filled most of the delivery with ramen that’s close to its expiration date.”

Of course, Lee Hyeon-a acknowledged her mistake and explained that she had mostly included ramen that was close to expiring. In reality, after more than half a year, ramen was essentially at its limit, with the noodles already spoiled to inedible levels or being discarded for animal feed. Only dried noodles still maintained their quality, but even those would likely go bad in a month. So giving away ramen wasn’t a waste, and it might even be beneficial to put soon-to-be-discarded items to use elsewhere.

“Sigh. I’ll let it go for now. But with supplies full of such defective goods, he can’t do much beyond expanding influence. The Daegu Provisional Government isn’t stupid. Heo Jin-ho’s leadership and support are genuine enough to form a government.”

“Hehe. Then they’ll be asking us for supplies. I’m looking forward to next week. I wonder what excuses and nonsense he’ll tell me.”

The Daegu Provisional Government shouldn’t be underestimated since they had successfully formed a provisional government. Lee Su-a said that even if Go Jun-woo’s faction had momentum, with such defective goods, they could at most expand their influence within the government, nothing more and nothing less. Conversely, if the Daegu Provisional Government was strong, Lee Hyeon-a confidently stated that Go Jun-woo would eventually come crawling to her. Yes, the provisional government needed to show its strength too.

“Are you enjoying this?”

“Yes. He’s an entertaining clown. I plan to make him our dog.”

“How cruel. My sister is a complete villain.”

“That’s a compliment.”

That’s how she would make Go Jun-woo the cult’s dog. More precisely, Kim Ha-yeon’s dog—the identity Lee Hyeon-a had stolen. Lee Su-a closed her eyes at the sight and simply evaluated it as cruel.

“D-do you have more food?”

And Go Jun-woo couldn’t exceed Lee Hyeon-a’s expectations. Human greed knows no bounds, and when unexpected free supplies suddenly became available, he thoughtlessly wasted them on extravagance. As the saying goes, “a ghost who dies after eating looks good,” in this apocalypse where death could come at any moment, many prioritized present pleasure over an uncertain future. Especially when the trigger aimed at people had loosened, patience for restraining pleasure had also reached its limit. It was the mentality that it was better to fully enjoy now and die than to die later without enjoying anything.

“Ah, of course. I can prepare some.”

Lee Hyeon-a had planned this based on such psychology. A week later, when she visited Daegu again, she inwardly laughed at Go Jun-woo’s foolishness as he shamelessly demanded more food, exactly as expected, while outwardly greeting him with a bright smile. Despite his unreasonable demands, Lee Hyeon-a accepted them with a smile as if there were no problems.

‘Calmly. Not too hastily. Let’s train him.’

The supplies Lee Hyeon-a had delivered were, as Lee Su-a pointed out, not abundant enough to last more than a week if not conserved. Especially since the food given to Go Jun-woo wasn’t long-lasting canned goods but mostly ramen near its expiration date and perishable foods.

“R-really?! A-ahem! I’ll repay you greatly when I succeed!”

She had deliberately played tricks with the food from the beginning to ensure Go Jun-woo couldn’t choose the option of conserving supplies for a month. But from Go Jun-woo’s perspective, the supplies from Lee Hyeon-a were a gift from heaven, and it was difficult to notice that the supplies had been tampered with. Go Jun-woo didn’t grasp her intentions and simply expressed great joy at her statement that she could prepare supplies, shouting with unfounded confidence.

“But there’s one piece of information I’d like to know.”

“W-what is it?”

Then Lee Hyeon-a made one request before giving the supplies. Surprised by her sudden demand, Go Jun-woo asked what she wanted.

“We don’t know how large your faction is.”

Lee Hyeon-a said she wanted to know the size of Go Jun-woo’s faction. But there was one problem here.

‘Well, I already know to some extent.’

Lee Hyeon-a already roughly knew the size of Go Jun-woo’s faction through Lee Su-a. Her sister had compiled information from the Daegu community to predict the approximate power structure within Daegu, and based on this information, Lee Hyeon-a had been able to distribute barely adequate supplies to Go Jun-woo. Frankly, from Lee Hyeon-a’s perspective, it was a meaningless request, and knowing Go Jun-woo’s power structure wouldn’t benefit her at all, but…

“And I’ve been coming here secretly, but I don’t know anything about Daegu. If Go Jun-woo wants to conquer Daegu, you should know the internal information well. Do you have any information?”

“I-I can tell you anything!”

Lee Hyeon-a used this as bait to gradually increase her demands. For Go Jun-woo, this made him perceive it as a transaction with Lee Hyeon-a, while simultaneously making him believe he was legitimately obtaining supplies through this deal. It was a kind of gaslighting strategy, and Go Jun-woo, who had been indulging in luxury with the supplies Lee Hyeon-a had given, continued to be drawn into her pace without thinking deeply about the increasingly demanding conditions.

“Could you possibly get materials about the Daegu Provisional Government?”

“T-that’s… difficult right now…”

And as she gradually made more unreasonable requests, deliberately creating hesitation while…

“Oh, that’s a shame! If you had that, we could deliver much more supplies to you! Our investors who are investing in you would be pleased too!”

“I can do it!”

If he accepted this, she stimulated his desire by suggesting there would be greater rewards, gradually withering his self-control and patience. Like how one can’t control desire once a line is crossed, she made Go Jun-woo crave the supplies she delivered.

“This information was very meaningful to us. This is our reward.”

And as Go Jun-woo gradually crossed more lines, Lee Hyeon-a began to increase the supplies she gave him. If it was just a minor thirst at first, now she intended to make him feel such severe thirst that his patience and brakes would break, turning him into someone who couldn’t live without the supplies she provided. Yes, Lee Hyeon-a was slowly turning Go Jun-woo into Kim Ha-yeon’s dog—the identity she had stolen.

“H-here, I got it.”

“Oh, even I thought this was an unreasonable request. How did you manage?”

“Hehe. Bribes can solve everything.”

And once Go Jun-woo crossed the line, he was able to obtain internal information about the Daegu Provisional Government that Lee Hyeon-a had requested. It was important information about internal affairs that wasn’t disclosed to the Daegu community. Since Go Jun-woo was a member of the provisional government, he had access to the documents, and given the provisional government’s lack of integration and loyalty, it was easy to copy documents without being caught. He just had to give a few supplies as bribes to acquaintances, and they would organize the documents and hand them over to him.

“Thanks to this, I think we can supply more efficiently!”

This way, Lee Hyeon-a was able to obtain internal information about Daegu and documents from the provisional government just by supplying materials a few times. She learned not only who made up the Daegu Provisional Government but also which factions they were hostile to, who was on their blacklist, and the current situation in Daegu. This was enough to consider Go Jun-woo’s role complete, and she could essentially discard him now, but…

“Haha. So Go Jun-woo is on this blacklist too.”

Looking at the documents delivered by Go Jun-woo, Lee Hyeon-a confirmed that Go Jun-woo himself was on the provisional government’s blacklist. As if finding it truly amusing, Lee Hyeon-a observed the internal situation of the provisional government, and Lee Su-a, who was helping her, sighed and spoke.

“Do we really need to support Go Jun-woo?”

“Yes, right? If used well, we can greatly damage the pride of the Daegu Provisional Government.”

“But if, by some stroke of luck, Go Jun-woo’s gang wins, we’ll be creating another Jo Sun-do.”

Lee Hyeon-a’s younger sister, Lee Su-a, seemed afraid of the birth of another Jo Sun-do. Another Jo Sun-do. Within the Balhut Cult, that meant a tyrant who would bring tyranny, not governance.

“Even if negotiations are troublesome, still, with the Daegu Provisional Government…”

“They’ll just cause trouble to protect their own interests, like in Pohang.”

“Lord Bahamut might listen to that nonsense, but I find it disgusting to watch.”

Yes, another Jo Sun-do was certainly frightening, but she also disliked the Daegu Provisional Government opposing the cult. Lee Hyeon-a found that absolutely unacceptable.

“We’re showing so much mercy, but why does the other side keep pursuing their own greed? It’s strange that we’re always the ones making concessions.”

The cult couldn’t keep making concessions. During the Pohang incident, it was the first encounter for the cult, so they couldn’t establish specific lines and standards, so let’s just let it go. But should they continue to accept these challenges every time they recapture a city in the future?

“That’s why I want to see that arrogant pride broken.”

Lee Hyeon-a hated that. She wanted to see the pride of those who relied on the size of their city and pursued their interests broken. She wanted to see them begging the cult for survival.

“I’ll make them fight among themselves until we take Daegu.”

She planned to use internal troublemakers like Go Jun-woo to drain their strength.

“I understand your feelings, but the emergence of a tyrant crosses the line.”

“The emergence of a tyrant. Yes, someone like Jo Sun-do would certainly be scary.”

Lee Su-a expressed concern about the emergence of another Jo Sun-do. That would certainly be frightening, and hasn’t the cult suffered enough because of Jo Sun-do?

“I’ll control even that tyrant.”

“Hmm?”

“Daegu is a region where food supply is impossible. To survive by eating whatever lotus roots they can harvest… all the people I’ll cooperate with are young, right?”

However, Lee Hyeon-a said she would control even another tyrant. She was confident that Daegu, as an inland area without access to the sea, couldn’t survive without help from Gyeongju.

“Uh…”

“Besides, I plan to discard him when he’s no longer useful.”

After all, it was customary to cook a hunting dog after the hunt was over, and she planned to discard Go Jun-woo once his usefulness ended.

“Is that why you used that organization’s name?”

“Of course. Why else would I pretend to be such a criminal?”

She had stolen the identity of an organization hostile to the Balhut Cult for that purpose of discarding him.

“But will it be easy? To control him?”

“Yes. I recently saw these guys’ business.”

However, the question was how to weaken and control them. It’s not enough to say you’ll control with just supplies, as there’s always the possibility of someone taking the supplies and running—what’s commonly called “eat and run.” But despite Lee Su-a’s concerns…

“What about their business?”

“I found something quite good. If I give it to Go Jun-woo, something really interesting will happen.”

She confidently answered as if she had some secret weapon.

“Wait, sister. That good thing you’re talking about… is it opium poppy?”

“Yes. Is there a problem?”

Lee Su-a asked with a worried heart. And Lee Hyeon-a confirmed it was true, simply asking what the problem was.

“…That’s opium.”

Yes, Lee Hyeon-a’s secret weapon was none other than opium. This woman was saying the crazy thing about spreading drugs in Daegu.