Ch.9797. Ulsan Airport (1)

“The process itself has been smooth, so there’s no problem.”

In truth, the only issue was the continuous emergence of suspicious circumstances. If one considered just the expedition’s results and process, it had been incredibly smooth.

They hadn’t even encountered zombies to fight, so the only resources consumed were electricity and fuel for the vehicles—which wasn’t even a significant loss for the Balhut Cult, who could receive Texas oil through exchanges with the United States.

Even though the main forces had been dispersed for defense and surveillance, the valuable Awakened personnel had been well distributed and positioned without any losses.

Jeong Dong-geon’s advance party had crossed North Gyeongsang Province without any interference and arrived in the Ulsan Metropolitan City area. Like an unstoppable force, they had liberated numerous villages and towns on their way to Ulsan.

“The problem is that among all these villages and towns, we haven’t had a proper engagement or encountered any survivors.”

“Do you still not sense anything?”

“No.”

But the point was that these weren’t actually liberated through the efforts of Jeong Dong-geon and his subordinate troops.

If Jeong Dong-geon were to express his current feelings, it wouldn’t be strange to say they weren’t liberating places but rather finding them already liberated.

To be honest, Jeong Dong-geon had only been doing the extremely simple task of arriving at empty villages and planting flags.

“Liberating villages and towns without any losses should be a good thing. But somehow, it doesn’t feel good.”

Looking at just the achievements, he had liberated numerous villages and towns on the way to Ulsan, which should have earned him fame worthy of being called a hero.

However, in reality, the villages were completely empty, with no survivors or resources, so honestly, apart from farmland and nearby farms, they seemed to have no value.

Rather, because forces had to be dispersed to protect these villages, Jeong Dong-geon somehow felt like he was being led around by someone.

Even now, after liberating this village, they would have to dispatch troops from the main force to protect it.

“It doesn’t seem bad enough to feel uncomfortable. Things are progressing smoothly after all.”

“I know. The situation is very favorable for us.”

But that didn’t mean the situation was bad.

Things were going so well that the cult had gained as many new liberated areas as the villages they had freed so far through this expedition.

Excluding Pohang, the liberated territory had more than doubled, and considering the abundant food resources that could be produced from these areas, one would have to tilt their head in confusion if asked whether this was really a bad thing.

In the apocalypse, territory was the foundation for resources, and if the infrastructure within that territory was intact, this expedition was a great success.

“But in the current apocalypse, it’s strange that things are going so smoothly. I feel like suspicions keep piling up.”

“Then, how about temporarily halting the expedition and reorganizing the troops?”

“Hmm.”

In response to Jeong Dong-geon’s lament, his aide Son Sang-hui suggested that if he felt uneasy, they could temporarily stop the expedition, stabilize the newly acquired territory, and then proceed.

Jeong Dong-geon pondered Son Sang-hui’s suggestion for a moment.

“…But since there are neither survivors nor zombies in the villages we’ve liberated, there’s no real reason to stabilize them.”

“Ah.”

The problem was that there were no survivors to provide security for, nor zombies to fight against.

There weren’t even bands of looters to disrupt internal security, so talking about dispatching security forces to stabilize liberated villages was almost contradictory.

If there had been at least some looters, they could have used that as a pretext to reorganize their forces.

“If we can just control the roads, even monsters hiding in the mountains aren’t much of a threat.”

“That’s right.”

Of course, the monsters in the surrounding mountains were quite threatening, but in reality, as long as they could control the roads, this wasn’t a dangerous level for the Balhut Cult, so they tended to overlook it.

“But reorganizing our forces to consolidate the liberated territory doesn’t seem like a bad choice.”

However, given the extent of liberated territory, Jeong Dong-geon acknowledged that time was needed for reorganization and decided to temporarily halt their advance.

“Let’s set up a gateway near this intersection. If we can establish a gateway here, we can call some of the dispersed forces from behind to this location.”

Jeong Dong-geon suggested setting up a gateway near the intersection that led up to Jungsan Intersection, and for that purpose, he contacted Choi Yu-na at the Balhut Cult headquarters.

“…Oh, you’re contacting me quite often, Mr. Jeong Dong-geon. You’re really on a roll.”

“Yes. As I’ve already reported, there were neither survivors nor zombies in the villages and towns we’ve liberated.”

“Then, that essentially means there’s no value in protecting them, right?”

Even Choi Yu-na at headquarters pointed out that there was no value in protecting the liberated villages.

The point was, why waste precious Awakened personnel on security forces when there were no survivors or zombies to fight?

At Yu-na’s observation, Jeong Dong-geon closed his eyes for a moment.

“Yes. There’s no particular need to protect them.”

It was an unfortunate statement for those who had lived there, but frankly, from the cult’s perspective, if there were no residents in the village, there was no need to go out of their way to protect it.

As just mentioned, they only needed to deploy enough personnel to control the roads and concentrate forces at the established gateway to stabilize the expedition’s rear—that was in the cult’s interest.

Conveniently, the intersection where Jeong Dong-geon had decided to set up was also the most important location for the assault on Ulsan, and it actually allowed for multiple routes of attack.

“The area where we’re currently positioned allows us to recapture Ulsan Airport straight ahead, reach the vicinity of Ulsan University if we go via Ayero, or recapture Ulsan Port if we take Autovalley Road, which could greatly help with a potential Marine Corps rendezvous.”

Since this intersection provided multiple routes to Ulsan, they had no choice but to prioritize this Jungsan Intersection.

During the Pohang operation, they had also occupied various routes leading to Pohang, and during Bahamut’s arrival, they had deployed forces throughout Pohang using these routes. Similarly, the Jungsan Intersection where Jeong Dong-geon was now positioned was an important transportation hub that could deploy cult forces along multiple routes, just like Pohang before.

[Not bad.]

“Lord Bahamut? Thank you for your assessment.”

And the Dragon God Bahamut lent his support to Jeong Dong-geon’s opinion.

When Bahamut first evaluated the position Jeong Dong-geon had taken, Jeong Dong-geon bowed his head in gratitude with a moved expression.

However, the Dragon God Bahamut, undisturbed by Jeong Dong-geon’s sudden gesture, spoke again.

[…But the absence of enemies is truly strange. With the recent anomalies continuing to appear, it feels like the enemy is tracking our movements and acting accordingly.]

It seemed that the Dragon God Bahamut had also heard Jeong Dong-geon’s report, as he expressed concern about the lack of engagement all the way here and assessed that the enemy was tracking the cult’s movements.

For Jeong Dong-geon, Bahamut’s conjecture provided an answer to the suspicions he had been harboring, so he asked Bahamut with an expectant expression.

“Yes. We’ve been intuitively suspicious as well. What do you think, Dragon God?”

[Hmm.]

If it was the Dragon God Bahamut, he would surely provide a good answer.

Considering that Bahamut’s guidance had never been wrong so far, Jeong Dong-geon’s faith could be seen as the common perception within the cult.

And the Dragon God Bahamut’s answer was:

[…To put it bluntly, it’s ominous. I sense that this phenomenon is some kind of portent.]

“A portent…”

The answer was that he sensed an ominous portent, though it was difficult to specify.

However, since it was none other than the Dragon God who said so, Jeong Dong-geon and the advance party couldn’t help but be tense.

He was a being called a god by the Balhut Cult, and in reality, he had guided and protected the cult several times with his insight.

If the Dragon God Bahamut gave such a warning, there must surely be a reason.

[There’s a high probability of a high-level undead with superior intelligence. Or, this might not be the work of the undead at all.]

“I understand the former, but what does the latter mean?”

[Necrophilia… no, it would be better to call it necromancy or spirit magic for easier understanding. Simply put, if there’s a mage using necromancy to control zombies, the anomalies we’ve seen so far might make sense.]

Bahamut warned that there might be a necromancer in Ulsan.

At the mention of a mage who rules over the undead, Jeong Dong-geon summarized in one word.

“You’re talking about a Necromancer.”

The existence of a Necromancer.

When Awakened awaken, they can manifest the ability they have the most aptitude for among various abilities, and among such Awakened, there would certainly be those who awakened with Necromancer abilities.

If they could truly control zombies…

‘If used properly, they could be recognized by people and become heroes.’

Jeong Dong-geon first considered the case of proper use.

In the past, Necromancers were often perceived as evil or wicked mages, and in reality, they weren’t much different. But in modern times, Necromancers in various works were portrayed as neither good nor evil, or even as characters fighting on the side of good.

Especially if they could control zombies using necromancy and eliminate their threat, they could be hailed as heroes of Ulsan and respected by many people.

‘But if misused, it would be a disaster.’

However, if misused, it would be a disaster in itself.

Using the continuously produced zombies, one could rule a city through fear and despair.

The army of zombies, which continue to pursue the living until their heads are crushed, would number in the hundreds of thousands, and if someone could control all of them…

“It’s an army of hundreds of thousands. And an army that doesn’t need any food.”

It would be no different from a controlled army of hundreds of thousands.

Of course, their combat effectiveness couldn’t be guaranteed, but if there were powerful mutant zombies among them… Jeong Dong-geon didn’t even want to imagine it.

“So you’re saying the reason there’s been no news from Ulsan is likely due to an Awakened’s control.”

[If they had truly been annihilated, there should be refugees as reported. But there’s no trace of refugees coming up to Gyeongju, is there? That suggests there are still places in Ulsan where people can live.]

“Thank you, Lord Bahamut. I feel like I can see the path a bit clearer now.”

Jeong Dong-geon felt like he could see the way forward somewhat, thanks to Bahamut’s advice.

Unlike before, when he had no information and everything ahead was dark, he could now roughly predict the situation in Ulsan, which would allow him to plan for the future.

[The good news on our side is that we’ve begun research and development on a new divine weapon to counter the undead. The exchange with the United States has given me the opportunity to reforge numerous metals with my own hands.]

“A divine weapon, you say?”

[Yes. I’ve coincidentally completed a metal. If used well, I can confidently say it’s an excellent material that can lead to victory in the war against the undead.]

Moreover, the cult was already preparing a weapon of war to counter the undead.

While Jeong Dong-geon was on expedition, Bahamut, who had managed to sort out internal affairs to some extent, had begun research and development on a new weapon, and it seemed he had already discovered some results.

If this ended successfully, he expressed strong confidence that they could win the war against the undead, reassuring Jeong Dong-geon.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

[The issue is that we’re developing a method to mass-produce this newly created metal, so practical deployment is still far off.]

At the Dragon God’s confident statement, Jeong Dong-geon also expressed his anticipation with eyes full of expectation.

Bahamut said it was too early to count chickens before they hatched, but…

[So be careful. Who is the enemy? Who is an ally? At this point, we can’t know. Please don’t pull the trigger in the wrong place.]

“Yes, I understand.”

Nevertheless, he left a concern that they should be careful since they couldn’t be certain who the enemy was yet, and Jeong Dong-geon nodded in agreement.

Since they didn’t know what choices the other side had made, there was no need to fire bullets at a stationary opponent and make them an enemy.

They began to head more cautiously toward their next destination, Ulsan Airport.