Chapter 86
The conclusion of this meeting was that the next city the Balhut Cult would expand into had been decided: Ulsan.
The cult determined that it would be difficult to control Daegu or Busan at their current scale. Instead, they planned to devour Ulsan first, increase their capacity, and then target Busan or Daegu.
As a result, it was time to deeply consider the route from Gyeongju to Ulsan.
“Like Pohang, the road to Ulsan is not an issue. It’s just below Gyeongju.”
From the perspective of the cult, which was based in Gyeongju, the path to Ulsan posed no problems at all.
This was because Gyeongju and Ulsan were already connected by roads such as Wonhwaro-ro and Saneop-ro. Following these roads would lead to Ulsan in no time.
When Pohang had been attacked, military vehicles using the roads played a critical role. If the cult could secure control over the roads connecting the cities, they could easily infiltrate the interior of any target city.
“If necessary, we can also approach Ulsan by sea. Using a fast patrol boat, we could enter the rivers connected to the ocean and land deep within the city.”
Now that Pohang had been reclaimed, it was also feasible to utilize the sea for entry into Ulsan.
If the high-speed boats stationed in Pohang could penetrate Ulsan Harbor and seize the port, the Balhut Cult could establish a foothold. This would allow them to leverage the sea for easy resupply and gain access to the city’s interior.
Moreover, Ulsan had waterways connecting the sea to its rivers, making it possible to infiltrate deep into the city using high-speed boats.
Particularly for the cult, which needed internal collaborators to attack the city, capturing Ulsan Harbor with high-speed boats was an appealing strategy.
“However, the Pohang Navy is currently locked in fierce battles with the ghost fleet appearing in the East Sea. We can’t afford to redeploy our forces for the Ulsan operation.”
The problem with this method lay in the involvement of the fleet commanded by Baek Seol-hwa.
This meant withdrawing the Pohang fleet, which was confronting the ghost fleet threatening the East Sea, for the sake of attacking Ulsan. Doing so would place an enormous burden on the Pohang fleet.
Furthermore, with the current importance of trade with the White House, it was unwise to recklessly mobilize the Pohang Navy for the Ulsan campaign.
If the East Sea route became unstable, the volume of supplies transported from Pohang to Gyeongju could drastically decrease.
This could jeopardize the project to redesign Gyeongju as a city centered on awakened individuals. For this reason, Choi Yuna rejected Jung Dong-gun’s proposal for a sea-based entry.
“Well, while conquering Ulsan is important, maintaining relations with the United States is even more so.”
When the plan for a coastal attack was essentially ruled out, Jung Dong-gun expressed his disappointment.
However, he also understood better than anyone that the volume of goods arriving from the United States was too significant for the cult to abandon.
In particular, the iron ore imported from the U.S. was being processed in Pohang and supplied to Gyeongju.
The steel produced from this process was a critical asset for the Balhut Cult’s weapons industry.
Through these high-quality materials, the Balhut Weapons Research Institute was developing advanced weaponry, significantly enhancing the cult’s military power while also establishing a virtuous cycle of exporting these weapons back to the United States.
“If a sea-based assault is off the table, we must ultimately rely on an infantry force composed of awakened individuals to capture Ulsan. From our perspective, there are two routes to Ulsan. The first is to utilize the Munmu Daewang No. 5 Tunnel in Pohang and proceed along the Donghae Expressway. The second is to use Saneop-ro, which connects Gyeongju and Pohang. Additionally, there’s also a path from Saneop-ro to the Donghae Expressway.”
If the sea route was not viable, the cult would have no choice but to rely on road-based operations, as they had during the Pohang campaign.
Fortunately, there were routes from Gyeongju to Ulsan and from Pohang to Ulsan. The Balhut Cult could freely choose the path that best suited their needs.
This meant that the cult could selectively utilize the most advantageous route. Even before this discussion began, Jung Dong-gun had already devised an optimized plan.
“Which route is faster?”
“Both are similar. However, considering supply lines for the expedition team, it might be better to use the already secured Saneop-ro route to access the Donghae Expressway or to continue along Saneop-ro directly.”
Jung Dong-gun appeared to believe that the Saneop-ro route starting from Gyeongju, which was under the cult’s secure control, would be the most suitable.
Furthermore…
“So, we’ll be departing from Gyeongju?”
“Yes. Even before we fully secured the Gyeongju area, the route to Ulsan had already been secured. At that time, we were too preoccupied with conflicts in Northern Gyeongju to focus on the Saneop-ro leading to Ulsan. However, the road itself has been under our control for some time.”
As the Balhut Cult was a force based in Southern Gyeongju, the Saneop-ro leading to Ulsan had naturally fallen under their control.
During the Pohang campaign, Northern Gyeongju was still in chaos due to the influence of Do Josoon’s rule, and the roads leading to Pohang were infested with zombies. The cult had to clear the zombie-filled routes entirely to proceed. In contrast, the path to Ulsan was already under their control.
“Indeed. Securing villages and towns along that route was a priority.”
“To be honest, from the perspective of our forces, using the familiar and secure Saneop-ro would be more convenient.”
“Well, it makes sense to utilize what’s already available rather than starting from scratch.”
Jung Dong-gun’s proposal to use the already controlled Saneop-ro was ultimately about ensuring safe movement and convenience for the military.
If there was already a safe, secured route, was there any need to start from scratch?
Such an idea would naturally seem like a waste of time and resources.
“Then, are there many zombies coming from Ulsan to Gyeongju?”
“No. According to soldiers stationed at the outposts and gates, there haven’t been any traces of zombies for the past two months. This includes mutant zombies—there have been no sightings of them either. It’s safe to say there are virtually no zombies coming up from Ulsan.”
The concern, if any, was the potential for zombies to come up from Ulsan, which was beyond the cult’s control, into Gyeongju.
To prepare for this, Jung Dong-gun had placed outposts and gates at key points to monitor for incoming zombies from other cities. However, in the case of Ulsan, no regular or mutant zombies had been spotted in the past two months.
That was certainly good news.
“That’s fortunate, but… in this apocalyptic world, the fact that there are no zombies at all is… well, it’s good news, but it feels strange.”
“Yes, it does feel a bit strange. If there were at least some zombies appearing, it would make sense, but none at all? That’s hard to understand within the current apocalyptic norms.”
While it was a harmless observation under normal circumstances, in this apocalyptic world, the complete absence of zombies was an unusual and suspicious phenomenon.
Of course, the absence of zombies meant there had been no human casualties among the soldiers stationed along Saneop-ro. That was undeniably good news, and even Choi Yuna acknowledged it as such.
“Well… considering the recent ghost fleet incidents, it does feel even more suspicious.”
From the perspective of the Balhut Cult, which had recently encountered several mysterious incidents, it was hard not to suspect there was some deeper implication behind the phenomenon of no zombies appearing.
“Mutant zombies are typically common in areas not under our control, but they’re completely absent in the south.”
To be frank, apart from the path to Ulsan, regular and mutant zombies were commonly seen in other regions.
In Gyeongju or Pohang, areas not managed by the cult were often infested with mutant zombies, which had led to the rise of businesses like awakened individual-based private transport services, bodyguard services, and mercenary work.
“Even in the granary areas we prioritize, mutant zombies, and in the worst cases, mutant spider zombies, have been appearing.”
Reports of mutant zombies were still frequently coming in from the granary regions near the Hyeongsan River tributaries in Gyeongju and Pohang.
“Based on the information we currently have, we can make two plausible assumptions.”
“Two, you say?”
Jung Dong-gun confidently stated that the available information allowed for two main assumptions.
“Yes. The first is that Ulsan, like Pohang, is under the control of newly evolved mutant zombies. God Bahamut has mentioned that the apocalypse in Korea is more akin to an undead outbreak than a zombie one. It’s entirely possible that a new type of undead we’re unaware of has evolved. The ghost fleet is proof of that.”
“That does make sense.”
The first assumption was that, like Pohang with its mutant spider zombies, a new type of mutant entity had emerged in Ulsan.
Given God Bahamut’s sentiment that the apocalypse resembled an undead phenomenon more than a zombie one, it was entirely plausible that a new form of undead had appeared.
In other words, a powerful new mutant zombie unique to Ulsan had emerged, silencing the city entirely.
This was the first assumption.
“The second assumption is that Ulsan is currently under someone’s control, much like the Balhut Cult. If a powerful awakened individual has appeared, eliminating zombies and reclaiming the city, it could explain the current state.”
“If we consider Seol-hwa as an example, that theory isn’t unreasonable. After all, that’s how I secured Gyeongju.”
The second assumption was that someone in Ulsan had brought the city under their control, similar to the Balhut Cult.
Do Josoon had maliciously proven that a powerful awakened individual could use violence to dominate the masses. Similarly, talented and strong awakened individuals like Choi Yuna and Baek Seol-hwa had demonstrated the possibility of reclaiming and ruling a city through their strength and charisma.
The Balhut Cult had firmly established this concept. Even though Baek Seol-hwa’s attempt ultimately failed, her extraordinary abilities and bold charisma had nearly unified Pohang under her leadership. This made the possibility quite plausible.
“In fact, there’s a rumor from survivor communities about a leader in Daegu who has unified fragmented camps. They’re even claiming to have established a provisional government of sorts in Daegu. It seems to be a coalition similar to Pohang.”
“Something like that in Daegu? Well, Daegu is one of Korea’s major cities. What about Ulsan?”
“…There’s been no such news from Ulsan. On the contrary, the Ulsan community is eerily quiet compared to others. It feels as if the community is entirely under control.”
To support this claim, Jung Dong-gun pointed to the example of Daegu.
The issue with this argument, however, was that no similar case had emerged in Ulsan. In fact, the Ulsan community was so quiet that there were virtually no reports coming out of it, giving the impression of total control.
“Quiet, you say. So should we ignore Ulsan for now and focus on Daegu’s so-called coalition government?”
“It’s likely that Daegu’s coalition government has weak internal cohesion, similar to Pohang. However, if their size increases, it could become troublesome for us to deal with. Still, that’s about it. There’s no need for the Cult Leader to worry too much about Daegu.”
“I see. Then, what about the zombies coming from the west?”
Jung Dong-gun speculated that Daegu’s provisional government was a coalition of camps, like Pohang, and argued that their internal unity was likely poor.
Nonetheless, Daegu was four times the size of Pohang, so if its strength grew, it could intimidate its opponents.
Choi Yuna nodded heavily at Jung Dong-gun’s explanation and asked about the zombies coming from the west, meaning Daegu.
“According to the western monitoring posts, the number of zombies coming from Daegu to Gyeongju has decreased significantly.”
“What about mutant zombies?”
“Mutant zombies are occasionally spotted, but it’s nothing like Ulsan, where there are none at all.”
Unlike the complete absence of mutant zombies in Ulsan, Daegu, which was reportedly organizing itself, still had instances of mutant zombie appearances in the west.
This starkly contrasted with the southern Ulsan, where no mutant zombies had appeared.
“So, in Daegu, which claims to have a provisional government, mutant zombies still appear. Meanwhile, in Ulsan, where no news comes out, they’re completely absent. To ignore this would be… well, you’d be considered foolish.”
“It’s suspiciously quiet.”
The quietness only made it all the more suspicious.
“For now, let’s gather information about Ulsan, just as we did for Pohang, including community reports and internal circumstances. Oh, and we’ll collect information on Daegu as well since it’s Gyeongju’s neighbor.”
“Understood.”
Ultimately, Choi Yuna decided to collect information on both Ulsan and Daegu and prepare countermeasures accordingly.
Of course, the primary focus remained on Ulsan, with Daegu only being addressed incidentally.
This reflected the Cult’s continued indifference toward Daegu.
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