Chapter 94
Lee Sua immediately thought of opium upon hearing the word “poppy,” as opium is a drug derived from poppies.
People often associate the word “opium” with drugs, and the item Lee Hyuna discovered was, in fact, the opium used as a narcotic.
Moreover, opium is highly addictive, severely damages the body, and is a drug that is challenging to treat once addicted.
It was only natural that Lee Sua reprimanded her sister in shock.
“You’re planning to distribute that in Daegu?”
“Even Gyeongju is struggling with a lack of medical supplies and treatment drugs right now. Opium is highly effective as a painkiller.”
“That’s… that’s true, but…”
Opium has severe side effects, but in this apocalypse, the lack of opium meant that many were enduring unbearable pain.
Opium not only provides strong anesthetic and pain-relief effects, but it also acts as a sedative and is highly effective against colds and diarrhea. Before opium was classified as a narcotic, it was commonly used as a medicinal remedy.
Even in modern times, certain opium derivatives are approved for medical use. In this apocalypse, where medical supplies are extremely limited, opium is essentially a panacea.
If you ask whether there’s a better, more accessible drug than opium in this apocalypse… procuring opium is much cheaper and easier than obtaining advanced, side-effect-free pharmaceuticals.
“And even the Balhut Cult has partially approved it as a painkiller for Awakened individuals or as a surgical anesthetic. If used wrongly, opium can be bad, but if used with good intentions, it can be beneficial.”
“That… uh… what? Huh?”
Even today, derivatives like codeine and morphine are extracted from poppies for medical use.
The Balhut Cult, supported by the Priestess residing in Gyeongju and Pohang, had mostly rendered opium unnecessary except for extreme emergencies. However, for military expeditions or patients beyond the Priestess’s healing abilities, opium was used sparingly as a painkiller or anesthetic.
Of course, as Awakened individuals with superhuman bodies, they could endure the side effects of opium, but even then, prescriptions were issued only after receiving a doctor’s opinion and diagnosis to prevent misuse.
‘Well… it’s not exactly wrong. It’s not wrong at all… but… huh? What? What the…?’
Even the Balhut Cult used opium appropriately for medicinal purposes. So, was the declaration to distribute opium truly a bad thing?
Wouldn’t it actually help Daegu, which was suffering from a lack of treatment drugs?
Lee Sua began to be swayed by Lee Hyuna’s logic.
“Even in the U.S., narcotic painkillers are used without restriction. Daegu would desperately need even this opium.”
“Aren’t we the villains here!? Sis! That’s strictly for medical use, not for abuse!”
“I’m saying it’s needed for medical use. After one fight with zombies, you know how badly people get hurt. Even minor wounds, not to mention severe injuries, would make them desperate for painkillers. Especially with mutant zombies, the need is even greater.”
“Urgh!”
Lee Hyuna strongly argued that even the U.S. permitted unrestricted use of narcotic painkillers for medical purposes and insisted that opium was an urgently needed treatment for Daegu.
However, the two factions that had approved opium had only done so for medical purposes, with no intention of increasing the number of unnecessary opium addicts.
Lee Sua’s scolding made Lee Hyuna aware that her words were harsh.
“I understand your concerns. All of this will be done under Kim Ha-yeon’s name.”
“That’s your excuse?”
Although she swore to sever ties with the Balhut Cult, Lee Sua sighed at such a flimsy excuse.
Lee Hyuna, seemingly uncertain if this would work, added:
“If I make a mistake, I’m prepared to pay with my life.”
“Don’t say things like that seriously. It’s scary.”
She declared that she would stake her life on the line if she failed.
Hearing this, Lee Sua lamented how terrifying her sister had become and told her not to throw away her life like that.
After all, for a family member to suggest dealing opium like a drug dealer, it was baffling.
To top it off, her sister was claiming she’d risk her life for it, making it doubly absurd.
‘The problem is that her argument isn’t entirely wrong! Sure, it’s the apocalypse! It’s hard to get even one treatment drug, so it’s true that opium is necessary, even if only for pain relief or anesthetic purposes! That’s what makes it scarier!’
What made it even scarier was that if you removed the word “opium” from the argument, it would sound reasonably correct.
With external exchanges practically severed, Daegu was already struggling with shortages of not only food but also medicine.
From the internal data obtained through Ko Joon-woo, Lee Sua was aware of Daegu’s dire lack of medical supplies. Thus, Lee Hyuna’s argument that Daegu needed opium wasn’t entirely wrong.
For those on the brink of death, worrying about future side effects was a luxury for later.
Before the apocalypse, concerns over opium’s narcotic nature might have made people hesitate, but now, countless people would likely crave it.
“I’m serious. If I fail, I’m prepared to lay down my life.”
“…”
Looking at her stubborn sister, who declared she would risk her life, Lee Sua felt her stomach churn.
Realizing that the matter concerning Daegu was no longer in her hands, Lee Sua had no choice but to stop Lee Hyuna from leaving impulsively.
_
“Is there no news from Ulsan?”
While the Lee sisters argued over Daegu’s situation, the Balhut Cult leader, Choi Yuna, began preparations for an assault on Ulsan.
She entrusted Jung Dong-gun with gathering information on Ulsan, who, supported by the administrative office and the Balhut IRS, collected data on Ulsan’s community.
The final report was as follows:
“No. Compared to other regional communities, Ulsan’s community is unusually quiet. While there are posts, most are irrelevant to the current apocalypse.”
“Suspicious.”
Suspicious. That one word summed it up.
While the rest of the Korean Peninsula was in chaos due to zombies, Ulsan’s community seemed oddly disconnected from the apocalypse.
Of course, there was some information coming out of Ulsan, but compared to other communities, Ulsan seemed unusually quiet.
“There’s no internal information. Early in the apocalypse, there was plenty of intel, but now, there’s nothing about what’s happening, where zombies appear, or anything like that.”
The lack of internal information was especially strange.
Early on, Ulsan’s community had actively exchanged information and used various means to survive, just like other communities.
However, at present, there seemed to be no survival efforts or information exchange, with virtually no posts about Ulsan.
Small talk was all that remained on Ulsan’s community forums.
“That’s strange. Even we occasionally get posts about zombie sightings.”
Even under the protection of God Bahamut, it was nearly impossible for zombies not to appear at all.
There were wild zombies on the outskirts of cities, and whenever they were spotted, it had become a kind of community rule to habitually report their location and area information.
But if Ulsan was this quiet despite lacking anything particularly special, the silence itself became suspicious.
“Well, since ghost fleets have been appearing in the East Sea, hasn’t one shown up in Ulsan as well?”
“There’s been no mention of that either.”
Above all, Ulsan was located below Pohang and was a port city along the East Sea.
Naturally, there should have been news about the ghost fleets reported to appear in the East Sea, but there was no such news on the community forums.
If that were the case, one could conclude that Ulsan had become so chaotic that it couldn’t even pay attention to the sea.
“If Ulsan had truly fallen, there would at least be refugees. Yet there aren’t any.”
“There aren’t even refugees?”
In such cases, the appearance of refugees was inevitable.
If Ulsan had fallen, there should have been refugees fleeing to nearby Gyeongju, but no such refugees had been spotted recently.
Gyeongju and Ulsan were connected by roads, and traveling from Ulsan to Gyeongju would have been easy if one had the will.
While there might have been zombies along the way, the Balhut Cult controlled certain areas, so those risking their lives to escape could have reached the cult’s protection.
“What do you think?”
“The military has two possible scenarios in mind.”
Lost in thought, Choi Yuna asked Jung Dong-gun for his opinion, and it seemed he had already prepared his report, responding without hesitation with two predictions.
“The first is that Ulsan is under the rule of a tyrant similar to Do Josoon.”
The first scenario involved the appearance of a tyrant like Do Josoon.
A tyrant could have taken control, with small-to-medium-sized survivor camps falling under their dominance, and this control could explain the quietness of Ulsan’s community.
If a powerful Awakener with the strength to rule all of Ulsan had appeared, it was a plausible theory.
“But wouldn’t someone resist such a tyrant? Surely, there would be refugees or factions opposing the tyrant….”
The issue was that even a powerful Awakener couldn’t achieve perfect information control.
There would inevitably be those who resisted the tyrant’s rule, and without a cheat-like entity like Bahamut, the tyrant’s rule would be unstable.
The Balhut Cult had seen firsthand how a single defeat could significantly shake such a rule.
“Yes. We experienced similar situations in North Gyeongju, where there were refugees and camps that cooperated only on a superficial level. Even during our expedition, internal rebellions arose. That’s why we consider this scenario less likely.”
Citing the example of North Gyeongju, Choi Yuna explained her reasoning, and Jung Dong-gun agreed, deeming the tyrant scenario less plausible.
Instead, he appeared to place more importance on the second prediction, speaking with a serious expression.
“The military is considering the worst-case scenario—that Ulsan has been annihilated.”
“Annihilated…?”
If Ulsan had been completely wiped out, there would be no one left to post on the community.
This would represent the worst possible outcome in the apocalypse.
“It’s not an impossible scenario.”
The problem was that this wasn’t an unlikely scenario.
Rather, in this apocalypse, such an outcome was disturbingly plausible and easily acceptable.
“With the zombies appearing in the East Sea confirmed as undead, it’s possible that new types of undead we don’t know about have appeared. Particularly, there’s information that a troublesome undead known as the Banshee has been seen in the East Sea. If something similar to that Banshee appeared in Ulsan, it would be disastrous for survivor camps unable to organize a proper defense.”
New types of zombies—no, undead—had already been confirmed, including the Banshee.
The Banshee, capable of inducing panic in Awakened individuals, was a powerful undead that could pose significant danger unless faced by an Awakener with high magical resistance.
If a similar undead appeared in Ulsan, disorganized survivor camps would likely face the risk of total annihilation.
“The terror created by a Banshee would give rise to new fears, preventing survivors from gathering and cooperating.”
“Yes. But the complete lack of internal news is also strange. If people were acting individually, that would suggest an increase in independent activity… but if the city’s population has been entirely wiped out, then extreme scenarios like this might make sense. However, if things were truly that dire, refugees fleeing Ulsan would surely appear.”
The problem was that, in the face of an overwhelming threat, people would typically flee to another city.
Faced with the choice of dying where they were or fleeing, human instinct would lean toward survival, no matter how desperate the situation.
“My deputy, Son Sang-hui, initially fled Pohang as a refugee.”
Jung Dong-gun brought up Son Sang-hui as an example, recalling how they first met when she fled from a Spider Mutant and happened to encounter him.
“But there haven’t been any refugees along the route from Ulsan to Gyeongju.”
“…Hmm.”
However, in this strange situation where there were no refugees, Choi Yuna had to make a decision.
As her deliberations deepened, Jung Dong-gun gazed seriously at the leader of the Balhut Cult.
“Make your decision.”
[Advance.]
“Lord Bahamut?”
Before Yuna could decide, Bahamut intervened, making the decision for her.
Startled by Bahamut’s words, Jung Dong-gun waited for what would come next, and soon Bahamut’s voice reached both Yuna and Dong-gun.
[If the situation has come to this, it means something is happening within Ulsan, and that something could threaten us. Rather than passively observing the situation, it’s better to pre-emptively strike and prevent potential dangers.]
Bahamut suggested a form of preventive war.
Since they didn’t know what they were dealing with, the best course of action was to strike first before the threat could materialize.
“I agree.”
From time immemorial, those who struck first in battle gained the upper hand. Given that the enemy was likely zombies, no one could argue against the fairness of a surprise attack.
Of course, there was a possibility that it wasn’t zombies, but Jung Dong-gun was confident that Ulsan, like Daegu, didn’t have an Interim Government.
[Preparations for the Ulsan assault have already been made. Canceling the operation now due to suspicion would waste those preparations.]
“Yes.”
Above all, extensive preparations had already been made for the assault on Ulsan.
Canceling now would squander the time and resources spent, so moving forward with the operation was the logical choice.
[And there’s no need to aim for complete reclamation of Ulsan. If the port district is what we need, we can focus solely on retaking that area.]
“That wouldn’t be impossible.”
It wasn’t necessary to reclaim the entire city.
If the cult needed only the port district, they could focus on retaking just that area and leave the rest for later.
[Once on-site, conduct a thorough investigation and decide on a definitive course of action. Does anyone have objections?]
“No objections.”
“All will proceed according to the will of God Bahamut.”
With Bahamut bringing clarity to the situation, Jung Dong-gun and Choi Yuna bowed their heads, affirming that all would go according to Bahamut’s will.
—
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