115. Internal Cleanup (2)
Before Bahamut's summons, the Lee sisters—Lee Hyun-ah and Lee Su-ah—clashed fiercely over how to handle Daegu.
Lee Hyun-ah pushed a radical line: if necessary, flood the city with drugs to make it dependent on Gyeongju. Lee Su-ah, more moderate, insisted there were lines even in the apocalypse that must not be crossed.
In the pre-apocalypse world, most would back the latter—people have standards, after all. But in this end times, Hyun-ah's view held real weight too. Both sisters acknowledged the logic in each other's arguments, which only dragged their fight on endlessly.
Hyun-ah secretly leveraged Go Jun-woo, her puppet in Daegu, to spread drugs across the city. Su-ah countered using logistics networks and administrative authority to block her sister's moves.
And then...
"I can't take it anymore! This is the limit! I didn't want to use this...!"
With Jeong Dong-gun, who oversaw the military, away on the Ulsan campaign—where he'd even formed a coalition force—time had passed. Su-ah, fed up with her sister's outrages, launched her counterattack.
Her sister was scheming again to smuggle drugs into Daegu behind her back, deploying National Tax Service agents. Su-ah decided to match her sister's extremes.
"So? What can you do about it."
Hyun-ah dismissed her little sister's rebellion with scorn. She knew Su-ah as well as Su-ah knew her—and that meant Su-ah wouldn't stoop to extreme tactics.
To block this from the administrative side, they'd need their own private force. That required Jeong Dong-gun's cooperation.
'Jeong Dong-gun's stuck in a stalemate at Ulsan Airport right now. His adjutant, Son Sang-hee, is there too. So the rest doesn't matter.'
But didn't she know? Jeong Dong-gun was preparing a defense alongside coalition forces against the Immortal Cult's assaults at Ulsan Airport.
Tax Service intel pegged it at a minimum one month, maximum three—Jeong Dong-gun would be tied down there. No aggressive military interference to hinder the Tax Service's operations.
Hyun-ah smirked confidently at Su-ah's resistance for good reason.
"I'll tell Bahamut-nim everything."
"Huh. Didn't see that coming."
Su-ah's counter was extreme in one sense, childish in another. Bluntly put, she was threatening to tattle to Daddy like a kid!
To an adult like Hyun-ah, it sounded trivial. But her face drained of color.
"I'll report everything to the Dragon God and seek judgment on this matter!"
Right—the "Daddy" was the Balhut Cult's Dragon God. Hyun-ah hadn't anticipated that.
It was a one-dimensional tantrum, but devastatingly effective.
"Flow..."
"Ahahaha. Looks like we caught a rampaging idiot, huh?"
Su-ah followed through, reporting Hyun-ah's actions in Daegu to Bahamut and even Dragon Priestess Choi Yu-na in exhaustive detail. She'd informed the true rulers of the Balhut Cult.
Bahamut looked baffled by the complaint. Yu-na grinned, declaring they'd snagged an idiot in this mess.
Both were thrown by Su-ah's report. As Bahamut pondered...
"I request judgment from Bahamut-nim."
'Don't drag me into this dangerous mess! Handle it yourself, Yuna!? Yuna-aaah!'
Su-ah dumped the verdict on the Dragon God himself.
They'd caught an idiot, sure—but even Yu-na had no easy answer for Hyun-ah's deeds.
Bahamut, caught in Yu-na's quick dodge, felt no relief at having to judge this thorny issue himself.
'Hmm. Pre-apocalypse, it'd be wrong. But now? Is it really evil?'
Hyun-ah had recruited local rabble-rousers in Daegu for sabotage, ordering internal chaos— all under a Gyeongju crime syndicate's name, not the cult's. Meticulous.
Pre-apocalypse, rival factions stirring trouble was common. In the apocalypse? Everyday.
Yu-na knew survivor forums buzzed with spy infiltration tales from other camps.
'No evidence or traces found? That's doing it right, isn't it?'
Reports confirmed: flawless disguises and organic Tax Service ops hid any crime-cult links.
Daegu's provisional government, far from a real state, lagged in intel and admin. Even a metropolis means nothing if you can't wield its full power.
'Yeah, spreading opium is bad... but this world needs it? Huh? Wait, what?'
The opium issue tugged at Yu-na, but the cult itself faced medical shortages—voices clamored for it inside too.
In this present-obsessed apocalypse, opium shone as a quick-fix panacea.
Addicts? Side effects? Other issues?
'The Balhut Cult might not need it, but outside, folks are still fighting to survive. No time to worry about the future.'
That was for later. Now, save lives first.
Especially in Daegu, still battling zombies inside and out—awakeners desperately short on painkillers.
'Pre-apocalypse, punish it. But apocalypse standards? Gray area.'
Why Yu-na called it an idiot catch yet punted judgment to Bahamut.
It was wrong, sure. Pre-apocalypse, drug trafficking charges. But apocalypse? Really wrong?
Without those drugs, countless awakeners and normals suffered agony. Forums overflowed with pleas for meds.
"So, I heard from Su-ah. You planned to flood Daegu with drugs?"
"Does Bahamut-nim think that's wrong too?"
"No. At first glance, blameworthy. But factoring the apocalypse's uniqueness... some will be saved by it. That's the cruelty of these times."
Bahamut took a nuanced stance. Hyun-ah's act deserved criticism.
'Medical crisis, sure. But opium works as medicine. America uses it; we do too.'
Yet the apocalypse made salvation from such acts a headache.
Bahamut got real-time reports via Yu-na and Baek Seol-hwa on cult lands and beyond—social woes made judging impossible.
"State-level execution crosses the line. We're not chaos-makers. We're chaos-enders."
"Hmm..."
"Good!"
Crossed line? Fact. Salvation for some meant tears for others.
Bahamut firmly marked Hyun-ah's overreach: the Balhut Cult didn't operate that way.
"Yet Hyun-ah's point has merit. Tragic, but in this apocalypse, opium's power might be needed—even if it eats the future. The powerless here perish without action."
He conceded her logic too. Extreme proposal, but immediate painkillers were vital—cling to them to survive now.
"So, before unforeseen messes erupt, draw the line. First, Su-ah: you oppose opium circulation in Daegu outright?"
"No. Daegu needs that potent drug. They're fighting zombies inside and out. Provisional government's stockpiles will run dry soon—many will die."
Bahamut proposed setting boundaries, starting with Su-ah.
She agreed: opium was needed. Intel said Daegu's meds were nearly gone. Without them, no fighting zombies.
"Then Hyun-ah: you want the cult dominant over Daegu?"
"Yes. I won't repeat Pohang's mistakes. If they won't acknowledge our superiority, force them to."
"Hmm."
After Su-ah, Bahamut turned to Hyun-ah. She referenced Pohang bluntly—didn't want that nightmare again. Force respect if denied.
Savage, but Bahamut didn't rebut.
'Mix their views right, and a compromise emerges.'
The sisters' ideas could mesh.
"Compromise on both: use a cult-run civilian front to contact Daegu moderates friendly to us."
"That means..."
"Can't discard past efforts. Recruited under crime syndicate name? Waste to abandon resources spent. Find forces to distribute limited opium quantities. Hand it off?"
Bahamut laid it out—balancing both sides, his best shot.
"Great idea! Then I... no, the cult can control it!"
Su-ah, exhausted from endless sisterly war, jumped at Bahamut's proposal.
She'd have rejected her own version; Hyun-ah would've scoffed. But Dragon God's word? Ironclad.
"Opium's still a drug. More use, more side effects. Minimize by ultra-limited distribution. Heard America's doing similar—illegally sourced limits it."
"No one farms casually now but us! Illegal street supply will be scarce!"
"Is that so?"
As Bahamut steered, Su-ah pressed Hyun-ah: choose quick.
"Hyun-ah, accept this compromise?"
"If it's the Dragon God's will, a believer obeys."
Hyun-ah grumbled at Su-ah but accepted. Defy the Dragon God? Never. Valid reasons for the line, surely.
She bowed, shelving grudges.
"Cool off then. Not pulling you from Daegu affairs—just avoid drugs max. Su-ah, you started this; it's yours."
"As the Dragon God commands."
Compromise sealed. Bahamut's meeting wrapped.
Relief washed over him watching officials leave—finally done.
"Caught 'em before flooding Daegu with drugs."
Yu-na referenced it, tone relieved.
"What do you think, Yuna?"
"Dunno. Drugs are bad, but we're short too—using them ourselves? Daegu's worse off."
'Ah, right. Peacetime vs. apocalypse—meds are gold.'
Bahamut echoed Yu-na's sentiment; her answer: unsure.
Bad act, potentially good—hard to judge.
Bahamut nodded, yet...
"Side effects considered, it's worth the pain to block."
"If the Dragon God says so, I'll follow."
He soothed her apocalypse-fueled anxiety: selling the future, but necessary.