95. The Road to Ulsan (2)
From the perspective of the Balhut Cult, which had started out based in South Gyeongju, the routes leading to Ulsan were already under the cult's management.
That meant any areas under the cult's influence were essentially safe zones, and unlike the push into Pohang, the vanguard could move securely through the villages and towns they had already liberated.
The regions liberated by the Balhut Cult so far numbered no fewer than...
"The road up the Donghae Expressway is already under our control."
Even the path leading up the Donghae Expressway—which allowed them to bypass troublesome villages and towns for a swift entry into Ulsan City—was already within the Balhut Cult's sphere of influence.
To put it bluntly, Jeong Dong-gun had the freedom to either liberate every village and town along the way to Ulsan or ignore them entirely and head straight there.
"Honestly, if you want to avoid needless fights, the Donghae Expressway is the fastest."
"Exactly."
Of course, each of the two routes to Ulsan had its pros and cons.
The Donghae Expressway route had the advantage of minimal encounters with zombies or battles.
There might be monsters lurking in the mountains near the highway or stray wild zombies wandering onto the road, but it didn't require fighting hordes on the scale of those in human settlements like villages or towns.
However, the downside was...
"The problem is the limited exits, and if even one tunnel on the road is blocked, the entire vanguard is at risk."
"Ugh. If a single tunnel collapses, anyone isolated beyond it gets wiped out. Total annihilation."
Unlike Pohang, the Donghae Expressway passed through far too many tunnels.
There were a whopping eight tunnels to traverse on the way to Ulsan via the Donghae Expressway, and unlike Pohang—where just one tunnel needed clearing—the Balhut Cult had to manage too many.
In particular, unlike Pohang, these tunnels hadn't received safety maintenance for over half a year, so no one could guarantee their stability. If one collapsed for any reason, severing the link between Gyeongju and the main force, the isolated unit would be slaughtered.
With eight such tunnels, each passage a gamble with their lives, it was a route with clear drawbacks.
"Do we really need to roll the dice like that?"
"No, we don't!"
They had secured Pohang and graduated the first class of awakeners, giving the military some breathing room, but Jeong Dong-gun's vanguard was still the army's core—the chosen elite.
No matter how many extra awakeners they had, not all were high-level, and losing this elite unit to isolation and annihilation would cripple the Balhut Cult's awakener forces overnight.
In the current situation, where elite awakeners were crucial, choosing a path that could lead to instant wipeout was pure gambling—and the Balhut Cult wasn't backed into a corner desperate enough for that.
Unlike other factions on the peninsula, they had a proper government and even ties with the United States, so pursuing safe victories was no issue.
That made the Industrial Road route appealing too.
"Even if we want to advance steadily via the Industrial Road..."
"Everything beyond our territory is a mystery. Bluntly put, we neglected expeditions elsewhere while focusing on Pohang."
Of course, if the Donghae Expressway risked total annihilation from isolation, the Industrial Road's issue lay in the villages and towns beyond the Balhut Cult's influence.
Troops had been tied up with Gyeongju security and the Pohang campaign, leaving the cult with zero intel on those outer areas.
Even after Pohang, they hadn't paid attention to villages and towns outside their reach, deploying forces only to secure Gyeongju via hydroelectric and nuclear plants or the East Sea coastline. Proper expeditions had been minimal, so they had no clue what lay beyond.
"Honestly, the odds of a hostile reception are high."
"Yeah."
Even if they now liberated those distant villages and towns under the banner of liberators, criticism would arise that it was too late.
From the locals' view, the cult had all that power yet helped others first, leaving them to fend for themselves—a perfect recipe for resentment.
And then...
"We have no idea what state Ulsan's in."
"...Hmm."
The real problem was the total lack of intel from beyond Ulsan.
If they had any info on Ulsan, they could adapt, but it was eerily silent—no sightings of monsters, no pleas about zombie suffering, no laments about the apocalypse. Just mundane community posts. For the advancing troops, it was maddeningly frustrating.
"Let's move out first."
"Yes, sir. Open the iron gate."
"Open the iron gate!"
In the end, Jeong Dong-gun chose to see, experience, and act for himself.
They opened the checkpoint's iron gate, and with his deputy Son Sang-hee and the elite vanguard, he led them in military vehicles down the Industrial Road.
Expecting hordes of wild and variant zombies beyond the checkpoint, they were fully prepared.
But...
"Nothing here."
"Nope."
The vanguard felt only the chill winter wind—no zombies outside the checkpoint at all.
Not even wild zombies shambling on the road or the usual variant zombies lurking nearby.
The road was empty, and no signs of life or shadows stirred in their sight or senses.
Son Sang-hee, a detection-type awakener along for this expedition, reported the same.
"I sense nothing in the area."
"If that's the case, then there's truly nothing. No zombies. No awakeners. This is bizarre."
Her detection caught no variant zombies or awakeners.
Variant zombies were commonplace in this apocalypse, birthing awakeners when hunted—yet here, even that foundation was absent.
"Captain, village ahead."
"Let's check it out."
Soon after, Jeong Dong-gun's vanguard spotted a village the Industrial Road passed through.
They had to go through it to reach Ulsan, so Jeong Dong-gun couldn't bypass it. Sensing unease, he still entered to confirm personally.
The village interior was apocalypse-ravaged: collapsed buildings, desolation everywhere.
It was familiar to Jeong Dong-gun—rotting trash stinking up the place, survivors smashing buildings for supplies. All par for the course.
"No signs of battle either. Truly odd."
The issue was the total emptiness. No zombies, survivors, or awakeners. Everyone who lived here had vanished without a trace.
If it were a total wipeout leaving only zombies or just survivors, he'd have seen it before and understood.
"It... feels like ghosts might appear any second."
"Did they all evacuate? Then they could've reached our territory, right?"
But an empty village with neither zombies nor awakeners? That was new.
The soldiers with Jeong Dong-gun looked spooked too, scanning warily as they muttered.
"Looks like nothing's here."
Jeong Dong-gun glanced at Son Sang-hee, but she shook her head—no presences detected.
"Search the village interiors, just in case basic zombies are hiding."
"Understood, Captain."
Staying vigilant, he ordered a sweep, joining Son Sang-hee in checking houses.
They smashed flimsy, untended doors, scanning for survivors or leftover supplies.
But...
"No survivors or anything. Totally empty."
"Yeah. Houses are completely bare."
Nothing turned up. Electronics worthless without power remained, but survival essentials—daily goods, food—had long been stripped. Clothes, precious metals for currency: all gone. Only TVs and computers useless without electricity lingered.
"Anything left in the village warehouse?"
"Negative, Captain."
"Hmm."
This was a farming village, so it should've had a communal storage for crops. Soldiers checked it, but the results were dismal—everything gone.
"Maybe... they evacuated somewhere else?"
"Evacuated."
"We fled Pohang Airport when it was falling, heading elsewhere. Got blocked midway, though."
Son Sang-hee suggested the residents had fled. She'd done the same when Pohang Airport collapsed, leading her followers to safety—until zombies blocked them, nearly dooming her.
Her firsthand experience made it plausible to Jeong Dong-gun.
"Fair point. The question is where. They'd head somewhere safe, and the safest spot on this peninsula is Balhut Cult territory."
"...Uh."
The problem was the destination.
North from this village led straight into Balhut Cult lands. South meant more villages and towns ending at Ulsan. East and west were mountains.
"Crossing the mountains is suicide. Everyone ignores it amid the zombie apocalypse, but monsters lurk inside, just like in the U.S. cases."
Mountain paths existed, but communities had spread word of interior monsters. Fleeing there was walking into a maw. So evacuees had two options: Gyeongju or Ulsan.
North was cult territory, but...
"If they'd come our way, our checkpoints or gates would've caught them. No such reports."
The cult monitored the Industrial Road via outposts and gates. Northern evacuees would've been spotted. None were.
"They could've slipped through illegally, but liberated villages would've reported outsiders."
Possible, but no news from liberated areas either. Desperate villages would've alerted the cult immediately about unknowns.
No word meant no northern flight.
"Then Ulsan?"
"We'll find answers in the next villages we liberate."
That left south, but Jeong Dong-gun said they'd learn from upcoming sites, closing his eyes.
This is the most uneasy expedition I've ever led.
But the mission was underway. No turning back.
Shoving aside the eerie feeling, Jeong Dong-gun's vanguard pressed on to the next villages and towns.