Ultragene Warlord

Chapter 451: Mob Psychology

“What has Zhang Lie done? He's mobilized seven sura kingdoms against him—they're going to attack Renhuang simultaneously!”

“Serves him right! Hero, champion of mankind—ha, as if! I've disliked him for quite a while, and this will be the end of his charade!”

There were quite a number of hunters who felt that Zhang Lie was too arrogant, too prideful, and uncaring of others' concerns.

“You're laughing at humans being attacked by the sura? Are you truly from the Milky Way, or are you a spy from somewhere farther out?”

“Why can't I laugh at him? He's monopolizing his theory of limit fragments instead of bettering the whole of humanity with it!”

“Right, shouldn't that technology go to the world federation? How is it reasonable that Zhang Lie's monopolizing it for himself?”

“How can the world federation let him do that? Is it going to keep bowing down to his whims?”

“It's his own discovery, and he can do whatever he wants with it!” someone else retorted.
“Of course he's able to do with it as he wills.”

“Is it true that the sura are planning to attack Renhuang?”

“Of course it is! A group of sura troops passed by the city where I'm at.
We caught one and learned that they were planning on destroying Renhuang whole!”

“Just what did Zhang Lie do to cause such a big hubbub?”

“What, you don't think he's done enough to merit this?”

“Right, Zhang Lie destroyed two sura kingdoms on his own! It's natural that the sura would want to take revenge on him.”

“Zhang Lie's done for! How could he defend against a seven-kingdom coalition?”

“All this was brought about by his arrogance.
There are quite a number of forces that could destroy these sura kingdoms if they wanted to, but why haven't they done so? It's because the sura kingdoms are like a hornet's nest.
If you poke at one, you'll soon summon the others.”

“Oh? Before Zhang Lie, who else was there who could destroy a sura kingdom?  Give me an example, why don't you?”

“Ha, you idiot! So what if you can destroy a sura kingdom? Don't you know how many such kingdoms there are in the second realm? Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands! He might be able to deal with one sura kingdom, but how about two or three? And if he still can, four, five, six, seven? This is why no one has been able to resolve the sura threat until now.
Zhang Lie's going to be a textbook example to reaffirm this point!”

The majority of the hunters thought that Zhang Lie was dead meat, but that didn't stop a small minority from supporting him at any cost.

“My father was rescued from imprisonment by Zhang Lie.
As a fellow human, I want to help him out.”

“The sura captured me and kept me in captivity for over a decade.
I led a hellish life, and it was the hero Zhang Lie who saved me from my imprisonment.
It was he who gave me the chance to sense daylight once more! I hadn't intended on returning to the second realm ever again, but I can't stand around when my savior's in danger.
Who's going to join me?!”

“Are you crazy? Someone like you, who's been imprisoned for over a decade, won't even be good cannon fodder!”

“Be that as it may, I'll stake my life on this if I have to!”

“I'm another hunter who was rescued by Zhang Lie.
I intend on returning to the second realm and fighting together with my savior.
I might die on the battlefield, but I'll still do it— he rescued me, and this is a life debt I have to pay.
No one will be able to stop me!”

Countless prisoners that Zhang Lie had rescued, regardless of nationality, planet of origin, and race, announced that they would return to the second realm to fight on their behalf.

However, others were frustrated by the magnitude of the response in favor of sending aid to Zhang Lie—like Amurong.

After destroying his second sura kingdom, Zhang Lie's popularity in the world federation soared; his name could be heard in just about every conversation.
Some even said that Zhang Lie was the face of the world federation, that any who dared to go against him was daring to go against the entire world.

Even more shockingly, no one countered that sort of statement.
Perhaps if Zhang Lie were to announce a bid for presidency of the world federation, these hunters would support him.

Amurong hurriedly sent word to his supporters.
This time, Zhang Lie had to die—and he had to die a terrible death, not a martyr's death.
Amurong would tell the world that Zhang Lie died of folly of his own making.

Another thread was posted on the hunters' forums.

“Are you all crazy? Why would you volunteer on a death trap? Do you want to die with Zhang Lie?”

“Zhang Lie saved our lives and freed us from an interminable hell.
That's why I'm willing to give up my life for him.”

“Think carefully.
Your opponents are the sura—do you want to become prisoners again?”

The hunters were silent.
To them, death wasn't something they feared—becoming the sura's prisoner again would be a fate worse than death.

“Furthermore, Zhang Lie destroyed the two sura kingdoms just to pillage and plunder them, not for the good of the world federation.
You don't have an understanding of Zhang Lie's city, do you? Only three thousand of the citizens are humans; the rest are members of alien races! It might be that Zhang Lie's already being controlled by some other race!”

“No, that's wrong! The governor has always stood by us humans, and he's never been controlled or suborned! Don't spout nonsense—these alien races were all brought to the city by force or compulsion, and they've submitted to Governor Zhang.”

“Have you considered why they're willing to submit to him? Isn't it possible that Zhang Lie might be half-alien, half-human?”

Everyone was shocked by this suggestion.
Most of the volunteers were humans; if Zhang Lie wasn't fully human himself, they might very well change their minds.

These naysayers thought that their baseless claims would be able to turn public sentiment against Zhang Lie, but they didn't realize how Zhang Lie's actions spoke for themselves.

“That's a baseless accusation, but even if it were true, so what? Can't a half-human stand alongside humans?

“Don't you remember what Zhang Lie did? He defended against the sura incursion in Qi not once, but twice! In order to resolve the conflict once and for all, he counterinvaded sura territory and captured the capital of the invading kingdoms! How many humans could claim to have accomplished such a feat? And what did the humans of Qi do? They expelled him!”

“Right, no matter who or what Zhang Lie is, we'll help him defend against the sura forces!”

“We're doing this out of gratitude, and it doesn't matter whether Zhang Lie's a human or not!”

“Perhaps I might regret my decision, but I'd rather regret my decisions in a sura dungeon than die of old age in a sickbed regretting not having done anything today!”