Ultragene Warlord

Chapter 398: Tyrannical Logic

"If not for Zhang Lie, would there be so many problems in Qi?"

"He's clearly in it all for the reputation, not to protect us hunters! If not for the fact that he had begun fighting with the sura king right outside the city walls, we wouldn't have to rebuild again!"

"One of my good friends died because of the shockwaves from the fight between Zhang Lie and the sura king! Zhang Lie has to bear responsibility for his death!"

The man who stood by the fountain raised his hands to the sky. "Expel Zhang Lie from Qi!"

"Expel Zhang Lie? No, surely not. After all, he did save Qi from the sura."

"Zhang Lie has to take responsibility for luring the sura over in the first place!"

"Zhang Lie is a hero of Qi, isn't he? In that case, shouldn't he donate some of his limit-breaking potions to support the hunters of Qi and to make sure we can fend off another sura invasion? After all, he has so many limit-breaking potions that he can afford to issue a bounty on the Musi clan with them!"

"Right! Surely it isn't unreasonable for us to ask for a small portion of what he has, considering the damage that was caused to Qi!"

Give a man an inch and he'll take a mile. After Zhang Lie saved the hunters of Qi twice over, they now wanted him to take responsibility for the damage incurred by the city as part of the fighting as well.

Most of the hunters didn't want to expel Qi, but their greed triumphed over logic. Some had been injured in the aftermath of the invasions, and many were responsible for helping rebuild. They certainly didn't want to blame themselves for anything, so the obvious target was Zhang Lie. They had worked hard to help save the city; surely that deserved a limit-breaking potion or two? The hunters all threw their weight behind the man who had spurred them all to action.

The man smiled: everything was going according to plan.

As a result, when Zhang Lie and the members of Team Zenith returned to Qi, they found the passersby staring at them strangely.

As Zhang Lie wondered about what had happened, a group of hunters walked forward and extended an open palm to him. "Zhang Lie, hand over your limit-breaking potions!"

Zhang Lie: ? ? ?

If they were trying to rob him, why would they do it in public? Furthermore, after witnessing how he had defeated two sura kings, did they really think they could defeat him?

What Zhang Lie didn't realize was that the only reason they had dared to make such a demand of him was precisely because they were in the public eye. In private, they would quail against Zhang Lie's might instantly.

Zhang Lie frowned. "On what grounds?"

"I told you he wouldn't do it!" said the leader of the group, turning to the rest of the party. He faced Zhang Lie once more. "I've seen through your ploys!

"You were the one who lured the sura king over. He only came to Qi because you killed Musi Yu, and the alien races only invaded Qi because you took our main fighting force with you when you went to invade the sura!

"Now that Qi's fallen to such dire straits, you're refusing to hand over your limit-breaking potions in compensation. It's clear that you had an ulterior motive behind all your actions! You didn't defend Qi just to help us—you just wanted to shore up your reputation! Am I right?

"You duplicitous man!"

Hong Xi rolled her eyes. "My master has better things to do with his time."

Zhang Lie added, "Don't you think I'm famous enough as the champion of the Void Cup and dragonlord of China? Why would I waste my time with such a pointless gesture?"

In anger, the man thundered, "You're keeping your pretenses up, I see! Well, I don't care—you have to take responsibility for causing so many deaths in Qi!"

"Yes, you do! Before you came, everything was fine with Qi, but we've had disaster after disaster because of you. The walls of Qi were twice destroyed, and thousands of casualties ensued as a result! Perhaps you shouldn't be held responsible for those deaths, but you directly caused Qi's walls to fall once more because you fought so close to the city. Don't you think some compensation is necessary in that case?"

Quite a few wounded hunters strode forward, blocking Zhang Lie's path.

Hong Xi retorted in rage, "You're all ungrateful fools! If not for my master being here, Qi would long since have fallen. He could easily have waited on Earth, but he chose to enter Qi to save all of you because you were all fellow humans! How could you criticize him in this fashion? Scram, or I'll make you scram!"

Sun Mengmeng added, "Right, we've all seen how Zhang Lie stepped up to defend Qi in times of crisis. How can you have the conscience to blame all this on him? If not for him, would you be able to unite with your long-lost relatives who were suffering in the lands of the sura? Would you have the land that Zhang Lie reclaimed from the enemy races nearby? If you want to die, I'll send you on your way!"

Li Feng laughed coldly. "Do you think what Zhang Lie did for Qi can be compared to a mere wall?"

"Even the governor hasn't complained—what right do you all have to do so?"

"So what? Isn't it your fault that the walls collapsed?"

"It's because of Zhang Lie that my good friend's been heavily wounded!"

"There aren't many hunters left in Qi, and most of the forces have been injured because of the fighting. Isn't it reasonable that you would provide some compensation in the form of these limit-breaking potions?"

"You're the hero of Qi, aren't you? You should be more considerate of us hunters, then! You have a large stockpile of these potions, enough to issue a bounty with them, so why not give us a few?"

"I'm not your parent—why should I provide for you? Scram!" Zhang Lie snorted as he made to walk away, but the man in charge blocked his path with a group of people.

"Hold it! We won't let you leave so easily."

"You've saved Qi a few times already, haven't you? What's one more time? Why don't you hand over these limit-breaking potions so we can all get stronger and defend Qi more easily?"

"If you don't hand over the potions, your reputation as a hero will quickly fall apart. Do you understand your circumstances?"

Zhang Lie couldn't help but laugh. "Are you all crazy? As I've said, I don't care about my reputation."

Zhang Lie didn't care about being a hero, and he didn't care about how others addressed him. What was important was following his heart, his own code of ethics. He had never considered himself a champion of mankind, nor a hero in any sense of the word.

"No, we won't let you leave unless you hand over your limit-breaking potions!"