Chapter 918: Chapter 915: "Chang Ge.
Union Government.
In the conference hall, over a hundred representatives raised their hands and pressed the buttons on their respective desks.
Green stands for approval, red for opposition, and yellow for abstention.
Lights flickered unevenly, with green lights occupying nearly half of the area, while the remaining red and yellow were sparsely distributed.
"So, regarding the confirmation of the execution list, 78 votes in favor, 33 against, and 56 abstentions." Mizushima Kawa Sora announced: "This policy is officially passed."
Heads filled the room like a dark cloud, some casting discontented glances at her. After the meeting concluded, Mizushima Kawa Sora stepped down from the stage, and a few aggressive representatives rushed up to her.
"Are you insane? Execution is one thing, but how can Yamada Machiichi be on the execution list? On what grounds are you executing a top player?" These people were all players, surrounding Mizushima Kawa Sora.
Mizushima Kawa Sora glanced at them: "You think this is ridiculous. But every time Su Ming’an made a decision, some of them were ridiculous, and many people thought he was crazy, but did he ever fail? If I can’t achieve a Perfect Pass because of your obstruction, will you take responsibility for that?"
Someone said: "We’re all in the same parallel instance with Su Ming’an, I don’t think you can outperform him, you couldn’t achieve a Perfect Pass anyway."
"No, I can definitely achieve it because I know the essence of this world. You are just..." Mizushima Kawa Sora smiled faintly, brushing past them.
The players wanted to catch up, but were soon held back by a few powerful Talisman Masters.
"No disturbances allowed here, lock them up!" The Talisman Masters said coldly.
"Hey, you guys..." The players were bewildered.
"Take them away!"
The Talisman Masters grabbed their shoulders, forcibly dragging them away.
The conference hall emptied out, leaving only the cold execution list on the screen.
...
Su Ming’an opened other posts, aside from the officially controlled reviews, countless posts were discussing the issue of the "Demon Hunt Order," and the debate was intensifying.
[Lan Yan: This is an absurd policy! Using crude methods like blood tests to determine if someone is an Exotic Species will lead to many innocent people being wrongly executed!]
[Sorrow of Turning Back: Can anyone understand, my relative just went for a blood test at the hospital and was suddenly arrested, name directly put on the execution list, they’ve never done anything seriously wrong in their life, and now they’re going to be executed.]
[Chopping Block: Rationally speaking, setting aside the facts, from a neutral and objective standpoint, this policy is actually quite good. Humanity should conduct a large-scale inspection anyway. I’ve heard some insider information from the government saying there’s seemingly a ’King’ emerging among the Exotic Species. If the Exotic Species aren’t inspected soon, how will humanity survive when they’re all united by the Exotic Species King? Just a minor sacrifice, a few tens of thousands of innocents die, for the good of the entire human race!]
[Give Me 50 to Blast the Deity’s Head: Urbanites living in their comfort zone, afraid of even this small sacrifice, can you still smile when humanity faces extinction?]
[The White-haired Boy: No, don’t get carried away with the narrative; there’s a fundamental problem with this policy. Human resources are already limited, and using lots of manpower to inspect Exotic Species is not cost-effective; it’s better to disperse more Black Mist. The fact that Exotic Species can live among humans indicates they’re inherently not bad; instead of exterminating them, it’s better to take the time to eliminate those truly causing harm.]
[Time Zone: It’s all due to the Exotic Species King.]
...
Su Ming’an browsed through people’s comments. Opinions on this policy were evenly split between support and opposition. Many were fearful of the ’Exotic Species King’ mentioned in rumors, eager to see it killed and dissected.
"Su Ming’an, we..." Lv Shu began.
"Rescue." Su Ming’an said.
The rescue certainly needed to happen. Yamada Machiichi’s execution was enough to reveal the absurdity of this policy. The execution was scheduled for tomorrow at noon, and the simplest method was to directly intervene in the execution field. Due to the constraints of the Main Quest exams, Su Ming’an himself couldn’t leave the small town, but his clone could.
Su Ming’an summoned his Shadow clone; he had summoned Shadow once in the game "Louyue Nation," and once the game was completed, Shadow automatically returned, but it could be summoned again now.
As soon as Shadow landed, it burst into laughter.
"Hahaha, this is killing me, oh, hahahaha..."
Su Ming’an stared at Shadow, waiting until Shadow finished laughing, and then asked, "What are you laughing about?"
Shadow pointed at the computer screen, glanced at the big photo of Yamada Machiichi on the execution list, and couldn’t help laughing again: "Look at this prison photo of Yamada Machiichi, it’s just too funny, hahahaha..."
Su Ming’an took a look; Yamada Machiichi’s photo showed an expression of surprise, as if he didn’t expect to be suddenly arrested, eyes wide open, mouth forming an O-shape, indeed looking a bit amusing.
Su Ming’an didn’t laugh, just said: "Once you’ve laughed enough, go and rescue people."
He tried to smile as openly as Shadow, but failed. It had been a long time since he smiled like that.
Shadow’s expression became serious, and it stared at him: "Just rescue people? Too simple, isn’t it?"
"Hmm?"
Shadow said: "Blast the Union Government, hack Mizushima Kawa Sora to pieces, blow the execution ground to fragments, rampage through the prison, or have the person who proposed this policy go to hell. Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it."
Su Ming’an thought for a moment: "For now, humanity can’t do without the Union Government, though this policy seems brainless, most policies are useful. Also, there are many hidden masters in this world who haven’t surfaced; if you really cause havoc, the consequences are hard to predict."
Shadow said: "At worst, I die once, you don’t die, right?"
So far, all of Su Ming’an’s actions leaned towards conservatism, all carried out according to the Main Quest. If an unrestrained person like Shadow caused havoc, perhaps it would indeed lead to a different breakthrough.
Su Ming’an nodded: "Then go and do it. I’ll give you Tretiya’s mechanical roulette, if all else fails use the roulette to escape. Remember, you’re ’Su Ming’an,’ not ’Su Wensheng.’
Su Ming’an shared senses with his clone, at crucial moments, he could immediately command Shadow to alter its actions. There was no need to worry about things getting out of control, Shadow was, after all, just his skill. Until now, Su Ming’an hadn’t let Shadow act independently much; he wanted to see what Shadow would do given freedom.
Shadow smiled briefly and saluted Su Ming’an: "As you command, Chief."
Shadow had just left when Su Ming’an barely sat down, and a knock came at the door; it was Xin Yue from the Human Self-Rescue Alliance. Her rose-red hair shimmered with a layer of moonlight, her clothes damp with night dew.
"Alliance Hierarch, about the Demon Hunt Order..." Xin Yue seemed a bit flustered, not expecting the Union Government to suddenly pull such a major move.
"Can the Alliance propose opposition?" Su Ming’an asked.
Xin Yue shook her head: "We suspect that the human upper echelon wants to use this investigation opportunity to do something they can’t reveal to the outside world. And our Human Self-Rescue Alliance is ultimately a free organization, best not to meddle in such matters."
"Have the members stationed everywhere be a bit more cautious recently, don’t let the military catch an opportunity." Su Ming’an said: "As long as the blood test turns out abnormal, they can blatantly arrest someone, and even if a bit of manipulation occurs, outsiders wouldn’t know. This policy essentially grants them the right to execute at will."
"Medieval witch trials." Lv Shu spoke up.
"Exactly." Su Ming’an said: "It’s practically a massive witch hunt replayed in modern times. Just a bit of suspicion, and you’d be executed."
After saying these words, Xin Yue looked at Su Ming’an for a while.
"What?" Su Ming’an looked up.
"Alliance Hierarch, even though you’ve lost your memory, you’re still as reassuring as before." Xin Yue teased.
Su Ming’an hurriedly sent her off.
Not even ten minutes later, the cloaked figure returned.
Su Ming’an, busy with work, went to open the door.
"Deputy Minister, regarding the Demon Hunt Order from two hours ago. My suggestion is not to get involved." The cloaked figure said.
"Because the City Guardian Department is a freedom organization and can’t be managed, right?" Su Ming’an had already anticipated the cloaked figure’s next words.
"Hmm?" The cloaked figure paused, nodded: "Yes, you’re quite skilled at this."
"..." Su Ming’an shoved the cloaked figure into a guest room.
Su Ming’an walked back to his own room, with a thought in mind.
As the "First Dream Patrol Family," he commanded a following of a full ten billion, with a total of fifty-eight political entities watching his every move. Humanity’s destiny rested upon him—he could fully leverage his influence to shape the future of mankind because people had no choice but to heed his opinion. They could silence anyone, but they couldn’t cloak his voice.
Any words spoken by the First Dream Patrol Family would be heard, reinterpreted, and spread by countless netizens, sweeping across the internet. His every action would inevitably fall under everyone’s gaze, becoming the hottest topic of the moment.
The Union Government couldn’t seal his lips. A free bird couldn’t be caged.
Su Ming’an put on the Dream Patrol Helmet and started the live broadcast. Instantly, billions of viewers flooded into the live broadcast room:
["The Demon Hunt Order really has stirred up a massive storm, with over a hundred publications and several dozen media outlets reporting on it. Turn on the TV now, and it’s all views on the Demon Hunt Order."]
["Even several heroes from the Union Government who eradicated Exotic Species are under suspicion and have been placed under house arrest."]
["It’s really nerve-racking right now... I don’t dare vent in real life, so I can only vent in the live broadcast room."]
["First Dream Patrol Family, what do you think about it?"]
["If only First Dream Patrol Family would speak for us common folks. The Union Government doesn’t listen to voices like ours."]
...
"I..." Su Ming’an began to speak.
The barrage in the live broadcast room stilled for a moment, as people awaited his speech.
Outside the screen, experts and psychologists analyzing the First Dream Patrol Family’s behavior looked up.
In countless households, students busy with their homework paused their pens and looked towards the computer screen showing Su Ming’an.
"I feel." Su Ming’an slowly said, "There’s no need to propose such an overly aggressive policy at this time. Because even after we clear it out now, it won’t be long before the Exotic Species mix in with the crowd again. What we should do is focus on reclaiming our homeland; only then can we fundamentally solve this issue."
As Su Ming’an finished speaking, the live broadcast room fell silent.
The next moment, the screen was flooded with countless messages.
["First Dream Patrol Family is right!!!"]
["I’ve always thought so."]
["You truly are my deity, my lord!"]
["It’s about time someone spoke out. Those big-time influencers, commentators, and experts are so cowardly, afraid to say anything. Luckily, First Dream Patrol Family opened their mouth, daring to speak the truth. Did you see that, Union Government? Did you see our inner voices?"]
Instantly, with Su Ming’an’s statement, countless covert actions began to unfold.
Bot networks, guiding public opinion, buying off big-time influencers, redirecting topics... countless agencies mobilized like a finely-tuned machine, putting everything into dealing with this public opinion battle.
The public didn’t care about the "big picture" or "sacrifice"; they only held onto their own sense of justice. Once they saw an opportunity to argue online, they flocked like dogs smelling meat. Many players, too, caught wind of the situation and joined in.
["Union Government·Novi: I don’t agree with this ’Demon Hunt Order’ either."]
["I Won’t Throw People Into Rivers: I support the First Dream Patrol Family, the ’Demon Hunt Order’ is too aggressive."]
["Agnes: I’m not sure about the political landscape, but everything Su Ming’an said is right. I support the First Dream Patrol Family."]
["Deity: Deity, where are you?"]
...
Su Ming’an simply spoke a few sentences in the live broadcast room, which instantly, like a butterfly fluttering its wings, stirred up a massive wave on the internet.
Supporters, opponents... the world suddenly became chaotic as if the First Dream Patrol Family was instantly elevated to a level where they could contend with the Union Government. Countless people repeatedly used his words, treating them as a "Lighthouse." Besides the support, many also immediately voiced opposition.
["Church·Nalfas: If the Deity hasn’t opposed this matter, the Demon Hunt Order shouldn’t be abandoned. Existence is reasonable. The First Dream Patrol Family’s words are biased."]
["Lian Baifeng: Since the Union Government proposed the Demon Hunt Order, there must be a reason. What do you common folk know?"]
["Jing Hongfei: I didn’t expect the First Dream Patrol Family could say such things, it’s simply a betrayal of humanity. I will no longer be a fan of the First Dream Patrol Family! Unfollow, backlash!"]
Though these words stirred waves, they didn’t overly intensify the topic.
What really elevated the topic to its peak was the speech from one person.
...
["Old Day Church·Vice Sect Hierarch: I support the First Dream Patrol Family. ヽ(✿ﾟ▽ﾟ)ノ"]
...
In an instant, people fell silent.
The Old Day Church had always distanced itself from the populace, only known for massacring cities. No matter how much the Union Government provoked them, they never said a word online, leaving their intentions a mystery.
Now—the Vice Sect Hierarch of the Old Day Church had actually spoken out online to support the First Dream Patrol Family.
The Old Day Church currently had no Sect Hierarch, making the Vice Sect Hierarch the highest authority. Now, the Vice Sect Hierarch’s stance represented the entire Old Day Church’s attitude.