Chapter 360: A Mountain out of a Molehill

Hong Tianqi's words left the other representatives shocked.

"Representative Hong, what exactly do you mean?" one particularly daring representative called out, standing up in a fit of rage.

"I mean exactly what I said. Don't you think you're making a mountain out of a molehill?"

"Hong Tianqi, don't think we representatives will believe you blindly just because of your strength. This is a meeting convened by the world federation, not a human alliance!" Another representative strode forward, but Hong Tianqi didn't back down. The antics of these other representatives made them seem like clowns.

"If you examine what the Musi clan has done in the past, you'll see why Zhang Lie has been justified in issuing his bounty. As for the claim that the bounty disrupted law and order, and even in the trust that the public has in the world federation, that's even more ludicrous.

"Zhang Lie's bounty was perfectly reasonable, and it has always been understood that such bounties are enforced only in the dimensional world. Whether or not those assassins and bounty hunters choose to attack their targets in the real world instead is hardly a crime to be attributed to Zhang Lie, who suggested nothing of the sort.

"I suggest you arrest the actual culprits behind the crime instead. What does all this have to do with Zhang Lie? Don't you think it's rather embarrassing to be trying to get someone else to address your problems?

"As for the limit-breaking potions, those are Zhang Lie's own discovery, and he can do whatever he wants with them. Out of his own generosity, he's divulged the list of herbs that have gone into the potion, so won't you all be able to deduce the recipe just by experimentation? Surely you don't intend on profiting off his labor for nothing?

"I'll say this just once: whether or not Zhang Lie is willing to reveal the recipe is his own business. If anyone dares interfere with his decisions, I'll be the one you'll face."

Hong Tianqi slammed a fist down on the table, the fluctuations in his genetic energy stunning the gathered representatives. Even Amurong looked surprised. At his level of strength, he could clearly discern that Hong Tianqi's strength had increased yet again. Hong Tianqi had been a little weaker than he was in the past, but now, he seemed to be somewhat stronger.

Amurong had managed to obtain a vial of Potion #1 for himself, and although the increase in his strength was discernible, it wasn't particularly significant. He suspected that Hong Tianqi had consumed a limit-breaking potion beyond what Potion #1 had to offer; if that really were the case, then he couldn't remain still any longer.

"Hong, please, don't get too angry. Your points are reasonable, but so are theirs. The impact of these potions is simply too immense; none of us representatives want to become the second Musi clan." Amurong strode forward. His words sounded logical, but Hong Tianqi felt as if there was an undertone of guardedness behind it.

He replied, "If you don't want to become the second Musi clan, then don't provoke Zhang Lie. He's not crazy—he wouldn't issue a bounty on you for no reason. As far as I'm aware, he was never the instigator of any attack."

Hong Tianqi's words sent a shock running through the crowd.

Amurong cried out, "Ridiculous! You're trying to use your personal strength to coerce the representatives to your will. Hong Tianqi, I'm warning you—others might be afraid of you, but not me! If you don't hand over the recipe to the limit-breaking potion within three days, all representatives in favor of punishing Zhang Lie will band together and attack you."

Hong Tianqi laughed. "Oh? Declaring war now, are we?"

"The presiding representative's right. None of us want to become the second Musi clan, and none of us believe you should hold so much power! Believe us: no matter how many limit-breaking potions you have, you won't have enough time to convert it all into strength. Against this many allied parties, Earth will never be able to hold out."

They understood that, if they didn't cooperate and rally against Zhang Lie now, they would have no choice but to bow down to him in the future. Furthermore, they wanted to obtain the newest results of his research—the limit-breaking potions—paying as little a price as they could.

Of course, their wish wasn't about to come true.

Hong Tianqi sighed. "Very well. Let's have the ten members of the judiciary vote on the matter."

Everyone seemed placated by this outcome, which was the standard mode of resolution for all affairs, contentious or otherwise, brought forward to the judicial committee. If nothing were to go wrong, those in favor of punishing Zhang Lie would certainly win.

"A show of hands!" Amurong proclaimed, standing up. "Those who find it unreasonable for Zhang Lie to retain sole rights over his limit-breaking potions, who believe the world federation should instead acquire his research materials, raise your hands!"

Four members of the committee immediately raised their hands, causing the hunters in the faction hostile against Zhang Lie to grin at each other. Just two more representatives would be needed—and once the world federation's highest authorities had made their decision, even Zhang Lie would have to accede to their will.

Otherwise, he would truly become a public enemy.

However, after these four representatives had raised their hands, followed slowly by the presiding representative, Amurong, that was that. Hong Tianqi and the representatives of the nightdemons, aquatic, starbeasts, and winged races had no intention of raising their hands.

In other words, they favored Zhang Lie. With five raised and five unraised hands, the vote was a tie!

According to custom, a tie meant that further deliberation was necessary; the committee would shelve the matter for a year, during which time they would observe how the situation developed, and then vote once more.

For a hunter like Zhang Lie, whose strength was in his ridiculous growth, a year was far more than enough time to develop beyond the constraints of the world federation, and those who were opposed to Zhang Lie would hardly be able to monopolize the seeds of his labor.

Those representatives were outraged by this outcome, and they could hardly give up just yet. They stared daggers at the representatives from the four prime races. To them, it wasn't a surprise that Hong Tianqi, a fellow Earthling, would be in support of Zhang Lie, but the four prime races had promised that they would support the hostile representatives in seizing Zhang Lie's assets!

However, they had then backed out of that agreement when it came time for the actual vote. How could the hostile representatives not be upset at their sudden change of mind?

The four prime races had been tentatively willing to commit to the vote despite their ongoing cooperation with Zhang Lie because their research teams had yet to have any success, but they recently received news that their scientists had just made a breakthrough.

They would be able to get limit-breaking potions developed specifically for their own races from Zhang Lie himself, so why would they want to renege on their cooperation with Zhang Lie now?

Furthermore, it was unrealistic to think that they could make heads or tails of Zhang Lie's work immediately. Without his guidance, they could well spend orders of magnitude more energy and time in order to understand what he had done—and that only if they managed to secure all of Zhang Lie's research material!

The four prime races were fully aware that this was an unrealistic assumption. Zhang Lie would surely ensconce himself in the depths of the dimensional world, never to be seen again. Neither would they be able to snatch the information from him.

Furthermore, even if they were to acquire all his information and research results, what would happen next? Could they be satisfied with just Potion #1? The four races that had been cooperating with Zhang Lie knew quite a bit more about his theory of limit fragments than did the ordinary specialist. By analyzing his combat footage, they determined that he had already come up with and consumed Potion #2.

Could the four races in cooperation with Zhang Lie not be tempted by this realization? Of course they would—and they would naturally side with Zhang Lie.