Deep Space Wandering Fleet
Chapter 437 - 435: Populism Wave

Chapter 437: Chapter 435: Populism Wave

On this day, East Sea City was shrouded in drizzle as Zhang Yuan walked out from the direction of the subway station, heaving a slight sigh. Over the past few years, the population of East Sea City had decreased by 30%, continuing to dwindle. There was no helping it; the colorful world outside was simply too enticing, and as long there were cultural exchanges, it was hard to stop the flow of people.

The two remaining cities that banned sakura usage were always at risk of retaliation, and the situation had reached its worst.

"Mr. Zhang, what should we do? They’ve resigned themselves!" several young people shouted discontentedly.

"A bunch of cowards, cowards!"

There were still over a hundred people in the team, all displaying expressions of anger mixed with unwillingness. However, facing the bleak reality, they had no solution.

Zhang Yuan sat on a bench in the subway station for a long while, murmuring quietly, "This war has no enemy... or rather, the whole world is our enemy."

"To completely stop the proliferation of sakura, there’s only one way..."

"What is it?"

Zhang Yuan said softly, "We need to completely overthrow the entire social system, establish a new system. The current system of public sustenance for robots, without a real centralized government, it’s impossible to stop the proliferation of sakura."

Everyone fell silent.

After a long moment, someone finally spoke, "But, Mr. Zhang, that’s impossible."

"Yes, it’s impossible."

"We can’t manage it."

Zhang Yuan sighed deeply, it wasn’t just a matter of people’s willingness, or how many were willing to follow.

This system of public sustenance through robots was deeply ingrained, encompassing every aspect of life including violent organizations, law enforcement agencies, service facilities, and almost all of the industry. Various high-tech robots sustained humanity, without these robots, most people had virtually no ability to fend for themselves.

Moreover, with just these few people, how could they possibly overthrow it?

To overthrow an old regime, a base of populace was necessary.

Where would the remaining members of the Anti-Sakura Alliance get weapons, technology?

Would overthrowing the entire social system starve everyone to death? Would the people be willing to return to the lifestyle of the past? Of course not.

"...So, there’s only the second method, but it’s only a temporary solution and not really a good one..."

"What is it?"

Zhang Yuan deliberated for a while, eventually stating quietly, "Populism..."

"Voices criticizing ’sakura’ still exist in society, only fragmented, unable to unite. Especially inside East Sea City where the criticism is substantial since East Sea City has banned sakura and its people have never used it, preventing its proliferation."

"Therefore, we can stand on a moral high ground, criticize the users of ’sakura’, intensify the contradiction between regions. We can propagate online that users of ’sakura’ are inferior, that in terms of personality and intelligence they are lesser, continuously stoking regional conflicts, promoting the superiority of East Sea City. Reduce the interaction of this city with the outside world, in order to protect our city!"

As soon as these words were spoken, almost everyone stirred uproariously, looking at Zhang Yuan somewhat incredulously.

It was too bizarre, too eerie, and even thick with conspiracy theories!

Yes, politics can never seem to be upright and honorable.

Zhang Yuan forced a bitter smile. "This is a temporarily viable method, but it’s merely treating the symptoms, not the root cause... If you are willing to do it, then let’s do it together, but if you’re not..."

If it wasn’t absolutely necessary, Zhang Yuan actually did not want to resort to this far-right tactic.

But now, in order to ensure that the only two remaining cities were not eroded by Sakura, they had no choice but to proceed this way.

...

In the following third month, inside the satellite launch base near East Sea City, the first satellite developed by modern humans in tens of thousands of years was launched—"Deep Space 1."

This was a truly remarkable event!

The team led by Zhang Yuan had spent nearly five years planning for this satellite. All the funds came from developing games and writing novels, and university professors from all over the world who opposed "Sakura" had provided top-notch talents.

"Deep Space 1" was a low Earth orbit satellite, mainly serving the AR gaming industry. Although Sakura was rampant, many people still played games, and playing games became even more enjoyable after taking drugs.

The moment the satellite was successfully launched, a flood of posts appeared online, claiming that the people of East Sea City were intellectually superior to those of other cities.

"Because East Sea City banned Sakura, we were able to complete the ’satellite launch plan’ that millions had not achieved for tens of thousands of years."

"All the people in other cities are idiots! A bunch of stupid, lower-grade species."

This organized group of trolls caused a furor across the entire internet!

The internet itself is a hotbed of rampant nationalism, and due to different cultural developments in each city, there were already some geographic biases. And now, East Sea City had suddenly risen to the top of the disdain chain, looking down on all other cities from an intellectual level.

"If you can, launch your own satellite!"

"Idiots!"

Zhang Yuan typed a line of text on his keyboard, and his heart skipped a beat twice. He sighed deeply, unsure whether his choice was right or wrong.

The release of such posts was organized and premeditated, not merely to defame for the sake of defamation.

Populist sentiment is a wild beast locked in a cage, not to be released unless absolutely necessary. It is an exclusionary and superiority-seeking sentiment, and some even regard it as a matter of dignity, but it is also humanity’s last firewall.

In the current social environment, with 1800 cities, only 2 cities banned Sakura, a terrifying and dangerous situation that necessitated the use of nationalist populist sentiment to resist the ideological erosion of "Sakura."

Normally, such flame wars would end in a few days and only spread within a small circle. But now, several days had passed, and the flame war had escalated rather than subsided, with the initiators of the posts even speaking righteously, making it hard for anyone to refute them logically.

"...East Sea City has gathered a large number of cultural producers, producing a large number of novels, animations, and games. Meanwhile, the cultural output of other cities has basically stopped!"

"If you are capable, stop reading novels, stop playing games!"

"More and more experts and scholars are choosing to settle in East Sea City, these people are smart, why? Because this city bans Sakura!"

"East Sea City’s researchers launched their own developed satellite? If you are capable, launch one!"

Under various provocations, rational rebuttals gradually decreased, and irrational shouts significantly increased, even affecting a large number of innocent ordinary internet users...

Various discriminatory words became rampant, and rumors and gossip grew more and more, even leading to derogatory terms like "East Sea dogs" and "manhole cover stealers," with the impact increasingly extending from the internet to reality. Some tourists from East Sea City were even beaten up when venturing outside, sparking outrage among the city’s populace.

The exclusionary nationalist sentiment triggered by "launching a satellite" finally spread throughout the entire East Sea City!