Zero coulda just taken out those people on his own. Putting them on a ship with only 9 hours to solve a puzzle-gauntlet would be the most anxiety-inducing thing on the Earth.
And for what? All to make Ace's suffering that much more… complicated? Plus, Zero cheated people out of their stock money to find all this bullshit like a fucking JEW!
Monokuma saved those kids from hell, gave them shelter, punished the wicked. Literally did nothing wrong in the first game. Those kids deserved it, what kind of retards would start killing each-other in a hostage situation because the kidnapper told them to?
Right or wrong, Monokuma genuinely believed he was making the world a better place and he got shit done, Zero didn't do shit.