Great! I'm surrounded by villains!-Chapter 380 - 299: Witch Hunt

"Are you saying... a wizard?"

Fu Ling steadied her spirit, astonished to hear such a mysticism-laden term aboard an Eco-Ship brimming with a scientific atmosphere.

But in fact, mysticism did indeed exist.

Accomplishing feats that science could not explain through some unfathomable strength, wizards were among them.

"You seem surprised?"

"I know of wizards, but weren’t they supposed to have been extinct?"

Fu Ling said.

In her department’s records, she had seen information related to wizards, who had once been considered one of the most dangerous groups, and were a major force that Universe Company had dedicated efforts to exterminate. The official stance was that these humans had sold their souls to devils and were practicing the devil’s mission, a malign lineage.

There were also official reports claiming that their planet had already become "Cocooned," and that wizards were a product of this "Cocooning."

All evil must be annihilated, a campaign initiated by the Ashen Church.

Over one hundred years ago, a witch-hunting frenzy had swept across the universe.

However, what the actual situation was, Fu Ling could no longer know.

She had not been born over a hundred years ago and could not know the true beginnings and ends of the events, only learning from the company’s documented materials that this witch-hunt had ended in a victory for the Ashen Congregation. The company had bombarded the wizard’s planet, flattening the entire surface of the planet, and with the extinction of the wizard realm, mysticism also gradually declined.

Today, it had become an extremely niche group and was still strictly governed by the company.

When she first saw this news, Fu Ling sincerely felt somewhat regretful.

She thought the abilities of wizards were just like the Life Energy of Blue Star, extremely valuable for research.

If what this woman was saying was true, the crime of privately contacting wizards was enough to cause significant trouble for the Saintfield family.

After the destruction of the wizard’s planet, the Ashen Congregation had publicly issued a statement, declaring anyone who sheltered refugee wizards and privately contacted them as enemies of Universe Company, and the fleet of the Ashen Church would flatten their homes.

"You said ’supposed to’ yourself."

He Ya shrugged her shoulders, "I think you should also be very clear how difficult it is to completely eradicate an entire race; for the company, bombarding the wizardly realm was not difficult, but exterminating those wizards who had fled to different planets was nearly an impossible mission."

Wizards were seen by the company as apostles of the devil, their methods were myriad, and they were adept at concealing themselves.

As long as they did not expose themselves, it was impossible for the company to root out these wizards who had integrated into various civilizations.

In fact, in the subsequent decades, the Ashen Church, adhering to the policy of preferring to wrongly kill rather than let go, had killed many people suspected of being wizards, but up until the end, they were not sure if they had truly eradicated the wizards as a race.

"Why did the Ashen Church want to kill all the wizards?"

Duan Mingyuan asked.

"Initially, it was somewhat similar to the encounter with Blue Star, massive objects that seemed to drop from the sky suddenly appeared above the planet, the company discovered the power of wizards, and hoped to possess this power for themselves..."

"Hold on a moment."

Fu Ling quickly made a ’pause’ gesture. This sentence shocked her into a cold sweat.

"Are you really saying that so casually?"

"Haven’t you got a death wish!"

Here in this public place, with such a crowd, if their conversation were overheard by the Ashen Congregation, a hat labeled ’colluding with wizards’ would certainly be placed upon their heads.

Throughout the decades of the witch hunt, it wasn’t only the wizards who were executed; anyone ’suspected’ of harboring wizards was sent to the guillotine as well.

It’s completely unclear who among them was innocent and who was truly guilty.

The expert sitting at the same table had been startled into a cold sweat and stared at Fu Ling with terrified eyes, as if questioning through his gaze from where she had brought this madman.

"First of all, I have never engaged in such discussions and I really don’t know what she’s talking about,"

Fu Ling declared to the expert, "Wizards are the most evil beings; there’s no doubt about that fact,"

He Ya covered her mouth and chuckled softly.

This was the profound impact of the witch hunt; even those unrelated to wizards felt uneasy about this topic all day long.

She, of course, knew the danger of this topic; even today, if substantial evidence proved that the director of the Department of Life Sciences had dealings with wizards, Fu Ling would not only lose her position immediately but would also, like those who perished in the witch hunt, be sent by the church to the guillotine.

In terms of execution, the Ashen Church still retained its ancient traditions.

Today, many people criticize their methods as lacking a spirit of legalism, as if they were still living in an age of savagery.

Specifically, it manifested as them being able to convict you if they suspected you, without needing to gather evidence or go through any cumbersome process.

Duan Mingyuan also immediately realized the seriousness of this topic, and thus he decisively decided to find a smaller room to discuss it further.

He was not afraid of the witch hunt falling on his own head but did not want to involve unrelated individuals.

"Where were we?"

After arriving in the small conference room, He Ya paused to think and continued, "Right, we were discussing how the company had once waged a war on the wizards’ planet. However, compared to Blue Star, their resistance lasted longer and was more fierce, and their power was more suited for assassination. Even though the Long Branch Guard suffered heavy casualties after being deployed by the company, they eventually figured out a method to curse and kill the Long Branch Guard.

"The company had waged wars on many planets in its process of expansion, but the wizards indeed caused them the greatest losses and left them most uneasy. As long as the conditions for the curse are met, even if they fled the planet and hid far away in another Star Zone, they could not escape a horrible demise,"

He Ya continued to spread the taboo topic incessantly.

This dialogue was enough to get her and Duan Mingyuan to the guillotine several times over by the church.

"The key point is, wizards are adept at hiding themselves; they mingle among common folks, and the church simply cannot distinguish them from ordinary people. Therefore, driven by fear, they made a decision—to bombard the entire planet."

By eradicating the wizards along with the civilians on the planet, the wizards’ means of concealing themselves naturally lost their effect.

Of course, Universe Company was well aware that this action would drastically worsen their public image.

At any time, aiming at unarmed civilians was just as it was.

"So, they thought of a brilliant idea,"

He Ya raised an eyebrow, "As long as they turned all the civilians killed in the bombardment and all who supported them into wizards, they hadn’t killed the wrong people."

And this was the true face of the witch hunt.

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