The Witch Hunter System

Chapter 1221: War Between Survivor Shelters, Discovery of Corrupted Beings

Just as Vaan considered whether to return to the Astral Soul Realm, Empyrean Oceanheart made a sudden discovery, prompting her to halt the starship’s travel. This, in turn, caught his attention.

Boom boom boom!

In the original dead silence of dark space, consecutive explosions appeared on the surface of a particularly large star fragment, surrounded by several poorly-constructed battleships.

The large star fragment was pelted with heavy fire and flashes of lightning, and its surface mass was quickly deformed under the relentless, destructive assault. It kicked up large clouds of dust, obscuring one’s vision and the true state or situation.

Vaan and the others were taken aback by the actions of this small, primitive fleet.

They didn’t understand why the primitive fleet was wasting firepower on this particularly star fragment.

However, upon closer observation, they quickly grasped the situation. A survivor shelter was hidden beneath that particularly large star fragment, and it was under attack from survivors from another shelter.

Clearly, these two survivor shelters were at war with each other.

Still, whether it was due to a blood feud or resource raiding, it remained to be seen. Such information couldn’t be grasped at a glance.

Nevertheless, the relentless barrage of fire didn’t cease despite the increasingly unclear situation of the large star fragment. The primitive fleet simply continued its blind attack through the dust clouds.

Moments later, short yet rapid beams of light pierced through the thick dust clouds, aimed straight at this primitive fleet. Although they struck the primitive fleet, they also caused little damage due to the strong shields.

However, under a strong and determined returning fire, the strong shields protecting the primitive battleships eventually shattered, causing the main hulls to take direct damage.

Some attacks pierced right through them, causing significant internal damage and chaos. One unfortunate battleship exploded on the spot, scattering into several large and numerous small pieces.

Dozens of bodies were visibly thrown out but were quickly consumed by the raging flames of the violent explosion. Hundreds or thousands more were likely killed from the battleship’s destruction.

"Are these survivors waging war against each other? Why would they do such a thing? Isn’t tough enough just to survive in the Umbral Edge?" Seraphina uttered with disbelief.

Empyrean Oceanheart calmly observed the situation after her initial surprise. Then, she coolly said, "It’s precisely because they are having a hard time that they would war with each other."

"After all, resources in the shattered star region are scarce. If the resources in one area are exhausted, the survivors can only raid other areas for them," Empyrean Oceanheart added.

Seraphina frowned when she heard this.

"If it’s just about basic survival, there shouldn’t be any need to fight over resources, is there?" Seraphina naively asked.

"That’s not necessarily true." Vaan shook his head as he interjected, "Divine Beings naturally wouldn’t need to worry about basic resources, but if they have mortal descendants, they’ll definitely need to secure stable sustenance." 𝘙ΆꞐO͍ᛒËŞ

"Otherwise, the mortal descendants will simply starve to death," Vaan stated.

Seraphina’s eyebrows furrowed with deeper confusion. She couldn’t understand why the survivors would even consider procreation in such an uncertain environment.

Why would anyone even want to bring their children into such a dark and grim world, only to have them suffer with them?

Wasn’t that just making things more difficult for themselves?

Seeing Seraphina’s confused look, Vaan knew she didn’t understand the complex nature of living beings like humans.

In human history, even if one was dirt-poor without a single penny to their name, they could still choose to procreate and have children, even if they didn’t have the means to support their survival and growth.

Were such people stupid?

Most likely.

However, the world never lacked stupid people. What they needed to understand was the sentimental value behind their action.

"I don’t know if there are any irresponsible parents among these raiding survivors, but if they are fighting to secure basic resources for their young, then they might not really be irresponsible parents."

"There could be many reasons why people choose to have children, even if their environment and situation don’t really support it."

"The Umbral Edge isn’t really a place for people to live in." .

"Long-term stay could cause all sorts of negative effects on one’s mental health, leading to insanity and despair. In this kind of situation, it’s normal for people to seek some form of spiritual strength they could rely on."

"To some beings, children can be their spiritual strength, helping them keep sane and motivated, allowing them to continue struggling for survival despite the grim and unknowable future."

"To others, children could also be their beacons of hope."

"Perhaps they lacked the talent to break out of their shells and escape the grim situation in the Umbral Edge. Thus, they pin all their hopes and expectations of the future on their children."

"People need a reason for living, and having children is one such reason, even if it isn’t always a pure one."

Seraphina fell silent after listening to Vaan’s casual explanation. She truly couldn’t sympathize with people who would purposely put their children through hardship and suffering.

If she were to have children, she wouldn’t want to bring them into a world of suffering and hardship. She would wanted them to grow up in peace and safety. Of course, this was just her naive opinion, since she had not experienced any hardship.

It was hard to say if her opinion would change under different circumstances.

After all, different experiences would change a person. She wasn’t sure if she would be able to hold onto her ideals if she had gone through the same experience, constantly on the run, hiding from life-threatening dangers repeatedly.

Such a mental toll was unimaginable to her.

Maybe she could endure for a short while. But if she were forced to endure tens, or even hundreds, of years, she wouldn’t be so sure anymore. After all, she had not even lived that long.

Nevertheless, while Seraphina was thinking about her future child, she subconsciously considered Vaan as a potential father, and a crimson blush quickly crept up on her face.

What on earth was she thinking at this time?

Looking at the current battle, the raiding primitive fleet appears to be at a disadvantage, having lost battleships and thus reduced its firepower.

However, when the dust clouds cleared and the retaliatory fire also dropped, it became clear that the resisting force was not in much better shape either. Both sides were evenly matched, trading loss for loss.

Thus, even if one side won, it would be a pyrrhic victory; the losses would be too great to be worth the gain for the raiding party or too tragic a loss for the defending party.

"This... should we intervene?" Seraphina couldn’t help but ask.

However, Empyrean Oceanheart shook her head with indifference. The life and death of strangers didn’t concern her.

"No, it is not our business. Moreover, our excessive intervention here might even bring an even greater disaster upon the remaining survivors in this place when the Edge Sweeper passes this region."

Empyrean Oceanheart’s reasoning received Vaan’s acknowledgment.

However, he soon noticed a certain detail on the battlefield that caused his eyes to narrow in with scrutiny. The Divine-rank raiding survivors appeared to be emitting a familiar yet unlikable aura.

"I think we might have to intervene, after all. There’s something off about those raiders," Vaan mentioned.

When Empyrean Oceanheart heard this, she immediately scanned the emerging raiders more closely. Within moments, she discovered their faint dark auras, twisted expressions, and corpse-like bodies.

"These raiders are... Corrupted Beings?!"

Empyrean Oceanheart was immediately shocked at her discovery. These Corrupted Beings were unlike any Corrupted Being she had encountered in the past.

These Corrupted Beings were far more advanced in their corruption. They couldn’t even be regarded as living beings anymore; they were more like animated corpses. There was neither life nor soul in their pale, cold corpses.

"Is this what the advanced stage of corruption looks like?! That is so dreadful! Truly apocalyptic!"

Seraphina exclaimed in horror after hearing Empyrean Oceanheart’s words.

The supposed war between the two survivor forces took an eerie turn when Vaan, Empyrean Oceanheart, and Seraphina witnessed some, if not all, of the scattered corpses returning to the battlefield in pieces.

Even when their bodies had been shredded into smallers pieces, they were still animated, as if each part had a will of its own.

It was horrifying to see, when even a mere finger could worm its way back to the battlefield.

These dismembered corpses appeared to be truly immortal and undying. Even a tiny piece of flesh could still move. As such, the defending survivors were at increasing disadvantage over time.

In fact, the fleet of Corrupted Beings was growing stronger as the war dragged on.

Having the Corrupted Beings’ corpses severed, dismembered, and disintegrated into finer pieces made them far more difficult to deal with. They could neither be killed nor exhausted.

As such, the defending survivors would ultimately lose.

In fact, their entire shelter would be completely wiped out unless they received timely assistance from Vaan’s group.

"We need to help them fend off these fiends. They may have crucial information about the concentrated region of survivor shelters," Vaan said solemnly.