World Occult Usage Guide

Chapter 175 Black Ship
Lin An, watching Joshua's actions from behind the monitor, felt a surge of emotion.

He's a born "judge," even with amnesia, his combo of killing to silence witnesses is still so smooth.

However, Joshua showed no signs of regaining his memory. Lin An had him wipe the blood splattered on the lens and instructed, "Go and see what those goods are."

"Okay, teacher."

Joshua closed the gate, and the sailors outside only heard the gunshot. They assumed their comrade had executed a "rat" who had been sneaking in, and no one came to investigate further.

There were no lights inside the bungalow. Joshua followed the natural light leaking from the hole to the neatly stacked goods. The boxes were made of compressed wood, coated with a waterproof oily material, and labeled with numbers. Their size varied depending on the volume of the box.

After a brief attempt, Joshua discovered that their openings were tightly sealed, with an electronic lock flashing green light firmly closing the boxes, which could not be opened by brute force.

After discussing it with Lin An, he began to look for clues in the surrounding area.

After searching for about ten minutes, Joshua found a stack of folders with half a triangle sticking out from under a box of goods. It was probably forgotten by the staff in their busy work and accidentally dropped on the ground.

Joshua pulled out the document so that Lin An could view it on the monitor.

This document contains information such as the logistics company of the goods, and most importantly, the time when they will be transported is 5:3 AM on March 3, 2038.

In other words, the Domon Dream ship happens to be docking at the port of the United Kingdom at 5 p.m. tonight.

It's 2 PM now. Based on the distance from the estuary to the port, this ferry has already entered the territory of the Eagle Nation. Due to the Foundation's actions against the witch, the estuary is about to be completely blocked. This ferry has essentially walked into a trap.

Using the river map, Lin An roughly confirmed the current location of the Dream of Domondo. Joshua flipped through the documents to see if there was any other useful information.

Sure enough, the two found a dark purple stamp at the end of the document.

It was an abstract wolf's head, its eyes gleaming with a ferocious light, its gaping maw sending chills down one's spine.

Lin An silently memorized the pattern and was about to ask Joshua to look for other information about the warehouse when he heard a rustling sound and the crate next to Joshua suddenly moved.

"Ok?"

The two were a little surprised.

Could there be live animals inside the cargo box?

"Open it and take a look," Lin An, always eager for a good show, gave the order from afar.

This put Joshua in a difficult position, but when he thought that this was a test for Stand users, he took a deep breath, placed his hands on the electronic lock, and slowly activated the increasingly active energy inside his body.

A faint, cracking cutting sound rang out, and the electronic lock invisibly split into five pieces, shattering with a snap. The green light stopped flashing instantly, and the cargo box lid lifted up as if it were spring-loaded.

Dust rushed towards him, and Joshua coughed a few times before he could see the strange scene before him.

A black rabbit covered in exotic patterns wriggled and struggled, its limbs thrashing and thrashing powerfully. If it weren't for the Hebrew-inscribed rules binding its entire body, it would have already broken free of its shackles and run around wildly.

"What the hell is this?" Joshua and the black rabbit stared at each other for a long time, then frowned deeply. "Teacher, what should I do?"

There was no response from the headphones.

Is this yet another trial?

For some reason, the words and design of the restraints seemed familiar to Joshua. He couldn't help but reach out his hands, and with a "crack," the restraints broke apart layer by layer under his control.

The rabbit didn't stay still for even half a second; space distorted, and its plump body vanished in an instant.

Joshua was completely baffled. As he closed the cargo box and prepared to continue exploring, a cold hand suddenly landed on his shoulder, and a soft, playful voice rang out.

"Unless it's Santa Claus, it's very impolite to secretly touch someone else's presents."

As soon as he turned around, Joshua was instantly met by a pair of dreamy violet eyes, as if he had been thrown into an intricate maze.

He took a step back and asked sternly.

"who are you?"

…………

"Hmm, the picture's broken?" Lin An looked at the static-filled surveillance video with a puzzled expression. "Steve, what happened over there?"

After a few attempts, it became clear that not only the camera, but also the Bluetooth headphones had no signal.

Either the mysterious guardians of the Dream of Domon discovered Joshua, or the crate was loaded with arrows that destroyed his camera the moment it was opened.

However, Lin An was not worried about Joshua at all. This guy was the strongest fighter among the mysterious people in the Eagle Country, and he could be ranked among the best in the world.

Even if he were to die, Joshua could be resurrected indefinitely, ensuring his own safety.

Lin An sent Joshua to the Dream of Domondo not only to explore Doris's secrets, but also to guide this ticking time bomb to explode on the spot and destroy Doris's stronghold. He just didn't expect the two of them to "lose contact" so quickly.

Could Doris's fourth ability be "space isolation"?
In any case, Joshua's intelligence allowed him to estimate the ship's location, and Lin An put his phone in his pocket.

"Have you caught up with the anti-addiction measures, you internet addict?" Mi Xi's teasing voice came from ahead.

"Sigh, my teammate is offline and AFK, I'm not playing anymore."

Lin An waved his hand repeatedly and caught up with them in twos and threes.

The riverbank, which used to be bustling with people, is now almost deserted. The government has blocked the roads, and apart from government employees, no one else is allowed to enter or leave.

"Ding!" A crisp notification sound came from Simon's communication device. He picked it up and saw that, after initial screening, the authorities had located the positions of all the black ships.

“It’s as intricate as a spider web,” Barry said, glancing at the red dot on the map.

"This is just the first step, not including the subsequent encirclement and stakeout," Simon said. "This operation will last at least a month, longer than transporting the Thunderbirds, so you need to be prepared."

"It's okay, there's overtime pay anyway, and we even get triple pay on Easter." Mishi was full of enthusiasm.

"This part-time job is increasingly affecting my studies," Lin An joked, half-complaining.

“You might consider applying for a gap year, or taking two to three years to complete your graduation credits,” Barry suggested. “I know people who have taken eight years to complete their master’s degrees.”

“Sigh, that must have been tough. Sometimes I almost forget you’re still just a kid.” Simon shook his head. “I’ll buy you coffee afterwards.”

"How can I let you treat us, Captain? As the saying goes, an employee who doesn't know how to take advantage of the company isn't a good employee. We must get the foundation to give us coffee machines and beans, starting with a ton per person."

“One ton… Lin, do you have a concept of that?” Simon chuckled helplessly. “It’ll get moldy before you even finish drinking it.”

“I’m totally fine with this,” Mishi chimed in confidently. “With my parents, nine brothers and sisters, and over a hundred cousins, uncles, aunts, and their relatives all coming, a ton of coffee beans wouldn’t last a year.”

The conversation eased the tension before the decisive battle, and Lin An smiled gently. Although he was skeptical of the St. Anilov Foundation's beliefs, he knew that without joining the organization, he would lose the chance to meet the three of them.

Lin An believes that would be a great loss in his life.

Of course, exploring the world of "Commerx" is also of paramount importance.

According to the plan, the foundation's direct response department will, with the assistance of officials, intercept every black vessel and conduct a thorough investigation.

It starts at the estuary and ends on the other side.

Ships that pass the test will be moored in a temporary harbor to avoid being drawn into a possible battle against the mystics.

About half an hour later, the foundation's route gradually overlapped with Lin An's calculated "Dream of Domondo".

The silhouette of a giant ship appeared ahead. It was tall and majestic, quietly moored to the shore in accordance with the government's orders, with wisps of white smoke rising from its chimney and drifting away with the sea breeze.

The ship's hull was a cool, metallic light color, completely different from the "black ship" the girl had described, yet it firmly attracted Lin An's attention.

A white flag with red stripes and a roaring wolf's head was flying at the bow of the ship, fluttering in the wind.

Lin An immediately closed his eyes. In the void mode, about a hundred points of light gathered densely on the giant ship, and there were at least three or four mysterious people active in the cabin alone.

This giant ship is Doris's stronghold.

The only thing that puzzled Lin An was that the wolf head pattern was slightly different from the seal he had just seen; the one on the document was a wild wolf, while the ornament on the bow of the ship looked more like a dog.

Doris seemed to have given the authorities advance notice, as the officials clearing the way ignored the giant ship and headed towards the next target on the map.

Anyway, the giant ship isn't black, so the St. Anilov Foundation has no reason to investigate it.

No wonder you guys can never catch Doris; money makes the world go round.

As Lin An pondered, he focused his consciousness on the Philosopher's Stone. The statue at the center of the small world began to move. Its body had two heads, one male and one female, and it wore a mask. It slowly raised the double-snake staff in its hand.

[The Fantasy of the Mind].

The brown energy radiated from Lin An, climbing into the eyes of the foundation's employees and officials, covering them with a distorted perception. The light they imagined and craved at that moment gradually detached from their minds and entered the realm of reality.

Searching for the Black Ship...

"Wait, isn't this ship... black?"

Mishi pointed at the giant ship and exclaimed in surprise.

Why didn't you stop?

"Uh, it... it's black?" The official looked out the window. The undeniable "facts" made it impossible for them to pretend they didn't know. Cold sweat dripped down their foreheads. "But the map doesn't show it. Please allow us to confirm with our superiors."

No matter how they tried to explain, under the pressure of seeing is believing, the group stopped and watched the "black ship" that had evaded the official search warrant.

"Is it the witch's stronghold?" Mishi murmured to herself.

“Not necessarily, but—” Simon’s voice carried a hint of coldness as he turned to the whispering officials, “The Foundation’s orders are to search the ‘Black Ship.’ In any case, we cannot let go of this giant ship that perfectly matches the clues.”

"Please wait a moment." One of them quickly stopped him. "There might be some misunderstanding."

"We were just following orders."

After negotiations, the authorities could not persuade the persistent Foundation and had no choice but to take Simon's team and another disciplinary team as the vanguard to board the giant ship.

"Buzzing..."

Before entering the cabin, a large fly flew towards him, and Lin An instinctively waved it away.

He was slightly taken aback only after it flew away.

Is it an illusion?

The fly's eyes appeared to be purple.

(End of this chapter)