World Occult Usage Guide

Chapter 183 A Miraculous Coincidence
"Steven, report in a moment."

Lin An pinched the microphone of the Bluetooth headset.

"Lin, who are you talking to?" Mishi asked curiously. "It's not your girlfriend, is it?"

Don't make such alarming assumptions!
Lin An was eager to know what was happening on Joshua's side, so he made up a random excuse.

"No, it was my aunt... Lin Haiyan. She called to ask how I've been doing lately."

"Is your aunt also named Lin?"

"Wait, you haven't been thinking my name is 'Lin' all along, have you? My surname is Lin and my given name is An, not Lin·An! Lin is my family name!"

Mishi and Lin An exchanged glances, and Barry coughed to defuse the situation.

“She was just joking. Of course we know your name is ‘An’. We just thought it was more polite to call you by your surname at first, but then we got used to it and didn’t want to change it.”

"You two better not try to frame me, Miss Slaine and Mr. Fenton." Lin An waved his hand. "Captain, may I take a video call over there?"

“Go ahead. Our department is currently dealing with Carlo Bennet's matter, and the [Witch] operation has been forced to a halt. I will inform you if the chairman has any further instructions,” Simon said.

“It’s almost five o’clock, time to get off work.” Mishi pointed to her watch. “Captain, it’s rare for you to come to the International Bridge, how about we grab a bite to eat together? I know a great Lotus Kingdom restaurant, their red curry is especially authentic.”

“There’s still a lot to do…” Simon, unable to resist her expectant gaze, reluctantly relented, “If the work of capturing the [witch] comes to an end, we can give it a try.”

“Come to think of it, we’ve never had a meal together outside of work hours,” Barry remarked.

“Then we’ve decided to go to that curry restaurant next time.” Mishi glanced at Lin An, the young man with his back to the setting sun, his lonely shadow stretching long. “Let’s discuss it with Lin later—although he’ll definitely agree!”

Meanwhile, Lin An was listening to Joshua's story.

"Is there a strange, large black rabbit in the cargo box?"

"That's right, teacher."

Joshua gestured to indicate its size, which was about forty centimeters: "Its body was stout, with strange patterns, and it was bound in shackles, looking quite pitiful. But the moment I removed the shackles, it suddenly disappeared."

Lin An's lips twitched. This description sounded so much like the mysterious nature of some rebellious teenager.

"Dreamer" James Nacher's Zomo Rabbit?

But wasn't it contained?
"As I closed the cargo box, I turned around and encountered a boy. It's hard to describe what he looked like, or rather, it doesn't matter. He acted strangely, first lecturing me 'don't touch other people's gifts,' and then releasing a Stand user to try and knock me out."

Those must be Doris's guards, Lin An thought.

"In short, I killed him. The commotion we created alerted the staff outside, causing them all to rush in, pull out their guns, and point them at me."

The surveillance video was originally completely black, and Joshua kept making a "creaking" sound. It wasn't until the view gradually became clear that Lin An realized that he had been wiping the bloodstains off the camera with a cloth.

Before me lay a haphazard mass of corpses—or more accurately, a jumbled mess of limbs and splattered entrails, blood and flesh mixed together like a burnt bowl of oatmeal, indistinguishable from one another.

"So you killed them?" Lin An's eyes widened.

“Because everyone here is a staff member, their acting is just a test to see if I have awakened my Stand ability,” Joshua replied calmly. “After this effort, I feel more and more comfortable using my Stand ability. Thank you for your help, teacher.”

Seeing that Lin An remained silent, Joshua asked in confusion.

"Did the signal drop again? Or do you think I didn't do a good enough job this time? If we kill all the enemies, there won't be any witnesses."

"Do you play Assassin's Creed?" Lin An asked expressionlessly.

"what?"

"Steve, any other new discoveries?"

“Please give me a few minutes to rest.” Joshua sat on a crate. “Besides the rabbit, the rest of the crate is filled with gold, silver, and all sorts of jewels. Is this the teacher’s prop?”

He moved the camera forward, and a shimmering golden light rushed towards him.

The surveillance footage showed a heavy box of gold bars, each carefully wrapped individually and neatly stacked, shining like an artificial sun. There were so many that it was unrealistic, making one subconsciously think it was all chocolate.

"Doris, you're so rich," Lin Anxin said.

Not to mention the "gems" Joshua mentioned, this box of gold alone is worth around $50.

Although Lin An could also use the Philosopher's Stone to make gold bars by hand, metals cannot be made out of thin air; making them requires consuming radiation value, which is not inexhaustible.

This, of course, made Lin An even more certain of his guess.

The money and food indicate that Doris is about to leave the Eagle Kingdom... and it seems she'll be leaving at five o'clock tonight.

However, her forces were wiped out by Lin An and Joshua working together, ruining her escape plan. She will probably have to stay in the United Kingdom for a while longer.

While Joshua was resting, Lin An organized the entries he had obtained from the Black Ship.

Cryptozoology III: Vasila, Cryptozoology III: The Demon Monkey, Cryptozoology III: Lelou Garou.

"Can you trace the origins of all three entries together?" Lin An asked the system.

"can."

"What additional benefits are there compared to tracing the origins of two entries?"

“Tracing all three entries together has a chance to directly obtain the highest-level 'I' of that entry, as well as the legendary entry ‘Research in Cryptozoology.’ The drawback is that only two abilities can be retained,” the system replied. “Tracing now?”

类似1加1等于2，可再加一个或许能得到2或者4。

The seeker of knowledge is truly a random medium.

Lin An had previously obtained four entries for "Misina I". He had tried to trace their origins, but failed. The system told him that "I" was the end.

To leap from "Fragments of the Philosopher's Stone I: The Five Matrixes of Paracelsus" to a new entry, "Hermesian Philosophy - The Emerald Tablet II," like the Philosopher's Stone, one must first perfect the previous entry and spend some "Lady with the Lamp" medium for sublimation.

In other words, Lin An also had to include the marriage and priesthood laws held by Hill and Efron to complete the six volumes of the Mishnah, thereby improving the rating of the Mishnah.

Returning to the three ghost stories, they all relate to "transformation": transforming into Vasilla, the demon monkey, and the werewolf Lelou Garru, thereby increasing one's strength and agility and gaining a special ability of that animal.

Hand-to-hand combat...

The animals' abilities are also rather useless. For example, the demon monkey retains the specific meaning of a dung-making machine, which can ignite its own or others' feces and throw them out as incendiary bombs.

Blowing up the toilet, huh? These bizarre entries are getting more and more outrageous.

The supernatural tale rating was of little use to Lin An. He had the system trace three entries, but unfortunately, he was unlucky and it didn't make it leap to the legendary level.

"Through 'tracing the source,' the new entry 'Research in Cryptozoology II' has been added; with your witness, the 'Ghost Deer' encyclopedia has been unlocked."

Ghost Deer is a mysterious creature that lives in the Edi Valley in northern San Francisco.

According to local legend, when a hunter points his gun at it, the ghost deer will vanish from the spot without leaving a trace.

This entry includes two abilities. The first is to consume a "Lord of the Earth" medium to transform into a ghost deer, gaining superhuman running speed and quick reflexes.

No matter how fast you run, it's not as convenient as the "Dreamer" traversing space, but this "improved reaction speed" effect is quite interesting.

Does this mean that his thinking has become faster, and that he can truly "stop thinking" even in the heat of battle?
Those who seek knowledge rely on their thinking abilities; for example, Lin An needs to recognize the mysterious in order to unlock the panel.

The second ability is called "Eliminating Aura," which is an invisible skill.

High-rated Mystics can detect other Mystics by their aura; however, this invisibility can still fool many low-rated Mystics.

Moreover, this ability only requires one "Lord of the Earth" and one "God of Agriculture".

Although he didn't get the legendary level, Lin An was pleasantly surprised by the two abilities of [Ghost Deer].

Many legendary items conflict with the Philosopher's Stone, such as flight, healing, and creating illusions, and are not as practical as the two alternative abilities of the Ghost Deer.

Lin An glanced at his panel. After his adventure on the Black Ship, his radiation level had finally crossed the double-digit threshold, reaching 10%.

"Brother Tongzi, didn't you unlock any features—like the 'reincarnation' you mentioned before?"

"【Mysterious Encyclopedia】New features are not yet available."

Lin An narrowed his eyes: "You've turned back into that stern, quiet system again. What happened to all the personas you maintained before? Did you give up halfway through?"

"..."

"I still like your unruly look."

“Ahem, Lin An, as your subconscious, I sensed that you don’t like ‘talking to yourself,’ so I chose the most suitable way to communicate for you.”

Damn, this thing can actually think now?

Lin An frowned deeply.

The initial system was a genuine "tool," but after the level of corruption increased, it became erratic, constantly displaying garbled text. After being shut down and restarted, it returned with a completely different personality, even its way of speaking and thinking was quite different from Lin An's.

Now, without Lin An's prompting, it has taken the initiative to "optimize and upgrade".

It's like an artificial intelligence that has developed an independent personality.

At this point in science fiction, the next step is basically to talk about how AI will replace human engineers and build its own digital empire.

However, the system doesn't belong to Titan's technology tree; it's merely a radiation source from another planet...

To date, Lin An has never seen any example of a mysterious prototype abandoning its original form and setting up its own independent entity.

Even Jericho, who controlled Adam Cadmon, did not seem to be affected by the mysterious consciousness and generate a new personality.

The only creature that comes close to the system at present is Joshua's brass snake, which will naturally protect its owner when it is injured, without requiring the owner's control.

Perhaps the system's anomaly is simply a self-protective mechanism?
After all, it took the place of Lin An and bore the distortion caused by the increased pollution levels.

Joshua, having finished resting on the other side, interrupted Lin An's thoughts with his deep voice coming through the earphone.

"Teacher, I found a special container."

He moved the camera, and a rusty shipping container came into Lin An's view. Its exterior was an inconspicuous gray, and the only thing worth noting was its size.

This box is unusually large, about four times the size of a regular shipping container.

It's likely that only Bennett's giant ships could fit such huge containers.

Even so, Lin An examined it carefully for a long time and asked in confusion, "What's so special about it?"

"Teacher, didn't you see? Some flying letters and some... five-pointed stars appeared in front of me. They were blue, cascading down like a waterfall, and shimmering with light."

A magic that separates the soul from the body?
The surveillance cameras couldn't capture the energy of "Comers," and as Lin An listened to the description, he felt that he had finally found Doris's true "treasure trove."

"May I come in?" Joshua asked tentatively.

"Um……"

Joshua is unlikely to die from Doris's magic, but after his resurrection, he might lose his memory again, or other variables might arise. Lin An is somewhat conflicted.

Suddenly, a familiar, intense gaze shot over from the corner, and Lin An turned his head sharply.

A baby-sized rabbit was crouching in the corner, its black fur adorned with exotic plaid patterns. It twitched its pink, triangular nose and gazed at him eagerly.

"Zomo?"

Hearing Lin An's call, the rabbit leaped into his arms with a "plop," its soft body incredibly cold, reminding him of the snowy town of Farmington.

This "dreamer" that travels through space appeared by his side as if by fate, as if it were tailor-made for this moment.

As Lin An stroked Zomo's fur, he felt something was off.

Zomo is very likely the black rabbit Joshua mentioned, but why would a research subject of St. Anilov appear in Doris's warehouse?
Could it be that besides Jonah Cadenas, there are other traitors within the ranks who have sided with Doris?
However, the four departments showed no mercy in their pursuit of the "Ghost" disguised as Deval, working together to gather clues and desperately narrow down the encirclement, ultimately killing this subordinate of Doris.

Not long ago, under Lin An's leadership, they sank Doris's giant ship, killing Bennett and arresting about a hundred sailors, who were to be sent to government agencies for interrogation.

The two don't look like allies at all.

“Teacher?” Joshua thought the signal had been cut off again and said to himself, “Looks like I’ll have to find a way to decipher it.”

“Wait, Steven.” Lin An pinched Zomo’s ear and looked into its big eyes. “That’s our organization’s final test. I’m worried about your safety. You should wait until I get there before you go in.”

Thank you to 轨轨轨轨 for the donation, and thank you to 湖光nnn, 冰火小法师, 书友20220401164108934, luiye刘烨, 浮茶float_tea, 风华绝代孟晓筱, 哈厶塔, 香煎银有限公司, 书友20211115145552200, 究极大水怪, and 幽珑君 for the monthly tickets. Thank you all for your recommendations and subscriptions!


(End of this chapter)