World Occult Usage Guide

Chapter 194 The New Faction
Lin An took the herbal tea from Zhou Qingqing, took a sip, and the bitterness hit his nose.

"Senior, do you want to poison [Ghost]?"

"Oh, oh, oh, what's with the 'yo'? I'm just checking it out." Zhou Qingqing put one hand on her hip. "Xiao Lin, Xiao Li told me the whole story. You really have a lot of nerve!"

The witch's name is Yullari Isol, a name from a country known for its pigeons.

After bringing Lin An back, she introduced his code name to everyone—[Ghost].

Unlike the Foundation, the Free Mystics faction is a loose organization with no rules or regulations. Anyone who agrees with the witch's ideology can receive protection.

The witch placed Lin An in the illusion and then went to rest without a care in the world. The other free mystics whispered among themselves, discussing their new, renowned companion.

The Foundation's pursuit of the witch was abruptly halted due to the sudden attack by the "Ghost," and the Free Mystics were unaware that they were being besieged.

There were only five people inside the illusion, and two more left the paradise and went home in the middle of the night.

Most of the free mystics still wander around Michigan, contacting the witches through coordinates and traveling to and from Elysium using "Dreamers," without much sense of crisis.

Not long ago, Zhou Qingqing, having received the news, rushed over from Chinatown carrying two large boxes of takeout.

My junior is actually the infamous [Ghost]!
Zhou Qingqing, who lived in Dietrich, had naturally heard of the Foundation's number one wanted criminal. However, the witch told him that Lin An was not the butcher who killed women; he came here simply because of a conflict with the Foundation's ideology.

Shocked, two thoughts flashed through Zhou Qingqing's mind.

The radiation from "Comer's" will only last for ten years. After that, all the extraordinary efforts will be in vain, and nothing will be left behind. Everyone will go back to doing what they were doing. So why can't we just live peacefully now?

Then, the junior student didn't eat for a whole day. Wasn't he hungry?
"Remember that 'prophet' from the Hibiscus Kingdom who opened a dojo across from your restaurant?" Lin An said, resting his chin on his hand. "I think I encountered a high-end version, but unfortunately, I messed up."

"If you walk by the river often enough, you're bound to get your shoes wet. You said you joined the St. Anilov Foundation, what's with this international student working for the U.S. government?!"

Zhou Qingqing held the cup with her finger and nudged it towards Lin An's lips.

"Drink more herbal tea, or you'll become irritable due to the heat in your body."

"Gudong, gudong..."

Lin An was forced to swallow the strong-tasting herbal tea, his eyes twitching.

Since entering the University of Ann Arbor, the senior student has always been Lin An's protector. The latter has become accustomed to her tough attitude in caring for him and even feels a somewhat hazy sense of intimacy.

It was as if nothing had happened with "Comos" yet; he was still an ordinary college student, attending school on weekdays, working part-time at his senior's Cantonese restaurant on Fridays, and organizing posts on the World Tree Forum on weekends, day after day, year after year.

However, Lin An was certain that he did not miss that boring life, nor did he regret the journey he had taken.

After much thought, Lin An noticed a subtle sense of unease in his past memories.

That's the appearance of the Zomo Rabbit.

Moreover, Lin An's entry into Doris's warehouse went very smoothly, without the previous teleportation error of getting stuck in the ventilation duct.

Because that place was not only the stop for "Dream of Domondo", but also "the new facility built in the city by St. Anilov due to the expansion of the Dietrich branch, and the new office of Lin An as the captain of the advisory team".

It is the "prophecy site" of the "Chairman" in that letter!
In other words, no matter what Lin An did along the way, the moment he saw the letter, the "prophet" had already been activated, ensuring that he would reach Doris's warehouse and engage in battle with her no matter what.

The president, having anticipated this, had already ambushed Vanessa there.

That guy... he did plan a good show, but ended it hastily, without further stopping Lin An from leaving, or even leaving any way to track him down.

What on earth does he want to do?
Any information related to the "chairman" was vague, except for the "brat" mentioned by Doris in her diary, which made Lin An think that the mysterious person who replaced the chairman was not very old, probably only about ten years old.

You're a brat, aren't you?

Lin An licked his lips. This kid had better pray he didn't get caught.

Zhou Qingqing patted the dust off Lin An's shoulder, sighed, turned around, picked up a bag of breakfast, and threw it in front of him.

"Have a meal!"

"Thank you, senior." Lin An ate the fried dough sticks and soy milk casually. "The taste is a bit like the crispy crackers in the jianbing guozi from the guy downstairs from my house. He often gives me a cup of soy milk to cut through the greasiness."

"Ugh! I feel like throwing up just hearing the word 'douzhi' (fermented mung bean juice)."

"It's just a local specialty. If you eat it often, it's nothing special."

Zhou Qingqing didn't respond. She had seen Lin An like this many times when the two were forced to go on blind dates.

He appears to be having a conversation with someone, but he is actually using his own "casual conversation mechanism," indicating that Lin An is no longer interested in the content or the person he is talking to.

Rolling her eyes, Zhou Qingqing turned and left.

Lin An sipped his soy milk slowly, checking the two newly added entries.

The entries are "The 72 Demons of King Solomon III: The Fallen Angel Kem" and "The First Principle of Natural Magic IV: The Wise One".

Both entries are catastrophic and include offensive mystical arts.

The first volume of The Wise Man has two abilities similar to "missiles". By calling on different celestial bodies, missiles are summoned to attack enemies. The power and effect are the same, the only difference is the trajectory.

When Venus is summoned, missiles are fired from the front towards the target; when Mars is summoned, missiles are fired from the rear.

They each require a "war emperor" and a "nature priest" or "earth lord".

Disaster-level entries consume less resources and can occasionally be of some use. Lin An thought.

As the "Emperor of War," Kem possesses two abilities related to summoning the Hell Legion of Thrushes: the first is to have them attack enemies, and the second is to have them catch him.

The latter's function overlaps with the Philosopher's Stone's airflow effect, creating a kind of flying mysticism, much like how the [Herbalism Introduction] of the Stoker's Blade overlaps with the Healing Gem.

Speaking of Stoker, Lin An asked the system.

"Brother Tongzi, these two entries can be traced back to their source, right? But one is II and the other is III... What exactly does tracing back to their source reveal?"

"There's a chance you'll get entry I, and a chance you'll reset entry II, gaining one or two new abilities," the system replied. "Would you like to use the 'Tracing the Source' function to merge the two entries?"

"use."

Since both "Storm" and "Kane" have abilities that overlap with the Philosopher's Stone, there's no need to keep them. You can also get rid of the "Stars to Me" option, which is a terrible choice that always leads Lin An to commit suicide.

"The tracing of origins is complete. With your witness, the entry 'The 72 Demons of King Solomon I: Barbatos' has been included."

Golden legend!

Lin An quickly brought up its control panel.

Last time, tracing the origins of "Research in Cryptozoology," Lin An only obtained the second-best item, the "Ghost Deer." However, Lin An's luck couldn't stay bad forever, and this time he obtained "The 72 Demons of King Solomon I." Barbatos is the eighth demon among the 72 demons in "The Lesser Key of Solomon." It is said that he holds the title of Duke and responds to the summoner when the sun is in Sagittarius.

In the occult book "The Great Grimoire," also known as "The Red Dragon," Barbatos, along with Prouslas and Amon, was under the command of Satanakia, who commanded a total of 30 legions.

Legend has it that Barbatos has the ability to dispel hidden magic and reveal the secrets of the past and future to people, possessing a level of "insight" that surpasses even Caroline's Mothman.

Lin An had previously thought that Caroline's prototype was interesting, but it was only a ghost story. Now he had traced it back to its source: the demon Barbatos.

This is a legendary "God of Truth" entry, which includes two abilities: consuming 1 "God of Truth" and 2 "Gods of Agriculture" [21 words], one can instantly master a language and even learn how animals communicate.

The second item is called "A Pair of Red Eyes," which consumes 2 "Gods of Truth" and 1 "Seeker of Knowledge" to see through an individual's state over the past ten days.

Unfortunately, it requires the God of Truth...

This kind of medium is extremely rare. Lin An looked at the system status and realized that after the battle with Doris, the medium inventory was almost depleted.

[Name]: The Encyclopedia of Mystery
[Rating]: Source Grade B

Radiation level: 9.6%
[Pollution Level]: 21.5%
[Medium]: The seeker of knowledge

[Inventory]: Seeker of Knowledge x5, Dreamer x1, Prophet x3, Chief Judge x6, Nature Priest x6, Mother of Desire x6, War Emperor x4, Lord of the Earth x4, God of Agriculture x4, Lord of Dreams x1, Dreamer x1
My radiation level had reached 10%, but after creating the miniature figure in the bottle, it decreased by 1%, returning to 9.6%.

However, the five seekers can be considered to have received 1% of the radiation in advance.

Lin An recorded his state and fell into deep thought.

The foundation learned of his identity, which led to some changes in the future, but it still did not deviate from the predetermined path, since he was going to leave that place anyway.

His number one enemy remains Doris Wood, and getting her entry into the system to improve the rating of the Encyclopedia of Magic itself is the top priority.

Secondly, the Dawn Association's approach is largely blocked, so Lin An's next destination can only be the Golden Kingdom located in the Lower Eastern Continent.

As for the mother...

Lin An pressed his temples, trying to banish her gaze from his mind.

Last night's battle completely disrupted Doris's Holy Grail ritual, and the level of contamination, caused by the "Mother of Desire" and the Philosopher's Stone's myriad ailments, rose to a dangerous level.

At this moment, Doris is probably searching for ordinary people who can awaken the "Mother of Desire" medium, using the principle of "awakening absorption" to reduce her own pollution level, and gathering materials again to hold the next ritual as soon as possible.

According to her notes, Xi Yong issued Doris an ultimatum at the end of March.

When that time comes, she will have to return to her family home in Maple Leaf Country.

At this moment, Doris probably had no time to care about Lin An and the Hittites' mess; she was focused on the Holy Grail ritual, as escaping her fate had always been her obsession.

Compared to the Ghost, the colossal creature Xion is far more terrifying; it is a Damocles' sword hanging over Doris's head, closing in step by step with the passage of time.

However, she did not achieve her goal so easily.

Doris's power base in Dietrich was basically destroyed by Lin An, and most of the Mysterious One's men were dead. She was also at her weakest point. That brat president wouldn't let this golden opportunity slip by, and he would definitely try to trip her up in the dark.

He and Doris are not on the same page.

As long as she hasn't completed the ceremony, her mother might still be alive. Lin An thought, "I can't let my mind wander; I need to focus on the things at hand."

After calming himself down, he picked up his pen and wrote down his preparations for the final battle with Doris.

First, collect more divine mediums as reserves, especially the "Seeker of Knowledge" and the "God of Truth," for use in the final battle.

Second, to complete the creation of the man in the bottle, used to separate the two mystical archetypes of the Mother of Desire.

The third and fourth...

Lin An turned around; they were all related to his new "companions".

"Da da da……"

The sound of hooves accompanied by an alluring fragrance wafted over, and the witch walked in, her three heads bobbing. Her sexy upper body was almost completely naked, boldly displaying her ultimate feminine allure, and she spoke in a slightly hoarse voice.

“Ghost, the Angel Speaker is very timid, you must be gentle with her.”

The girl known as the "Angel Whisperer" was a member of the control team that the Foundation had previously used to capture the "Deer Woman." At this moment, she sat on the witch's back, timidly peeking out half of her head.

The girl removed the white blindfold, revealing a delicate face with long, shining white blonde hair, like a gentle and obedient fledgling bird.

"Hello, I'm Ghost," Lin An greeted with a smile. "What should I call you?"

“Annabelle Dee, please call me Anna.” The girl blinked her big eyes timidly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lord Ghost…”

“My dear little Anna, I hope you can divine the location of someone for me.” Lin An snapped his fingers. “Vanessa Miller. You should know her, right?”

What are you going to do to her?

"Heh..." Lin An's lips curled into a cold smile. "This respected lady is determined to create a [ghost]. Now that her imagined enemy has become a reality, she will inevitably want to meet her creator."

It was Vanessa who initially insisted that "the murderer is an evil guy," which alerted the other three. She likely also fueled the fire afterward, leading the Foundation to keep imagining the ghost's image, which spiraled out of control.

For Simon and the others' sake, Lin An originally wanted to leave St. Anilov quietly and part ways peacefully with the organization where he had stayed for several months, but now things have turned out so unpleasant.

He had no particular feelings towards his other colleagues, after all, they were just following orders; his only desire was to "see" Vanessa.

Coincidentally, she was also a seeker of knowledge...

The young man with black hair had a mysterious and indifferent aura about him. Anna felt that his magician-like eyes narrowed as he scrutinized her as if reading a magic book.

He... he is a ghost!

too horrible!
The girl trembled uncontrollably and almost cried.

"I'll find the coordinates for you right away, esteemed ghost lord, please don't kill me, waaaaah!"

It can't be that bad, girl...

Lin An looked away helplessly: "By the way, you don't mind me doing this, do you, Ms. Isol?"

“You can do whatever you want, because my dream is for anyone to be able to do whatever they want.” The witch curled her red lips into a smile, then suddenly pinched Lin An’s nose. “But you can’t make my companions cry.”

"I'm sorry, Anna, I didn't mean it." Lin An shrugged. "Please help me, if you'd like."

Thank you to float_tea, qingmingkejian, jianxueqinghan, and book friend 20190921160605169 for the monthly tickets, and thank you all for the recommendation tickets and subscriptions.

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(End of this chapter)