World Occult Usage Guide

Chapter 235 River of Life
Upon hearing Lin Hainan's voice, Lin An was momentarily dazed.

Admittedly, his father gave him the happiest possible childhood, but left him when Lin An was five years old and was not heard from for 17 years.

The image of the father is both Lin An's entire spiritual sustenance for family life and a betrayal that involves leaving without saying goodbye and ignoring him for seventeen years.

Although the Duke explained that Lin Hainan had gone to a foreign land to fight against Adria, this slightly eased Lin An's negative emotions.

But upon hearing his father's voice, Lin An's long-standing confusion and resentment resurfaced, surging like an undercurrent.

At least give me some explanation...

Suppressing his emotions, Lin An observed the silver mechanical device placed beside the boat. It was a strangely constructed transmitter that reminded him of the Foundation's communication equipment during the X-era.

Lin Hainan's voice came from inside.

"Dad, what's wrong with you?" Lin An asked irritably.

"It's been so long since I heard your voice, I'm so excited!" Lin Hainan laughed in a clear voice. "Don't you often read online novels? I was just teasing you."

"……how do you know?"

"Ever since I left China, I've been tracking your online browsing history whenever I have free time. Son, you're quite the expert."

Lin An almost threw the communication equipment away.

I can't acknowledge this father!

"Haha, there's nothing to be ashamed of. Your dad has been through this age too." Lin Hainan laughed, then suddenly lowered his voice. "Getting back to the point, you must be very curious about how you ended up on this bamboo raft."

Lin An's expression hardened, and he listened intently.

Even if he hadn't seen his father for over a decade, he wouldn't pour his heart out to a walkie-talkie.

Lin An wanted to wait until he was truly face to face with his father before he could tell him all the emotions he had struggled to face and had been intermittent over the years.

He wanted to see Lin Hainan, not a cold machine.

“First, let’s talk about your location on the planet,” Lin Hainan continued.

"I'm in the Southern Continent, right?" Lin An guessed.

"That's right! To be precise, it's the Bantu Kingdom in the Southern Continent."

Bantu?

This country is located in the poorest part of the Southern Continent. Although it is about a quarter the size of China and is the 11th largest country in the world, it is so underdeveloped that it rarely appears in international news. As a result, most people's knowledge of Bantu is limited to some wildlife documentaries.

After thinking for a moment, Lin An said, "I thought Bantu was located in a dry, vast wilderness, but I didn't expect it to have such scenery similar to a tropical rainforest."

“Prejudice has hindered our understanding of the Southern Continent.” Lin Hainan smiled. “You are floating on a great river.”

"The Kuba River?"

“That’s right again, my son is really smart.” Lin Hainan’s voice was very happy. “It is the fourth largest river in the world after the Yangtze River, the Nile River and the Amazon River. Like a giant snake, it meanders through the southern continent and crosses the equator twice.”

"Southern Continent is called the 'Black Continent' because there is a vast tropical rainforest in the Kuba River basin that covers one-tenth of the entire continent."

"This silent forest covers an area of ​​240 million square kilometers, equivalent to half the size of the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, the Kuba River is winding and difficult to navigate. Starting from Stanley Pool, 500 kilometers from the Atlantic Ocean, the rapids severely interfere with navigation."

"To this day, the population here is only 50, and most of the tribes live along the banks of this large river that flows through jungles, has a high silt content, and a slow flow. The vast forests covering thousands of square kilometers remain sparsely populated."

"This situation is particularly prominent in the northeastern corner of the Kuba River basin. It is located on the edge of the Southern Rift Valley, where tropical rainforest and the Virunga volcanic group meet. It is within the territory of Swahili, and there is a particularly rugged canyon area called the Lagora River."

"The Lagora River is called 'Baratavani' by the tribes on both banks, meaning 'deceptive road,' because it is notoriously unpredictable. Among the most terrifying places is the treacherous Kongolo Gorge, also known as the Gate of Hell."

"Because almost no one sets foot in this place, it became my secret research room."

After explaining some basic geographical knowledge, Lin Hainan finally revealed the truth about why Lin An was all alone.

"The ritual to summon you takes place at Ghost Gate Gorge, and it lasts a very long time, but you can't feel the passage of time in outer space. In fact, from the time I started the ritual until you returned to your body, a full four months had passed."

"That means it's August 2038 now," Lin An calculated.

“That’s right, August 7th,” Lin Hainan replied. “Actually, you already showed signs of life on July 10th. Seeing that the ceremony went smoothly, I temporarily left the base to continue my work.”

Lin An's lips twitched: "What you love is building railways."

"Hehe." Lin Hainan chuckled noncommittally, "But when I came back, a big problem arose."

"how?"

"The torrential rain caused the Lagora River to swell, and the huge waves destroyed the research lab," Lin Hainan said with a helpless tone. "And you were swept away along with it."

"You...didn't you think of stopping me?"

"They're busy salvaging the equipment at the base."

"..."

Lin An was completely stunned.

What son? He'll only slow me down the speed at which I draw my sword!

You are such a good father to me!

"Um, actually I've been calling you every day through the communication device, but you just haven't woken up yet," Lin Hainan quickly added when he saw him remain silent.

"Regardless of why my voyage was upstream, from Swahili to Bantu... it's almost from the Atlantic to the Pacific."

Lin An's tone was filled with suppressed anger.

To be honest, at that moment he wanted nothing more than to crawl through the internet cable, grab Lin Hainan by the collar, and hurl a tirade at him: "Father, what has made you so crazy?! Adria Hughes?!"

Lin Hainan coughed dramatically: "Anyway, the torrential rain has undoed my work. Give me about six months to repair it. In the meantime, I've arranged some work for you."

“I thought I could meet up with you.” Lin An frowned slightly.

“You’re just an undergraduate archaeology student who doesn’t understand mechanical structures. You’ll just be sitting around at my place and won’t be of any use. Besides, you’re already here. What’s the point of staying here every day? You might as well go out and see the world.”

"...Mr. Lin Hainan, thank you for summoning me. Shall we part ways here?"

"Son, please wait!" Lin Hainan shouted immediately, "These tasks are related to your level of integration."

Lin An remained silent, pondering his father's words.

Adria's scheme eroded Lin An's unconditional trust in his closest relatives, and he immediately guessed that his father was not telling the truth.

The fact that his father had intricate connections with the Duke and others suggests that he was by no means an ordinary person who knew nothing about "Commerx".

Would someone of this level of mysticism allow their research findings to be washed away by a natural disaster?
Lin Hainan's lies were so clumsy that they were far from the truth.

Rather than believing the absurd flood, Lin An preferred to believe that his father had been attacked and forced to leave on a bamboo raft to escape the conflict. Now, the radicals didn't want Lin An to get close, fearing that they would discover he was still conscious.

Why can't you just say it directly...?

Upon realizing this, Lin An suddenly understood that behind Lin Hainan's joking and banter lay a sense of walking on thin ice and extreme caution.

While playing the role of a "conservative" family to guide Lin An and protect the planet's order, he also desperately wanted to get along with Lin An like a father and son who had been separated for many years.

The former required him to abide by the confidentiality agreement, adhere to his duties, and not get too close to Lin An; the latter filled him with warmth, even with a slightly clumsy attempt to please.

Lin An didn't know how to deal with his father, but he understood the thoughts of the conservative family.

The conservatives did not want Adria's ritual to succeed, which would cause the trajectory of "Commerx" to overlap with Titan forever. Therefore, they spared no effort to bring Lin An back to Titan from outer space.

Lin An initially considered whether the conservatives might simply send him to Venus or Jupiter to achieve the same goal of "driving him away".

However, the conservatives not only blocked the ceremony from proceeding but also tried to maintain Lin An's consciousness, so it is more likely that they wanted to "bring him back to the planet".

Throwing him into space would likely cause endless trouble. It would be better to use Lin An's body as the starting point to completely reclaim the energy magnetic field covering the outer layer of the Earth's surface.

Since the conservatives share the same goals as Lin An, the two can be considered temporary allies.

As he thought about it, Lin An tidied up the things on the boat.

The supplies included fresh water, scissors, rubber gloves, band-aids, and Yunnan Baiyao (a traditional Chinese medicine). Most importantly, Lin An retrieved his mysterious item.

Philosopher's Stone, Man in a Bottle, Pipe Offering, Devil's Dice, and Bone of the Grinder.

"Where is my 'Complete Book of Magic'?" Lin An asked.

"It's with me," Lin Hainan replied. "I'll send it to you in six months. It's easy for it to get wet and damp if you leave it on the boat."

A reasonable explanation.

Activating the Philosopher's Stone, the Ouroboros circled the planet, spreading green energy that healed Lin An's sunburned skin.

Sitting at the bow of the boat, Lin An admired the jungles rushing past on both banks, and suddenly felt a sense of confusion and panic.

In the stillness of the night, the banks were filled with the rustling sounds of animals moving about. The ancient, eternal jungle of 1600 million years seemed to echo with the low roar of nature, stirring up primal fears in humankind.

Lin An played with one hand in the murky water outside the ship's side, the cold sensation bringing him back to his senses.

Lin Hainan suddenly spoke up.

"Where there is water, there will always be crocodiles."

"I'm not afraid of crocodiles."

“All the animals here could be mysterious messengers,” Lin Hainan explained. “Son, a hunter needs to understand his prey.”

"Wow..."

The sound of water reached Lin An, who looked toward the riverbank.

Sure enough, dozens of crocodiles were lying neatly by the water's edge, yawning with their large, serrated mouths raised, enjoying the sunlight filtering through the trees, completely oblivious to the arrival of the small boat.

A mysterious messenger?
Lin An closed his eyes and entered a state of mental relaxation.

The view suddenly rises, and the vibrant jungle transforms into a fantastical space made of glass.

The lazy crocodiles, like a bunch of dull asteroids, covered the black riverbank.

Suddenly, Lin An spotted a flickering light hidden in the jungle, which belonged to a genuine human being.

With a thought, the branching tree diagram of the divine medium sprouted branches and leaves beside the point of light, revealing the mysterious archetype that this person could awaken.

Two visual buttons float next to the light spot: "New" and "Edit".

I never expected there would actually be a living person in the sparsely populated jungle.

Familiar with the prey...

Lin An opened his eyes, and in the hazy starlight, he saw a tall, slender young man with well-defined muscles lurking in the jungle.

Tribal people?

He had a bow and arrows slung over his shoulder, and his figure was as agile as a cheetah.

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(End of this chapter)