World Occult Usage Guide

Chapter 263 Taking Shape
With Susumi's intervention, the misunderstanding was cleared up.

Even so, the boy was still shaken. He had never been in close contact with modern weapons before, but his intuition told him that this thing was quite terrifying.

Ap came out to greet them and led them to Lin An's hut.

Along the way, the three saw the entire lion tribe bustling about in an orderly manner.

First, there was the outermost "training ground," which had just startled the three of them.

The soldiers were led by five instructors whose demeanor was completely different from that of the rainforest tribe. Although the instructors seemed reluctant, they had no choice but to work with long faces under the threat of the mysterious figure.

The instructors disciplined the hunting lion tribe members with military training rules, dividing them into different branches and squads.

Due to their excellent physical fitness, the training focuses on military discipline, obedience to orders, tactical planning, and firearms operation.

Among them, a young man with a dignified bearing and a strong physique stood out. He resembled a leopard with its sharp edges exposed, his movements powerful and his muscles well-defined, attracting the attention of the ancestral spirits.

Susumi saw him, paused for a moment, and asked Apu hesitantly.

"Is that the chief of the Lion Tribe?"

“That’s right, it’s Misuru.” Ap smiled. “We all look forward to his growth.”

"To actually command the tribal chief, the Lion Ancestral Spirit is really powerful..." Susumi sighed, thinking about her treatment at the Tigerfish.

Previously, Lin An modified the World Tree system according to Maye's suggestion, updated it to version 1.1, shared it with Misuru, and proposed that he train with the instructors.

As a "war emperor," becoming a military commander is a good way to help him awaken.

The ancestral spirits continued their tour with Ap, marveling at the sights along the way. They saw the busy tribal women, half of whom went out to gather food, while the other half stayed behind to prepare food for each meal.

The rich aroma of grain wafted over, prompting the three ancestral spirits to glance over. They saw seven or eight people with lighter skin squatting around the campfire, gesturing and talking animatedly with the spotted lion tribe.

"Are they making bread?" Susume asked curiously, having seen and experienced much.

“What about flatbread?” Ap replied. “These people are friends of Lord Ancestral Spirit from a faraway place. Since they arrived, they have often discussed cooking methods with us.”

"Is it good?" Su Sumi swallowed hard. "Can I try some?"

“There are a few failed half-finished products here, take them if you want to eat them.” Apu chuckled and pointed to a stack of thick flatbreads in a wicker basket. “However, I suggest you stay here until evening, then you can have some delicious mutton stew.”

The three ancestral spirits each picked up a piece of cake, which was still warm in their hands. The outside was crispy and the inside was soft. Although it was a little loose and bitter, it was enough to make them eat with great pleasure.

The group, munching on biscuits, curiously surveyed the newly renovated Lion Tribe, stopping and starting as they walked. Ap would occasionally pause to answer the three of their questions.

“What you see are the ‘instructors’ and ‘logistics’ departments,” she introduced with great interest.

"What are they doing over there?" the boy asked, pointing to a quiet corner where there was a large crowd.

"The elder taught them French grammar and spelling."

"why?"

“You don’t understand. Literacy is very important. Without writing, many things would be very inconvenient. It is the foundation of basic education. Only those who graduate from the Grand Elder’s school can engage in higher-level work. Currently, it’s considered an ‘civil service’ department.”

"Literate...learning French?" The boy pursed his lips. "So, she's the head of the administrative staff?"

"No, the Grand Elder is an exception, isn't she? Our Minister of Civil Service went to the Kuba River to 'bathe,' and the Ancestral Spirit allowed her to perceive the wisdom of our ancestors from the flow of water."

"Okay, what else?"

“Right now, what you can see is the ‘Facing’ department.” Ap lowered his voice, his eyes darting around. The group saw a four-person team led by a bald man standing in the shadows, their bodies radiating the same twisted aura as the ancestral spirits.

The one who controls the Great Tile...

There are so many spotted lion tribes?

Compared to all the scenes they had seen before, this undoubtedly shocked the ancestral spirits.

That forest ranger is far more knowledgeable than Zai!
The three of them had the same thought: regardless of whether Lin An could find himself in the vast jungle like Zai, coming to the gathering was definitely the right choice!

“The straight-faced ones are responsible for watching over the entire tribe. If there is any unusual activity anywhere, they will attack,” Ap said.

"You say we can see them—are there departments we can't see?" The short woman shuddered. "Are they ghosts?"

“Uh, that’s not the case. One of the other two departments hasn’t been established yet, and the other is with Lord Ancestral Spirit.” Ap quickly waved his hand. “You’ll know when you see him.”

"It's amazing!" Susumi exclaimed. "Besides hunting, eating, and sleeping, there are so many interesting things to do every day. If it weren't for my mission with the Tigerfish Tribe, I would have stayed here all night."

“If you are willing to accept the protection of our ancestral spirits, we would be happy to share with you,” Ap said with a slight smile.

“But I am not a member of the lion clan,” the boy said hesitantly.

"Oh, don't worry, guests from afar." Apu's smile grew even brighter and warmer. "Speaking of which, would you like to hear the legend of our ancestral spirits?"

This time I've adapted a completely new version, which is absolutely authentic, believable, and captivating.

Her thoughts traveled through the banana leaf door into Lin An's mind, making him chuckle.

Since he arrived in the Lion Tribe, he only made up the beginning of his "legend," and the rest was all written by Ap. She not only liked to make up stories, but was also extremely enthusiastic about spreading them. She would often ask people she met if they wanted to hear about Lin An's origins, and she never tired of it.

Speaking of fictional stories, Lin An looked at Edward Roberts and Fu Bin beside him.

Reporter Edward graduated from Cambridge University with a degree in journalism and communication. In his spare time, he also attended theology, philosophy, and psychology classes taught by professors from prestigious universities, giving him a broad knowledge of soft sciences and mysticism.

At this moment, he and Fu Bin discussed how to provide a better "special training space" tailored to the situation of each mysterious individual.

Lin An really wasn't good at handling the mystery of the "Dreamer," so he decided to outsource the special training space to someone else.

Unfortunately, Edward, the "presiding judge," and Fu Bin, whose mediator leans towards the "Lord of the Earth," were also somewhat at a loss, scratching their heads in frustration.

“Each time we have to create a new story, tailor-made for the mysterious prototype. That is to say, the core and direction of the story are the same, but the scenes, characters, and lines are different…” Fu Bin stroked his chin. “This job is very suitable for directors of all kinds of bad movies and sketches.” “Why not write an AI writing program and let artificial intelligence replace our assembly line creation? This way, we can effectively save on labor costs,” Edward suggested.

"You can't run an internet cable in the rainforest, so you can only talk nonsense," Fu Bin joked. "Now that all the satellites are out of contact, we don't know what's happening on the Earth's surface. Could it be that various pollutants have spread into outer space?"

"When will the public realize that protecting the environment is key to protecting human survival, and that some things must be stopped?" Edward sighed.

A knock on the door interrupted their unproductive conversation, and Lin An, who was deep in thought, looked up.

"May I come in, Ancestral Lion?" Susumi poked half her head in, her pink cheeks and big blue eyes making her look like a lively and playful elf.

"What a rare child!" Fu Bin couldn't help but say.

"What did you say, Mr. Fu?" Edward asked hurriedly, afraid that he had missed something.

"It's nothing, I just said a few words in Chinese." Fu Bin smiled shyly. "They should be the mysterious figures from the other tribes that the [Forest Ranger] mentioned."

"Welcome, Su Sumi." Lin An jumped down from the hammock. With his permission, the other two ancestral spirits also walked in hesitantly, making the already small thatched hut even more crowded.

Lin An sized up the two ancestral spirits who had come to the appointment. They looked to be in their teens, but were unusually short, like two miniature humans shrunk to half their original size.

They are Pygmies, one of the oldest ethnic groups in the world, and the inheritors of the prehistoric Sangha culture.

The word “Pygmy” was named by the ancient Greeks and means “dwarf” or “shorts”, but the Pygmies called themselves “Tata Mata”, which means “son of the forest”.

There is a legend in the West that eating the sexual organs of Pygmies can make one strong, which led to the brutal hunting of the tribe and nearly brought them to the brink of extinction.

“We meet again, Ranger.” The pygmy boy greeted Lin An nervously. “As you instructed, Mama and I came with Susumi.”

"Mama?"

“Ah, that’s me, Mama,” Pygmy’s woman said quickly. “His name is Tata, sir.”

"It seems that apart from you guys, no one else wants to participate in our weekly gatherings."

Three people were present, and three were absent, which was about the same number as Lin An had guessed.

The other three tribal ancestral spirits showed considerable resistance to Lin An upon first meeting, so their absence was to be expected.

They were certain that Lin An wouldn't be able to find them in the vast rainforest like Zai had.

Indeed, this was the case. Although the process was not quite what they had imagined, Lin An was able to use mystical arts to pinpoint their location, but considering the considerable amount of medium wasted throughout the process, he felt it was not worth the effort.

Three mysterious figures of supernatural renown are not worth his trouble.

Susume was quite curious about Edward, who had blond hair and blue eyes, and Fu Bin, who looked travel-worn. So the two took the opportunity to introduce themselves to each other. Susume knew French, so she acted as the translator for both sides.

When the atmosphere was just right, the pygmy boy observed Lin An's expression and tentatively spoke.

"Forest Ranger, you asked us two questions last time: one was how to create sustainable resources, and the other was to increase the visibility of [Forest Ranger]. I've already thought of the answers."

"Tell me about it," Lin An said with interest.

“I think we can hold a ceremony every week to thank the rainforest, our ‘almighty parent,’ for providing us with food. This will ensure that our tribe members can hunt and gather without any problems.”

"what?"

"Then, we incorporated the name of the forest ranger into sacrificial songs and passed them on to other tribes. Each time they danced and sang, your name became more and more deeply ingrained in their hearts."

"..."

Lin An was speechless. Looking at the pygmy boy's sincere yet serious expression, he couldn't tell whether he was just messing around because he was dissatisfied, or whether he had come to this conclusion after serious consideration.

After a moment of eye contact, Lin An gave in and stopped Susumi and the pygmy woman from coming up with any more wild ideas. He gestured to Edward and Fu Bin to provide a standard answer for reference.

"That's right. The Bantu Kingdom is located on the equator. The tropical climate caused severe loss of soil nutrients, making it difficult for agricultural civilization to develop. They could only improve soil fertility by burning forests and piling up fertilizer. Scholars call this 'nomadic farming'."

"But there are many Bantu plains. Although it is not possible to grow wheat and rice on a large scale, it is still possible to develop tropical cash crops, such as bananas, cocoa and rubber. The profits from exporting these commodities alone can increase the per capita GDP several times over."

"Moreover, Bantu is the world's largest producer of cobalt, the third largest producer of industrial diamonds, and the fifth largest producer of copper, as well as rich deposits of gold, zinc, tungsten, and tin, and large-scale uranium mines, making it very suitable for a leap from agriculture to industry."

Fu Bin cleared his throat and earnestly explained the concept to the group.

"Our country previously implemented the 'Belt and Road Initiative' in South Africa, and followed the entire two-decade plans of Lacono from poverty to prosperity. We have extensive experience in land development and grassroots construction. If you don't mind, I'll continue."

Susume was bewildered. After a long while, she shook her head at the two pygmies waiting for a translator and said weakly, "Sorry, I don't understand."

"It's alright, I'll break it up and explain it in detail right away," Fu Bin said with a smile. "This is our future plan after we move to the vicinity of the city. If you have no problem with it, I'll have the brothers spread the word about it."

"Oh..." Susumi's eyes widened, "You're moving away?"

“Yes, the rainforest has its inconveniences after all—” Before Lin An could finish speaking, a thought suddenly struck him, and he immediately activated the vision of [God’s One Eye].

Everything around him came into view, and a certain unusual movement caught his attention.

A small black hen, composed entirely of "Commons" energy, strutted around, its head bobbing as if no one else was around. Its eyes were like bottomless mirrors, reflecting the shadows of its surroundings.

It is the scout sent by the Red Poppy Merchant Guild to survey the rainforest, the child that Zai refers to as "the unborn rooster and hen."

It came so quickly.

On the other side, Lin An also saw a yellow butterfly fluttering its wings, as if urging something forward.

He put away "God's One Eye" and nodded slightly to the group of people who were having a heated discussion.

"I have to go out for a bit. You guys continue chatting and wait for my message."

(End of this chapter)