World Occult Usage Guide

Chapter 292 The Black Record

Three days have passed since the raid on the Lambridge Grand Hotel, and the situation is gradually stabilizing.

Without Lin An's intervention, the members of the Rangers, with their clearly defined roles, took control of the Grand Hotel and the Chamber of Commerce office in Mbanbuka.

The Grand Elder received the city leaders who had come to him on the evening of the 26th. The officials rubbed their hands together, hoping to extort a bribe from Lin An.

After discussion, the Grand Elder gave them a sum of money.

Since she was new to the area, she just wanted to get rid of these greedy local bullies first.

But this money was not enough to satisfy them. Some leaders and officials grumbled and complained, implying that if they didn't give more "red envelopes" (bribes), they would just wait for the local people to cause trouble afterwards.

"Watch out for your women!" they threatened menacingly.

These words crossed Misuru's bottom line. Ignoring the elder's advice, he released an army of ghosts. It is said that blood flowed all over the meeting hall in the blink of an eye, and the wine-red carpet was soaked with blood that could not be washed clean.

To be on the safe side, the leader specially brought along a "Enganga," a mysterious figure, as a henchman. Unexpectedly, the latter happened to be the "God of Agriculture." Through telepathy, he realized that the person receiving him was not someone to be trifled with, so he took the opportunity to go to the toilet and made a quick getaway.

By the time the dignitaries of Mbanbuka cried for help, he had already run to the foot of the mountain.

Lin An was unaware of this until the next morning, when he opened the window feeling refreshed, a corpse with its throat slit fell out with a thud.

Fresh blood dripped from the corpse. Lin An looked up; a plaque was stuck to his chest, with several flamboyant French characters written in dried blood:
"This is what happens when you anger me!"

Fortunately, Lin An had a good mental fortitude; he closed the window expressionlessly and called a cleaning service.

Several tens of minutes later, Misuru received a message from the World Tree system and rushed over to tell Lin An what had happened.

"Sometimes we hang up the bodies of the defeated to prevent them from being harassed by smaller tribes in the future."

But aren't the spotted lions the smallest tribe in the rainforest... Lin An thought to himself.

As if he had heard his thoughts, Misuru revealed a smile that was not in keeping with his youth: "The ghosts of my ancestors are whispering in my ear about their past glories."

Misuru's approach proved effective in preventing extortion by local gangs and warlords.

Lin An had no choice but to tell him to hang the body somewhere else next time, not in his office window.

The officials dared not meddle, but the Grand Elder still offered a decent "red envelope" in exchange for their cooperation in promoting the World Tree.

In any case, the expenses were paid from the Red Poppy Chamber of Commerce's account in Mbanbuka.

Lin An inherited the Chamber of Commerce's three mines, one logging camp, one private airport, one factory, one barracks, and two warehouses. Fuel and aircraft were the two largest expenses, followed by military expenses and protection fees.

As for the tens of thousands of employees under the Chamber of Commerce, they could only receive meager salaries and endure double exploitation by the Chamber of Commerce and local warlords.

Meyer went through the Chamber of Commerce’s ledgers again and again and found that they had a mess of accounts. Many income and expenditure entries were written vaguely, and the details of the transactions were even more murky than the Kuba River.

When Lin An took a look, he was utterly astonished.

Good heavens, the Red Poppy Chamber of Commerce hasn't managed Mbanbuka's finances since 2036.

They are a family of mystics, and all worldly power is used to detour "Comers," and 2036 happens to be the year when the orbits of another planet and Titan begin to overlap.

Moreover, the Chamber of Commerce uses knives.

After Adria's ceremony, northern Eagle Country was reduced to ruins.

As a family of the Western Continent, the Red Poppy Merchant Guild knew that in the future, Dao Le was destined to collapse overnight, and the foundation of civilized society would be destroyed step by step as alien radiation spread.

Once they had bought power and social status in Bantu with money, they were no longer so keen on making money. They turned a blind eye to their subordinates' embezzlement, misappropriation of public funds, and wage arrears, and even let them do as they pleased.

The ledgers also contain currencies such as Ulrich, gold, local francs, and even Zimbabwean dollars, making it a nightmare for accountants to actually calculate.

When those leading officials were extorting money, they even argued endlessly about which currency to accept as bribes.

The level of urban governance to this extent is quite bizarre.

Since the monetary system had essentially collapsed, Mayer suggested simply abandoning this mess and using the virtual currency "Ash Leaf".

If the public accepts it, this is far more convenient than paper money or barter.

Misuru volunteered to organize the campaign to promote the World Tree system. The people of Mbanbuka were controlled by gangs and warlords, and as long as they were "convinced," launching the World Tree for the entire population would not be a problem.

Watching his two capable assistants excitedly discuss their future plans, their eyes shining, Lin An felt quite gratified, but also a little puzzled.

"You came up with a solution so quickly?"

“These were all suggestions from Sinby, who explained in great detail how to better govern the city,” Mayer said.

“Dinganga guarantees with his ancient wisdom that every one of his proposals has stood the test of time,” Misuru said.

"What can you tell me?" Lin An asked.

The pastor replied, "Winter is coming."

"That project was abandoned, do you have any other recommendations?"

"..."

Having given up on this pretentious fellow, Lin An sat on a comfortable sofa, holding a projector remote in one hand and a walkie-talkie in the other, controlling the organization's every move from there.

"Edward, how's the speech coming along?"

"Give me another 12 hours," the reporter said. "I was just busy repairing the radio with Mr. Fu."

Upon returning to civilized society, Lin An gained a basic understanding of the current state of electronic communication. Satellite equipment worldwide had completely collapsed, but fortunately, radio stations in most developed countries were still operational.

Only a few powerful nations have managed to maintain order, but they are too busy and unwilling to intervene in the international situation.

All social media platforms are basically in chaos, lacking regulation and governance.

Bantu, a large, impoverished, and low-GDP third-world country, suddenly regressed to the early 20th century. Its vast territory lacked wireless network coverage, forcing people to rely on telegraphs and radios.

Only most of Kinsasha's equipment is still usable; the other cities are essentially isolated islands with little to no connection to the outside world.

In Mbanbuka, about forty people share a single radio. People love to gather around the shortwave radio receiver at five in the morning, more punctual than a rooster crowing.

At this time, there is no atmospheric interference when listening to Bantu or Swahili radio stations on FM.

Wealthy people would buy special radios and listen to the news by holding them to their chest or to their ear.

The Bridge Hotel has taken over the radio station, and Edward is preparing to announce the news about the World Tree to the public tomorrow.

This Oxford and Cambridge master's graduate didn't need the wisdom of a ghost; his knowledge alone was enough to handle any situation.

Fu Bin, who was unfortunately stranded in Nanzhou, is also a backbone of China Railway Group. A few days ago, Lin An learned that he was a top student from Zhejiang University, so he assigned him the tasks of "population census" and "public opinion survey".

“These requirements you’ve listed… are difficult to fulfill in a short time,” Fu Bin complained. “Even a skilled cook can’t make a meal without rice.”

“Tell me if there’s anything you can’t do, and I’ll try my best to help you ‘refresh’ a mysterious problem solver,” Lin An said, half-jokingly and half-seriously. “My ‘Comers’ is nuclear-powered.”

"Okay, okay, is that how it's going to be done?"

“Just kidding. First, compile information on the Red Poppy Chamber of Commerce employees and their main problems. If you encounter any difficulties, please contact Miss Mayer.” “Understood.”

Before I knew it, I had a group of talented people in management. Lin An thought.

While the six departments worked diligently, their developers also did not slack off, burying themselves in organizing the materials left behind by Count Mariette van Hofwegen.

He snatched the Countess's computer, cell phone, and a bunch of electronic devices from the regional manager and is deciphering them one by one.

Before leaving, the Countess locked the confidential documents, and Lin An reset the system, resulting in the loss of a large amount of data.

He unlocked the computer first, and when the familiar default background appeared, Lin An felt the cool temperature of the mouse and couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.

The feel of it is something I miss.

He split the screen into two pages and logged into the browser while continuing to decipher the few remaining documents of the Red Poppy Merchant Guild.

Lin An really wanted to log into his social media account and let his old friends know he was safe, but that would be too easy to expose his identity.

Taking a deep breath, Lin An skillfully typed out an address.

The screen redirected to a black website, where a dark green tree with lush foliage, skull and rose patterns, and other symbols perfectly captured the atmosphere of a secret affair.

World Tree Forum.

Lin An scrolled through the latest posts with his mouse.

With the loss of the administrator and "Komoss" turning the myth into reality, the number of registered users on the forum increased, and it became increasingly chaotic.

Various obviously provocative posts, roundabout insults, and factionalism are emerging one after another, creating a chaotic and unpleasant atmosphere.

Looking at the homepage, which had long since lost all connection to mysticism, Lin An felt a surge of excitement and logged into his administrator account.

We can't let three years of hard work in college go to waste.

Delete the post! Ban the user! suspend the account!
During the drastic overhaul of the forum, the decoding process on the other side of the screen reached 100%, and Lin An multitasked with opening the document.

Its title is "Archived Correspondence of the Nakal Brotherhood".

Nakar?
If I remember correctly, this is the ethnic group of the ancient civilization of Mu.

Lin An became interested and continued reading.

pay tribute!

Long time no see! It's been three months since you treated me to Burger King, and I've been really craving the unique five-layer Big Mac from Bantu—anything else, have a happy dry season!

The coordinates mentioned earlier have been sent. Please check your inbox and confirm with me.

Invite me to dinner sometime.

Fat boy.

If it weren't for the Countess's encrypted file, Lin An would have almost thought he had read a prank message.

Scroll down the mouse, and the next email appears.

Dear Mr. Metalont,
Hello!

Thank you for the blessings, but we never celebrate the arrival of the rainy or dry season.

I recently received a warning that I shouldn't take you to Burger King because you violated the 22 Hebrew commandments when you ate that beef burger. Please don't cause me any unnecessary trouble.

Coordinates received. I will send people to block the corresponding passages and closely monitor the movements of [Brahma] and [New Eden].

good luck,

The leopard-print president.

Lin An's eyelids twitched. This leopard-print president was most likely Bantu President Tshisekedi, and the person exchanging emails with him was either [Black Capital] or [Yicileye].

[Brahma] and [New Eden] are likely conservatives who are cooperating with Lin Hainan.

The former comes from the Lotus Kingdom, while the latter sounds like a prominent family from the Western Continent.

Their ideology seems to be opposed to that of the "Black City".

As for "Metalonte"...

Lin An narrowed his eyes. This was the name of that all-knowing angel.

As far as he knew, angels not only possessed a plethora of mysterious arts, but also unpredictable "passive" abilities, making them a formidable and terrifying opponent.

He actually calls himself a fat boy, what a lover of hellish jokes.

The email record was triggered by "Fat Boy" asking Zisekdi to seal off a certain area. Zisekdi said he understood and then cautiously inquired about the next steps for [Black City].

Unexpectedly, the "fat boy" told Qisekedi that the "Black City" did not want him to participate in the subsequent plans because his "Lady with the Lamp" was too poorly integrated, worthless, and useless.

Tsycee immediately panicked and hurriedly said that he was cooperating with "Alfonso III" and had a way to obtain more of the medium, begging [Black City] not to expel him.

The "fat boy" replied with this email.

Mr. President,

You heard the news from the Eagle Kingdom: the Uncrowned Queen has returned to her throne.

This esteemed lady kindly expressed her dissatisfaction to me, believing that the structure of the Nakal Brotherhood was too loose and hoping that I could select seven elites from the Brotherhood to rebuild the glory of the Seven Deadly Sins of the 14th century.

I was immediately reminded of your dedication and the eloquent Alfonso III.

The Seven Deadly Sins Demon Lords was a mysterious organization in history that used the seven deadly sins as its code name. Its members all came from an ancient, great, and glorious dynasty four thousand years ago—the predecessor of the Black City.

You should be familiar with the seven deadly sins, right?
Pride, envy, anger, sloth, greed, gluttony, lust.

Each word corresponds to a lord of hell, and to humanity's darkest, most hidden desires.

These were originally concepts unique to mysticism and demonology, but through the overuse of Hollywood and various popcorn movies, these words have become widely known, and their ideas are too general to be suitable for modern society.

Outdated, commonplace, and obsolete!

If we're going to innovate, we should step on the bones of tradition!
Therefore, I cordially invite you to join our ranks of the [New Seven Deadly Sins Demon Lord]!

Genetic modification! Human experimentation! Environmental pollution! Social injustice! Poverty! Greed! Self-degradation!

Pick one you like.

The era in which the mysterious can do as they please is fast approaching.

Treat me to Burger King next time.

Fat boy.

(End of this chapter)