World Occult Usage Guide

"bump!"

Just as Lin An hung up the phone, dozens of people burst through the door. They were members of the "Four Living Gods" who had sided with the chief.

"Who are you? How is President Tshisekedi?"

Faced with the stern but weak questioning, Lin An pointed to the palm tree that reached the ceiling.

"He has broken the limits of human lifespan."

In a sense, Lin An was not wrong. Even if "Comerth" no longer radiates Titan, it would not be a problem for Tsekedi to live another hundred years.

The mysterious figure's gaze shifted from the palm tree to Lin An. Without a doubt, the expressionless young man before him was the culprit who had killed their leader.

However, Tshisekedi's tragic end silenced them, and even if they had other plans in their hearts, they dared not say them in front of Lin An.

The fact that Lin An could kill a top-tier mysterious figure within just a few hours speaks volumes about his strength.

Although he didn't know about the existence of the "Mother of Desire," Lin An could indeed make them all entries, although dealing with one of the mythical-level ones would definitely take a lot of time.

The remnants of the Four Living Gods temporarily chose to lie low. Little did they know that just as they united to launch a counterattack, they were shocked to find themselves stuffed into a fragment of time.

The forest rangers were very patient, keeping the group locked up for over a month before allowing them to return to their homes. They spent each day in a meaningless cycle, which led to many of them going insane and dying.

The remaining people dared not resist and all obeyed the arrangements, signing employee agreements with the World Tree.

While working here, they reunited with their former colleagues after a long separation.

When they met, they looked at each other speechlessly, and eventually tears streamed down their faces.

They were now leaderless and unable to cause any trouble. Most of the remnants of the Four Living Gods felt that the work at the World Tree was not bad, and was even more comfortable and stable than before, without the need to live in fear or displacement.

As for those stubborn old people, they could only whisper among themselves and relive the glorious image of the "Four Living Gods" in their minds.

Apart from the mysterious figures under Tshisekedi's command, all ordinary people in the presidential palace, from officials and generals to menial soldiers, were affected by Tshisekedi's brainwashing techniques, and none were spared.

Only one person hiding on the roof was unharmed.

Lin An found the person through the empty mode. He was hugging a pillow and hiding in the corner of the storeroom, shivering.

"Don't kill me! Long live the president! Long live the president!"

Hearing footsteps, he cried out in alarm. Only after Lin An explained the whole story did the survivor put down the pillow in his hand and faint with a sigh of relief.

Lin An immediately shook him awake. The survivor had a bunch of glowing medals pinned to his chest, and his clothes were a custom-made suit. He looked like someone of extraordinary status and should know some inside information.

The survivor trembled as he pulled half a melted chocolate from his pocket, eating it while sighing deeply.

"My name is Fouquet, Battisa Fouquet, and I am the Finance Minister of the Presidential Palace."

From the conversation, Lin An learned that the survivor's father was a Flemish and his mother was a Bantu. He grew up in the Kingdom of Flemish and never identified with the Bantu. The "territory" of Qisekedi had no effect on him.

When the president was using "Nation," he stood at the highest point of the presidential palace, and the energy spread downwards. He did not expect that there was a person hiding in the ceiling, and Fookiee escaped unharmed.

"Then why did you go to work in Bantu?" Lin An helped him up and asked casually.

“Uh, making money.” Fu Ke, who had been terrified by the near-death experience, answered honestly, “The job I found in Flanders after graduation didn’t pay as much as my monthly salary here.”

"Very good, then I'll rehire you."

"Thank you for your recognition, sir. Is it also 10 yuan a month for Youle?"

"According to the World Tree standard."

Fu Ke had never heard of the World Tree's standards and thought he was incredibly lucky to have found a new employer right after his old boss died, thus avoiding being purged. Little did he know that the truth would leave him speechless with despair.

The World Tree's monthly salary is zero dollars; it only receives 50 ash leaves.

Of course, in order to survive in this environment where mystery reigns supreme, the cowardly Fu Kai clung tightly to Lin An's leg and worked diligently, fearing that one day his colleagues would tear him apart at work.

At that moment, he dusted himself off and briefed Lin An on the country's economic situation.

"Well, the situation is not optimistic."

How pessimistic is it?

"Inflation is as high as 750%, only 5% of the population has found paid work, 70% of workers are paid as little as five dollars a month, and we have 120,000 soldiers and 600,000 civil servants to support. The worst part is that the government is bankrupt."

"..."

"By the way, sir, are you planning to run for the next president?"

"Let's give this honor to someone else."

After briefly understanding the situation, Lin An planned his route forward. He first dealt with the more than 10,000 people who had gone mad in the square.

Without needing to lift a finger, Lin An instructed the Four Living Gods to lock them in cages at Qisekedi's private zoo. The latter, wanting to lower Lin An's guard, readily agreed. The Mystics had spent considerable effort dealing with the fanatical crowd, which was the main reason they lost control in the Time Fragment—essentially being locked up with over ten thousand lunatics, endlessly repeating the same day; anyone would go mad.

The president’s private zoo, once a model zoo in the South, is now just a pile of dirty and rusty cages, with unpaid zookeepers collecting leftover food from upscale hotels to care for starving animals.

The two lions starved to death. Lin An had the remaining monkeys, chimpanzees, antelopes, and snakes relocated and a new ecological park was created for them. He also planted Tsekedi in the center of the park.

The animal droppings made the soil fertile and abundant, and the palm trees quickly recovered and became lush and leafy.

Lin An specially built a leopard-print fence around the tree, which looked quite impressive. Later, tourists often took photos with it. Although they did not know what was so special about the tree, it still became one of the popular tourist attractions in Bantu.

After dealing with the immediate crisis, Fouquet took Lin An to the Central Bank. With a creak, the vault was opened, revealing a huge, empty concrete room with only one drawer containing a lone fifty-franc banknote.

The bank's documents were either burned or stolen, and telephones, fax machines, air conditioners, paper clips, and door handles also disappeared.

“Obviously, some people took advantage of the chaos to escape,” Fouquet said, listing the names of his former superiors without hesitation. “Including the children of the former president and several foreign advisors, I have their names on my list.”

"Our next stop is the airport."

…………

With Tshisekedi's death, the army fell apart.

Later, Lin An learned from Fu Kai that apart from the presidential guard and senior officers who had relatively better conditions in terms of equipment, treatment and food, most soldiers in the country received very little or no salary.

Tshisekedi famously said in a speech to the army: "You have guns, you don't need a salary."

He told his men, “Débrouillez Vous! (Adapt to circumstances),” which became the survival rule for officials of all ranks in the Bantu state, especially the armed forces.

Upon receiving news of Tshisekedi's death, warlords across the country who had been conscripted by him disbanded on the spot and began setting up temporary roadblocks to extort villagers or travelers passing by.

These soldiers were called "katanyama," which means "meat cutter" in Lingala, referring to their ability to go to the market and snatch the best meat from the butchers.

It wasn't until mid-May 2039 that the World Tree completely eliminated the aftereffects of the president's declaration of war.

As for Mbambuka's presidential army...

Upon hearing the news of Tsekedi's death on the radio, the commander-in-chief immediately surrendered to the World Tree, despite their overwhelming numerical and equipment superiority.

The defeated presidential army was like a bankrupt business, with officers eagerly dismantling and selling off all valuables.

This includes not only personal belongings, but also the nation's weapons, vehicles, aircraft, generators, and everything else that can fetch a good price on the arms market and the black market.

Before the World Tree could stop them, the Commander-in-Chief sold the remaining fighter jets to Kigani arms dealers, while the Air Force Commander sold a large number of transport planes to cross-border merchants.

Both of them fled afterward.

Finally, the World Tree swaggered into Kinsasha on an almost unobstructed road and successfully reunited with Lin An.

They cleared out the spoils of war.

The entire Presidential Palace Square was filled with modern heavy machinery, much of which had never been used before. There were also very modern amphibious tanks, and the hangars were filled with hundreds of thousands of rifles of all kinds, as well as ammunition filling three buildings.

But upon closer inspection, everyone was left speechless, both amused and exasperated.

Many spare parts for these weapons were dismantled and sold, leaving only 70% of the tanks in the main armored brigades operational, and the air force's figures were even more appalling.

In Tshisekedi's eyes, loyalty was more important than integrity, so eight years of nepotism and mismanagement resulted in most commanders being loyal only to their own pockets.

Bantu has very few paved roads, so they can only use airplanes to transport goods to places that stretch a thousand kilometers away.

Tragically, the locust-like actions of those fleeing officials forced the remaining World Tree to rely on commercial aircraft for air transport.

Another problem arises: Bantu's international transportation relies entirely on the Red Poppy Merchant Guild, but after the massacre at their Kinsasha office, they silently moved out of the capital and shut down all shipping routes.

Companies from other countries in the South Continent approached Lin An, and their initial quotes were over 80 million yuan, or 1.27 tons of gold, to complete the transportation work.

Lin Anke doesn't have that much money; Tshisekedi left behind a government heavily indebted.

That day, he arrested some officials at the airport who hadn't had time to escape by plane, and confiscated their homes on various charges, but it was a drop in the bucket for the Bantu government's finances.

The economic system here has long since collapsed, and the political system is practically the same.

It's all a mess, a complete scramble.

It sounds bizarre, but considering this is Southern Continent, Lin An thinks it's normal.

Even if international charitable organizations were willing to raise more than 5 billion yuan, it would be difficult to restore Bantu to a normal modern state.

Fu Ke analyzed that the existing money can pay off the messy debts of the past and temporarily ensure the normal operation of the country, but if it wants to continue to develop, it needs to find a new way to make money.

Therefore, in January 2039, Lin An established a national assembly of citizen leaders. The assembly appointed a new prime minister, drafted a new constitution, and promoted the World Tree System's ecological community throughout Kinsasha, continuously expanding outwards. (End of Chapter)