World Occult Usage Guide

Once this post was published, countless users commented.

Apprehensive_Sun_217: Yeah, I just saw that news headline, and good heavens—"Yggdrasill," isn't that the full name of the forum?
zResurge: It must be a coincidence, right?
XRey360: The World Tree Ranger's activity time overlaps with that of the administrator here. He disappeared a while ago and only recently started to clean up the community's bad behavior.

willing404: Since 2037, our administrators have frequently disappeared for a period of time, and then suddenly imposed extremely strict bans for a period of time. The specific pattern is unknown.

ExternalRip6651: The absence of a pattern is also a pattern.

Zealousideal: I wish he were online all the time. A bunch of newbies attracted by the increasingly frequent bizarre events from all over the world are too annoying.

Hasten117: After permanently banning the trolls and those who just want to have fun, my homepage has finally regained its familiar mysterious atmosphere. Long live the administrators! My youth is back!

Not long ago, Lin An completely rectified the forum.

While reading the posts, he figured out the situation in various places except for Nanzhou.

Countries with well-preserved civilizations have largely stabilized the situation. Official explanations for the mysterious entities vary, but 60% of people are aware that "supernatural phenomena" are occurring around the world, though they are unclear about their causes or characteristics.

As a forum for mystical studies, World Tree allows users to deduce from publicly available materials and information that each "supernatural phenomenon" seems to correspond to some kind of urban legend, myth, or folk tale.

Some users also mentioned that people around them denied the existence of "supernatural phenomena" and believed that the government was covering something up.

For example, the mainstream view is that a meteorite struck northern England, triggering terrible disasters such as tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes, releasing viruses and bacteria frozen in the Earth's core. The spread of these microorganisms caused various strange phenomena.

A secondary view holds that certain secret biochemical experiments were leaked, and that mysticism was merely a fig leaf used by scientists to cover up their mistakes.

Localities are busy dealing with increasingly frequent mysterious awakenings, international organizations are tacitly dissolving, each going its own way, not interfering with each other, and even building strict "firewalls" for their internal local area networks.

It is very difficult for an ordinary person to find reports about "Commerz". If he searches for "mysticism", "supernatural" or "strange events" on Google or search engines, the results will be old stories that have nothing to do with "Commerz".

David O'Connor is a living example of the "information cocoon"; he wouldn't have believed in the existence of the mystic if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes.

Scrolling the mouse, Lin An scrolled to the poster's second post.
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Logia-2035: *cough cough* Let's talk about conspiracy theories. The World Tree Forum and the World Tree that's carrying out massacres and dictatorships in the Southern Continent are the same organization. Vote.

Ylurpn: No vote. Regardless of anything else, the forum's founder is a highly educated programmer. Such a person's political strategies and military acumen are limited to Stellaris; in reality, he's probably just a kind-hearted, overweight otaku.

Vindicatorhelix: I don't think so either. The administrator should be a mysterious person sitting in the "Minority Report" office, watching the data flow by every day with a contemptuous smile on his lips. How could he possibly go to Southern Continent to see hippos baring their teeth?

willing404: Yes, the barbarity and backwardness of the South Continent are completely different from the high-class forum style of ours.

willing404: Anyway, I can't imagine the dear administrator squatting in the vast grassland, eating breadfruit while looking at his phone, or sitting on the back of an elephant, using a computer to modify code.

WhyCommentQueasy: Yggdrasill comes from the Old Norse word for "world tree," and it's not an original creation of this forum, so it's not surprising that there are people with the same name.

justthefox99: But it appeared in the Southern Continent! How could the people of the Southern Continent possibly know about the mythology of the Northern Continent!
Melody: Even if we take a step back and assume—these two are indeed the same organization? The forum we've been using is run by terrorists who steal crucial information from our posts, thereby threatening our personal safety!
Heviaaaa: Thanks for the invitation. I just got off the plane. None of us here have access to any information that would interest the founders of this forum.

Very good, the forum users all feel that the two World Trees are completely unrelated organizations.

This makes setting the pace much smoother.

Lin An logged into his account and edited a reply.

Ranger_12: I read that report carefully. Why didn't anyone mention "that"? Isn't this a more interesting point than boring politics?
ETA: Riddler, please wait.

Ranger_12: Didn't you notice? When that Kumasi was speaking, a photo captured a very strange person [image]. Look closely at his face.

EveryAsk3855: Huh?

Pristine-Mastodon: I restored the high-resolution image using AI. [Image] has a black pattern. Looking for experts in Southern Mysticism to claim it.

Zealousideal_Bag: When I traveled to the Caribbean, I saw a medium with similar tattoos, kind of like... voodoo?
Acceptable8123: Holy crap, that's terrifying! Could that president have been cursed by a voodoo doll?!

CaptainPrower: Never touch the curse of voodoo!

d-Ayit: I know the meaning of this symbol, but I need to clarify some misconceptions first. Voodoo is associated with Satanic rituals, rites, mysterious death, witchcraft, bloody sacrifice, and cannibalism, but these are all false descriptions.

d-Ayiti: These are often invented by writers to pursue a flashy but unrealistic sense of mystery, or gimmicks created by tourism commercialism, such as voodoo dolls in gift shops—they have absolutely nothing to do with real voodoo.

d-Ayit: Like werewolves, vampires, and burning witches, the "doll" is a vessel for a Western superstition. Admittedly, voodoo rituals also have ritual props, but in formal practices, if the priest uses too many props, it is considered a blasphemous and foolish act.

d-Ayiti: We use "loa diab" to refer to voodoo priests who have only learned a little about the art of voodoo and use various theatrical props to fool customers; it means "bad soul."

Airline_354: The World Tree Forum really has all kinds of talented people.

oboe_player: High Priest, what does this pattern represent?

d-Ayiti: Please remember that the basic characteristics of all religions are as follows: healing diseases, satisfying people's spiritual needs, and bringing people hope for survival.

d-Ayiti: Voodoo is no exception. It has a semi-standardized system. Voodoo temples have male priests (hougan) and female priests (mambo), assistants (hounsi), and their congregations. Each temple serves certain specifically designated gods.

d-Ayiti: Among them are important gods and minor gods. The gods are called "Loas," and their number is yet to be determined. There are good gods and bad gods, and they can be divided into two categories according to rituals: "Rada" Loas are gentle, while "Petro" Loas are violent and despicable.

d-Ayiti: One of the most poetic features of Voodoo is animism. It attributes spirit or soul to the natural elements such as the sun, earth, moon, and trees.

fanica23: Similar to Druid or Shamanism.

pollytou00: "Primitive" is a better description than "savage".

d-Ayiti: Yes, you must obtain permission from the tree before using its leaves as medicine; farmers must strike the tree three times with the back of their axe before cutting it down to notify the tree's spirit; and performing the "Rada" and "Petro" rituals will yield different material results.

d-Ayiti: That's exactly what I wanted to say. The black patterns in the picture belong to the "Petro" Loa, which means that this priest worships a god who will stop at nothing to pursue shortcuts. Their followers may pray for things that go against the laws of nature.

oboe_player: Thank you for the explanation, Priest.

beann6666: After reading the news, I thought World Tree was an evil organization, but I didn't expect that the person who exposed them was just as bad, or even worse.

old sun: I find the details in the news reports contradictory. For example, the World Tree clearly respects the will of the people by holding elections, yet it imprisons the opposition? Isn't that a contradiction?

old sun: So this is a lie that Kapend made up to cover up his origins in the Voodoo cult that worships the evil Loas.

Fax machine: Perhaps the whole news story is the result of the Five Poisons Sect's practices! Everyone be vigilant! PoliteIndecency: This is terrifying, I have to share it with my friends.

Although the picture was the result of Lin An's five minutes of Photoshop work, at the moment he posted the reply, he recited the words of the Lady with the Lamp—"emotional waves."

"Beep beep beep".

Accompanied by retro arcade music from the last century, a pair of invisible pixelated hands reached out from the screen and slowly extended into the eyes of all users who saw the message. Electronic lights flashed, and electronic ghosts appeared in their pupils for a fleeting moment before disappearing.

They were irresistibly drawn to the arguments before them, without a shred of doubt about their veracity.

Arguments against the World Tree disappeared, and everyone rushed to spread the news that Kapend was a lackey of the Voodoo Cult.

Just as Lin An was about to quit, a discordant comment caught his eye.

CreazionediAdamo: It’s obvious that this photo is a deliberate misrepresentation, only capable of fooling the ignorant lambs of time… Oh well, their lives are meant for oblivion anyway.

wavthsshit: Huh? What do you mean?
Lin An narrowed his eyes and clicked the mouse.

[This user has been permanently banned]: Mortals cannot understand the eternal ballads they overheard unintentionally.

"Clang—clang—clang."

In the pristine and magnificent holy city, the distant and solemn sound of bells emanates from the heavens.

The man sitting atop the gold-rimmed cannon lowered his thick eyelashes, his purple eyes reflecting a line of trembling characters.

You have been permanently removed from the World Tree Forum :)

He raised his gaze, and the giant, arched ceiling painting stretched out, its slightly cracked oil paint outlining the divinity and humanism of the Renaissance hundreds of years ago.

The touch of the fingers in "The Creation of Adam" is like heaven.

"The administrator actually banned my account," the man muttered to himself. "An account I've had for 20 years..."

Footsteps approached, and the deep red robe, like a flowing stream of blood, left a trail of asceticism behind the hurried bishop.

"Your Holiness, the Black Capital has sent an invitation."

"Adria Hughes, and that blasphemer who calls himself 'Servant of God' Metalont..." The man stood with his hands behind his back, not turning his head, "Tell them that I will be attending the 'Theia' auction. Let's see if they dare to reserve seats."

"As you command. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

…………

The next day, Lin An received an email from David, in which he apologized for his rudeness the previous day.

Lin An replied quickly, adding a question at the end.

"David, are you sailing anytime soon?"

“Since you’ve asked the Pentecostal Church to help place the ballot boxes, I’ll definitely be staying at Kinsasha Port for a while,” David replied. “What? Are you charging a berthing fee? The Tshisekedi government charged me 10 before.”

"I'd like to borrow your ship."

"Oh, just don't let it become like the Titanic," David readily agreed. "How many sailors do I need to leave for you?"

“No need, I have my own team of battle-hardened crew members.” Lin An pressed Enter. “They used to work on the death ferries on the Kuba River.”

"Forester, has Mr. O'Connor given his consent?"

Reporter Edward Roberts sat across from him. Despite the fact that Bantu is never exactly cool, the Lionman insisted on wearing a soft wool hat, pressing down his slightly curly, chestnut-like short hair.

"David wants us to be at Kinsasha Port on the 12th for the handover." Lin An glanced at the email body. "Are you ready, Edward?"

“To borrow a phrase from Snape—it always will be.” Edward smiled shyly. “Ever since I obtained the evidence of the Red Poppy Company’s pollution sources, I’ve rehearsed countless times in my mind the scenario of making it public.”

Back in Mbanbuka, the journalist had already tried publishing his report on public forums online.

Unfortunately, before it had even reached a thousand views, the report was suddenly blocked and taken down from the entire internet, and could no longer be seen.

If you search for keywords such as "Red Poppy Chamber of Commerce, environment", the results will be full of the Chamber's environmental protection work in the West, as well as speeches and photos at the International Animal Protection Conference. You can hardly find any trace of the Chamber in the South.

So Edward had to remain silent and wait for a better opportunity.

This opportunity for the Red Poppy Chamber of Commerce to sponsor Kapend Kumasi's public speech, in which he attacks the World Tree and its rangers, is clearly a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

According to the official website, not only will high-ranking officials, celebrities and judges from various countries in the South Pacific attend, but the Chamber of Commerce has also invited a large number of mainstream media from the Latin-speaking world, including Oceania newspapers which are at odds with them, as well as Lion Country media which is suspected to be independent of the West Pacific.

If Edward can reveal the Red Poppy Chamber of Commerce's past at this conference, their carefully maintained image as "charity ambassadors" will vanish.

Nobody likes a hypocrite who says one thing to someone's face and does another behind their back.

If the evidence Edward possesses is exposed, the reputation of the Red Poppy Merchant Guild Master will likely plummet like a bankrupt stock price, and his divine status will also be affected.

The only problem is how to sneak into the lecture venue in Lacomo.

“Once I step onto this stage,” Edward said, “I can unveil their ugly facade!”

"I believe you."

Lin An clasped his hands together, and his "emotional waves" spread across the internet like a virus, diverting the attention of everyone who had read the "Brother Times".

As it quietly ferments, its degree of integration no longer fluctuates, and its state approaches stability.

"It's time to go to Ivory Coast." (End of Chapter)