World Occult Usage Guide

Lin An raised an eyebrow with interest.

This place was bombed during the previous civil war, causing half of the room to collapse and the load-bearing walls to almost collapse. Only the right half and the upper floors of the entire Capitol were preserved intact and usable.

He asked Fu Bin to rebuild the place as soon as possible, but unexpectedly, while dealing with the Red Poppy Chamber of Commerce in Ivory Coast, his companions who stayed behind in Kinsasha simply knocked down the old design, connecting the three-story building and matchbox-like small rooms into a giant hall.

“Forest ranger, this is my design. From the entrance, the porch, the circular hall that can hold thousands of people, the steps that add depth, and finally the ‘throne’.”

Fu Bin took out a complex design blueprint and showed it to Lin An.

"This is a small shrine supported by nine green pillars, each representing a member of the forest ranger team. The pillars have built-in wiring and external electronic screens for future video conferencing. You can also inscribe words on them, such as 'The Great Qing Pill'..."

"Ahem!" Lin An coughed lightly, interrupting Fu Bin's "joke".

"Excuse me, I was just joking." Fu Bin continued his rambling introduction, "Actually, the design of this hall is largely based on the Qianqing Palace. The king can sit here to hold court, and the positions of the six ministers even perfectly match the positions of the six ministers in ancient times."

"Antarctica!"

"Um, ranger, if you knew the history of the Dragon Kingdom, you would understand how ingenious my design is. From the Sui and Tang Dynasties onwards, the central political institutions consisted of the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Works..."

"Thank you for your hard work and dedication, [Architect]. You can stand here during meetings from now on." Lin An pointed to a spot on the design drawing with a blank expression.

"But this belongs to the chief eunuch..."

“It looks very close to His Majesty the King; I’m sure it’s a seat for an important person,” Lin said, feigning ignorance. “Perfect for you, [Architect].”

Fu Bin wiped away non-existent cold sweat from his forehead, finally noticing Lin An's impatience. He thought to himself: I'd better find another time to give my boss a lesson on the history and culture of the Qing Dynasty.

Lin An glanced at the blueprint in Fu Bin's hand and looked around. Despite the lime and wet paint everywhere, he could already imagine how grand and spacious the place would be after it was completed.

"It is indeed a high-end comprehensive activity center."

"Hahaha, isn't that great!" Misuru stomped her foot. "The path where the guests walk in will be covered with fresh animal skin carpets—bear skins, cheetah skins, and of course, lion skins!"

"To reduce the risk of parasites, let's switch to artificial carpets."

“That works too.” Misuru scratched his head. “What about the throne made of ivory?”

"It's fairly hygienic, but it seems like an unnecessary expense." Lin An rolled his eyes. "The 'treasury' left to us by former President Tshisekedi isn't particularly durable, and we can't keep taking advantage of that angel investor forever."

Finance Minister Battisa Fouquet adjusted his glasses and, very astutely, seized the opportunity to speak.

"Since we dissolved almost the entire cabinet and sent them to retirement with large pensions, we have appointed a new group of technical officials to fill the vacant positions. These young people have not been corrupted by corruption and belligerence and have made a lot of changes."

"Admittedly, the wounds of the Bantu will take generations to heal. But the atrocities have disappeared, our fiscal revenue is no longer affected by war or corruption, and a whole host of miscellaneous taxes have been abolished, which has actually increased the amount of tax revenue that was originally normal."

"Moreover, since the Red Poppy Merchant Guild withdrew, we can finally export rubber and diamonds. Although some local warlords are still interfering with the transport of columbite, tin, or gold, we have taken over the ports and airports, making it increasingly difficult for them to smuggle."

"Send the report to me through the [World Tree] system afterward," Lin An instructed.

“Yes, Ranger.” Fukai paused, then added, “Although the construction costs have put the national treasury in debt, the Bantu economy has never been so optimistic since I took office.”

"Is there ever a time when this country is not in debt?" Lin An's lips twitched.

“After gaining independence from the Kingdom of Flanders, it lasted for about an hour.” Fouquet held up four fingers. “At that time, the entire country only had this many university students responsible for taxation and investment.”

"Four percent?"

“No, there are only four college students out of 7000 million people,” Fouquet said in a smooth, unintelligible tone. “But you have 4000 highly educated people working in the government, and I believe they won’t make things too bad for the country.”

“You’ve kidnapped quite a few worker bees on this trip; I’m sure they’ll soon be able to collect nectar for the World Tree.” Elder Flami blinked. “To put it in a proverb, Ungayihluphi ngabantu. Bazokuthanda moshonile.”

“‘Don’t worry about zebras, they never get stomach ulcers,’” Misuru translated. “As the head of the training department, Ogunkavo and I will be responsible for training them into happy zebras.”

Keep it up, poor Western journalists.

Lin An secretly worried for the survivors at the press conference; they were about to experience the entire process of how he abandoned civilized society and accepted the law of the jungle after climbing up the Kuba River.

Since the topic of "the gains from travel" had come up, thoughts flashed through Lin An's mind.

“Actually, I possess something far more regal than the ivory throne,” he said. “Have you heard the legend of the Golden Chair of the ancient Ashanti?”

Except for the Grand Elder, everyone shook their heads, so Lin An gestured for the former to recount the general myth.

“A typical example of the superstition created by ancient kingdoms to highlight the legitimacy of their power, the divine right of kings.” The elder shook his finger. “If a history student wanted to come up with a unique thesis topic, this would be a good research direction.”

“I thought so too before, until I met the surviving [Scattered God] of the ancient kingdom of Ashanti.” As soon as he finished speaking, everyone’s eyes flashed green like a data bug, and the entire space went black for a moment as if it had been pulled into the virtual reality of The Matrix. Then, Lin An’s true form slowly walked in from the other side of the hall.

Seeing that everyone was silent, Lin An had no choice but to take out a cardboard box and place it in front of him.

Lin Xile's fingernails transformed into metal, and with a slight slash, the tape split in two, revealing a pure gold stool that shone like sunlight.

"This is the legendary Golden Chair that fell from the sky and landed on King Osei Tutu's lap."

"What... just happened?" Misuru's eyes widened.

"Ok?"

After a moment of silence, everyone suddenly realized: the strange occurrence just now came from Lin An's mystery!

As expected of forest rangers, they possess countless trump cards, as if they could never see them all.

"It is said that whoever sits on it will become the King of the Southern Continent, and at least have the power to rule the Kingdom of Lacono." Seeing that they had come back to their senses and were slightly puzzled, Lin An continued, "It is very suitable as a decoration for the 'throne'."

“Oh, God of the Sky…” Misuru was the first to come over, marveling at the golden stool. “I have never seen such pure gold before, but it looks a bit hard and a bit small.”

"Considering the average height in the vicinity of Ivory Coast, this chair is more than enough."

Lin An glanced at the tall, muscular Misuru. If it weren't for the fact that he seemed to have blood from the Abyssinia region, the Bantu natives wouldn't be considered a particularly tall ethnic group.

"Moreover, according to legend and taboo, no one should sit on this chair."

"Where should I sit?"

"You?" Lin An was taken aback. Before Misuru said those words, he naturally assumed that he was the one sitting in the main seat of the "Qianqing Palace".

“Don’t misunderstand, Lin, this is your ‘royal court,’ but you are not a king, but my ancestor, our god, the guardian of the World Tree.” Misuru quickly pointed to the sky, “You will be hung there, with the sky god.”

"I've been hung up?! With what? A cross?"

“Of course not!” Misuru waved her hands eagerly, “It’s that… uh, immersive three-sided 3D glasses-free display!”

Upon hearing such a modern term for the first time, he gasped repeatedly as if he had just eaten a ghost pepper.

"Display screen?"

From the moment Fu Bin began his introduction, Lin An noticed that the ceiling was covered with intricate lines drawn with different colored pens, and correspondingly, the top of the room was also filled with winding pipes.

So that's what I was planning.

Once the hall is fully completed, Lin An will be able to participate in meetings remotely via computer.

I can also create a virtual avatar to conceal my true appearance and prevent too many people from seeing my real face.

It looks a bit like a live stream in a suit.

Oh no, the person inside is myself!
After examining the speakers, Lin An discovered that they were cleverly arranged. Once he spoke into the microphone, the sound would become the kind of voice-over narration used in movie theaters, as if it were a "God-like surround sound" coming from the heavens.

Since it can be transmitted through a microphone, I might as well use electronic voice synthesis technology to create an AI version of the pronunciation program.

In this way, apart from the core members of the World Tree, he no longer needs to reveal his true identity!
Now that the World Tree's power is growing, Lin An has to be more careful to conceal his true identity to prevent the news of his survival from reaching Adria Hughes.

He was already thinking about how to negotiate with the outside world without showing himself.

He had previously tried to reach an agreement with the Adamek family using data codes. Throughout the entire process, they never saw Lin An in person, but this was still easily exposed to members of powerful families who had previously come into contact with the system's energy or understood its essence.

"Who came up with this ingenious design?" Lin An's gaze swept over everyone, finally settling on Elder Furami.

"Don't look at me like that. An old man like me isn't so trendy. At most, I'd suggest something like an automatic hymn player." The Grand Elder spread his hands. "You'd never guess who came up with this suggestion—Mezo!"

she?
It was indeed an unexpected answer.

"Her suggestions were rather general, so I made some optimizations," Fu Bin said tactfully, "It was just a tiny bit of work."

"Well done." Lin An didn't hold back his praise.

“By the way, Lin, are you planning to name this place?” Misuru asked. “My old chief’s tent was called ‘Nabikuya,’ meaning ‘the courage of the lion.’”

“Of course, this is [Migarr].” Lin An smiled slightly as he saw the confused expressions on the faces. “It means ‘the courtyard of the World Tree’.” (End of Chapter)