World Occult Usage Guide

It's March now, and the rainy season is still far from arriving. The dry roads have hardened under the scorching sun day after day, making off-road driving exceptionally easy.

The scenery along the roadside has changed from a colorful city to a weed-infested wilderness, and the building materials have changed from concrete bricks to wooden sticks, baobab leaves, and ilar palms. More and more large wild animals are appearing.

Lin An traveled in secret this time, using the alias Rachel Tulver and pretending to be one of the new employees. Apart from Fu Bin, the other three did not know his true identity.

Kofi was driving, Mel and Kantubi sat in the second row, and Lin An and Fu Bin leaned against the back seat.

Outside the car window, amidst the dust kicked up by the SUV, several giraffes stretched their necks to nibble on the yellow fruit of a large, leafy tree.

Two days later, the fruit appeared in the group's rice bowls.

The tree is called "Marula," a sacred tree that provides life to the people of the Central South. Its fruit can be pressed for oil or used to make delicious roasted chicken with free-range chickens.

The town is the last relatively peaceful place on the Bantu border; further north lies the area where armies clash.

Following the map, the group continued forward until a hill, not marked on the map, lay before them.

Kofi had no choice but to take a detour, but the more he drove, the more unfamiliar the roads became, and he got completely lost.

Fortunately, they soon found a trickling stream, possibly a tributary of the Niger River, and began to travel along its course.

After wandering around the desolate wilderness for half a day, some points of light representing intelligent life appeared in the empty space. Lin An instructed his group to follow in their footsteps, and the off-road vehicle drove into a village.

Kofi turned off the car, and as soon as Kantubi and Mel opened the car door, the villagers who had been peeking out scattered and found places to hide.

"Moni (Hello)!"

Mel, prepared in advance, pulled out her translation software and shouted, mimicking the pronunciation. Behind the windows of the earthen house, she saw rows of eyes staring at her, their expressions full of vigilance.

"Hey, someone talk to me."

Kantubi, anticipating this, pulled out his pistol and pretended to cock it. A middle-aged man in his fifties cautiously walked out, keeping his distance from the two, with an expression of having seen a ghost.

"We are a group of lost refugees. Do you know how to get to General Ernest Wamba Dia Wamba's camp?"

Mel repeatedly reiterated her purpose, but the man stared intently at her face, making her feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Have you seen Azungu before?" Kantubi immediately voiced his doubts.

“This is the first one, mzungu madman,” the man replied slowly.

In the Jitupa language, mzungu means "white-skinned person," and Azungu is the plural form of the word, carrying a slightly exclusionary connotation.

"It looks strange?"

“I thought they’d be taller,” the man gestured. “Would they really eat our children?”

“No, they eat meat, fish, and corn, as well as Brussels sprouts and yogurt bowls, and they like to drink a little alcohol.” Kantubi kicked open the trunk, took out a can of beer, and tossed it to the man, “Just to make you laugh.”

In the silent communication of threats and incentives, the man's fingers swayed from side to side.

“Those Ubangi people are over there; they’ve taken over Chief Bumtir’s house.”

Following the man's directions and the course of the stream, the off-road vehicle traveled along a bumpy, desolate stretch of road, and the outline of another village appeared on the horizon.

Just as Lin An was wondering how they would be welcomed, a terrified scream and exclamation came, followed by a roar that was neither human nor beast.

"Roar!!!"

Coffey slammed on the brakes. The first thing he saw was a faint, dark humanoid figure, so large that it made the surrounding low-rise houses look like insignificant anthills.

"Holy crap, it's a tokusatsu film!" Fu Bin blurted out.

“That’s an animal, no, a giant! — A mysterious being?” Mel covered his mouth.

"It's Negoogunogumbar, right? The giant who eats children in the legends of the Mbuti tribe. They believe that humans and the forest have a deep connection, but if they break a taboo, the forest will send its incarnation to eat them."

After a moment's thought, the data popped up, confirming his guess.

“Nigugunogamba is one of the incarnations of the forest. Another messenger is Obrigwabibikwa, who is dwarf-like, very short and inconspicuous, and spews deadly venom.”

"In short, a terrible and pathetic out-of-control mystery," Kofi said.

"You know quite a lot..." Kantubi rolled his eyes. "So what do you think we should do? Just walk around it like we did before, as if it's none of our business?"

“As an employee of World Tree, we cannot allow the out-of-control mystics to run rampant in Bantu territory!” Mel was about to roll up her sleeves when the giant’s stomp startled her. “Ranger, you decide.”

Fu Bin did not hide his identity. The mysterious team had already seen through their interactions that he was just an ordinary person, and their questioning this time also carried a hint of testing.

Fu Bin didn't want to make a decision on his own. He glanced at Lin An's expressionless face and realized it was difficult to read the other party's mind. He had no choice but to weigh the pros and cons before speaking.

"Keep it under wraps, don't be too conspicuous."

“I have a suggestion: next time you encounter an out-of-control mysterious being or a skirmish, it’s best not to pass the ball around.” Kofi pointed to the giant [Nicoguno Gamba] charging straight at the SUV. “Run!”

"I vote to fight!" Kantubi slung his rifle over his shoulder. "Now that we've been discovered, with that guy's speed, how do we think we can escape?"

"Stop voting! Get off the bus! We have to find a way to kill that guy!" Mel tugged at his thinning hair. "Ah! I never thought I'd betray the spirit of democracy!"

No one objected to her, and everyone filed out of the car.

A giant with no hair, green skin, and covered in baobab and tamarind branches and leaves came galloping towards them.

Its eyes were extremely small, its flat face had almost no features, and it was about four or five meters tall. Its thick fingers gripped half of the corpse as if it were a toy, and without aiming, it swung its arm and flung it at the crowd.

Besides Lin An, the four of them also experienced many arduous and bloody scenes, but this was the first time they had directly faced such a terrifying, powerful, and ferocious out-of-control mysterious being.

Perhaps it was a rational human being just half a day ago, but now it has been polluted into a pure reflection of the planet "Comers".

"Dangdang!"

Half a corpse was slammed down in front of them, blood gushing out and splattering the ground with bright red, sticky blood.

Although there was no real damage, everyone was immediately terrified and their scalps tingled. While they remained motionless, the giant instantly closed to within a dozen meters of them. Lin An could even feel the putrid smell emanating from its mouth.

While the giant's image and imposing presence are indeed terrifying, it is actually merely a catastrophic mystic; it is only the degree of corruption that allows it to reveal the most primal power of that mystical archetype.

If we calm down, our forces are more than enough to deal with it; it's not really a hellish dungeon...

Just as Lin An was about to make a move, Kan Tu Bi beside him suddenly roared in anger.

"Damn it, I'm going to die anyway! I'll fight you to the death!"

He took a deep breath, clenched his fists, crossed them over his chest, and pursed his lips as if in prayer, large beads of sweat dripping from his forehead.

The next moment, a dazzling, burning meteor shot down from the sky, leaving a long afterimage, and pierced straight through the giant's chest. The meteor's tiny brilliance seemed somewhat laughable compared to the enormous giant.

"Roar!"

The giant howled in pain, his body trembled, and black spots appeared on his green skin, like moldy fungi, but his movements were not hesitant at all.

Its shadow loomed over everyone, malice and madness permeated the air, along with a murderous intent that ran rampant without reason.

"laugh."

The candle went out with a soft thud, and a pure white, sacred missile followed the still-present trajectory of the meteor, striking the giant's chest from behind with a "thud."

A burst of destructive energy from a celestial body suddenly erupted, causing the giant's pupils to shrink immediately. A few faint, strange "hoarse" sounds came from his throat, and he fell heavily forward like a thousand-year-old tree that had been felled.

"Everyone, scatter!"

Without Kofi's prompting, the group, having regained their senses, took advantage of the shadows catching up with them and ran back into the sunlight.

"Boom-"

The thud of the body hitting the ground made the earth tremble violently as if it were an earthquake. After a long while, it calmed down. The already tense and fearful crowd immediately fell to the ground in various positions, clutching their chests and panting.

After a while, Kan Tu jumped up like a carp leaping out of the water.

"I killed that monster! I actually killed it?!"

“Uh, I think I saw two streaks of light…” Mel’s hesitation was interrupted by Kantubi’s excitement.

"Hahaha! This thing is way better than a gun! Let's see who dares to kill me now! I'll take him down first!"

Fu Bin shifted his gaze from the giant to Lin An, who had his arms crossed, and lowered his voice: "Forest ranger, is that kid really that good?"

“Perhaps in the future.” Lin An nodded. “After all, he is the ‘Chief Judge,’ a divine medium with top-notch combat power.”

"Meteorite Matobora..."

The data was transmitted from Lin An's system to Fu Bin, and the green data trembled with each laugh of Kan Tubi.

[Name]: Matopora, Meteor Curse

[Rating]: Disaster Level D

Radiation level: 2.8%
[Pollution Level]: 3.2%
[Media]: Presiding Judge

Making a wish upon seeing a shooting star streak across the night sky is an ancient and widespread custom around the world. Some civilizations believe that shooting stars are the souls of the deceased, and that they can carry wishes to heaven so that God can grant them.

However, in Bantu culture, meteors are considered the embodiment of evil spirits.

They are called Matombolas, and it is said that meteors are their way of trying to land inside human bodies. Once hit by a meteor, an individual will be infected by magical powers.

Considering that meteors are essentially meteorites, and that they never rise to "heaven" but fall directly to the Earth's surface, sometimes causing catastrophes, perhaps the "evil spirits" of the Bantu legends are more in line with the true nature of the universe.

Kantubi's radiation level was too low, and the "meteor" he summoned wasn't very powerful, but the way it fell from the sky reminded Lin An of an entry he had similar to Matopora's: "The First Principle of Natural Magic IV: The Wise One."

To conceal his identity, Kantubi activated [Summoning Mars] immediately after casting his mystical spell.

The missile struck the giant infected by the power of witchcraft. The divine aura of the Renaissance Saviour Church and the curse of the evil soul worked together to drive the giant's already chaotic mind even more insane. In the end, the level of corruption reached 100%, and the giant collapsed and lay motionless.

After cleaning up the mess, the three members of the team calmed down and got back into the off-road vehicle.

Along the way, Mel counted his experiences on his fingers, while Kantubi smugly crossed his legs.

As for Kofi, he would occasionally peek at Lin An and Fu Bin in the back seat through the rearview mirror, lost in thought.

When we arrived at the village attacked by giants, the last rays of the setting sun were already casting their glow on the earth; it was past six o'clock in the evening.

Mel and Kantubi got out of the car on their own. Just as the latter was about to draw his gun to defend himself, an old man with a full head of white hair ran over and hugged him like he was seeing his long-lost son.

"Oh my God, don't touch him!" Mel cried out anxiously, both afraid that Kantubi would be attacked and worried about the old man's life.

"Tch, don't make a fuss. I can tell the difference between a mystic, a murderer, and an ordinary person." Kantubi skillfully bent down and broke free from the old man's embrace. "For example, you, you exude an aura of 'I am a lamb, come and slaughter me.'"

"I'm so sorry! And then?"

“There are plenty of mentally unstable people here; they often wander around unrestrained. This guy is probably not one of them.” Kantubi rolled his eyes and stood next to Mel. “Who are you?”

"village head."

The two received a completely different answer than they had expected, and they looked at each other in bewilderment.

As they were talking, the other villagers stopped what they were doing and quickly gathered around.

"What do you want?" Kantubi gripped his pistol warily.

"Welcome, welcome," the villagers said. "It's a pity we were attacked recently and can't properly entertain you."

This warm welcome was a stark contrast to the previous village, leaving the two somewhat bewildered.

"Aren't you afraid of her?" Kantubi asked the village chief in confusion.

Why should I be afraid of her?

"There's a village along this road. I just passed through there, and they still thought she was going to eat their child."

"Ignore them!" The village chief grinned, pointing to the spot by the campfire. "The ones I know only eat breadfruit, they never eat children."

"Huh?" Kantubi looked in the direction of his finger but didn't see anything unusual. "What is that?"

"A white person like her!"

Kantubi was completely bewildered and could only remain silent. Mel took the opportunity to pause and look at the translation software's results, and subconsciously sighed.

"Oh, God!"

"Oh, God!"

A similar voice immediately came from the other side of the campfire, and a man and a woman quickly walked towards them.

The two men were dressed in the same clothes as the villagers, and were tanned dark. From behind, they looked no different from the locals. Only when they turned around did their lighter-colored eyes distinguish them from the crowd.

After staring at each other for a moment, the gray-eyed man tentatively spoke in English.

"Good evening, God bless you. Are you both from Lion Country?" (End of Chapter)