World Occult Usage Guide

The weather was as hot as ever. The paint-chipped off-road vehicle sped through the wilderness as if participating in an eighty-minute world-class motorcycle race, traversing mountains and valleys, dodging tall trees, bushes, giraffes, and honey badgers that suddenly appeared.

As the wheels moved forward, a path, worn into the half-dead, endless grass, appeared. Generally speaking, this meant that there was a village or city ahead.

After glancing at the extent of the "baldness" on the road surface, Lin An figured they were probably on the right track.

Nearly two hours later, Coffey began to frequently wipe the brakes, not only because the unrepaired mud road was extremely slippery, but also because he could encounter groups of idle people everywhere, carrying wicker baskets on their heads filled with fruit or leaves.

As the SUV passed by, these people cast wary and hostile glances, but did nothing more. Just as Lin An was about to close his eyes to rest, the sound of gunfire rang out, as if someone had set off a string of firecrackers in the distance.

"Damn, Débrouillez Vous (adaptable)!"

Kantubi cursed loudly. This was a nice way of saying it, but in reality, it meant soldiers or bandits who relied on their guns to rob people on the road.

"crunch-"

Kofi slammed on the brakes, the wheels screeching. Kantubi leaned out the window, his hands in a prayer gesture, his eyes slightly closed. A meteor with a long tail fell from the sky like a missile, striking the group hiding behind a tree.

"Boom!"

Smoke filled the air, flames roared, tree trunks snapped under the weight, and several disheveled people stumbled out from behind.

Upon seeing the SUV, they all knelt down simultaneously, placed their guns in front of them, and shouted in a local dialect, presumably begging for mercy by saying "surrender, surrender."

Kantubi and Mel also got off the vehicle with guns. Since they came from different tribes, they couldn't communicate. After some negotiation, one of the surrendered soldiers had a sudden idea. He took out a dirty leather badge and kept gesturing to make them read the colorful pattern on it.

"General Wanba, First-Class Army Commander of the Great Ubangi Nation".

The soldiers' identities were confirmed by their broken French. Kantubi and Mel exchanged a glance; the former disarmed him, while the latter handed the badge to Fu Bin in the car.

"This Wanba is the Ernest Wanba you mentioned, right?" Lin An observed. "It seems we're not far from being under the jurisdiction of your classmate."

"A first-level army commander... these few scoundrels robbing passersby are really too abstract." Fu Bin played with the soft leather, his expression a mix of amusement and exasperation. "What happened to the Ubangi army being an 'invincible' and invincible army of kings?"

Even so, the Bantu army continued to suffer defeat after defeat.

“I feel like if I pulled out the meteorological bureau of my motherland, it could plow through my old classmate’s military camp over and over again.” Fu Bin accepted the badge and said to Mel, “Have those people lead the way for us.”

The deserters, stripped of their weapons, walked forward barefoot with trepidation, followed slowly by an off-road vehicle. More and more people came and went, and several minibuses passed by.

About three hours later, the road surface gradually became smoother, but for some reason, there were fewer people coming and going. Instead, there was a wire fence on the left side of the road, and the town located on the southeast side of the grassland could be vaguely seen through the mesh.

The deserters stopped and pointed to a watchtower not far away, indicating that Ubangi's troops were stationed inside.

"I'll wait for you in the car," Lin An gestured to Fu Bin and the others.

The three new recruits looked at each other, their eyes revealing a thoughtful expression, but they said nothing. They led the deserter closer to the watchtower, and when they were about ten meters away, several gun barrels emerged from the hole.

Not to be outdone, Kantubi nudged the deserter's lower back with his pistol, signaling for them to negotiate. However, the soldiers were sweating profusely, stammering, and standing still.

"What, you don't know each other?" Mel asked, puzzled.

"Tch, most likely. I bet they're either deserters or they picked up the equipment from the corpses and then claimed it as their own." Kantubi rolled his eyes, pulled the gun he'd been pointing at the deserter's back, and said, "Get lost!"

Although they did not speak the same language, some of their pronunciations were similar. The deserters immediately staggered and scattered, but the next moment, gunshots rang out from the watchtower.

"Ping! Ping! Ping!"

The bullets pierced the soldiers' bodies, with most hitting the ground and kicking up dust.

The soldier inside yelled in broken French, "This is a military camp! No wandering around! Stay where you are!"

"They've come with ill intentions," Fu Bin said, putting his hands behind his back.

"You are the one here."

A mechanical voice, neither male nor female, rang in his ears, startling Fu Bin. He instinctively turned around to look, only to see green data slowly spreading out, obscuring the image of the off-road vehicle, like a fog.

"Don't worry, I'm the [Forest Ranger], and I'm watching you."

Since being equipped with a synchronous audio transmission function, Lin An can not only write code remotely, but also read the code aloud with a synthesized voice, achieving the function of a "wireless Bluetooth headset".

Turning the "One Eye of God," its range covered the entire military camp, revealing all the intelligence about the Ubangi army. Tents of all sizes were laid out on the ground, probably crammed with soldiers. In any case, many were lying on the outside of the tents, dozing off.

However, Lin An is not here to kill or set fires this time.

His gaze shifted to the far end of the military camp, where a barbed wire fence, surrounded by lush trees, formed a natural barrier around a large, light yellow house in the center.

Lin An guessed that this military camp belonged to the Bantu Kingdom's army. The large tents were original, the small tents were temporary, and the yellow house was the officers' quarters. He turned his gaze back to the soldiers on the watchtower who had come down and surrounded Fu Bin and the others, and the two sides were communicating in French.

A soldier ran toward the yellow house, and fifteen minutes later, he returned.

"The general says you may come in."

The soldier muttered a few words to his companions in the local dialect. A look of disbelief flashed across their faces as they reluctantly laid down their weapons and climbed back to the watchtower, leaving only the soldier to lead the way.

"Wang Wang Wang!"

Two striped hunting dogs paced back and forth in front of the yellow house. They were thin and fierce, baring their teeth and barking at strangers.

Lin An took a closer look and realized it wasn't a dog, but a coyote.

The soldiers leading the way stepped forward to stop the hyenas, but they howled more and more fiercely, as if they wanted to pounce on them and tear their necks apart. But as soon as Kantubi rolled up his sleeves, they all fell silent.

"You little beast, are you scared already?"

"Hello, please don't hurt them." The next moment, a voice rang out from the other side of the barbed wire, "The general said he thanks you for coming, please come in."

The soldier who pushed open the iron gate stood tall and straight, with a firm gaze and upright posture. He was a completely different kind of soldier from the ones he had seen along the way. He must be a trusted general of the "notorious" general.

Finally, I encountered a soldier who was of decent quality.

After observing for a moment, Lin An said to Fu Bin, "This guy isn't a mystery person, but I detected the aura of 'Comers' in the house."

"Then I..."

"Since you're already here, go ahead. I'll remotely control the [Burning Mirror] to provide support if anything happens."

"Okay, okay." Fu Bin wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and muttered in Chinese, "Forest ranger, you're just like a heartless system, exploiting your unfortunate host."

Lin An's lips twitched as he understood what was meant.

The Year of the Boomerang, right? The system is actually myself.

Seeing Fu Bin muttering to himself, the officer said again, "Please come in. Don't worry about the general's dogs; they won't hurt you."

"A puppy?" Fu Bin murmured, walking slowly forward. He saw his owner's hyena lying to one side, barely paying attention to the group as they passed by.

The officer led the group behind the barbed wire fence, where a small farm came into view. Many people dressed as villagers were working hard, and several Brahman cows and Isula chickens were running around. An indescribable stench of livestock filled the air.

But when the officer pushed open the door, Lin An noticed from the changes in everyone's expressions that the smell inside the yellow house was not bad. The house had polished green cement floors and eggshell white walls, creating a strong sense of contrast with the desolation and barrenness outside.

The officer led several people through the corridor and pushed open a door.

Lin An looked around. The living room was bright and clean, with yellow curtains hanging in front of the windows. The walls were decorated with framed photos of various wild animals. There was a large bookcase on the east wall with a rich collection of books, stereo speakers and cassette tapes. In the center of the coffee table was a malachite chessboard and bone chess pieces.

A man in a dark green military uniform slowly turned to the side. He had a clean-cut buzz cut, and the whites of his eyes and teeth gleamed like ivory.

“Wang—General Ernest Wamba?” Fu Bin said somewhat nervously, “Hello.”

"Hello, who are you?" the general asked hesitantly in broken Chinese.

"My name is Fu Bin. We used to live in the same dormitory building... Do you remember me?"

"Oh, of course, Brother Fu Bin." The general suddenly realized, a faint smile appearing on his face. "You've gotten so dark! I almost didn't recognize you. Anyway, I've already learned about your situation from the soldiers. Please make yourself at home, don't be shy."

The four people sat on the sofa when the door was pushed open, and a middle-aged woman carrying a tea tray walked in. She was wearing a neat and tidy blue dress and had a red floral cloth called "chitenge" wrapped around her head.

“It’s so good to see you all this time. Please make yourself at home and don’t feel too uncomfortable,” the general said with a smile, gesturing to the woman pouring tea. “This is my wife, Iyaloha.”

Fu Bin smiled and greeted her, and she raised her head and returned a bright smile. She spoke with a soft, exotic accent, which had an indescribable allure.

“Please sit down, friend.” Iyaloha poured tea. “Would you like milk and sugar?”

"No need," Fu Bin said instinctively.

“This is a very healthy way to drink it.” The woman turned to the others who had taken their seats. “Do you need milk and sugar?”

Seeing that the other party meant no harm, Kantubi and Mel started ordering drinks one after another. Only Kofi watched Fu Bin's expression with concern, because at one moment, his eyelid twitched noticeably.

The reason was simple: Lin An whispered something in his ear.

"This woman... she doesn't seem to have any good intentions." (End of Chapter)