World Occult Usage Guide

Chapter 50 The Rabbit Likes Lin An
Simon lifted the black rabbit with the restraint straps. It wriggled its plump, patterned body, looking extremely unwilling.

"Captain, why did James suddenly change like this at the last moment?" Mishi asked in confusion.

"Logically speaking, the 'Dreamer' medium is selective in its users, but it is not dangerous to use. Even for an immature teenager like James, without the assistance of professional knowledge, there were not many abnormalities after two weeks of awakening."

Simon frowned slightly as he watched the black rabbit kicking its legs incessantly.

"I can't answer your question either. The only thing I'm sure of is that this 'Dreamer' rabbit can provide valuable information to the research department."

The rabbit relentlessly rubbed against the restraints with its front teeth.

"I always feel that it..."

Lin An tentatively took a step to the left, and Zomo immediately looked over. He started jumping from side to side, Zomo's eyes were fixed on him, and his head kept turning.

No matter which way Lin An went, it struggled in that direction.

"Captain, this rabbit seems to have fallen in love with me," he said expressionlessly.

"what?"

"Zomo can't hurt me, can he?" Lin An asked.

"The legendary Zomo is a wise, cunning, and fast-running hare from the South, and is relatively harmless," Simon explained. "It's tied up with restraints to prevent it from escaping, which would require a lot of effort to catch it again."

"Then...can I hug you?"

"can."

As Simon spoke, he handed the rabbit to Lin An.

“However, the mysterious being with 100% contamination is merely a remnant manipulated by 'Commerx' energy, lacking self-awareness. Lin, the gaze you sensed might be a misperception—”

Before he could finish speaking, the frantically struggling rabbit fell silent the moment it touched Lin An's finger.

Simon paused for a moment, then took it back.

The rabbit immediately started punching and kicking.

He handed it back to Lin An, and the rabbit lowered its two large, erect ears and remained motionless.

“This…” Simon was stunned. “I’ve never encountered anything like this before. How could a mysterious being with 100% contamination still retain the love they had in life…”

"Ahem, ahem." Lin An quickly reminded him, "Captain, first of all, I was just joking, secondly, it was a male rabbit, and finally, Jim and I have only known each other for a few hours!"

"Shocking! A male university student in Ann Arbor did this to a minor!"

"Get out of here, clickbait headlines!"

Lin An took Zomo from Simon's hands. It was soft and fluffy to the touch, but very cold. Its body had almost no temperature, and he could not hear any sounds of its internal organs moving. It was as soft and fluffy as a cloud.

Zomo nestled obediently against Lin An's chest, clinging to him like an octopus. Even if Simon grabbed its tail, it would be difficult to pull it out of Lin An's arms, let alone use the restraints.

Lin An stroked the rabbit's black fur.

Jim died because of the medium of the "Lady with the Lamp," and I attracted that medium, causing his mysterious remains to become close to me.

Is this what makes the "Lady with the Lamp" so special?

“That’s strange…” Simon hesitated for a moment, “Lin, have you sensed anything unusual?”

"No, I'm perfectly fine."

“It seems that with our current understanding of ‘Comers,’ we cannot explain this situation.” Simon shook his head. “Back at the St. Anilov Foundation, we will hand this rabbit over to the research department, and as a reward, each of you will receive an extra 5 points.”

“Give my points to Lin,” Barry said after a long silence. “I don’t deserve the reward.”

“In any case, you still have a guaranteed 3 points.” Simon glanced at him. “Remember to go to the Foundation’s research department and have them examine the mystery you recently awakened.”

"Then I can get 10 points?" Lin An said.

"Yes, controlling a mysterious person earns 20 points, so we each get 5 points."

"I understand."

The sharp siren of a police car interrupted their conversation. Lin An looked into the distance and saw that the sky was beginning to lighten; it was already dawn.

The matter concluded successfully, and the town mayor expressed his gratitude to the group and bid them farewell.

Farmington remained as peaceful and cozy as ever, until the librarian noticed that a black ghost had vanished forever from the corner of the bookshelf.

…………

That evening, Lin An read the third book of magic for a while, and was just about to turn off the lights and crawl into the space capsule to sleep when he suddenly noticed a strange gaze coming from somewhere.

He turned around abruptly, and a black rabbit the size of a baby stood in the doorway.

It twitches its pink, triangular nose and blinks its large, innocent eyes. If you ignore its exotic plaid pattern, it looks just like an ordinary pet rabbit.

Zomo?!
Isn't it in the research department?
Before Lin An could react, the rabbit leaped high from the ground with its hind legs and pounced into Lin An's arms.

Startled at first, Lin An stroked the harmless Zomo and gradually calmed down, only to have countless blemishes linger in his mind.

Hey, Foundation, didn't you say that there have been virtually no out-of-control incidents since its inception?
A mysterious creature has run into my bedroom!
Is it really a case of "we control, we make mistakes, we run away"?

I am very disappointed in you!

Holding the Zomo rabbit, Lin An had just approached the organization building from the dormitory building when he heard the alarm blaring incessantly. He weaved through the crowd and grabbed an employee in a research department uniform at the stairwell, showing him the rabbit. "Is this what you're looking for?"

The employee's expression changed drastically, and he rushed off to report the news. About two minutes later, the alarm stopped, and the head of the research department brewed a pot of black tea and handed it to Lin An.

"I'm very sorry, this was due to our mismanagement."

The head of the research department is a woman in her forties with a refined demeanor. She wears thick-rimmed black glasses and has her sparse, long, golden-brown hair tied up. There are rumors within the department that she is the president's wife.

"I'm curious, how come you couldn't even keep an eye on Zomo?" Lin An said tactfully.

"Here's the thing, Mr. Lin. In order to get the test results, we untied Zeta-027's restraints. Unexpectedly, at the same time as we obtained the data, Zeta-027 suddenly disappeared from the isolation room."

The research minister clasped his hands together and gave a formulaic explanation.

"Our research confirmed that this is a kind of 'wall-penetrating' ability, which means that Zeta-027 can ignore space and move freely in the isolation room. Because the research staff did not have the ability to catch it, they were momentarily negligent and it escaped."

No wonder it entered my room so quietly, without even needing to open the door.

Lin An's lips twitched: "Fine..."

"We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused. As compensation, please submit Zeta-027, and we will reward you with 20 points as per regulations."

Acceptable compensation.

Lin An handed Zomo over to the defense team, who wrapped the rabbit with a restraint strap and took it back to the research department.

The next day, Lin An had just finished lunch.

Turning around, he saw the black rabbit standing silently in the corridor, its big eyes blinking expectantly. The moment their eyes met, Zomo jumped into Lin An's arms with a "plop".

The familiar black tea, the familiar head of the research department, and the familiar rhetoric.

"I am very sorry, this was due to our mismanagement."

"Sometimes I feel like I'm a time traveler, otherwise why would I have experienced the exact same thing twice within just 24 hours?"

Lin An looked at the dignified research minister.

"Why can't you control the test subjects? Is it because you don't want to?

The research minister's standardized smile showed a slight crack.

"That's right, Mr. Lin. This time we had members of the defense team supervise us, but they are from the front-line department and can't stay in the research department 24 hours a day. They left after the experiment was over."

"Did you remember to re-fasten the restraints?"

“That’s for sure. But for some reason, it escaped the isolation room again.” The research director rested his chin on his hand. “We are very sorry for the inconvenience caused. As compensation, please submit Epsilon-027, and we will give you 20 points according to regulations.”

The swallows return, seemingly familiar.

Just when Lin An thought the same thing wouldn't happen a third time, he was brushing his teeth in the early morning when he looked up and saw a black rabbit reflected in the mirror.

Lin An spat out the mouthwash as usual and opened his arms.

"whisper!"

Zomo the rabbit skillfully hopped into his arms.

"We are very sorry for the inconvenience caused by our mismanagement. As compensation, please submit Delta-027 and we will give you 20 points according to the regulations."

After listening to the research department head's lightning-fast chanting, Lin An tentatively asked...

"And what is the reason?"

"The first time we restrained this mysterious creature, which was too small and had overly smooth fur, the restraints didn't fit properly, making it difficult to completely restrict Delta-027's movement. In the dead of night, it kept gnawing on the restraints with its front teeth, causing the restraints to become less effective."

"Can't we just make a new batch?"

"Only the chairman can make this kind of item, but he recently went on a business trip to headquarters, so the existing restraints cannot be replenished or upgraded for the time being."

It turns out the binding straps were the president's secret technique.

"Isn't there any other way? The experimental subjects keep escaping, which isn't good for the organization's reputation," Lin An said indirectly.

"There are two options now. First, we can eliminate Delta-027 directly, but the Mysterious Ones of the Visionary Medium are very rare, and we want to obtain as much information as possible."

"What about the second one?"

"For some reason, Delta-027 always ends up near you. If Delta-027 escapes again, we have decided not to sound the alarm. We hope you will cooperate with the research department to bring it back."

Even the head of the research department couldn't keep a straight face at this moment.

"This is a temporary solution we've discussed. Is it acceptable to you, Mr. Lin?"

"You get points every time?"

"Yes, thank you for your understanding and support, Mr. Lin."

“I mentioned it to the Minister of the Civil Service Department once before.” Lin An leaned back in his chair. “Why didn’t you just let me buy things for free through the points system? Why go through all this trouble?”

"..."

Thank you to Moxiao for the donation, thank you to the seasoned investor You and Me, and Erlkonig for the monthly tickets, and thank you everyone for the recommendation tickets and for following along!
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(End of this chapter)