World Occult Usage Guide

Chapter 53 The Monster of the International Bridge

Alpha-001, [Thunderbird], a mysterious being active in Michigan, gender unknown, a mysterious thunderbird, the medium speculated to be "100% naturalistic".

Since June 2, 2037, Thunderbird has been sighted throughout Michigan. The Foundation’s direct response team launched a full-scale operation to control it, but unfortunately, it failed.

The Thunderbird is too powerful; the entire Direct-to-Depth Department is no match for it.

However, Thunderbird did not kill the members of the control team and voluntarily signed a peace treaty with the Foundation. It vowed to stay in the remote forest and ask the Foundation not to disturb its life again.

The Foundation had no choice but to agree, but the file stated that if given the opportunity, all team members should capture the Thunderbird.

Once subdued, please immediately transport the Thunderbird to the research department at headquarters. As the native nature god, it is a walking encyclopedia of mystical data and will make a significant contribution to the Titans' research on "Comers".

This is a Thanksgiving re-enactment...

Lin An put the documents back on Simon's desk.

"Hmm..." the captain sighed in frustration. "Lin, you're a user of the World Tree Forum, right?"

Founder Lin An remained calm and asked, "Is there something you need, Captain?"

Simon turned the computer screen to him; the black page with the line "You have been permanently removed from the World Tree Forum :)" was so eye-catching and glaring.

Captain, how did you get your account banned by my automatic settings?!

"As you can see, I've been banned by the website administrator." Simon seemed a little embarrassed, raising one wing to cover his face. "Please back up the post. This is our destination for the next mission."

"Okay, Captain."

I'd like to see what outrageous things you've said on my forum that got you reported by 50 people.

Lin An took out his phone and clicked on the link Simon had sent.

Toronto_dream: Has anyone from the UK claimed this "ferry" on the International Bridge? [Image]
Toronto_dream: Here's what happened: I took these photos last night near the International Bridge in Dietrich. [Image] Due to the nature of my work, I swear there are no ships like this in Canadian ports.

The image shows a long, thin shadow in the distance on the water, curved in an arc and ending in an oval shape. It is not clearly visible due to the thick fog, but it resembles a chimney or some kind of giant eel.

Toronto_dream: If this isn't a ship from the United States either... then I probably saw a lake monster last night!

Mobile-Vikings: By all accounts, that doesn't look like a ferry's smokestack. Clearly, we have to prepare for the worst.

PreNice7043: Are you sure you were conscious at the time?

Toronto_dream: You're the one who's flying high... Do you think the camera can have synesthesia with its owner?
Malkuth_22: Instead of posting on World Tree, you should Google it. Ships docked in British ports have entry and exit records, especially such conspicuous ferries. It's easy to find photos of their models.

kbs14415: If I had to say it's a boat, I thought of one possibility—it's a dragon boat from the Dragon Kingdom. They're celebrating the Spring Festival soon, so they're preparing to launch the dragon boat in advance.

Chickentoopretty: Dragon boat racing is for the Dragon Boat Festival, not the Spring Festival. Brother, please, please check the information.

Hypericum: We're already on the World Tree Forum, why are we still seriously discussing ship models? Can't we come up with some more mystical speculations?

Hypericum: Both the United States and the United States have legends of sea monsters. In the United States, they are called sea serpents or sea monsters, and as for the United States, don't we have Ogopogo? I even bought a stuffed toy of it last year.

Are you referring to the sea serpent?

+YuganDali+: Now that you mention it, its outline does indeed resemble a sea serpent, or perhaps a dinosaur.

Birdwatching: What's that? The Loch Ness Monster?
Apainin001: The water monster is an urban legend derived from the giant sea serpent, and its true form refers to an ancient, evil, giant water serpent.

Apainin001: In the Old Testament of the Western Continent, the term 'Leviathan' is occasionally used to refer to this monster. Although it is mostly a title for a dragon, it is undoubtedly an enemy of God. Babylonian texts also record the battle between the god Marduk and the multi-headed dragon Tiamat.

Apainin001: In Hittite mythology, the weather god defeated the dragon Iluyankas. Their Canaanite relatives also recorded a battle between the god Baal and a monster called Leviathan in their poetry.

Apainin001: The image of the water serpent has been passed down and plays the role of a monster in pantheons around the world. In fact, the fear of huge creatures that live in the deep sea is very common, the most famous being the Kraken.

grosbec: OP, did you stop to check?
Toronto_dream: I can't confirm. I just rolled down the window and the huge dark shadow disappeared. I feel like it either drove out of my visibility range or... sank.

total-smokeshow: Damn, guys, type "scared" in the chat!

_jeremybear_: That's strange. If I remember correctly, someone posted a few days ago about seeing a dark figure near the International Bridge. However, that poster was so insistent on proving he wasn't a Fury fanatic that no one took his statement seriously.

MrEHam: So he's a Fu Rui fanatic?
_jeremybear_: Haven't the frequency of mysterious incidents at the International Bridge been a bit too high lately? Could there really be something strange going on around there?

BabyAdele: Ugh, now I'm afraid to walk alone at night.

Lloyd19890401: Do you remember the time and location of the photo? The picture only shows the water surface, not which section of the International Bridge you were on.

Toronto_dream: I wasn't on the bridge; I was passing by in a boat.

Lloyd19890401: When you took the photo, approximately where was the ship located on the International Bridge?
Toronto_dream: So what if you know? Want to have a solo match with me offline? I'm warning you, World Tree Forum doesn't allow users to reveal their real identities!

HunkaHunka: Yeah, why are you asking this? Toronto_dream: Judging from that person's ID, he looks like a creepy middle-aged man. Just report him and be done with it.

Lloyd19890401: I'm not interested in your personal information, I just want to know your flight path and when you encountered the "shadow".

Toiler: It does feel a bit strange.

Toronto_dream: ...This is no different from opening a box.

Shortly after the poster posted this reply, the team leader's account was banned.

Lin An's lips twitched. The World Tree Forum operates on a completely anonymous system. The three main reasons for banning users, besides personal attacks and advertising, are the active or passive exposure of one's personal information.

Actually, there wasn't much of a problem with the captain's reply. People are often curious about where the mysterious events happened, and most posters are happy to answer their questions.

The poster, whose profession is unknown, suddenly became flustered when asked the question, and stirred up trouble, causing other users to swarm in and accuse Simon of being an offline stalker. A bunch of people reported him, and the system automatically banned his account.

Toronto_dream, right? I'll remember you.

Speaking of which, the World Tree Forum has seen a significant increase in traffic recently. Before December, it would have been impossible to gather 50 whistleblowers in such a short time.

At that moment, Mish pushed open the door and entered. Simon and the three of them introduced the destination of their next shift, which was the International Bridge.

According to these World Tree users, the mysterious events occurred mostly in the early morning. The captain instructed the team to prepare and begin patrolling the area around the bridge from tomorrow night, searching for suspicious individuals.

Since the Witch of Bavomet and her followers have been sighted several times in transboundary waterways, Simon believes that this "sea monster" may be a member of the Free Mystic faction.

Although the probability of their lair being discovered was very small, considering that the witch's small boat often lingered under the International Bridge, Lin An thought of his senior and tentatively asked her.

"Captain, is killing the only way to deal with the free mystics? Can't we recruit them into the Foundation? I just finished reading the files of the witch and her followers, and I found some records of punishing scum and criminals."

“The Witches and the Foundation are mortal enemies, not just because of whose blood they have on their hands, but because of a clash of ideologies,” Simon said in a deep voice. “The Witches are synonymous with chaos and disorder, while the Foundation is the discipline of restraint.”

"Isn't there a compromise between the two?" Lin An asked.

"The foundation is a place that sets limits on humanity because we respect constitutionalism and legitimacy, and believe that 'law' is above the state and individuals. This is undoubtedly cruel and foolish. Not all laws are fair, but they can maintain the stability of society."

The angel's thick eyelashes obscured her silver eyes, and she replied with a blank expression.

"As long as the sword remains in its sheath, madness will not go too far. The Eagle Nation will maintain its familiar form through it—this is what the chairman once told me."

Leaving the captain's office, Mi Xi pulled Lin An into the elevator on the basement floor and headed to the exchange warehouse.

Surprisingly, Lin An discovered that the elevator was stopped on the second basement level.

If I remember correctly, the second basement level is full of mysterious individuals controlled by level one and level two. Why would anyone run there?
Is it the defense line squad?

The two arrived at the exchange warehouse. Lin An swiped his black card, and X helped them open the electronic door. The high-tech walls and retro murals of the exchange warehouse came into view.

Mishi excitedly typed on the computer, took out her phone, hesitated for a moment, and then put it back.

"Forget it, there's no need for photos that can't be posted on social media to take up memory..."

He's living a very fulfilling life, which is why he's awakened to be a mystic.

The mediums used by deities are becoming less and less selective.

Watching her retreating figure, Lin An was lost in thought.

Mishi was dazzled by the wide array of exchangeable items. If Lin An hadn't been waiting, she probably could have browsed for hours.

Finally, she chattered on to Lin An about the items she planned to exchange for in the future. The two of them took the elevator together and returned to the foundation's first-floor reception area.

The elevator is stopped on the first floor again.

According to the access levels, apart from the two ministers, ground personnel are not allowed to ride this elevator.

"Ding dong."

As expected, when the elevator doors opened, Lin An saw a familiar figure, greeted the security guard, and left the secluded elevator lobby through the automatic doors.

It was the Minister of Logistics, Jorna Cardenas.

Lin An recalled the information he found online about the Cardenas family and the suspicious points in the foundation's internal files, and quickly made a decision.

"System, use [Blood Calamity] on that person."

Thank you to 我是傻瓜001 and 风讯七七 for the monthly tickets, and thank you to all the readers for your recommendations and continued reading!

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(End of this chapter)