World Occult Usage Guide

Chapter 80 Golden Dawn
The Foundation members couldn't see Thunderbird's panel, but they vaguely sensed that its appearance had changed.

“If I’m not mistaken, the Thunderbird wood carving has more rounded edges…” Simon said hesitantly, “That’s probably why you think it’s ‘short’.”

Upon closer inspection, the team members confirmed that the Thunderbird's head, wings, and body had been sculpted several times compared to the previous photos, and the somewhat clumsy carving made it even more lifelike.

Although there is no actual measurement data, the mysterious person felt that this was probably a sign of a decrease in pollution levels.

In the oppressive silence, the female captain delivered the final decision.

"We must send it to headquarters as soon as possible. If we leave it in New York, it may cause a disaster one day."

After leaving the Level 1 control room, Lin An followed Simon back to the rest area.

The facilities provided special accommodations for several guests who had traveled from afar, and they were usually almost undisturbed by staff.

With no one around, Simon turned to Lin An, who was lost in thought.

"Lin, are you being honest this time?"

"Ok?"

Lin An was still reeling from the shock of how Thunderbird had converted pollution levels into radiation values, and was having a heated discussion with the system about the methods it had used, when he suddenly heard Simon's question and couldn't help but be taken aback.

Quickly changing his mood, he said expectantly, "To tell you the truth, Captain, no."

"I guessed it. You rarely say anything completely honest unless it's absolutely necessary. So, tell me, what are you hiding?"

Lin An coughed a few times, feigning embarrassment, and took out the magic wand from his waist. This mysterious item was rated legendary, and if he took it out to fight, Simon would definitely notice something was wrong, so it was better to confess sooner rather than later.

“Its energy…is even more concentrated.” Simon indeed discovered this.

"I was so angry that while those two were admiring the plant gold, I secretly used my wand to approach the black box and used alchemy to absorb some of the energy stored in the plant gold."

Lin An waved his wand, about to unleash its power to demonstrate, but Simon stopped him repeatedly.

"Don't vandalize other people's office buildings."

"I understand." Lin An put his wand back in. "Anyway, how was I supposed to know that they would both die an hour after I parted ways? I'm afraid that captain will think I indirectly caused their deaths."

“Here is my guess.” Simon pondered for a moment, “Colette and Lecia studied the incomplete plant gold, which increased their level of contamination and caused them to become mentally confused. Because the exchange warehouse and Thunderbird’s level one control room were too close, the two died after being bewitched by Thunderbird.”

"Captain, you understand me." Lin An nodded vigorously.
“This isn’t your fault,” Simon said. “I’m glad you told me what happened.”

The captain is such a good person with a strong sense of justice.

Lin An rarely expressed his feelings, but unfortunately he couldn't be honest with the other party, because Simon would definitely not agree with his course of action, and Lin An was unlikely to compromise or repent.

He gave Simon an "OK" sign, said goodbye, and went back to his room.

The shock of the Thunderbird's numerical changes still lingered in Lin An's mind, but he put it aside for the time being.

After all, if he were to ask Thunderbird now, it would be neither possible nor possible for it to tell Lin An the truth of the matter in person.

Lin An opened the panels for Koret and Lecia and carefully read the green data.

Two mysterious figures of E-rank in the ghost story.

Speaking of which, the mystery ratings of the members of the inspection team are generally low. For example, Reagan, the leader of the four-person team, is also a mystery of the E-level in the ghost stories.

People with very high ratings, like Lin An, have hardly ever heard of the inspection team since they joined.

However, the president of the Dietrich City Foundation was no low-ranking individual; Lin An even guessed that he was at the mythical level and possessed unfathomable abilities.

Does headquarters have a way to change the existing rating?
This reminded Lin An of Cardenas, who once said that Doris could "foresee" the divine mediums through which ordinary people awaken.

Based on her experiments with April, Lin An speculated that in the period before awakening, the types of media attracted might change synchronously due to changes in behavior, mood, and cognition.

Returning to the panel, both the expert Adept and the mysterious sister Soror mystica are magicians from the Golden Dawn.

Golden Dawn?

This secret mystical society, also known as the Hermesian Order, was a secret society based on metaphysics that was active in the Lion Kingdom from the 19th to the early 20th century, and later spread to the Eagle Kingdom.

Its ideas made an indelible contribution to modern Western mysticism in the 20th century. It generally taught three kinds of magical knowledge and was divided into three knightly orders.

The First Order is based on classical elements of Kabbalah philosophy and spiritual exploration, primarily through Tarot divination; the Second is the Inner Order, which teaches the secrets of astral travel and alchemy; the Third teaches empathy, primarily through the manipulation of gravity.

Although Coret and Leicia are known as alchemists, the entries they trace back to are actually about gravity.

This also represents the changing times and the shift in people's perceptions.

Compared to ancient Western alchemy, the Golden Dawn is more like a modern pursuit of mysticism, similar to the relationship between the Saviour Bishop and the Mormon Church.

Due to technological advancements, modern alchemy focuses on altering the laws governing matter, rather than on literal transformation.

The transformation of metals is a secondary pursuit, even a byproduct of spiritual pursuits. Experts aspire to become Hermesian idealists, therefore the knowledge they value is all about self-perfection, a necessary part of communicating with God. The priority of the D-level mystical arts in the supernatural tales is too low to be of much use to Lin An now. The only saving grace is that the mystical entries of both are the same, allowing for "tracing the source."

After a moment's thought, Lin An gave instructions to the system.

“Tracing the origins of the two entries in ‘Those who progress to become masters through learning II’.”

"By tracing the source, you have obtained the entry 'Those who progress to mastery through learning I - Golden Dawn,' and a new illustration has been unlocked."

【Name】：Golden Dawn
[Rating]: Disaster Level E

[Medium]: The seeker of knowledge

The original four capabilities have been merged into two, resulting in an improved rating.

Two more abilities have disappeared... Lin An secretly noted down the negative effects of the tracing function.

One is called "Extra Weight," which consumes 2 "Judges" to apply an extra 3 times the gravity that an individual experiences to another.

The other is [Escape Gravity], which consumes 1 'Master of Agriculture' and 1 'Dreamer' to remove the gravity of itself or any target, allowing them to float briefly in the air, ignoring gravity, as if they had entered outer space.

"Can this entry be incorporated into 'The Complete Book of Magic II'?" Lin An asked the system.

"Unfortunately, modern alchemy and ancient alchemy have different focuses and cannot be combined."

The system's response revealed an insurmountable ideological and logical divide caused by ethnic migration.

The next morning, Lin An was yawning and preparing to leave New York for a trip when he suddenly bumped into Sith the cat, who was also yawning, in the corridor.

Her makeup was completely washed off, revealing an ordinary face, except for two soft cat ears that twitched, proving her identity as a mysterious person.

"My God, how come the Mystic of New York is out of control every day?"

Lin An slid to the side of the corridor, about to sound the alarm, when he heard Cat Sis click his tongue impatiently.

“Look carefully, I’ve already been recruited.” She pulled out her black card. “I received an email yesterday saying that if you’re interested, you can join the Foundation’s Direct Recruitment Department after completing the new recruit training. A lot of people are scrambling to sign up, and I’m just one of them.”

Lin An was taken aback.

Why did they recruit the controlled mysterious individuals instead of sending them to headquarters to await "processing"?
This is unlike the foundations he's used to!
Could it be... that there are power struggles within the inspection team as well?
…………

In the meeting room at night, several team leaders from the departments directly involved gathered together.

“This big problem is finally gone from New York,” a captain said. “Since taking control of the Thunderbirds, our facility has lost all of its inspectorate members.”

“Although they are powerful and can contact headquarters, I still feel…” another captain stroked his chin, “It’s very uncomfortable to operate under their noses.”

Shh, watch your words.

“It’s still a bit strange.” The first captain changed the subject. “Although Koret has always been eager for quick success, it’s a bit too hasty to start refining the [Plant Gold] as soon as he got it.”

"Speaking of which, that Chinese man from Dietrich... is also an alchemist."

“Lin and the other two’s deaths should not be directly related.” The female captain shook her head. “He is a ‘Seeker of Knowledge’ medium and a legendary level, so he can’t hide it from me.”

“He works for the Dietrich branch. We don’t have the authority to investigate across districts, so we have to hand it over to headquarters.”

"Um……"

Just as the group was looking at each other in bewilderment, the phone in the meeting room rang. The female team leader answered it and learned that the Minister of Civil Affairs wanted them to go to the president's office immediately.

The fact that the president wasn't in the facility made the request seem absurd, but because the Minister of Civil Affairs repeatedly emphasized the urgency, the team leaders had no choice but to go to the top floor together.

What awaited them was a remotely connected projection recording.

"Stop investigating the inspectors' deaths. Just blame everything on [Thunderbird]."

"Oh, you are... a congressman from Washington?"

"To be precise, we are a committee formed by the Eagle Nation in response to the increasingly frequent supernatural events. Congress has introduced a new bill regarding the management of the St. Anilov Foundation."

"What?" The captains looked at each other in bewilderment.

"In fact, the major shareholder that has been funding you all, Wood Group, has agreed to the revised plan. However, before the inspection team can be handed over smoothly, you still need to complete some tasks."

"How can I help you?"

"Here's the thing, this is the newly drafted 'Dawn Act.' It hasn't officially passed a vote yet, but it's not far from being implemented," the person on the other end of the video said. "Coincidentally, taking advantage of the 'departure' of members of the old inspection team, this association hopes that members of the new York branch..."

The captains listened, their faces growing increasingly shocked.

Thank you to WhereOceanGo for the monthly ticket, and to all the readers for your recommendations and subscriptions!
I've been quite busy with work lately and run out of drafts. I'll be updating with a 4000-word chapter tomorrow at 18:09 PM, marking the end of New York City and the beginning of the Virginia Wilderness.


(End of this chapter)