World Occult Usage Guide

Chapter 81 Deep into the Central Region
In fact, Lin An had always been very curious about the standards for control and appeasement.

One of the conditions for being recruited is definitely the level of pollution; a person who has lost their mind cannot become an employee.

Generally speaking, the controlled mysterious individuals are usually observed by the research department for a period of time before being handed over to headquarters.

Nominally, this is for the convenience of research, treatment, or persuasion, but in reality, no one around Lin An can clearly explain the classification standards used by headquarters.

According to Cardenas's dying words, these mystics were treated like "commodities," generating value for headquarters.

However, one cannot say for sure. Simon was also a Level 3 Control Mystic who was transferred to headquarters. As a result, he not only returned to Dietrich City safely, but also learned how to suppress the level of pollution and became one of the captains of the Control Squad.

However, St. Anilov could not possibly send emails to every person in charge of the wards without going through the headquarters' screening process, inviting them to join, or even excluding Catsis, the "Emperor of War" medium.

Aren't you afraid of overdoing it?

Two completely different lines of thinking, as if there were two people in power at headquarters. Lin An sensed an undercurrent of turmoil within the foundation.

But Lin An had no affiliation with the foundation; he was just using it as a shield to attract attention.

After all, going it alone makes it very easy to attract investigations from all sides, and it's too easy to expose one's identity.

“Well, it’s a pity you can’t go back to Bodehui,” Lin An said.

“Even if I go back, the troupe will never accept me again.” Catsis rolled his eyes. “Besides, I understand now, there are always animals like you in the entertainment industry who have both talent and resources.”

"Are you giving up the stage?"

"How could that be! One day, my poster will appear in Time Square, as the chief director!"

Catsis curled his lips into a smile, spread his arms, and looked as if he were about to sing an opera.

"But now, 'Comers' seems like a bigger stage, and I'm actually quite talented, so why not take this opportunity to show my skills?"

She seemed quite optimistic. Lin An glanced at his phone; there were only two hours left before departure.

Although the entry was interesting, Lin An gave up the idea of ​​including Cat Sis because of her bouncy and jumping appearance.

Besides, it would be too obvious if he just killed one person after another; he's not Conan.

"I wish you success in your new employee training."

"Thank you so much..." Catsis twitched his ears, muttered, and quickly left. "Damn it, I get chills every time I see him."

After the research department worked through the night, they detected that the pollution level of the Thunderbird had decreased by about 1-2%. Fortunately, it was still unable to move and did not have the ability to pose a threat.

The move was two hours later than scheduled, but the vehicle was eventually loaded into the special isolation compartment of the RV. The New York Foundation informed the group that they could depart.

The steel bulkheads rose, and the ship traveling from Long Island to New York opened its deck and lowered its planks.

Lin An stayed in the dark cabin for three hours before the RV started moving again, and they drove across the East River.

The wheels were facing away from the sun, and the slanting sunlight shone through the glass.

Just after leaving New York, it was still snowing lightly in northern England.

Simon gripped the steering wheel, floored the accelerator, and quickly sped out of the city's boundaries. The lights outside the window dwindled from tens of thousands to single digits, and eventually disappeared completely.

The cars that used to stream along the highway became sparse, and a young man on a motorcycle sped past, his scarf fluttering in the evening breeze.

Along the roadside, several farmers led their dogs and rang bells, herding their herds of cows home; they all stared at the impressive RV with strange looks.

The sun finally set, and the stars shone brightly.

“We’ll sleep in the car tonight,” Simon told the team members.

“Let me drive tonight. I’m a night owl,” Mishi volunteered.

Lin An wasn't used to the life of a wanderer. Listening to his companions' even breathing, he huddled in his seat, scrolling through the World Tree Forum and various social media, and only managed to close his eyes at three o'clock.

"Ugh——!"

The train's long whistle pierced the night sky, waking Lin An, who was still half asleep. He leaned against the window, and in the hazy morning light, the lush greenery along the roadside was breathtaking.

The light snow stopped without us even noticing, and the vast and beautiful forest replaced the bustling city. The winding green landscape stretched forward, divided into irregular areas by streams.

“We’ve entered the central part of the Eagle Nation,” said Mish, who was driving. “A few hundred miles more and we’ll reach the border of Virginia.”

The dark blue road sign flashed by, displaying the impossibly distant miles to San Francisco.

Once awake, it's hard to fall back asleep, especially in a bumpy car ride. Lin An quietly played on his phone, and Mi Xi, not wanting to disturb the other two, drove silently for over ten miles.

Around eight o'clock in the morning, she parked her car at a gas station.

"Where are we?" Simon asked, seemingly sensing something, as he removed his blindfold.

"Eat breakfast. I'm starving."

Barry stretched and woke up refreshed in the back seat, saying, "I'll drive in a bit. Should we fill up the gas tank?"

So he was sent to the gas station to refuel. Lin An followed the familiar British man to the fast food restaurant at the gas station. He unfolded the reflective menu, and the changes in the food reminded him that he had left the diverse, modern, and international metropolis.

Marinated asparagus coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried, fried green tomatoes, opossum meat buns drizzled with oil sauce, and pheasant meat marinated in oil with various spices.

Besides hamburgers, fried chicken, cola, and fries, this is another type of local Eagle cuisine.

Lin An couldn't get used to the greasy breakfast, so he ordered a chicken salad. The shopkeeper served him a glass of iced juice. As he swallowed the cold leaves, he missed the steaming hot jianbing guozi (Chinese crepe) shop downstairs from his high school.

Stomach pain...

After hastily finishing his salad, Lin An plugged in the gas station's power outlet, boiled a kettle of water, and poured it into a thermos. The thermos exchanged temperatures with the winter morning air, and the fleeting steam blurred his vision.

After resting for about an hour, the RV set off again, speeding along the flat road.

The sun is rising slowly in the distant sky, the sky glows with a purple light, and pale golden clouds change shape, illuminating the gradually awakening distance.

The hillside is covered with lush forests, and the ground is covered with fallen leaves and strangely shaped rocks.

The gas station was left behind until it disappeared from sight. Mishi was fast asleep in the back seat. Barry's driving skills were better than hers and Simon's. Lin An yawned and also dozed off.

This continued for three days, and the miles from San Francisco were getting shorter as the group was about to cross the state of Vigelia.

The central part of the Eagle Nation boasts beautiful and pleasant scenery, with rolling granite hills, shady riverbanks, and farmland enclosed by rough stone walls, yet it is also a poor and dilapidated place.

The phone signal kept switching between 5G and 4G, and videos wouldn't load. Recently, it finally switched to 3G, forcing Lin An to completely disconnect from the internet.

Intermittent cold food, coupled with sleepless nights, gave him a splitting headache. All he wanted to do each day was lean back in the back seat, occasionally chatting aimlessly with the system, and wasting the rest of his time.

It seems that the further away one is from New York, the slower one's thinking becomes.

The state of Virginia is picturesque, with its ancient forests a verdant expanse.

"Simon, you're speeding! You're driving way too fast!" Barry's voice came from the front seat. "The speed limit here is 75 miles per hour, and you're almost going 100."

“Don’t worry, buddy, I know what I’m doing,” Simon said cheerfully. “You should definitely take a drive on the highway in Gromania sometime. I was driving at 110 and cars kept whizzing past me.”

He and Mi Xi, those two racing monsters, almost tortured Lin An to the point of being unrecognizable. With dark circles under his eyes, Lin An slumped in the back seat. His phone had no signal, and he dared not look at the scenery flashing past the window, so he could only stare blankly at the glass in front of him.

Suddenly, a figure darted out from the side of the road and stood firmly in front of the RV.

An unwavering gaze met Lin An's cloudy eyes.

"state--!"

He almost jumped out of the back seat.

"Captain, stop the car!"

"crunch-"

Although Simon was puzzled, he still slammed on the brakes, and the RV screeched to a halt on the deserted highway.

"What's wrong, Lin?" Mi Xi, who had been pretending to be asleep, also looked over.

"It looks like our car just hit something." Lin An opened the car door. "I'll get out and take a look."

Barry and Simon looked at each other, and the former said, "We didn't see it. Lin, wait for me."

The two checked every corner of the RV from top to bottom, but found nothing, not even bloodstains or traces of animals. When they returned to the cabin, Barry shrugged, while Simon frowned.

"Child, have you been feeling sleepy and confused lately?"

"I clearly saw it..."

"Maybe it was an armadillo," Mishi said, trying to smooth things over. "When I used to go on road trips with my family, we often played a game where we had to guess which animal was dead on the roadside."

"Yeah?"

Simon restarted the car, and the scenery receded again. Lin An leaned against the rear window and looked back, unwilling to give up. The road was empty; there were neither animal carcasses nor that eerie shadow.

What was that thing that just flashed by and disappeared?
Am I really hallucinating from exhaustion?
“Poor kid, you’re not good at road trips.” Simon sighed. “The foundation has some investments in a city called Arkansas. We’ll try to get there by tomorrow night and contact the Virginia branch to book a motel.”

“Go on talking about your driving games, Mishi. It’ll help distract Lin,” Barry chimed in.

"Grateful……"

Lin An, pale-faced, returned to his seat, only to hear Mi Xi chattering away.

"Everyone chooses an animal and counts the number of times its carcass appears on the road after being hit by a car. Different animals are scored differently according to their rarity. For example, rabbits, pigeons, and squirrels are worth 1 point, armadillos, opossums, and raccoons are worth 5 points, and wild deer are worth 10 points."

“If it were me, I would probably choose the deer,” Barry said.

"When we finally reach the destination, the person with the lowest score has to drink a whole glass of ice-cup whiskey," Mishi chuckled. "My brothers and sisters and I have played this game at least ten times, and we always choose the opossum. We've never lost!"

Hearing her laughter, Lin An felt a little relieved and put the strange figure out of his mind.

The sun was setting in the west, insects buzzed in the air, and the deep river flowed gently.

The river, dyed red by the setting sun, formed a delta, coiling like a snake around the deciduous forest, rushing and gurgling. Simon suddenly stopped.

"My turn?" Mishi asked, eating the few remaining snacks in the car. "Captain, you're tired early today."

"No, it's just that the map won't load," Simon said, pointing to the navigation. "How are you guys doing?"

"About half a day ago, my phone lost signal," Lin An said. "The icon in the upper right corner kept switching between 2G and no signal. I couldn't access the network, and I couldn't even receive calls or text messages."

“The connection here is indeed a bit poor.” Simon pondered for a moment, repeatedly making sure no one was around, then suddenly opened the car door and flew into the sky. “I’m going to find some signal and download some maps.”

The people in the carriage almost popped their eyes out.

You can still play like this! ?

They got out of the car at the same time, and Lin An shouted at Simon, who was holding his phone high in the air.

"Captain, how's the signal over there?"

"It's alright, the download speed is about tens of megabytes per second."

"Okay, I'm going to heaven too!"

Simon's eyes widened, and he quickly scolded, "No, one person is fine, but a group of people is too conspicuous. What if they're mistaken for a UFO and photographed!"

"I don't care, I want to go online!" Lin An said like a wronged ghost. "I can tolerate not having enough to eat and not getting more than four hours of sleep a night. But don't take away my few remaining pleasures!"

“It’s been 24 hours! I haven’t posted anything about Bluebird all day! If this keeps up, my followers will think I’m dead!” Mishi chimed in from the side.

“Captain, I also need to make a phone call to my family…” Barry said hesitantly.

Simon sighed in exasperation, about to fly down and carry his teammates up, when Lin An waved his wand, and an increasingly violent gust of air lifted the three of them into the air.

Spirit of the air, grant me the power of the Intnet!
After discussing with Simon, Lin An revealed the only two wand functions he could reveal to his two teammates: light flight and healing magic.

"The signal here is pretty good. I'll download a few single-player games to kill some time." Mishi looked at the drafts and posted them all with satisfaction. "It's just a little cold."

"Hey, are you all okay?" Barry asked in a low voice with concern as he made the call.

"Look what new tricks netizens have come up with for me..." Lin An had just logged into social media when he suddenly felt a gaze coming from somewhere.

He saw the animal again, the one that should have been hit and killed.

It was as if all the clouds had turned to face Lin An. Its body was enormous, its eyes were holy, and it exhaled a pleasant white mist.

"Ahhhh——!"

Lin An reached out to touch its face, but a cry of surprise came. It turned out that his distraction had caused an energy disorder, and Mishi and Barry suddenly lost their balance. Simon quickly flew over and picked them up in each hand.

“Lin, you really need to get some rest,” he said.

The sun was setting, casting a golden glow as a clear stream flowed toward the harsh, tranquil, and unchanging central city of the Eagle Kingdom.

The RV drove into Arkansas.

Following email instructions from the foundation's branch, the group drove into a large motel in the city, located near the long-distance bus station, with a withered, yellow jungle covered in fallen leaves on the other side.

Finally, they had a place to stay. Lin An carried his suitcase and pushed open the door. The room was incredibly cramped, but at least there was a decent bed.

The nomadic lifestyle is really not for me...

The constant honking of buses, the creaking of old wooden planks, and the footsteps upstairs kept Lin Anyu restless. He tossed and turned a few times in frustration before finally drifting off to sleep, completely exhausted.

Half-asleep, Lin An encountered the strange animal hidden in the thick fog for the third time.

"It is time; the great Holy Spirit is calling you."

It said this to Lin An.

Thank you to Ice and Fire Little Mage for the monthly ticket, and thank you everyone for your recommendations and subscriptions!
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(End of this chapter)