World Occult Usage Guide

Chapter 106 Let the Ghosts Descend

The Dawn Society's presentations were captivating.

Although the old man didn't say a bad word about the inspection team, he simply listed the facts fairly. For some reason, he cleverly made people's goodwill towards the inspection team plummet.

It turns out that the branch president and the deacon originally planned to secretly kill the three people that night, cooperate with the researchers at headquarters, put the bodies into Thunderbird's isolation room, interrupt the transport, and take the opportunity to recall Simon back to headquarters.

With more lives lost, headquarters will inevitably vote again on how to deal with Thunderbirds, and the inspection team will not let this opportunity pass.

Unexpectedly, Lin An suddenly abandoned the car and fled. Efron believed that he must have noticed something and was afraid that he would report it, so he quickly notified the branch leader, who decided to take action at the same time.

Ultimately, the Dawn Society, which had already infiltrated the facility, caught him off guard.

After the meeting, Lin An left with a new project proposal.

The Dawn Society changed their route, bypassing the Foundation's branch facilities and heading towards headquarters.

To prevent further interference from the inspection team, two other members of the Dawn Association will join Lin An's team. To avoid suspicion, they will follow the RV in another vehicle.

The old man gave the group new communication equipment so they could secretly contact the two men.

They share the same code name, "Knight".

Putting aside speculative doubts, the ideas mentioned by the Dawn Association are at least quite novel.

The old man told them that once the Dawn Association gained a voice, it would teach the concept of "mystery" as widely as a new technology.

The cabinet's initial decision was based on misleading information from the oversight team, which led to the deeply ingrained notion that "superpowered individuals are a minority," until the passage of time and data analysis debunked this theory.

No matter how you try to control it, you can't stop the number of people from increasing.

Therefore, the government supported the Dawn Association to counterbalance the dominant faction.

The Dawn Association aims to normalize, popularize, and legalize the mysterious, striving to complete the psychological preparation of the public as soon as possible.

The elderly man also explained many novel concepts, such as legal reforms for mysterious individuals, distribution of information, and financial subsidies, which are much more open and transparent than the existing model of the foundation.

In reality, the inspectorate's policy was more like deliberately restricting access to esoteric knowledge while using the aristocratic families' advanced intelligence to preemptively plunder, check, dominate, and control the resources of the "Commerx" world.

On the darker side, perhaps the foundation discovered a way to reduce pollution, but was misled, destroyed, or had its dissemination restricted by forces led by the inspection team.

Intelligence is a major trump card for aristocratic families.

The Dawn Association may be suspected of making empty promises, but it can't be worse than the inspection team.

In the afternoon, Lin An and his group went to the research department to collect the new data on Thunderbird, following the itinerary sent in the email.

As they were chatting, a commotion broke out.

"What happened over there?" Mishi asked, puzzled.

“Oh, we’re giving the new recruits medical checkups,” the researcher replied. “Captain Simon knows them; they’re some survivors from Lady Ava’s Séance headquarters. They’ve had multiple encounters with the ‘Commerx’ world, so they need to be tested for radiation levels.”

"A newcomer?" Mishi asked in surprise.

"A slip of the tongue, it was just a drill." The researcher held a tablet and transmitted data. "Before the Dawn Association's policies are implemented, we must abide by the existing 'Employee Handbook' and implement Level 3 or Level 4 control over them."

Lin An raised an eyebrow.

The Dawn Society headquarters are located near New York, so the Foundation there ignored the oversight team and allowed the Catsis to begin recruit training.

New Mexico was a "rehearsal" and was not implemented.

The United States is a large country, and each state has political independence, so sometimes ideas at the federal level cannot be fully implemented at the state level.

The Dawn Society's influence is stronger in the east, but weakens further southwest from the capital.

“I also think we can’t imprison or monitor them forever,” the researcher continued. “Besides, dealing with these people’s families not only costs a lot of money, but also involves very cold-blooded methods. The new policy sounds good.”

“It’s good…” Mishi rubbed her temples. “I went through a thrilling and exciting interview to become a member of the foundation!”

"Hehe, if the Dawn Association implements its policies, the Mysterious Ones may be like ordinary people, abiding by the laws suitable for the new era, and continuing their lives in a way that is both slightly novel and somewhat familiar."

“It seems difficult to achieve.” Mishi shook her head. “People always have selfish desires.”

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is no different from magic. When the ancients saw modern technology, they might have thought that modern people lived among the gods and wondered why the world hadn't been destroyed. On the contrary, we're doing quite well."

Out of curiosity and a desire to test the waters, Lin An approached the area where the Séance believers were being tested, listened to the audio from the surveillance footage, and tried to strike up a conversation with the researchers.

He casually mentioned Mrs. Eva's notebook, but the woman knew nothing about it.

Lin An tried asking several people, but the responses were always the same: "I don't know" and "I've never heard of it."

The branch president probably skipped his own research department and submitted the bounty hunter's notes directly to headquarters.

Undeterred, Lin An asked a few more people, when he suddenly heard a believer roar angrily.

"No, Lady Ava is not dead! She is clearly immortal!"

"what?"

Not only the researchers, but Lin An also perked up his ears.

"That day, she foresaw that the foolish Grim Reaper was about to knock on her door, so she found a new body and transferred her soul into it! That was just her final test on earth! Lady Ava ascended to the spirit world and merged with the planets of the universe!"

"What nonsense are you spouting?" The researcher smirked. "I already said, she's a ghost story." "We don't need your confirmation, we just need to believe," the believer scoffed. "If it wasn't her, why did she unusually end the gathering and so warmly guide us to safety?"

"Hmm? There was a third mysterious person present at the time?"

“No, no, no, that’s Lady Ava!” the believers said firmly. “Because she envelops us with great love, and her sacred soul and spirit are with us forever!”

The Lady Ava they were talking about...

It's me!
Lin An had not expected that the believers' imaginations were so powerful that they had conjured up a story of "the omniscient and omnipotent Lady Ava dying and being resurrected and ascending to heaven," which was full of mythological and religious fanaticism.

The researchers pressed for more information, but the believers all kept quiet, refusing to respond.

Finally, they suddenly said.

"She will one day return to this world through a divine intervention. Until then, we must prepare to welcome her."

“I feel like these people can’t adapt to working life at the foundation.” Mishi shook her head repeatedly. “Perhaps we should send them to a community center for treatment first.”

Even if they were mentally sound, they wouldn't recognize Lin An. The scene was completely destroyed by Efron's final frenzy, and Lin An's clothes were blown to smithereens.

Ultimately, the group of believers, chanting "Descend, ghosts!", were locked in a level-three control ward—they were indeed suited to the supervisory team's management style.

“Ghosts…” Simon muttered the strange word.

"Truly, his name reflects his omnipresence," Lin An remarked. "I wonder if we've managed to track down Beta-004 over there."

"【Ghost】has been upgraded to Alpha-002."

Lin An's eyelids twitched.

Brother and sister, please stop with your wild imaginations!

I'm not even in Dietrich!

"Its soul magic remains secretive and cruel, and it has added another method to torture its victims: draining the blood from the corpse," Simon said through gritted teeth. "Brutal, antisocial, and inhuman! The Foundation has raised its control priority to the highest level, but still has no clues."

I go.

This isn't me at all!

"What, the higher the rating, the more blame you take?" Lin An thought to himself, "Now I understand how Thunderbird felt back then."

“The ghost of Dietrich…” Simon sighed. “Lin, let’s talk about something lighter. You haven’t been looking too well since yesterday. It seems that Butler Ruben has caused you quite a bit of psychological trauma.”

"Um……"

Lin An turned his head to the side. The window on the left faced rows of square office buildings, and further away were low shacks. The ground on both sides sloped down, forming a wide, sheltered harbor.

The area is a grazing area, with irregular patches of green that have been gnawed by cattle, sheep and donkeys, leaving some missing or bald.

Looking further into the distance, the green gradually turned blue, and the lines of the road could be seen, winding upwards to form a kind of intricate network, similar to the human nervous system.

In the far distance, the highway disappears into the layers of blue hills, its outline appearing blurry and soft against the calm, light gray sky.

The powerful and orderly straight lines created by humankind and the naturally spreading contours are perfectly integrated, and the diverse elements coexist harmoniously, like a complex fusion.

The scene before me is full of vitality, bearing the marks of time, and foreshadowing endless future seasons.

Lin An thought, this is what Titan should look like.

There should be no data emitting green light, nor any energy that is sacred, evil, distorted, or healing; it is a fleeting shadow cast from another world.

Just like now, the system will one day disappear completely along with the orbit of "Comers".

Leaving behind eternal solitude.

Recently, while traveling with the team, Lin An has been encountering all sorts of mysterious people, which has alleviated his loneliness.

But the festivities caused by the approaching star trails will eventually come to an end when the star trails separate.

He will eventually be alone; 21-year-old Lin An is unusually cautious about his strange thoughts and personality. Those around him realize that his detachment is genuine and don't try to get close to him.

As the scenery stretched from near to far, Lin An saw time passing and a river rushing towards its destination.

He activated his wand, and a brownish-yellow light enveloped his eyes. In his imagination, the river changed course, flowing backwards to its source, and finally disintegrated, like a burst soap bubble.

Lin An gave a wry smile.

But my thoughts have never changed...

"I've decided not to leave the RV for the next week."

“The last leg of the journey was certainly not as easy as the previous ones,” Simon said with a somber expression. “Be careful, Lin.”

After exchanging a few words, the two said goodbye.

After shaving off his stubble, Lin An touched his smooth chin and examined his weathered reflection in the mirror when his phone on the sink suddenly rang.

"Ding, ding—"

It turned out to be a message that Lin An was paying special attention to. He clicked on the green bubble, and a cute profile picture with a red dot appeared.

A cloud made of rain: Senior Lin An~ I'm here to wish you a Happy New Year!
A cloud made of rain: [Wishing you good fortune and happiness]
A cloud made of rain: Senior, are you free now? I'd like to video chat with you. [Kitty peeking out]
(End of this chapter)