World Occult Usage Guide

Chapter 111 The professor has students all over the world

Lin An fell into deep thought.

In short, regarding the Thunderbirds, the headquarters' voting results have been slow to satisfy the inspection team.

Since two rounds of voting had already been held, the president believed that there was no need to hold a third round, and therefore kept delaying the inspection team's proposal.

Losing patience, Hill decided to let Thunderbird create chaos, forcing headquarters to feel a sense of crisis and thus gain a third vote to prevent it from entering the facility as originally planned.

The research department couldn't obtain accurate data on Thunderbird, the creator deity. Everything about it was a mystery. Even Lin An, who was also a B-level source, saw it as a dark cloud. And most of the time, the unknown itself was a synonym for danger.

The headquarters' decision was based on the premise that the Thunderbird's pollution levels had skyrocketed, turning it into a motionless wooden sculpture, and they determined that it posed no threat.

However, once Thunderbird regains consciousness and mobility, the Dawn Society will immediately "strike while the iron is hot" without the need for the inspection team to intervene.

The two organizations are constantly fighting amongst themselves, but when they encounter a common enemy, they will still join forces without hesitation to eliminate the local deity forces.

This attitude can be glimpsed from the orders given by both parties.

Neither the Dawn Society nor the Inspectorate ever treated Thunderbird as a person when they talked about it. It was always referred to as a key prop, research material, or a mysterious item. They never mentioned how to treat or "release" Thunderbird.

In their eyes, the Thunderbird was already a corpse.

As long as the outside world gets the illusion that Thunderbird has escaped or turned the tide, they will never leave it behind, and the inspection team's objective will be achieved.

The price, however, was... the lives of innocent civilians in the city of Rasmedos.

As if hearing what Lin An was thinking, Hill chuckled.

"Perhaps we are not as eloquent as the Dawn Society, but we do believe in the principle of 'humanity above all else.' It's more like the trolley problem: sacrifice a small number of people to save the rest. From a statistical point of view, we are the organization that truly considers the interests of humanity."

Lin An's lips twitched.

When plunder becomes a daily routine for this group, over time they will naturally create a legal system that authorizes plunder and a moral code that glorifies it.

"I believe you, Deacon Catherine, as long as you answer one question."

Hill pointed to the black card's interface, indicating that he should use the touchscreen to communicate.

It seems Hill can't guess what I'm thinking. As the "Presiding Judge," her mystical arts are all governed by rigid rules; as long as you don't disobey, you're fine. Lin An thought to himself.

"What do you plan to do with me after the mission is over?"

Hill swirled her wine glass, gazing at Lin An with seductive eyes.

"We will evaluate your abilities and loyalty based on your performance after the mission. If all goes well, we will be able to enjoy the fruits of victory together soon."

Here comes another round, big pancake.

I believe you.

Hill didn't give Lin An a chance to reply, and drunkenly left the bar with his wine glass.

"The remaining half bottle is for you and your friend."

Watching the blonde woman's departing figure, Lin An's thoughts were in turmoil; there were three main reasons why Hill had chosen him.

First, among the four members of the transport team, Barry defected to the inspectorate, Simon is a mystery of the same level as Hill, and her methods are unlikely to be effective. Mishi is a woman, leaving only Lin An as an option.

Secondly, the detour to Rasmedos was the route planned by the Dawn Society. Once Hill successfully created panic, she could blame the Dawn Society for their wrong instructions and take the opportunity to tarnish their reputation.

Finally, as the transportation team caught in the middle of the three parties, Lin An was actually a transparent person who was "non-partisan". Even if he was exposed, the inspection team could still remain unscathed, claiming that they were not involved in the incident, thus salvaging their declining reputation in the cabinet.

As for joining the inspection team afterwards...

Lin An was more inclined to believe that they had already decided to silence him and keep his mouth shut forever.

The inspection team isn't stupid; how could they let a single weakness or survival become an indelible stain on their record?

After drinking for an unknown amount of time in silence, Barry appeared and said to Lin An, "It's time for us to go back to our room."

Lin An rolled his eyes.

Brother, you really screwed me over!
From the moment I left the room, I stepped right into the inspectorate's trap.

Touching the energy wrapped around his neck and wrists, Lin An sighed softly. Without the system's help, he decided to temporarily obey the inspection team's orders.

The man in black followed Lin An and Barry closely until they returned to their respective rooms. Lin An glanced at the surveillance camera that was turning with his movements, then collapsed onto the bed.

The presence of MGM Grand's informants everywhere is of no help in getting out of this predicament. The fact that they allow the inspection team to come and go as they please clearly reveals their opportunistic attitude.

Does the Dawn Association know about the MGM Grand's defection?

After a moment's thought, Lin An sat up and activated the new device with the thumb chip.

"White Dove" is a communication network that is completely different from the original one. After reading X's introduction, Lin An roughly understood.

His chip code name starts with T, which means "temporary," so the main interface only has two options: communicate or exit.

He opened his contacts and saw the profile pictures of two people.

One of them was Deacon Hill Catherine, whom he had contacted before, while the other was someone Lin An had never met before.

Her profile picture is a spinning wheel, codenamed "C-0420".

Clicking on the introduction sent by Hill, Lin An learned that this temporary staff member was his "partner" for tomorrow's mission. Hill said she would contact Lin An before the mission began.

C stands for Cooperative.

The woman with the spinning wheel image was neither a member of the inspection team nor even affiliated with the St. Anilov Foundation. Lin An gazed thoughtfully at the spinning wheel's unusual design.

“Request permission to communicate with 'C-0420',” he said tentatively to X.

"Request received, information verification in progress... Confirmed you have the necessary permissions. Do you wish to dial terminal 'C-0420' now?"

"Dial the call."

"Unfortunately, the other party has not yet activated 'White Dove'. Please try again later."

Lin An had no permissions other than communication; he could only wait.

As he turned on his computer, he kept dialing the number of his collaborator. About an hour later, X's incessant notification sound suddenly changed.

"You have been connected to the terminal at 'C-0420' and are being transferred to your account."

After a while, Lin An spoke in a female voice that was not clearly audible.

"We shouldn't communicate outside of mission hours. That's all. See you tomorrow on time."

"Wait a minute!"

Lin An lay down and placed the communication device close to the computer speakers, where the professor's slow and methodical lecture could be heard.

"I have some questions about tomorrow's mission."

"..."

The voice on the other end remained silent for a very long time, and Lin An almost thought she had hung up.

Half a minute later, a reply finally came.

“For example?” She paused, then added, “I can only disclose information within the scope of my duties.”

"I'm not clear about the specific mission schedule yet."

After a long silence, the person on the other end said with a complex yet gentle tone, "Then let me explain to you the arrangements that S-03 gave me, so that it won't be easy to make mistakes during the operation."

S-03 stands for Hill, meaning Supervisor.

"After we meet up, we take this elevator to the security room on the basement level..."

The female voice slowly and in detail described tomorrow's itinerary. As Lin An listened, he casually sketched a map on Photoshop, rotating the surveillance camera and zooming in on every pixel.

On the Photoshop canvas, the scribbled lines are blurry and abstract, filled with all sorts of messy lines, circles, and squares. In many places, the equipment doesn't even match what the person on the other end was saying.

The surveillance camera was still recording, but it no longer emitted that threatening buzzing sound.

These images are merely geometric shapes to aid Lin An's memory; the real map has already been etched into his mind.

As the online class drew to a close, the professor on the other end finished his lecture, and the students left the classroom one after another. Lin An pressed the volume button to make his voice louder.

"Lin, turn your phone off silent." The professor, stacking his lecture notes, said with a hint of exasperation, "You started making absentminded phone calls with only ten minutes left before get out of class ended. Did you think I wouldn't notice?"

"Professor, I'm working," Lin An said seriously.

“You’re still a student. No job is more important than your studies! Come back quickly and don’t stay outside all the time, especially at the MGM Grand Hotel! You’ve already been taking online classes here for two whole days. It’s very expensive there. I hope you don’t join the gambling tables just to show off.”

The professor earnestly advised him.

"Lin, your grades are pretty good, graduating shouldn't be a problem. Don't be like Evancia and let the outside world mislead you, giving up your studies on your own. It would be such a pity."

There was no sound from the other end of the device. Lin An gave the professor a few perfunctory words and closed the zoom.us interface.

"Sorry, collaborator."

"Hmph, you still think you can finish college under these circumstances?" The man's tone suddenly turned sarcastic and fierce as he said sharply, "What year are you in? You're not a junior, are you?"

"Wow, you guessed right away," Lin An said. "I think no matter what, you should at least persevere and get a diploma. Otherwise, all your previous efforts would be wasted."

"..."

Another awkward silence ensued, followed by a soft breath from the other end.

"You already know the mission arrangements, so I won't go into detail tomorrow. Meet at the agreed location at 21:30."

After saying that, she hung up the phone.

Lin An also logged out of "White Dove" using a thumb chip.

This person is probably my senior from university.

Our university is truly full of talented people; we can even hold a class reunion in Las Meadows, in addition to Dietrich.

The professor said her name was Evensia Ivi Samaras.

Unlike native British names, her pronunciation has a Mediterranean feel, and considering the professor's claim that she stole the "Omen Gem" from the university's collection, unearthed near the Aegean Sea...

Lin An shut down his computer, and the clean screen reflected the young man's expressionless face.

Evensia...

Tomorrow, I may encounter my first mystic from Greek civilization.

(End of this chapter)