World Occult Usage Guide

Chapter 285 Change of old and new
The Lion Tribe captured more than 300 Tigerfish Tribe members, who were tied together and looked dejected.

The only free girl stood to one side. When she saw Lin An, she quickly ran over.

"The ancestral spirit of the spotted lion! The ancestral spirit of the spotted lion!"

It was Susumi.

Lin An looked at the Karu mermaid and sighed inwardly.

Her beautiful black hair was still thick, with blue eyes and red lips, but her expression was no longer innocent and naive; instead, it was veiled with a slightly melancholic air, making her seem mature beyond her years.

"Susumi, I'm so glad you survived."

“Hmm…” Su Sumi responded with a complicated expression, glancing at the Tigerfish Clan members from time to time. “Spotted Lion Ancestral Spirit, I… I want to discuss something with you.”

"You said."

“I have no right to beg you to spare my people.” Susumi fidgeted with her fingers. “But… but I hope you won’t kill everyone, like children under ten or babies… Leave a glimmer of hope for the Tigerfish tribe…”

She bit her lip, as if she had made a great decision.

"I'll do whatever you want me to do."

"Anything?" Lin An raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious?"

Susume swallowed hard, nodded nervously, and a glistening tear welled up in her eyes. Maye, who was leading the way, frowned slightly and looked away, unable to bear looking at her.

"Okay, come back to the room with me in a bit."

Upon hearing Lin An's words, Su Sumi almost burst into tears. Maye was also somewhat surprised, but she didn't say anything, though her inner thoughts betrayed her feelings.

"The Ancestral Spirit is, after all, a man with desires... Poor Su Su Mi..."

"As for these prisoners," Lin An glanced at the pale faces, "Misuru made a good suggestion: give them a physical test. Those with good character can stay in the Lion Tribe, while those with poor character can be assigned to other tribes."

“I understand,” Mayer said meticulously. “Take away their tribal name, right?”

“From now on, there will be no more surnames or tribes,” Lin An explained. “Everyone is a Bantu person, holding the same ID card, and we will be one with each other.”

"ID card?"

Meyer was taken aback, but then she saw Lin An eagerly leading Su Sumi into the hut. An indescribable helplessness welled up in her heart, along with a hint of bitterness that she herself did not even realize.

Later she learned that after entering the hut, Lin An slammed the doors and windows shut and gestured for Su Sumi to wait on the bed. The latter, with tears in her eyes and suppressing her sobs, lay on the hammock with a look of grim determination, her heart pounding.

"Su Sumi," Lin An said.

"Waaah, ancestral spirit of the spotted lion, please be gentle..." Su Sumi pleaded, her eyes closed and her voice choked with sobs.

"What are you saying? Can you open your eyes?"

"But...but I don't dare..."

"Open your eyes quickly."

Under his impatient threats, Su Sumi tentatively opened her eyes, only to be met with a sky full of green data. Lin An was focused on organizing the code and didn't even glance at her.

"This is the brand new interface of the World Tree System 2.0," he said with satisfaction. "The data is clearer in the dark, it's like a dynamic fluorescent watch."

"Eh?"

“As a mysterious person from a tribal background, I hope you will finish reading these materials tonight and then tell me if there is anything you don’t understand.” Lin An introduced the operating instructions to her. “It’s not long, about a hundred thousand words. Give me a report tomorrow morning.”

"what?"

"Remember your words, and you can do anything."

"Um, the ancestral spirit of the spotted lion, what I mean is—"

"Don't worry, Su Sumi." Lin An patted her shoulder. "When I was your age, I studied late into the night for five years of college entrance exams and three years of mock exams. I did the same amount of practice. Keep it up, I believe in your potential."

"..."

Having helped Su Sumi's reckless dream, Lin An walked out of the hut feeling refreshed and bumped into Maye, who was peeking in. She showed a rather complicated expression.

"finished?"

"Ah."

“Less than three minutes…” A complex expression crossed Maye’s face.

Lin An, puzzled, said, "I have something to discuss with Misuru, so I'll be leaving now. Don't let anyone disturb Susumi."

"Alright, I won't tell anyone, Lord Ancestral Spirit."

Before the misunderstanding was cleared up, Maye's gaze towards Lin An was always strange, and her thoughts were quite confused, leaving Lin An completely bewildered.

However, Lin An is usually very busy and doesn't have time to explore the girl's hidden thoughts.

The task he entrusted to Misuru was of utmost importance.

The Tigerfish Tribe was now defunct in name only. Taking advantage of the fact that the Red Poppy Merchant Guild behind them had not yet obtained accurate intelligence, Lin An launched a preemptive strike.

Their primary objective was to breach the Chamber of Commerce's stronghold in the Mazuz market, which served as their "eyes" for controlling the rainforest.

It's not difficult.

Under the leadership of the mythical Misuru, the poorly trained Lion Clan, taking advantage of the enemy's lack of awareness, swiftly attacked the merchant base of Mazuz Market. The equally poorly trained local mercenaries were no match for them.

The time from the countess's death to the capture of the stronghold was no more than two days.

As for the next step...

"You have received a message from user Ranger_6. Do you want to check the user's status immediately?"

As the system notification sounded, Lin An supervised Su Sumi as she wrote her homework with a look of utter despair, while the thought of "checking" flashed through his mind.

After Misuru awakened, he officially became the third "Forest Ranger".

Mezo's suggestion disrupted the numbers in the Ranger system, so Lin An simply let them use random numbers to determine the numbers, and Misuru happened to draw "6".

"How's it going on your end?" Lin An asked.

"Successfully, Lin. I took care of those bugs and found a detailed address; it seems to be the Red Poppy Merchant Guild's office in Mbanbuka," Misuru wrote in [Communication with Developers]. "Would you like to come and take a look?"

…………

At the same time, the conflicts in the rainforest subsided.

The attack on the Lion Tribe consisted of approximately 800 Tigerfish Tribe members, representing one-fifth of the total Tigerfish Tribe population.

Excluding the children and elderly who were unable to fight, about a thousand people scattered and attacked the surrounding tribes. Later, according to Ap's report, after the demon disappeared, the Tigerfish tribe who attacked other tribes regained their senses, but they were still unwilling to give up and wanted to take advantage of the situation to wipe out the invaded tribes. However, they happened to run into the mysterious people of the Spotted Lion tribe who were checking the situation.

After a fierce battle, the Tigerfish tribe was either dead or fled.

The innocent victims were filled with righteous indignation and hoped that the ancestral spirit of the lion would lead them to invade the tigerfish tribe, burn, kill, and plunder in order to make up for their losses.

They want to kill the men of the Tigerfish tribe, leaving the young women and children to be lowly laborers or food for the night.

Under Lin An's watchful eye, this brutal and bloody plan had absolutely no chance of succeeding.

Ap led them to peacefully disperse the Tigerfish tribe's population and property, dismantling this once-powerful rainforest overlord backed by the Red Poppy Merchant Guild.

The Lion Tribe took the lion's share of the spoils, including over 600 strong and healthy Tigerfish Tribe elites, as well as a large amount of supplies and military equipment.

With the influx of new blood, the population of the Lion Tribe exceeded one thousand, thus becoming a recognized large tribe in the rainforest.

Any person of sound intelligence in the tribe understands this principle.

The tigerfish died out with the old era, and was replaced by the new leader of the rainforest—the lionfish.

Not only did they handle the aftermath of the Tigerfish tribe's affairs, the Spotted Lion tribe also used its influence and strength to prevent a civil war from breaking out among some tribes.

The mysterious figure explained to the tribespeople the reason for their abnormal emotional outbursts, and also intentionally mentioned that Lin An ultimately killed the Countess, helping them break free from the mystical spell.

The other tribes, which were farther away from the lion tribe and were not affected, learned about the whole story from hearsay and couldn't help but become curious.

How did this little-known tribe acquire such strength in just one month?

People inquired everywhere, and Lin An's name spread like wildfire, from the area around the spotted lion tribe to the other side of the river, eventually resounding throughout the entire rainforest.

Almost everyone knew the extraordinary origin of the Lion Ancestor Spirit—the flame of the Creator God, the Ranger Kalenga Mpongu.

His story was compiled into a vivid collection of tales by Ap and other interested bards, and it spread widely.

From leaping across the Kuba River with Lin An, using bones to conjure food, uncovering the true form of the Hyena Man, to defeating Zai, the master of the Ancestral Spirit Totem, rescuing a death ship at the Mazuz Market, and killing Kevin, the ill-intentioned young master of the Red Poppy Merchant Guild.

In the end, people talked about Lin An and the Countess's duel with great interest and enthusiasm.

"It turns out that the chaos was caused by an evil Flander witch. She used strange witchcraft to manipulate us into killing each other, and the one who stopped her was none other than Kalenga Mpongu!"

"It was a war between gods that defied description. The witch let out a piercing roar, sending evil, destruction, and suspicion flying out of the underworld to wreak havoc on the mortal world. Fortunately, the ranger fought desperately to protect her; he beheaded the lizard, and she failed to achieve her goal!"

"The Ranger is absolutely the strongest Ancestral Spirit to date! He defeated those Flanders!"

"Is the witch dead? Will she come back?"

"I don't know, but I heard the forest rangers issued a warning that a dark age that will shake the soul is coming."

"This is truly an ominous sign..."

"The omens are increasing. I feel that everything in the world is full of mystery."

"Regardless of any vague prophecy, I only know that ever since the [Forest Ranger] appeared, the life of the Lion Tribe has been thriving... while we remain stuck in the same place..."

"The rainy season is coming soon. I don't know how many people will survive this time, and how many will die a violent death."

"It's a pity that the forest rangers are not our ancestral spirits..."

"I really want to see the legendary Kalenga Mponggu in person."

"What a magnificent person he must have been."

The opportunity arrived quickly.

One morning, the winged Mvias landed in front of each tribe with more than a hundred members and invited the high-ranking chiefs or elders to gather at the Mazuz market the following Monday.

That morning, the market welcomed a large group of guests.

The city dwellers of Mbanbuka looked on in astonishment at the distinguished, high-ranking rainforest people and made way for them.

Led by the well-prepared lion tribesmen, these rainforest people were led into a spacious shed.

It used to belong to the Red Poppy Merchants Association, but it has now been taken over by Lin An.

The young chief of the Lion Tribe sat in the center. He looked very young, and although his features were still somewhat immature, he already possessed a ruthless and decisive aura.

The power of the Lion Tribe is now enough to strike fear into the hearts of many. Even without Lin An, the chiefs dare not offend this young man. Led by two women who look alike, they took their seats in an orderly fashion, forming a circle.

They nervously moved the novel plastic chairs beneath them, making a grating creaking sound.

Chief Misuru of the spotted lion tribe was rather stern and unsmiling. No one dared to breathe loudly and could only silently wait for the spotted lion tribe's arrangements.

Even tribes that had grudges against each other were now wary of the reputation of the rangers and the spotted lion tribe, so they stared at each other without daring to make a sound, and the surroundings were unusually quiet.

Fortunately, not long after, a smiling old woman walked in from outside, with a cup of sparkling beverage in her left hand and a skewer of coconut cake in her right, eating with gusto.

Seeing the somber atmosphere in the room, she cheerfully took the lead in introducing herself.

“I am the elder of the Lion Tribe, Flami.”

Under the Grand Elder's methodical organization, the chiefs' tense nerves relaxed slightly, and they began to chat tentatively with each other or try to get information out of the lion tribe.

During the conversations, many chiefs were surprised to discover that some of the feuds between tribes were just a ridiculous accident.

No one ever taught them how to negotiate and find solutions to problems; the law of the rainforest is the eternal hunt.

There is no leader as powerful and overwhelming as the forest ranger, who commands everyone's respect and willingness to sit down and resolve issues peacefully.

"Cough cough."

As the conversation flowed enthusiastically, Chief Misuru, the lion chief sitting at the head of the table, cleared his throat, silencing the murmur of the conversation. The chiefs all turned to him without prior arrangement.

“The rangers have arrived.” Misuru pointed. “Look above you.”

As soon as the words were spoken, a gust of wind blew through the hems of everyone's clothes and the tips of their hair, making a whistling sound. They craned their necks and saw a figure with black hair and black eyes descend from the sky and land steadily in the center of the group.

The wind stopped as his feet touched the ground.

He was younger and slimmer than the chiefs had imagined, with a tall and straight figure. His skin was tanned and healthy, and his smile carried an indescribable mystery that made people think of bizarre myths.

Is he the forest ranger?
The chiefs held their breath and strained their ears, afraid of missing a single word.

"Chiefs, elders, and ancestral spirits who have come from afar," the ranger began, his voice calm and unhurried. "The reason I have gathered you all here is to introduce a community system."

"System?" Everyone was stunned.

“Perhaps some of you here already know about this.” Lin An’s gaze swept over several familiar faces. “Its name is the World Tree.”

(End of this chapter)