World Occult Usage Guide

Chapter 346 What Gilgood Saw
Upon suddenly seeing this line of green data appear out of nowhere, the guests all took a step back.

These people came from the famous Gilgood family of Ivory Coast, the family of Mrs. Adamek.

The burly man at the head of the group pulled out a thick cigarette, lit it with a lighter, and the burning grass leaves released hallucinogenic gases as he stared at the floating code.

"Forest ranger? Where are you?"

The code flashed and changed, thoughtfully switching to Gilgood's familiar native language.

"You are looking at me."

The silence lasted for a full ten seconds, during which the Gilgood family members who had come with their leader whispered among themselves.

"Is this the legendary Ranger? An AI?"

"Damn it, what kind of weird projector are you using! Are you looking down on us?"

"No matter where you are in person, we must find out the young lady's whereabouts today!"

"Quiet down!" Gilgood shouted, interrupting the crowd, but still spoke politely, "Sir Ranger, you're not surprised by my arrival. Were you waiting for me?"

"I'm waiting for someone," the code replied ambiguously.

Gilgood, who wanted to intimidate the other party with his imposing manner, had no choice but to take the initiative to continue the conversation: "I would like to talk to you about cooperation."

“Okay, this is the Sprouter protocol of the World Tree.”

Seeds of electronic light fell from the sky, landing in front of Gilgood and blooming into flowers. After the short animation finished playing, fifteen pages appeared in groups of three, detailing the contract in 12-point font.

He picked up the cigarette with his index finger and read the words on it.

"Sprouters are being recruited: Information for collaborators joining the [World Tree] system."

Before Gilgood could finish reading the first page, the data suddenly contracted inward, revealing a striking, giant message.

"Notice!"

"what?"

Gilgood paused, the ash from the cigarette he was holding fell to the ground, and intoxicating smoke rose, carrying with it the smell of burning herbs and insect corpses.

The music, sometimes near, sometimes far, began to play, and everything in his vision became unreal and blurred, as if someone had recorded his dream and was playing it on repeat.

Gold and green ribbons hung down, covering the forester's square code. Gilgood saw that behind the ribbon curtain was a birdcage, with long-beaked birds pecking at the wooden bars.

The moment his eyes met those of the long-beaked bird, the scene abruptly shifted. Wooden railings appeared within eyelashes of his eye, and outside the prison-like pillars was his own bewildered reflection.

what the hell!

Am I locked up?

Gilgood hadn't even considered the possibility of becoming that long-beaked bird when reality showed him the truth in the most direct and cruel way.

He picked up the birdcage containing him with one hand and draped him, cage and all, over his shoulder.

The woman who grabbed him was wearing a red robe adorned with gold ornaments, and a man was beside her, carrying a lion-head cane. Both wore ebony masks with different patterns and had a slanted rhinoceros horn tied to their heads.

"Try taking him away."

The woman's mask and bright red lipstick resembled fire and blood. After speaking, she ran forward, the bracelets of various sizes on her arms jingling. The man also ran, the sound of his lion-head cane dragging on the ground was jarring.

Gilgood was unaware of what was happening. His understanding was insufficient to comprehend the energy of "Comers," so his thoughts stagnated. He could only capture information from the outside world through his five senses, but his brain was unable to process it.

Listen closely, and you can hear the gentle tapping of stone tools. It is inconspicuous amidst the booming of drums, yet it is unique, ethereal, and solemn. No matter how fast-paced the loud noise, it cannot be drowned out.

Just then, Gilgood saw a parrot stroll by leisurely, its tail as dazzling as a rainbow, its ever-changing silver-gray eyes carrying an evil air, sometimes deep, sometimes shallow, sometimes bright, sometimes dark, its gaze sweeping over him and looking at something behind him.

The sound of the stone tools striking the stone slowed down, and from the pause, a sound that Gilgood couldn't understand broke in—it was singing, communication, and commands.

“There is an evil person standing here.”

A large hole appeared in the ground, and bronze and stone tools sprang up one after another like bamboo shoots after a rain. The startled parrot spread its wings and nimbly avoided the stone tools on the ground. The man and woman carrying it followed it carefully, afraid of being stabbed by the stone tools.

The air was thick with the smell of blood and herbs. The parrot's powerful claws sank into the ground, splashing up glistening water droplets that mixed with the dampness and bark, making the soil sticky like slurry.

However, this could not stop the discovery of bronze and stone artifacts.

The earth was riddled with bottomless pits.

"Pfft!"

Finally, the man leaning on the lion-head cane, exhausted from dodging, was accidentally struck by a bronze object. His scream was fleeting, and in the blink of an eye, he transformed from a human into a hopping monkey, lying helplessly on the ground.

The monkey had chains around its ankles, its eyes were vacant, and its expression was numb.

Seeing this, the parrot stopped its incessant chirping, folded its shimmering feathers, and stood still.

And the pits stopped spreading everywhere, just as river water poured into the soil, and the cracks in the earth healed one by one.

"What a ruthless amount of carats," the parrot said.

"'Kla,' yet another new mystical name." The green code formed new words in response, "Your voodoo magic isn't bad either, but it's a pity it's too 'singing and dancing,' I heard it all clearly." The parrot opened and closed its beak, grinding it like it was cracking sunflower seeds.

“I am an Ashanti, an orphan of an ancient kingdom, a living dead from the coastal chiefdom of Guinea. Asante means ‘because of war’ in our language. You can also call me Mama Qom.”

"Because of the war... is this the name of your family?" Green Code asked with interest.

“No, it’s ‘Sunsam,’ referring to the spiritual power of different regions,” the parrot exclaimed. “You, like the man who lived here before, are only interested in our collective name.”

"Just for filing purposes. I'd be happy to call you Kum."

"And Mom."

"Oh, you don't want to attract my mother's attention."

"Hoo-ha-ha-ha!" the parrot squawked, flapping its wings. "I'm here to deal with those restless little souls. You're not so bad; you killed a bad priest, otherwise I would have had to appease many more furious Loas."

"Since we're not enemies, why don't we come up and have a chat?"

"Unless you have fried coconut cake, crab cassava porridge, and grilled shark."

"I made a coconut latte."

May the gods of the sky have mercy on your soul!

Cultural differences rendered green data speechless; the parrot noisily gestured with its wings, giving instructions, and the woman slammed the birdcage to the ground with a "bang".

Gilgood, who was trapped inside, suddenly felt dizzy and disoriented, as if he had fallen into a dark abyss.

After an unknown amount of time, a green light appeared and disappeared intermittently, illuminating one unknown area after another for him.

Gilgood instinctively felt it was good and unconsciously followed its pace, skimming across the vast, boundless night on both sides.

As I casually turned my head, I saw a figure in the night growing larger and larger. Her body swelled rapidly, and she wore a strange mask on her face, obscuring her inner features. However, the outer skin had peeled off, revealing the reddish-brown skin underneath.

The enormous woman opened her blood-red maw and devoured the tiny flying insects in the air—which Gilgood initially mistook for insects, as they were far too insignificant compared to the woman—before he realized they were singing people.

They huddled together, their voices deep and resonant, drawn together by a wicked conspiracy, their souls formed from countless bodies.

The woman chewed on them with crunching sounds, and gradually, all the sounds and images disappeared.

Gilgood felt as if he had walked into a wall. After walking for a while, his eyes were suddenly brightened. Warm sunlight touched his eyeballs through his eyelids, and wisps of smoke filled his nostrils. He felt a great sense of relief.

"Hahaha, hahahahaha...!"

Before he could catch his breath, a deep, rough, androgynous voice echoed loudly in his ears, reminding him of a magnificent, elephant-skin-backed bench that passed over his head through the wall.

A very obese woman sat on it, so large that even a spacious chair could not support her.

Seven red candles surrounded her on either side. The woman wore a yellow veil over her shoulders, huge ivory tusks hanging on either side of her head, and a peacock green rag dress that revealed her beautiful reddish-brown skin at her ankles. She wore several robes of different colors over it.

Several men and women were carrying a woman's ornate bench. They moved slowly, making low growls as they went, which made Gilgood's scalp tingle.

The woman glanced at him, intentionally or unintentionally. Her face was large, untouched by time, a serene and reserved countenance that left no room for memories, like a bronze statue of an ancient queen. The jewels around her neck glittered like flickering will-o'-the-wisps.

The elephant-skin chairs, like trains, roared past.

The lingering strangeness vanished completely, and Gilgood opened his eyes shakily—once again feeling the sunlight of the real world.

The green code remains intact, displaying clearly organized data.

“You can continue reading the agreement now, Mr. Gilgood.”

Gilgood swallowed hard. The memory from just now was beginning to blur, distort, and become abstract, as if he had just woken up from a dream. He had no choice but to try to recap it before he completely forgot it.

That was the battle of the Mystics...

I was captured by them... as a pawn to test each other.

...Did the forest rangers ultimately win?

Gilgood didn't know what happened next, and just laughed it off.

Just seconds before, the head of the Gilgood family, a local tyrant, smuggler, and arms dealer who had dominated Lacono for nearly a century and was known as the "war locusts," had been a menacing figure.

He wanted to question the ranger about the whereabouts of his sister, Mary Adamek, and to obtain information about the increasingly expanding mysterious world through arms deals. He even wanted to cooperate with the World Tree to manipulate politics or ignite a new war.

It wasn't until he met the Mystic that Gilgood realized how naive his previous ideas had been.

If the forest ranger or the other party harbors murderous intent, they can make him disappear at any time!

From beginning to end, he was just a toy in their game of power. What did guns, cannons, and bombers mean to them?
And yet he was on equal footing with these mysterious beings...

Ridiculous.

He thinks too highly of himself.

With a sigh, Gilgood put away his burnt-out cigarette and began carefully reading the forest ranger's contract, no longer daring to peek into those mysterious areas.

(End of this chapter)