New Gods of North America.

Chapter 219 Gangster
In America these days, entertainment is still quite scarce.

Apart from the occasional circus or dance troupe touring around, people's leisure activities mainly include various parties and going to bars.

After taking Emma away to wash a meal together, Inissa and Lina were bored.

Parker and Willy, who didn't plan to go out, were left in the hotel to take care of the baby. He also asked Wayne if he wanted to go to the pub together to collect some information.

With the completion of the steam train line, Clarisseburg had already begun to take shape.
At least because of the distribution of goods and the rest of travelers, there are quite a few restaurants and taverns here compared to ordinary small towns.

Unfortunately, this place is still too close to the East Coast. When the travelers from the East arrive here, they may have just left for a short time, while the travelers from the West will soon reach their destination.
Therefore, the proportion of tourists willing to stay overnight here is not particularly high. More people and goods may simply be "passing through" the local area. Otherwise, development may be even faster.

It is the type of company that benefited from steam locomotive transportation, but not too much.

However, in the western part of Virginia, it is not wrong to say that this place is a relatively "lively" or "prosperous" place.

Wayne and his friends strolled around the restaurant and tavern street near the steam train station and randomly picked one that looked larger.

As the three of them entered the room, Wayne spotted several familiar faces.

Doug and Ryan sat at a table with a few strangers. A little further away, two trainee detectives sat at a table by themselves.
By the way, I also noticed two guys I had seen at Mr. Russell's house before. They should be the leaders of a team. One of them was alone, and the other one occupied a table with a few people.

Seeing that Doug and Ryan were about to stand up and say hello, Wayne waved his hand and signaled them to go back to their own games.
During the break, everyone is free to do whatever they want.

Because of the presence of two pretty girls, Inissa and Lina, several guys in the bar started whistling.

Inesa, with her guitar case on her back, ignored them, while Lina would fight back slightly.
For example, first look over with your eyes slightly wide open, then roll your eyes and look away.

Then the three of them sat down at the bar as usual, ready to ask the bartender for information.

There must have been quite a few teams coming here recently. When the bartender came over, he noticed that Wayne and the other two were all strangers, so he took the initiative to sell information:

"Are you also here because of the reward offered by the steam train company? Do you need some information about the robbers?"

Although I don't know how many times the bartender's information has been sold,

But Wayne still flicked a $5 gold coin over and said, "Three beers. Is there anything you can't get from the police station?"

The bartender skillfully took the gold coin from the air, twisted it a little, and stuffed it into his trouser pocket without even looking at it:

"Of course, but I'm afraid this amount of money is not enough."

Wayne didn't care. If someone really wanted to fish, they would definitely bait again.
So Wayne took the beer glass pushed over from the bar by the bartender, pushed it towards the lady, and replied to the bartender who was pouring the beer, "Let's try the $5 one first."

The bartender pushed three glasses of beer over one after another, and then returned to Wayne's opposite side of the bar:
"You should also know that powerful gangs usually like to stay near state borders. There are three "big gangs" on the road from here to Ohio, and ordinary bounty hunters can't deal with them. Of course, there are also some small gangs or other robbers and thieves. "I wonder what size gang you are interested in?"

Wayne took a sip of beer. It tasted bad. It was not as good as the beer in the mayor's house. It was even worse than the green bottle in his previous life.

Then Wayne gave the bartender a rough estimate of the credibility based on his impression of beer. "Actually, either is fine. But since you want to understand the situation, why don't you start with the big picture first?"

The bartender seemed to have sorted out his thoughts a little:

“It’s actually difficult for outsiders like us to confirm the exact size of the gang. After all, it’s not uncommon for gangs to fight among themselves or suddenly break up, so the number of people in the gang is always different at times.

"But according to what we locals have always known, the biggest gang on this section of the steam train that continues west to Ohio is probably the Gary Adventure.

"There should be more than 200 of them. The leader calls himself William Kidd. You know, this name is the same as the legendary privateer captain. This is also how their gang got its name. The current reward on his wanted list is $1500. As for the other known members of the gang who have been wanted, the total value should be around $."

Wayne nodded as he listened, "And then?"

The bartender continued:

"Next is the 'Thin Gang'. Their number should be smaller than that of the 'Gary Adventure', but it is said that they usually have no less than 20 people when they are on the move. I heard that they have 'financial dealings' with the sheriffs of some counties near the state border, but I will not publicly admit that this is what I said. As for their leader, we only know a nickname, called 'Thin' Charlie, and the reward is 300 US dollars. Together with other members, the total reward is estimated to be around 1100 US dollars."

The boss is more expensive, but the others are cheaper?

Or are the others not on the wanted list at all?

Wayne motioned to the bartender to continue, "Then let's move on to the third 'Big Gang'."

The bartender paused for a moment:
"According to the information I received, this gang is not that big. I heard that there are usually only a few people in their operations. However, they are very brutal and mainly rob steam trains that transport valuables. They have accurate information and the damage they cause is no less than that of other big gangs.

"The name of this gang is 'Regulators', well, it's the same as the criminal organization that is said to be active in the West. There is a saying that they are a branch of that organization in the West. There is no reward for them at the moment, because they rarely leave witnesses nearby.

"But I heard that their identities are easy to identify. They are said to have specific tattoos or markings. It seems that a wealthy man from another place once issued a reward. As long as any member of the 'Supervisor' who can be identified is captured, he is willing to pay at least 300 US dollars."

Wayne briefly recalled the information he had previously learned about the "Regulator".

Their style of doing things sounds similar to that of the criminal organization of the same name active in the West. They don't like to leave any witnesses.
But if it really is that organization, then these people are likely Beyonders...

Wayne was thinking about it when a rough and drunken male voice suddenly sounded behind him:

"Hey! Pretty girls, instead of hanging out with this pretty boy, how about hanging out with a hunk like me?"

(End of this chapter)