New Gods of North America.

Chapter 402 Arrangement
There is a saying in the Jianghu:
If someone knows one or several methods of committing a crime, then he may be a criminal who has committed a crime before.

Knowing a dozen techniques, maybe you are just a lover of detective stories.
If you know dozens or even more ways of committing crimes, the most reliable guess would be that the person is most likely an experienced police detective.

After a brief interview with Tom Hagen,
Wayne only then realized that when the Church of Light tried to infiltrate the Church of the Holy Spirit during the colonial period, it had conducted in-depth research on forbidden techniques similar to "soul replacement".

It is said that the initial research began in the Old World, but obviously the environment in the Old World was not as "good" as that in the New World at that time.

At that time, the Church of Light was developing quite well in the New World, so the Church of the Holy Spirit also gained a lot.

In addition to confiscating related supplies, a number of researchers' notes were also obtained.

"So, something like soul replacement is really possible?!" Wayne was a little surprised.

Tom Hagen seemed to think that Wayne's reaction was a little dangerous, and his eyes pierced him bluntly:
"The Church of Light has had cases that can barely be called 'successful'. But the conditions it used were very harsh, and there were requirements for the realms of both the 'transferer' and the 'transferred'. Perhaps because of their faith, they have done the most in-depth research on Beyonders in the 'Sacred' realm, and they also believe that the 'Sacred' realm may best meet the conditions.

"However, according to the researchers' experimental records, even in the very few 'successful' cases, the survivors are no longer 'the same person' as before, but a stranger who possesses most of the 'transferred person's' memories.

“And they all lost their minds very quickly afterwards. The longest time was no more than three months. Back then, the church used that madman to reversely dig out the base of the Church of Light.

"They believe that there are two main difficulties. One is to completely erase the original will in the transferred body, and the other is to keep the soul of the 'transferred' intact. It seems that any mistake in these two points will eventually lead to the collapse of the soul. In theory, this is indeed feasible."

Wayne thought about the current development of the Church of Light.

If there was such an easy-to-use method, parasitism would have been successful long ago. "But in reality, it's impossible to do it?"

Tom Hagen nodded. "Free will is a gift from the Holy Spirit to mankind. If you want to fundamentally shake it through external forces, you need the participation of beings of a very high status, and it will obviously consume a lot of extraordinary power. The Church of Light couldn't do it back then, and the remaining remnants now are even less likely to do it."

Wayne said "Oh" and did not ask for details.

I didn't expect that old Pastor Pycelle was so bold that he dared to try such a thing, and judging from the details of this "high-end technical exchange", he seemed to be suspected of "collaborating with the enemy".

"You don't want to learn more about it?" asked Tom Hagen.

Wayne shook his head, not to mention the meaning behind the words "very few" and "survivors".
Just looking at the fact that neither the Holy See nor the Holy Spirit Church has used this method to prolong the lives of the top leaders, we can guess that at least this plan is not reliable - there is no record of directly switching from "old man" to "young man".

……

Tom Hagen left the office temporarily with Wayne's guess, saying that he was going to report to the bishop.

Wayne waited inside for half an hour, thinking that he might get some contribution or reward for this discovery.

Unexpectedly, after Tom Hagen came back, Bishop Corleone assigned the "entire job" to himself.

"The bishop wants your detective agency to continue investigating this matter and try to find substantial evidence as soon as possible.

"I will also have someone conduct a reverse identification of the potions you sent to the cathedral to confirm whether any of them can have the effect of destroying the soul. I remember you said that Reverend Pycelle had some students in the academy take potions regularly for a long time." Let's, a private detective agency,
To investigate the legitimate pastors of the church?

Wayne wondered if there was something wrong. "Shouldn't an internal investigation like this be handled by the cathedral or the parish church in Georgeburg?"

"Under normal circumstances, that would be the case."

Tom Hagen did not deny it. "But this involves the Church of Light. The bishop believes that since you discovered the clues, you should get the corresponding rewards. If you let others intervene, it may not be fair to you."

You are kidding me. Even Inissa said that Beyonders outside the church who absorb Beyonder materials from the "sacred" realm will be treated with hostility.
A Church of Light, a priest Pycelle, no matter how they look at their extraordinary materials, the detective agency can't just detain them openly...

Wayne asked tentatively, "If we harvest extraordinary materials from the 'Sacred' realm, can we exchange them for materials from other realms?"

"If it's about this matter, I don't think there should be any problem," Tom Hagen replied.

That's better...

Wayne learned from Tom Hagen about the church's routine practices and prohibitions during internal investigations, and tried to get an investigation order from the cathedral.
But Tom Hagen said that this kind of thing could not be opened, and just asked Wayne to investigate secretly as much as possible. He said that if a conflict occurred, he could tell the people in the detective agency not to worry, and the cathedral would intervene in time.

Well……

I always feel like something is wrong.

……

Back at the detective agency, the three partners gathered for a small meeting.

Inesa seems to have basically recovered now.

At least when Wayne came back, he saw her "basking in the sun" in the shade of the yard instead of still hiding in the cabin "taking a bath".

When Lina heard about this matter that could openly deal with the pastor of the Holy Spirit Church, she became very positive.
She volunteered to take people to try to find evidence in the college church.

Wayne did not doubt Lina's professionalism, but because he had sneaked in once before,
I feel like I've probably already "alerted the enemy", so I don't have too much hope for it. I can only remind Lina to be careful and not get caught.

Inissa and Lina had been to the academy so many times before, and had also attended several dances locally.
If I were caught red-handed and didn't have a good reason, then saying I wasn't from the detective agency wouldn't be a good excuse...

Inessa was still worried about the situation at Cohen Pharmaceuticals. She felt that from a prudent point of view, she should not let her guard down for the time being.

The large-scale "secret investigation" should be carried out during the day as much as possible, and at night, the basic staff of the detective agency should be ensured to be in place as much as possible.

So the three of them discussed it for a while.
Wayne and Seth have been reviewing the students in the academy again these days.
Inissa and Lina each conducted their investigation in their own way.

(End of this chapter)