New Gods of North America.

Chapter 436 Rules
"Dong dong."

Wayne had not yet finished his formal conversation with Pastor Bazzini when someone outside the parish priest's office knocked twice quickly.

Before the person inside could respond, the door was opened by a monk from outside.
Then Wayne saw Tom Hagen's indifferent expression.

Wayne inexplicably felt guilty as if he was "caught on the spot", but after Tom Hagen politely exchanged greetings with Pastor Bazzini at the door, he just winked at Wayne, indicating "If you have something to say, come out and tell me."

Tom Hagen did not stop there to wait for Wayne. When Wayne caught up with him, the walking speed of several people in the corridor was almost close to "jogging".

It looked like something unexpected had happened, so Wayne asked as he walked over, "What happened?"

Tom Hagen spoke much faster than usual:

"Your classmate named Macon Reeve said he wants to negotiate with us. Now we need to go to the church hospital immediately. Confirm the situation as soon as possible."

Wayne was a little surprised, "So anxious?"

"We'll talk about it on the way."

Several people quickly walked to the door of the church.

Inissa and several agents, Wayne's people including his followers, and some exorcists seemed to have been notified earlier, and now the carriages and horses were already waiting.

Tom Hagen asked Wayne and Inessa to ride in the same carriage with him. As soon as the door of the carriage closed, the sound of the coachman's whip cracking could be heard.

The cathedral carriage is indeed more spacious than the detective agency's, and its noise reduction and shock absorption are much better.
Wayne was still thinking about installing better shock absorbers on his carriage when he turned around. Tom Hagen had already started reporting the situation:

"Bad news. The enemy still has hidden personnel in Georgeberg, whose identities are currently unknown. The team escorting Anton Sieg was attacked on the way to the old police station, and now the person has escaped.

"The person guarding Macken Reeve also brought back news. He said he knew that some 'sealed objects' that the Church of Light had previously placed in Georgeburg have now been 'unsealed' in your college's old library. A team of exorcist priests are currently handling the emergency."

Ok? !

Creating a bargaining chip to escape by causing a riot,

This is the trick used by criminal gangs in police and gangster movies to rescue their "arrested accomplices"...

Wayne was stunned for a moment, his thoughts racing, "Is it Reverend Pycelle? He wants to use this to buy 'freedom'?"

Tom Hagen nodded slightly. "That's what I guessed."

Lina is now guarding over there with Mackenree. With her personality and ability, even if she can't protect the person, she probably won't let the other person escape "completely".

If Mackenzie Reeve's soul was really replaced, the best option for the replacement would definitely be to lie dormant for a while, and then continue to live a low-key life with the new identity.
But if the other party believes that his current identity has been completely exposed, then the best solution would be to get rid of the church's supervision as soon as possible. Even escaping as a wanted criminal is better than being detained by the church.

Wayne quickly recalled the information about the local priests in his mind, while thinking about possible countermeasures.
I feel like I’ve been a little too carried away recently, with my mind focused on the “next step” so much that I didn’t prepare for the other party to “turn the table over”.

Reverend Pycelle is from a "family" after all, and has been working in the church for many years.

The authority of the cathedral is certainly useful, and the priests usually look gentle and polite, but in situations where "a trapped beast fights a desperate battle" or "a fight to the death", one should not be too superstitious about the rules.

According to the American culture, some people may still choose to pick up the weapons in their hands and "fight again."

——Just like the sheriff in a western town, no matter how popular he is among the townspeople, if he has no weapons in his hands when he encounters a villain, he may be "nothing."

……

When I arrived at the church hospital again, the ward where Macken Reeve was being held was already on high alert.
The two-story brick building where the ward was located had been "cleared out" and was surrounded by a circle of guards with serious expressions.

Lina, who was hiding aside and playing with her fingers out of boredom, saw the few people coming, so she came over to Wayne and Inissa and whispered:

"Just now an intruder handed something to that guy, and he has already eaten it. I don't know what it is. I think that guy is not doing well now. It seems that he may lose control at any time."

"Where is the intruder?" Wayne asked.

Lina pointed in a direction in the church hospital and said, "He was dragged over there. He should have been sent to the morgue."

This is a "fight"...

Wayne nodded at Lina, pointed to the ward, and asked her if she wanted to go up with him.
Lina shook her head, and the two of them followed Tom Hagen who kept walking inside. When they entered the small building, the exorcists had set up excessive lighting inside.

Macon Reeve in the ward had his hands and feet bound with chains, and his bed had been moved to the center of the room. Next to it were several large floor-standing candlesticks that were almost as tall as children, placed within a circle of magic circles, making the ward brightly lit. Even ghosts would shake their heads at this sight.

Unfortunately, the Extraordinary People are not ghosts after all. Macon Reeve on the hospital bed seemed to sense the movement. After Wayne and others walked to the bedside from a distance and waited for about ten seconds, this guy slowly opened his eyes.

Good guy,
There was no longer any white in Mackenzie Reeve's eyes. His eyeballs had turned pitch black, with veins popping out around his eye sockets. At first glance, the level of horror was comparable to that of the little loli Emma at certain times.

Tom Hagen chose to take the initiative. "What should I call you now? Should I call you Macon Reeve or Reverend Pycelle?"

The pure black eyes looked over, and their gaze seemed to fall on Tom Hagen's face, who was avoiding looking directly at him.
He did not answer the question, and his voice sounded hoarse and empty. "Have you checked at the academy? What's the situation there?"

Tom Hagen looked at the candlelight on the other side of the bed:

"It's not very good. It is said that there are already dozens of students in the library who have been affected. There will probably be more who need to be identified and purified for treatment. But it is still within the controllable range."

"Hehehe."

Macken Reeve was smiling grimly at this moment, and his temperament was completely different from the "building manager" Wayne first knew. "I also think that the previous practice of the Church of Light placing sealed objects everywhere like this has little impact on the church. But if they are all unsealed at once, I guess you won't be able to handle it in a short period of time."

Tom Hagen's face was expressionless. "Have you already started helping them? Or have you become one of them?"

"It's just a deal with corrupt people and heretics. I don't care about them, but I want to start a new life now."

"Have you ever thought about where you want to go? Maybe I can arrange for someone to take you there."

"Hehe. I'll just tell you what I know. The Church of Light has placed at least ten sealed objects in Georgeburg over the years. You found the holy emblem in the church, and you dealt with the mirror. It should be some time before midnight. Do you want to know the next location?"

"Tell me your conditions. I need to confirm whether I am qualified to agree to your request."

"Before midnight, a carriage, a coachman, and tell your people not to follow. I know you won't keep your promise, so I won't tell you all the locations."

Tom Hagen thought for a moment and tried to continue to argue with Macon Reeve:

"You probably don't have many people you can use right now. I guess you may not be able to unlock all the seals. Three? No, unlocking two more seals may be your limit."

As he spoke, his hands behind his back made silent gestures.

After seeing this, an attendant outside the ward left quietly.

Mackenzie Reeve had a hideous and silent smile on his face. His eyes slowly closed and his head slowly rested on the pillow again.

"I remember there was a half-grown boy in the detective agency in the cathedral? I'm going to appoint him as the coachman. There's also a little girl who will go to the college as a hostage.

"I've already told you the conditions. You can choose to accept or not, but I don't accept bargaining. I just want to leave now, and it's not me who is wasting time."

Willy and Emma?
Wayne frowned slightly. This guy knows how to pick and choose. In order to prevent the church from taking the opportunity to arrange powerful people, he will target my people instead.

Wayne listened and thought silently, and deliberately turned his head to speak to one of Tom Hagen's followers:
"Which are the largest bars in Georgeburg? The bars and larger hospitals in the city may need to be checked as soon as possible. There should be some in the college. The monastery and night school are also at risk. Try to start with the places with the largest number of people."

Nightlife these days is not very rich, and the nearest theater is in Richmond. If we estimate based on the previously contaminated holy emblem and the "ghost mirror", the so-called sealed object should have a limited impact range.

There are not many options for crowded public places where a greater impact needs to be created at midnight.

Mackenzie Reeve opened his eyes again, and Wayne followed suit, avoiding his gaze.

From a purely perceptual point of view, the expression on his face seemed to be getting more ferocious:

"Perhaps you can go back to your courtyard and look for it. Maybe it's there too."

Who are you trying to scare?

Even if I don't trust myself in this regard, how can I not trust the evil god's own daughter? How could there be something extra in the house in advance and I was completely unaware of it?

Wayne thought about this and decided to ask Lina to go back and take a look just to be on the safe side...

(End of this chapter)