New Gods of North America.

Chapter 577 Team Building
The way Lina treated that mixed-race female slave was like she was dealing with a child—

"Can you talk?" "Can you read?" "Wow, your skin looks so smooth, would you mind if I pinch it?"

Wayne had some doubts about whether Lina would eventually produce another "Emma," and sighed slightly, feeling it necessary to play the bad cop in advance.

He walked over and pretended to cough twice, interrupting Lina's action of pinching someone's cheeks: "What's your name?"

—This is no longer the era of the Age of Exploration when we were "importing" new slaves all the time. We are all human beings, and how could such a large slave not be able to speak?
Even slaves in the West could communicate with white immigrants without any problems, and they usually had an extra "foreign language" to speak, making them more "international" than ordinary townspeople.

The mixed-race female slave showed significantly more reverence when facing Wayne, who acted like her "master."

Her back straightened instantly, her muscles seemed to tense, and she lowered her head, saying, "My name is Alicia..."

"Noble" and "beautiful"

This name sounds more cultured than the townspeople's...

And to be fair, at a glance, her figure is more curvaceous than many ladies on the East Coast.
She's only high school age, but her nutrition is almost on par with many women in the West. It's just that she's not quite ready to sit at the same table as Miss Inesarea Ovilia and the others.

Wayne thought for a moment and decided to establish the rules first:

"We are not Southerners and have no tradition of keeping slaves. Although your ownership documents are in our hands, we will treat you as a contractual servant and deduct a portion of your wages from your contract price."

"Since there is a contract, you need to meet our management requirements and obey our orders during your work period."

“When we believe that your accumulated work contributions are sufficient to offset the contract, you have the right to choose whether to stay or leave—provided that your performance during your employment must be satisfactory to us.”

The mixed-race maid bit her lip and remained silent for a moment, seemingly pondering Wayne's meaning, before finally nodding, "Yes!"

Wayne continued, "Our detective agency is a partnership, currently consisting of myself, Lina, and a lady named Inessa. In principle, the orders of the partners have equal force on you, but normally you only need to follow Lina's instructions and do not need to obey the others."

"In return, your personal safety will be guaranteed by us. At least personally, I will not ask you to do anything beyond the scope of a servant's duties."

Alicia seemed to breathe a slight sigh of relief, and quickly nodded again, saying "Yes," her voice not as weak as before.

“And then… um…” Wayne thought for a moment, “I don’t think I’ve learned about this yet. Do you have any traditional beliefs? Or is there a particular deity you personally worship?”

Alicia tensed up again. "Heretical beliefs are not allowed on the plantation... Although the masters don't force us to, all we have access to is information about the Holy Scriptures."

Compared to established families, they really do things in a very comprehensive way.

Wayne understood. "That makes things simpler. Our detective agency has special connections with the church or the exorcist association; we specialize in dealing with 'evil spirits' and 'fallen beings.' Since you're with Lina, you'll probably see it sooner or later—don't be nervous, don't be afraid, and most importantly, don't tell anyone what you see."

"This last point is extremely crucial; it will directly determine whether you ultimately gain your freedom. Do you understand?"

This time, the other person responded particularly loudly, "Yes!" Good, very spirited.

Unfortunately, this "not bad" feeling lasted for less than half an hour. After returning to the crowd, Emma quickly began trying to get to know her new friend, Alicia.
The little girl's smiling head was suddenly raised with both hands in a showy manner, and the little black girl didn't even have time to scream before her eyes rolled back and she fainted.

After waking up quickly, for a while she looked more like a "doll" than Chef Parker, her eyes lacking any sparkle.

Wayne guessed that she was probably reinstalling her operating system or something at that time...

……

The workers and craftsmen on site were given another half-day off. With no outsiders inside the enclosure, the team-building activity officially began.
Since it's a "team building" event, it's different from regular relaxation and entertainment. Like some unscrupulous bosses in modern society, Wayne came with a "hidden agenda."

Lately, the partners have been going to parties almost every night, but they haven't been doing nothing during the day either.
At least the detective agency's personnel arrangements for the near future have been finalized. Liam is taking several agents to the "First Office" for rotation, while Ryan is leading a new team to set up the "Second Office." The remaining personnel will stay at headquarters for the time being, working with the partners.

With the addition of six new peripheral members, including "Softening," the detective agency now has a staff of 34. This doesn't include "unofficial" members like the chef, Emma, ​​cowardly Peter, and the mixed-race black girl, nor the acting manager of the restaurant or the prisoners at headquarters.
Connor went to Kansas to run errands and hasn't returned yet. It's unclear how many people he'll bring back, but based on a rough estimate, that's roughly the total number.

In terms of sheer numbers, it's not considered "small" among ordinary gangs. If you also consider the average quality, it could probably raid some remote western towns without any problem—just remember to run away before the church, military, or militia arrive.

Based on the agents' general interests, the main activity of the team building activity was naturally the arena competition.
Wayne made some minor adjustments to the specific arrangements, creating a "three-team confrontation" model based on the agents' short-term destinations.

The main competition events are divided into "individual battles" and "team battles".
In individual battles, teams decide on their own, selecting members one by one to compete. Each person can only participate once, regardless of win or loss. The team's final ranking is determined by the team's total winning points.
Team battles are simpler. Three teams select the same number of players and each team plays one match against two opposing teams. The team with the last remaining players wins. After one round, one team is eliminated, and the remaining teams compete for the championship.

The design aims to foster teamwork among dispatched agents. While individual members may vary in strength, a well-executed "strategic maneuvering" can ensure the team's overall success.

This not only helps agents confirm their position within the team, but also allows them to try to pool their wisdom and efforts, so that they don't become a disorganized mess when they're sent out, or that the words of the person in charge become less effective—this refers to Liam.

For this purpose, Wayne also added something to the "one-on-one battle".

Some matches are not simply arena battles; they also require players to complete preliminary stages such as shooting, observation, and deduction to earn extra points for their team.

The goal is to enable team members to demonstrate value beyond "arena battles." The actual work of an agent is far more complex than fighting in an arena, and the hope is that they can comprehensively showcase their unique strengths.

The same principle applies to "team battles." Some agents may not be particularly skilled individually, but when they team up, the effect can be greater than the sum of its parts. For example, "whale oil" combined with "airflow," or "vines" combined with "sharpening." There are even more complex combination techniques.

The specific configuration and strategies are crucial. It's not enough to just understand your own team members; you also need to consider the composition of the opposing team. If your team's composition happens to be countered and your strategy is completely guessed, then you're essentially "courting disaster."

Wayne even considered the situation of the newly joined peripheral members. Part of the design was intended to help the agents, including them, better integrate into the team and deepen their understanding of the other agents.
If all goes well, the agents might be able to create the best team composition before taking action, and they'll also be more adaptable to the routine of job rotations—look, even the veteran agents get rotated, it's not just you newbies who get to rotate.

Anyway, after Wayne finished designing all of this, he felt that he had put in a lot of effort.
It seems that those heartless maggots in modern society who spend all their time organizing team-building activities aren't entirely without merit...

The key is not to take up other people's rest time, and not to be too obviously utilitarian.

(End of this chapter)