New Gods of North America.

Chapter 578 Bonus Question

"Did we make the 'bonus question' too difficult? Look how cautious they've all become..."

Lina looked out onto the field from the "spectator seats" and then turned around to ask a question.

This was exactly the effect Wayne wanted. Hearing this, he reassured Lina, "If they were sent abroad, the risks they would encounter would be greater and more hidden. It's better to raise everyone's vigilance in advance than to cause trouble later."

Inessa nodded in agreement: "These bonus questions aren't too difficult, and the punishments aren't severe either. I think they're quite lenient."

This is now the third round of the "single battles," and Willie, "Strange Sound," and "Shock" are about to fight. They are currently completing the "bonus questions" before the battle begins.
To be fair, these bonus questions were devised by several partners, including Emma and Chef Parker, who were not required to participate in the competition. The question types were quite diverse.

At first, the agents didn't take the bonus questions seriously, thinking that no matter how fancy the questions were, the final decision would still be based on hard skills.
Wayne then deliberately placed the "observation question" that Inessa had come up with in the first round. The contestants would receive the same dried specimen of a whole herb and would have to observe it and choose one of the following: root, stem, leaf, or fruit. They would then eat it before the competition began.

To be honest, the question Inessa posed was actually quite clever.
The herbs were "imported goods" she specially obtained from the Exorcist Guild; they weren't available in America. However, Inessa had covered all the relevant knowledge about identifying toxicity in her classes at the detective agency, so this was a practical application of what she had learned.

Some people may be average in their studies but have good physical fitness. In this case, there is a second-best solution to the problem. As long as they can resist the poison, they can still win in the arena even with the negative status. Although they can't get "bonus points", they can at least keep the win.

That herb is actually a treasure trove; the leaves are the most poisonous part, while the roots are harmless—you can dig them up and eat them to quench your thirst when they're fresh.
The stem has thorns that have a numbing effect when eaten. The fruit is not considered "poisonous," but when dried, it becomes a potent remedy for severe constipation.

So Sanders, who was initially confident of victory, luckily picked the fruit, leading to the worst possible outcome:

He didn't choose the correct root system, so he won't get any points for this question; this thing isn't poison, so targeted antidotes won't work; then his stomach started rumbling, and even a fool could guess that he needed to wage a "guerrilla war" or a "protracted war" against him.

In the end, to avoid the humiliation of soiling himself in public, Sanders had no choice but to surrender, losing even a victory he had planned to win without any pressure.
He tore off the white handkerchief that symbolized "surrender," clutched his stomach, and ran towards the toilet downstream. It wasn't exactly a complete "social disaster," but he'd most likely be remembered in everyone's "detective agency joke collection"...

So with such a precedent, it's not surprising that the remaining agents would become cautious about "bonus questions".

The scene returns to this moment.
Now Willie and his friends are facing a "reasoning puzzle" posed by Wayne.

The question isn't difficult. Five people, A, B, C, D, and E, each say one sentence. Then, based on the logical relationships between their statements, you need to find the one who is lying.
This question follows a "first-come, first-served" model. Each option corresponds to a small box, and the person who makes a decision first can choose first. If people have the same option, they need to explain their reasons in turn after everyone has made their selections.

The first person to choose correctly and logically will receive a bonus, and the box also contains a $20 Double Eagle gold coin as a small gift.
Choosing the wrong box or being a step too slow naturally doesn't earn you any extra points, but in option B, which represents a "good guy," there's Peter the Spider—the reasoning can be unreliable, but it can't be too far-fetched.

"what--"

I had barely grabbed the box marked with the letter B when a scream of "strange noise!" immediately rang out.

The sound was reverberating, almost echoing around the mill. His hand swayed back and forth, the large spider on his fingertips like a crab gripping someone. Seeing this, Liam, his teammate, immediately slapped his thigh in the preparation area. "We should have chosen D! Damn it, 'Strange Noise'—could he have done it on purpose, just to put on a show of drinking upside down for us tonight?"

"Huh? Isn't it C?"

Liam turned to his teammates and explained, "A and E's testimonies match, so we can infer that C's statement is also correct. Therefore, if we go through the events logically, the true order of events should be..."

The voices trailed off. Wayne, watching from a distance as several heads huddled together, felt a sense of satisfaction.

The questions themselves weren't difficult. Given enough time, many people could eventually figure them out. It was simply a matter of who could react faster. Emma was able to answer instantly during the "internal test," and Willie, who had already been assigned to investigate the case, didn't take too long to answer on the spot.

The key issue is Liam, who is the person Wayne is most worried about. At least now he's starting to look like a "team."

During the transition period, we don't expect them to make the first office a great success after the rotation. As long as they can stabilize the business and prevent any problems, that would be contributing to the main base.

Turning her head again, she saw the half-blood maid assigned to Lina slowly waking up once more—Emma had fainted once when she "raised her head," Liam had fainted once when he was sometimes transparent and sometimes "visible," and she had fainted again when she "softened" and collapsed into a puddle.
It's only because Inessa is quite experienced in handling this kind of situation that this little black girl would have already been sent to the hospital, instead of Emma using a small bottle of medicated oil to fumigate her.

The moment her gaze met Wayne's, her whole body reflexively jerked backward.
Wayne was starting to lose his composure: "We have a restaurant in Richmond that's about to open. If you really can't adapt, we can arrange for you to work there, provided it's kept confidential."

The little black girl wasn't very brave, but she had a resilient personality. Upon hearing this, she quickly sat up and said, "I'm fine. Please let me continue working on the plantation."

Well……

Wayne and Inessa exchanged a glance, then looked at Lina. "Alright, just don't have nightmares and scream in the middle of the night. You should now have a general idea of ​​the special circumstances surrounding our detective agency. If anything goes wrong, we'll take measures to mitigate the impact."

The little black girl nodded repeatedly, half-sitting and half-kneeling as she bowed deeply, saying, "Thank you very much, I will try my best."

This is not something that can be solved simply by "working hard"...

However, Inessa thought that perhaps she didn't want to leave her familiar place, while Lina was convinced that the girl must have "feelings" for the other slave who escaped with her that night, probably either siblings or lovers.

In unimportant circumstances, the detective agency is willing to respect the personal opinions of its employees—mainly because of the current situation in the United States, where people are generally not used to black "shop assistants," and even if they were sent to restaurants, they would probably only be able to help out in the kitchen.

Considering the high price tag of the beautiful mixed-race female slave, let's leave it at that for now.

(End of this chapter)