New Gods of North America.

Chapter 607 Rat
As the two talked, Wayne followed Brother Merlin into a basement deep within the cathedral.

The location here is a bit out of the way; it's not in the same direction as the bishop's daily activity area or Tom Hagen's office. Wayne had never been here before.

Then Wayne saw Merlin's findings in the basement—several large brown rats, each living alone in a cage.

Without saying a word, Brother Merlin first took out a pair of red gloves, put them on, and reached into a cage to grab one of the guests inside.

A faint white light appeared, and a sense of spiritual energy fluctuations came through. Then, the large rat, which looked obviously overfed, began to struggle wildly. Its eyes quickly filled with blood, and it even turned its head to bite people, like a ferocious mad dog trying to break free of its reins.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak—"

The other large rats in the basement were also jumping and leaping wildly in their cages, their calls carrying a murderous edge, sounding even more hungry than the howls of wolves in the wilderness.

Brother Merlin threw the large rat he was holding back to the bottom of the cage, then kicked the cages next to it a few more times, hissing at the rats to be quiet. His gaze then turned to Wayne, "What do you think of all this?"

Without hesitation, Wayne blurted out, "The Black Death."

“Yes. That’s what I think too.” Brother Merlin nodded. “Although the specific reasons are still unclear, according to records from various sources on the Old World, it is now widely believed, including by the Holy See, that the rat plague is one of the signs of the Black Death outbreak.”

"These brown rats are called Norwegian rats. They are not native to the United States. It is said that they came with the ships of the Windsor people during the colonial period. Logically speaking, they should not be so rampant in the dock area, nor should they have a rejection reaction to the power of the Holy Spirit. It is possible that they are the work of outsiders."

As a modern person who traveled from another time, Wayne actually had a deeper understanding of the Black Death, knowing that it was related to the plague bacillus.
And there is something that may surprise many people: although the Black Death had been ravaging the Old World since the Middle Ages hundreds of years ago, it was still a "new word" in this era. At this time, it had only been about twenty or thirty years since the term was first coined.

Before that, the Black Death was generally referred to as the "Great Plague" or the "Great Catastrophe." People suspected water sources, blood, food, air, and faith, but never rats. They could only wait until most of the isolated patients died and the plague subsided on its own.

As for the so-called "Norwegian rat" or "brown rat," they can certainly be hosts for the plague bacillus, but the plague bacillus can infect many organisms, and the blame cannot be simply placed on "foreign rats."
Merlin's speculation can be seen, in a sense, as a form of reverse discrimination by the people of the New World against the people of the Old World.

Upon hearing this, Wayne shook his head. "No, the rat infestation is not a 'symptom' of the Black Death. On the contrary, it is one of the 'direct causes' of the Black Death's spread. And it's not just Norwegian rats that cause the spread of the Black Death."

Brother Merlin seemed surprised that Wayne was so certain: "The cause of the Black Death is still inconclusive... Which organization came to this conclusion? Do they have any evidence?"

Well……

These days, some universities already have microscopes, which are considered "advanced scientific research equipment," but the cause of the Black Death is still undetermined. It's possible that the microscope's resolution isn't sufficient. Wayne didn't have any physical samples to study, and probably couldn't find any other evidence either.

So Wayne disregarded all that, saying, "I have every reason to believe that. To be on the safe side, we can assume that for now—at least that won't make things worse."

After speaking, Wayne thought for a moment, deciding to set aside the controversy and move the conversation forward: "What are your thoughts on this matter?"

The Black Death alone wasn't "easy" enough; now we also had to consider the influence of extraordinary powers. Perhaps it was just something that "looked" like the Black Death, but was actually something else entirely. Brother Merlin didn't dwell on the details further. "Based on the analysis of extraordinary powers and my personal investigation, the worst-case scenario is that some hidden organization is planning a sacrificial ritual. However, other monks, after analysis, believe it might just be one or more extraordinary individuals using their abilities improperly, and the overall impact wouldn't be that significant."

Wayne immediately considered the worst-case scenario: "If this is indeed a sacrificial ritual, does the cathedral have any countermeasures?"

“There are ways to control it. The Great Plague has ravaged the Old World for hundreds of years, and even the Holy See has come up with many feasible methods. But that would require mobilization under a state of emergency, and it could very likely cause social panic. It would also require cooperation from all sectors to maintain stability.”

Brother Merlin sighed slightly. "His Holiness the Bishop may have taken this into consideration, which is why he arranged for us to conduct further investigations. The artificial spread of plagues often requires sufficient manpower, planning, and extraordinary power as a foundation; not all conspiracies can reach that stage."

"Any suspects?" Wayne asked.

“A simple plague can only cause ‘death’ and ‘panic’. Although people from the School of Life sometimes try to create such disasters, their purpose is often to cultivate stronger life. Judging from the situation in the dock area, I think it is more likely the work of a hidden organization in the realm of ‘death’ or believers in evil gods. For example, the Society for the End of All Things, the Tranquility Cult, or those who pursue ‘eternity beyond’.”

As Merlin spoke, he led Wayne toward the map hanging on the wall, which was marked with some red dots. "There are no signs of the plague spreading in the dock area recently, but there are still sporadic cases of strange illnesses and the death of the weak and sick—this may indicate that the problem is not serious, or it may be an indication that the other party's control at the beginning of the ritual was actually quite strong."

No wonder Brother Merlin was so nervous when he heard "6th rank"; he probably almost thought Wayne had found some strange ritual master...

Wayne recalled the markings on the map and felt that this mess would probably disrupt his "development plan" for the dock area again: "How many people do you have on hand to participate in the investigation?"

“Including myself, I have a total of seven people at my disposal,” Brother Merlin said, then immediately added, “You should have seen most of them that night.”

That's all the people in that car? It sounds like Brother Merlin can only command himself and his "direct subordinate team" right now...

Not only could they not mobilize the so-called "bishop's guard," but their presence was also nowhere near the grand spectacle of Tom Hagen's previous visit to Georgeburg.

On the other hand, isn't the current course of events a bit off?
I originally wanted to talk about the accident at the dock last night, but now it's turned into me going to catch rats and "eliminate the four pests" with Brother Merlin...?
Wayne thought about it. There had been a lot of personnel changes in the Virginia diocese recently, and Bishop Tyrell was probably still busy sorting out internal affairs. He probably wouldn't care too much about the unclear incident that happened in the dock area, and would likely "only care about the result, not the details."
So his eyes darted around a couple of times, trying to take the opportunity to "combine the cases": "There was an accident in the dock area last night, and I think you need to follow up on it closely, Brother Merlin."

"An accident? The one where the crane scaffolding collapsed and killed more than a dozen people?"

"Yes, I think it happened very strangely and deserves our in-depth investigation."

Since the task had already been assigned, and the cathedral wasn't truly helpless—they just weren't focused on "common people's affairs"—Wayne decided to slip in his own agenda.

Too many lice don't itch, too much homework doesn't bother you... Since we're all going to investigate anyway, why not get involved in the detective agency's problems and do them together?

(End of this chapter)