New Gods of North America.

Chapter 614
As night fell, the crowds who had gathered near the small square to listen to the sermons or watch the spectacle gradually dispersed. The prisoners still chained there had long since lost their temper and were quietly waiting for time to pass.
The apparent bustle of the dock area gradually subsided, but the people who were busy had just finished resting and were preparing to get active again.

Brother Merlin wasn't oblivious to Wayne's intentions in gathering and publicly displaying certain gang members, but he was currently more inclined to imagine the detective agency as a group of good people:
"Wayne, the approach you proposed seems to be quite effective. This not only raises public awareness of the plague but also reduces the objective resistance of the dockside gangs to official investigations, preventing potential threats from being hidden in the shadows."

"More importantly, through such a high-profile public action, we can also test the other side's determination to carry out the conspiracy."

“If the other party terminates the plan as a result, then even if we don’t find the specific person, we can effectively avoid the casualties of innocent people in the dock area; but if the other party still does not stop, it proves that they are indeed coming with malicious intent, and we do not need to hold back when arresting and executing them.”

Wayne also thought Brother Merlin's words made a lot of sense, and he very much hoped that he could report these things to Bishop Tyrell later. "So what should we do tonight?"

Brother Merlin appreciated Wayne's cooperative attitude and his detailed explanation:

"My plan for now is to have everyone split up and continue searching for the problematic rats. We'll continue to follow up on the accident you mentioned tomorrow, but tonight the focus should be on figuring out the source of the problematic rats, and secondly, on understanding their current distribution in the dock area as much as possible."

“Our numbers are limited, and the dock area is too large, so this task is indeed quite difficult. But compared to before when only my group was conducting the investigation alone, we now have a lot more manpower, so it should be easier to make some progress.”

"Yes!"

The monks and members of the detective agency who were standing around responded in unison, and then, after Brother Merlin marked out the area to be investigated that night, they set off in batches.

Inessa was genuinely cooperating with the investigation, and Wayne and Lina were also putting on a show—Lina's recent hidden mission was to take the opportunity to cultivate relationships with these members of the cathedral guards and secretly obtain some internal information about the cathedral.
As for Connor and several members of the sales team, they had already received instructions from Wayne to find an opportunity to "find rats" at the homes of several leaders of the Sailors' Gang and continue their extortion schemes.

After all, when a petty person seeks revenge, it's a matter of "from morning till night."
The feud between the Sailors and Wayne isn't over yet, and the reporter case hasn't been dropped. So the detective agency has to use methods that villains can understand to wear them down—a tit-for-tat countermeasure, after all. If we waste our chivalry on these wicked villains, it wouldn't show any respect for the true heroes of the martial arts world.

With their health inspector status for investigating the plague, the agents didn't need to worry about "illegal entry."

If the sailors refuse to enter or attempt to resist, they will face 24-hour public humiliation or be suspected of committing more serious assault crimes. If they do not resist, the detectives will visit their homes every night to openly collect various pieces of evidence from their residences, and sooner or later reduce their numbers to the point where they can no longer collect "head fees" from the laborers at the docks.

It would be even better if the sailors' gang got a meltdown and tried to fight each other.

What malicious intent could unpaid part-time volunteers who investigate the plague until late at night have? The selfless actions of the cathedral and the city hall should not be smeared by petty people. If gang members dare to fire the first shot under these circumstances, it should not be difficult to win over public opinion. Wayne felt that he still had a chance of winning even if he was worse than the other.

The process is a bit cumbersome, but the result is clean and residue-free, and it saves effort by leveraging external forces.

……

"So, Mr. Wayne, is there anything you need from me tonight?"

Perhaps the public shaming of the gang members had an effect, because James Damody was slightly PTSD about Wayne's nighttime visit, and even his probing was a bit cautious.

Wayne, on the contrary, appeared quite upright, shifting all the blame to the cathedral: "Sigh, it's all because of the tasks assigned by His Holiness the Bishop, which has kept my men busy in the dock area all night. The area I'm responsible for investigating is nearby, so I just stopped by to see you." James Damody seemed quite agreeable, "My men are currently available. Is there anything we can do for you?"

"Well……"

Wayne feigned hesitation, but was anything but polite. “You probably already know what the church and the city hall are trying to do. They’re currently investigating any potential outbreaks in the dock area, focusing their suspicions on illegal immigrants, and also suspecting that the source of infection might be some unusual-looking rats. I’m also an outsider in the dock area, and I’m not familiar enough with the situation here, so we might need more people to assist with the investigation.”

“We’d be happy to help, is finding the rats all we need?” James Damody asked.

"It would be best to also keep an eye on guys who seem suspicious."

Wayne tried to steer the conversation in the direction he wanted, "The dock area is so big, your men alone probably can't handle it all. You can pass the message on to the leaders of other gangs and ask them to send people to participate as well—we don't want to rashly enter other people's territory and cause unnecessary conflict. If they can send people to investigate their own territories, it might be a good thing for everyone. If they have any questions, they can come and ask me directly."

Gang members always claim their territory is "theirs," so how could they not contribute to their own affairs?

“I understand.” James Damody nodded quickly, clapped his hands, and instructed his subordinates who appeared from the doorway, “You should have heard what Mr. Wayne said. Have someone relay this information to the gangs that are friendly to us.”

"Yes!" The subordinate's figure quickly disappeared again.

After saying that, James Damody turned to Wayne and explained, "We don't have good relations with all gangs, and there are places where we're not welcome. But don't worry, Mr. Wayne, news usually spreads very quickly in the dock area. I estimate that by tomorrow, everyone who needs to hear the news will know."

That would be best, as ordinary people might not notice the hidden, extraordinary signs. However, anything involving "people" is rarely without warning.
Wayne didn't think the gangs would seriously start investigating as soon as they heard the news. After all, if it didn't concern them, they would probably think they were being kind enough by not getting involved.

But if we could use the sailors' gang as an example... it might motivate them a little.

—If you don't help drive away the plague, then the detective agency's "plague god" won't leave either.

As Wayne was thinking this, a yellow firework suddenly burst open in the night sky a little distance away from the window with a "bang."

These fireworks were obtained by Brother Merlin at Wayne's urging, and their effects were slightly different from the version originally used by the Detective Agency.
The purpose of deliberately changing the type of fireworks was simple: to distance themselves from the outlaws who had previously set off fireworks and summoned heretical deities in Richmond if they were targeted in the future. They could even bring out the people at the cathedral to testify that they provided the fireworks and that the detective agency had nothing to do with it.

According to the agreement between Wayne and Brother Merlin, yellow indicates that an important situation related to the extraordinary factor has been discovered, to the extent that it is necessary to call on anyone available to come and provide reinforcements as soon as possible.

James Damody's gaze was also drawn to the fireworks. "That looks like the Sailors' territory."

“Okay,” Wayne replied, “I’ll go take a look.”

(End of this chapter)