New Gods of North America.

Chapter 615 Feathered Serpent
Wayne initially thought there wasn't much of a problem on the way; the fireworks Merlin had provided were both red and yellow, with the yellow being relatively mild.
But he quickly realized something was wrong, because gunshots rang out one after another, "bang bang bang bang," and the lights that had just come on in some houses the carriage passed by were immediately extinguished.

The scene was outside a house by the roadside; Connor was lying on the sidewalk, while the sounds of fighting moved to the vicinity of the house in the yard.

Wayne emerged from the carriage carrying a lever-action rifle in both hands, tossed one to Sanders who caught it, and then immediately joined the fray.

Connor was a top-tier, battle-tested agent; if even he fell, the situation seemed to be getting out of control.

Upon seeing the newcomer, Connor, who was half-lying down, tilted his head back slightly and succinctly explained the situation: "We have discovered a suspicious Extraordinary. His ability is to summon half-physical feathered serpents. He is dressed as an ordinary laborer and speaks with what sounds like a Windsor accent. He is very powerful."

"Can you still hold on?" Wayne asked, looking down at Connor's voice, which sounded too weak.

Connor was now deathly pale, his shirt was half-open, and large patches of his skin were a dark gray, slowly spreading from his shoulders outwards.

He himself seemed unsure: "That feathered serpent weakens you as soon as it gets close, and it can shatter my defenses with its gaze. I felt like it bit me, but there was no wound. Now it feels like countless ants are biting me near my shoulder, and the bites are getting deeper and deeper. The bitten areas seem to have lost all feeling..."

Seeing that the dark gray patch was almost reaching his heart, Wayne waved for Sanders to go and provide backup, while he himself would handle the emergency.
He pulled out a spherical bottle from his pocket before getting off the bus. "This is holy water from Richmond Cathedral. It doesn't taste very good, but it might help."

The moment the holy water touched his skin, Connor clenched his fists without a sound, and his muscles tensed in response.
In the minimalist lines, countless "dots" are now active on that gray skin, with the edge ring appearing to have the highest density, while the areas that have been "stained" are relatively sparse.

Unfortunately, the holy water wasn't very effective; it seemed to reduce the number of small spots slightly, but the remaining spots remained full of vitality.

Increasing the dosage and spreading it further, it seemed that even a whole bottle of holy water wouldn't solve the problem, while the illusory and invisible "eye" inside Wayne's body opened instead.

Spiritual intuition is a very subtle thing, and Wayne felt a faint stirring within him. Then he frowned and looked at Connor, asking, "Do you feel them drilling into your body?"

While wincing in pain, Connor seemed to be trying hard to stay awake, and said softly, "Mmm."

If you go further in from this area, you'll damage your heart and lungs...

Wayne quickly made up his mind. He had done something similar before with the native tribes of Blackrock Town. He could absorb some things from others, but they didn't taste good and were easy to cause indigestion.

Placing a hand on Connor's shoulder at what appeared to be the origin of the diffusion, and with the illusory and invisible "eye" within his body urging him on, he was indeed able to absorb the extraordinary power contained in those "little dots," and he could feel that its taste was quite strong, extremely salty, even saltier than salty...

The realm of "death"...

Wayne couldn't resist lifting the spherical bottle and taking a sip of the holy water. The patch of skin on Connor's body was still ashen, but the "little dots" had stopped moving and were gradually spreading out evenly, somewhat like "a school of fish turning belly up in a pond."
Connor's clenched fist slowly loosened, and the gunfire from the other side of the house gradually subsided. He didn't know whether the situation was good or bad. Only when the absorption of extraordinary power weakened to the point of stopping and the "little dots" turned into a stagnant pool did Wayne withdraw his hand. "Feeling better?"

Connor rested his head on the ground, letting out a soft sigh: "I don't feel so sleepy anymore, and it's starting to hurt a little... Compared to before, I feel like I can last longer."

"That's good. I'll go check on the situation first. In terms of treatment, Inessa or Brother Merlin are probably more professional. They should be here soon."

Too much politeness is useless at a time like this. Even Connor has fallen. If the other side were to be wiped out, it would be even more fatal. He shoved the pistol into Connor's hand, picked up the lever-action rifle, and stood up. "Don't fall asleep. If you can't, slap yourself."

"boss……"

"Ok?"

"Thank you... I felt like I was about to die just now."

"Heh, remember to work even harder for me after you recover."

Upon entering the courtyard, a quick glance revealed familiar faces, some standing, some crouching, arranged in a defensive formation around the houses.
Wayne relaxed a little, and then "Slingshot" quickly walked over: "That guy is trapped in the house. He can't defend against bullets, and he's already injured in the side, but after being repelled several times, we lost sight of our target and dare not go in rashly for the time being. If we get close, we are no match for him."

It's like catching a turtle in a jar.

Wayne nodded to indicate that he understood, and took another sip of holy water, habitually beginning to "aid digestion."
Seeing Brother Merlin standing guard at the back of the house, he walked over and looked the house up and down. "Why does this house look a little strange?"

"On the surface, this is a winery, but it's actually a hideout for the Sailors Gang, so it's a bit different from ordinary residences. Some of the Sailors Gang members who tried to attack our sales team before often appear here."

"Slingshot" continued explaining the situation beside Wayne, "We came here specifically tonight to 'catch mice,' but we didn't expect there to be no one here. On the way, we found that guy's behavior a bit suspicious, so we did our routine questioning. After he ambushed and knocked down Connor, he ran back in to avoid being shot..."

"I see. Keep a close watch on it, don't let that guy get away."

"Yes!"

Upon turning to the back of the building, they saw two other people from the cathedral besides Brother Merlin. One of the brothers had his arm exposed, revealing skin with the same dark gray hue as Connor's.
However, another monk was applying an oily substance to his arm. Unlike Wayne, who could make the little dots "turn belly up," this stuff seemed to make the little dots "dissolve."

Wayne raised his hand and pointed to where Connor was lying. "Brother Merlin, we have another wounded man like that by the roadside over there. He injured his shoulder, and the contamination is almost spreading to his chest."

Brother Merlin gestured to the monk who was receiving treatment, and the latter quickly ran over with his things, leaving the previously injured monk to bandage himself.

Then Merlin's gaze fell on Wayne, his eyes seemingly filled with surprise.

"What's wrong?" Wayne felt a little guilty under her gaze and quietly turned off the view of the minimalist-lined screen.

"It's alright. I didn't expect your extraordinary ability to detect types. No wonder you're a detective who frequently appears in the newspapers."

Fortunately, Brother Merlin didn't seem to care too much about this, nor did he intend to delve into it. He pointed to the house next to him and said, "The people who went to the cathedral to request reinforcements have already set off. Tonight, we must do everything in our power to keep this man here. Even if it means killing him on the spot, we absolutely cannot let him go."

"Do you know him?" Wayne asked.

“I don’t recognize him, but he is definitely a follower of the evil god. Moreover, he should be related to the Tranquility Cult, and he is very likely the plague spreader we are looking for, or at least one of the spreaders.”

Ok? !

Wayne wasn't quite sure what Merlin's reasoning was, but his mind was already racing.

Then Wayne's eyes darted around slightly: "We don't have enough manpower on site. If we just keep guarding him, he could easily find a chance to break through. If we launch a full-scale attack, it might cause unnecessary casualties. Why don't we try to worsen his injuries first, so that he has no chance of escaping at all?"

Brother Merlin hesitated for a moment. “What are your thoughts? He hasn’t shown himself since just now, making it difficult to aim with bows and crossbows or firearms.”

“I have some high explosives in my carriage, enough to blow open the outer walls of this house.” Seeing that Brother Merlin’s expression was even more surprised than before, Wayne quickly added, “Private detectives like us easily attract enemies, so it’s normal to carry some self-defense weapons.”

Brother Merlin hesitated for a moment, then quickly abandoned his pointless deliberation and refocused on the main point: "Alright. The Cathedral allows for slightly extreme measures when dealing with members of the Tranquility Cult. If it's just an empty house, the loss won't be too great."

Hey, that makes things easier.

(End of this chapter)