New Gods of North America.

Chapter 616 Distortion
As Wayne and his men enthusiastically began setting up high explosives around the house, Inessa and Lina arrived at the scene one after another.

Inessa's group also included two agents transferred from Willie's team, while none of the intelligence group under Lina's command showed up.

However, Lina didn't come alone. As planned, she mixed in with the monks under Brother Merlin, and when she returned, she was accompanied by two monks.

Those unfamiliar with the situation might initially think she looks more like someone from the cathedral area…

"Feathered Serpent?!"

After briefly understanding the situation, Inessa and Lina's reactions were quite similar to Brother Merlin's; they both felt that the guy in the house was highly suspected of committing the crime and that the boy should not be allowed to live.

Inessa thoughtfully explained to Wayne: "Feathers are one of the common divine symbols used in the realm of 'death.' If it's a feathered serpent, then the meaning is even more obvious and definite—the images of many mythical creatures are actually summaries of the influence or extraordinary abilities of specific types of deities, and not all of them are products of imagination."

“The extraordinary ability to naturally manifest the image of a feathered serpent is extremely rare. This person was likely influenced by the feathered serpent god ‘Koyatl’ worshipped by the Tranquil Church, and after receiving ‘divine favor,’ his extraordinary ability was enhanced or mutated.”

Wayne had heard of this thing in his archaeology class at the academy, and asked with slight surprise, "Isn't the feathered serpent a native deity of the Southern New World?"

How did it get involved with "people who speak with a Windsor accent" and "hidden organizations in the Old World"?

Is this a case of domestic sales being redirected to export and then imported back from there?
“He,” Inessa emphasized slightly, “The Portuguese were the first to develop the Southern New World, and back then they circulated many products of the New World’s native civilization back to the Old World as spoils of war. ‘Koyatl’ is the result of the Old World people’s transliteration of the Portuguese language, and it is not His original real name, but in the rituals of some hidden organizations, this name seems to be able to attract His attention.”

"Like many deities, their characteristics seem to undergo a fundamental change as their true names are altered and their image is distorted by cults that believe in the Holy Spirit. While the original Feathered Serpent God of the Southern New Continent also had intentions related to 'death and rebirth,' he was actually more inclined towards the realm of 'nature.' However, some hidden organizations in the Old Continent, based on their stereotypes of 'feathers' and 'serpents,' firmly believed that He was a deity of the realm of 'death,' and this point was particularly emphasized in the process of his re-spreading."

"In short, the simultaneous appearance of the Old World accent, the 'death' domain, and the 'feathered serpent' is enough to preliminarily conclude that the attacker is likely related to the Tranquility Cult. Perhaps he is a member of their cult, or perhaps a believer in their doctrines."

Well……

Wayne let his imagination run wild, secretly wondering if the fundamentalist Quetzalcoatl followers and the Quetzalcoatl followers who were forced to become "Grim Reapers" would end up fighting each other to the point of brain damage due to doctrinal differences.

But the priority right now is to blow up the Sailors' Gang's house... oops, I mean, to catch the attacker and find out if he has any direct connection with those problem rats.

Wayne thought for a moment, "Is the Tranquility Cult a clandestine organization keen on spreading plagues?"

"Yes. But that statement is not quite accurate... The Tranquility Cult advocates sacrificing death in exchange for the blessings of 'Koyatl'. They have committed many atrocities in the Kingdom of Windsor alone, and spreading plague is one of their common 'methods,' but that's not all they do."

I understand. Let's get down to business.

We can't just cooperate with Brother Merlin to catch the bad guys, only to have the Sailors' Gang not learn their lesson.

Lina initially didn't listen to the explanation; instead, she went and participated in placing the high explosives.

She then came over and pointed towards the house: "Peter found the guy. He's probably on the second floor, around here. But he's very cautious and hiding near the center, so it'll be difficult to blow him up from the outside."

"Can Peter handle him directly?" Wayne asked.

Lina refused decisively, "It's best not to. If this guy really is connected to 'Koyatl,' it'll be troublesome if Peter bites into something unclean." Wayne was shocked, "He can descend too?"

“It’s not necessarily a descent; it could be something carrying the aura of that feathered serpent.” Lina thought for a moment and gave an analogy. “It’s like encountering a mad, diseased wild dog. You can try to kill it, but you shouldn’t eat its flesh, and you should also avoid getting infected by it during the fight. So it’s best not to use these kinds of extraordinary materials; people usually exchange them for contribution points or something.”

That's a shame, Wayne was hoping this guy could give Inessa a few more injections...

Then Wayne thought of something even more exciting, "When I was giving Connor first aid, I absorbed some extraordinary power that might have been contaminated. Will there be any side effects?"

"Let me see."

Upon hearing this, Inessa gestured for Wayne to cooperate with her examination. She first examined Wayne's hands, which he had directly used for contact, and then, while holding Wayne's chin, she examined his complexion and eyes from all angles.

It has to be said that this posture felt a bit strange, but Inessa quickly came to a conclusion. She released her grip and breathed a slight sigh of relief: "There are no signs of infection so far. Perhaps that person's connection with 'Koyatel' isn't that close. But your purification ability is really... special. Be careful, if you keep doing this, it's easy to be contaminated by unknown higher beings."

Wayne felt a little embarrassed by the stare, but his face remained calm. "At the time, Connor's condition didn't look good, so we had to take emergency measures."

Although the stuff tasted extremely salty, it didn't make him feel as bloated as the previous times, so Wayne felt pretty good about himself.

After all, from an evolutionary perspective, spiritual intuition is also a kind of intuition. If it feels "it's edible", then there shouldn't be a big problem... right?

Seeing Wayne's expression, Lina patted him on the shoulder knowingly, "Drink more holy water lately. You love that stuff anyway."

That's slander! What decent person would like to drink chili water? Even when eating vinegar, you have to dip dumplings in it.

Before Wayne could retort, "Slingshot" walked over, interrupting the partners' brief respite from their work. "The high explosives are all in place. Shall we start detonating them now?"

"Okay." Wayne quickly nodded, ready to get back to work.

Inessa picked up her specially made bolt-action rifle and headed towards the designated firing position, while Lina prepared to go to the other side to keep watch.

Then the latter quickly turned around quietly, his expression somewhat cunning, "I secretly slipped a few fireworks in here. The effect should be pretty good when they explode. I reckon the gangsters in the dock area will all know just how arrogant you really are tomorrow."

Hey, that's going a bit too far... What do you mean by "I'm arrogant"? This clearly represents the solemnity and authority of the cathedral and the city hall, which cannot be offended.

Unfortunately, the "slingshot" equipment was already prepared, and there was no time to add more fireworks at the last minute.
Soon the fuse burned out, and a loud "bang" resonated around the house. Smoke and debris flew everywhere, the ground seemed to tremble, and the house shook as well.

Amidst cries of "Help! Help! Snap! Snap!" echoing from the sky, the main structure of the house remained relatively sturdy, but after the first-floor exterior wall rapidly collapsed, the second-floor exterior wall and roof also gradually crumbled.

Before the dust had even settled, there was movement from Brother Merlin's side:
"Here! That guy's escaped!"

(End of this chapter)