New Gods of North America.

Chapter 631 Different paths lead to the same destination

The warehouse was littered with dead rats.
After a quick examination, Brother Merlin, grimacing, applied medicine to his wounds as he walked out, talking to Wayne as he went:
"It's possible that because it was inconvenient to transport meat directly into the warehouse, those people lured the thieves in and killed them to feed the rats. Although the original stench in the warehouse could mask the smell of decay, the guards are certainly responsible for the large number of corpses. Even if they weren't accomplices, they may have secretly provided them with assistance."

Wayne thought the same thing; he had already sent agents to look for the guards who had run away earlier.
However, he was more concerned about something else right now: "So, Brother Merlin, are you really planning to just blow up the magic circle?"

Brother Merlin nodded: "Although the exorcist priests and research monks in the cathedral will surely complain again, the scope of the ritual's key points is so large that it's better to destroy the magic circle as soon as possible. At least I've already arranged for someone to record the magic circle, and they'll begin their work once the sketch is finished."

Fine……

Wayne had initially thought that the cathedral's professionals might have some unique "bomb disposal methods" when dealing with extraordinary magic arrays.
In practice, Brother Merlin neither allowed everyone to get too close nor pulled out any more sophisticated magical gadgets to completely nullify the magic circle. Instead, he chose a very simple method of physical destruction—the high explosives were even borrowed from the detective agency.

Indeed, all things lead to the same destination,
In the end, it all comes down to reasoning or discussing physics...

At this point, everyone present had some kind of injury. Although rat bites weren't necessarily fatal, no one could guarantee against the possibility of viral infection.
Ironically, the only thing that could be considered a "vaccine" at that time was the so-called "cowpox," which involved puncturing the pustules on the bodies of milkmaids with a needle and then puncturing normal people to prevent smallpox. Antibiotics, in an era when bloodletting therapy was still considered scientifically effective, had not yet officially entered the medical field.

—Rounding it up, it's basically equivalent to having no cure after winning the bid.

Once the disease develops, it's probably incurable, hopeless, and one can only wait to die.

Fortunately, theoretically, the most dangerous disease after a rat bite is rabies, which has a high mortality rate; even infected rats don't survive long. Since the dock area isn't close to the wild, there's a possibility of regional immunity.
As for plague, cholera, tetanus... Wayne doesn't have any other solutions in the short term. Penicillin is poison if handled carelessly, and its production cycle is long. Just eliminating contaminants would take a while, so it's not feasible for the time being. We can only ask Chef Parker to help extract some allicin for everyone to take internally and externally as a makeshift solution. It should be better than nothing.

Holy Spirit, you see, everyone is working diligently tonight. Please offer your blessings.
On second thought, it seemed rather implausible. If the Holy Spirit truly governed this matter, then the concept of the "Black Death" wouldn't exist in the Old World...

Lost in thought, a green firework burst open in the distant night sky, and everyone present turned to look at it simultaneously.
Brother Merlin was immediately on guard, then became puzzled: "This isn't the signal we're using tonight. The color is different, the shape of the fireworks is different, and the position doesn't seem to be on the node of the ritual symbol."

Wayne recognized it; the Detective Agency had used this kind of fireworks before. The green one was abandoned because it wasn't as eye-catching as the red and yellow ones, and the rest were chosen by Lina to be Emma's toys.

hiss……

Lina.

Although this girl is more likely to cause trouble for others than for herself, Wayne, as the main rescuer, cannot rashly leave the area of ​​the ritual node.
But Wayne quickly summoned "Vine" and told him to take his men to check the situation and send out warning signals if necessary.

Even the "wise sage" had warned us before, so there are some things we can't afford to be careless about.

Inesa wasn't feeling too well at the moment, but she quickly stood up after seeing the signal: "I'll go check the remaining nodes first. If the situation isn't too bad, I'll head over there as soon as possible to confirm. But you don't need to worry too much. Lina is trustworthy when it comes to self-preservation. This might be a code she agreed upon with the intelligence team."

For now, this is the only option.
After all, normally, if the "wise sage" were to even show her face, the one whose life would be threatened should be the one attacking her...

……

Time flew by in the midst of the busy work, and the personnel on site quickly dispersed to provide support at the remaining designated nodes.
Wayne had just eliminated the risk of one node and left the monks to do the final confirmation and destruction. Before he even got to the location where Lina released the fireworks, he realized that he had worried for nothing.

This young woman actually appeared halfway between the docks and the residential area; the intelligence team's "softened" agent was acting as her coachman.
She herself was buying tacos from a roadside vendor, also known as a "New World roujiamo" (Chinese hamburger)...

Lina's figure stood out among the laborers. Most of those who got up early in the morning were honest people, and the probability of encountering thugs was not high, so no one approached them. They kept their distance and lived in peace. She walked to the carriage and gave "Soften" two pieces. When she saw Wayne dismount and approach, she handed him one as well, "Do you want some too?"

Well……

These days, the tortillas popular in America aren't crispy. Wayne took a bite, but then focused on the important matter first, "You were the one who set off those green fireworks, weren't you? What happened?"

Lina took a bite of her tortilla, chewing it with a frown, and her voice became muffled after hearing this:

"I've found where those guys live, so I'm sending you a signal to let you know and also to scare them a little. I even chose different fireworks so you won't get them mixed up."

It's precisely because they're different that people are worried, okay?

Wayne's attention quickly returned to the present. "Wait, how did you find those guys?!"

Lina took another bite, chewing with a look of disgust: "The Tranquility Church is mostly made up of Windsor people, or at least people who have lived in Windsor. If they can put on such a large-scale ceremony, they must have a way to get cash. Given the bad habits of the Windsor people, even if they are nocturnal, they will probably take some time to have afternoon tea or something if conditions permit. I asked the guide to find someone to help me search through the trash cans in the neighborhood, and then I had Peter check all the suspicious houses nearby."

Good guy,
Since it's a "fellow countryman" relationship between Inessa and Inessa, you're even more professionally suited, right?
Seeing that Lina was alright, and that there was an unfamiliar package in the carriage, Wayne's worries changed again: "The outpost has been discovered, could they have already escaped?"

If she hadn't run into anyone, Lina probably wouldn't have brought up the topic of wanting to "scare" the other person.

From the moment the fireworks went off until now, if the other side had acted even slightly more decisively, it would probably be too late to catch up now.

“I don’t think he’s run away…at least not very far in the short term.” Lina stuffed the rest of the tortilla into her mouth, her cheeks puffing out. “Besides, I picked up some of his personal belongings, so I can chase after him if necessary.”

Wayne had already leaned half his body into the carriage, intending to examine the package. "Did you find anything of value?"

Before he finished speaking, he quickly understood.

A pile of US dollar bills and a certain amount of gold pounds... judging by the looks of it, it's at least two or three thousand US dollars.

The other party has probably been completely drained of their savings. An ordinary person in this situation might even have trouble eating, and they probably wouldn't be able to run away quickly even if they wanted to...

and……

"Silver candlesticks are one thing, but you even took someone else's diary?!" Wayne immediately noticed that this thing was the most unusual. While complaining, he pulled the thick-covered notebook out from under the messy pile in his bundle.

“This is the most valuable thing, okay! First-hand ritual notes from within the Tranquility Cult. Academically speaking, it should be hailed as ‘authentic historical material’ and ‘extraordinary knowledge’.”

嚯，
so smart?

(End of this chapter)