New Gods of North America.

Chapter 632 Reflections and Countermeasures

As dawn broke, the group quickly gathered in the territory of the Ellans. Even Lina was dragged along by Wayne for a revisit, while "Softening," adhering to the intelligence group's secrecy principles, disembarked halfway through the journey.

The place was indeed deserted. Lina was quite bold; she even dared to rummage through the kitchen. While tidying up the remaining supplies, such as silver cutlery, she found some tea leaves and snacks.

Inessa and Brother Merlin also finished dealing with their respective reinforcement tasks and brought their men to join them.

Anyway, there are seven nodes in a ritual, and only three of them either went wrong or exploded prematurely. Wayne basically didn't dodge a single one.

Although no more criminals appeared in the last few raids, it didn't mean there were "no problems." However, having gained experience in that stinking warehouse, the remaining locations were quite clear, and everyone was much more cautious when sending reinforcements.

When Wayne dealt with the last node on his side, he chose to use high explosives to break through the wall and enter. The thugs obviously did not consider this situation when they set the trap, and did not expect that someone would enter the house without approaching the magic circle.

After confirming that there were no problems with the house Lina had visited before, the group decided to rest there temporarily to replenish their energy or have their bandages reapplied.
The situation of those who may be seriously injured has been reported to Brother Merlin, who will arrange for them to be housed in the church's properties in the dock area.

Soon, the group gathered again in the living room, and the so-called ritual manual was laid out on the low table, now turned to the title page:
"Dedicated to all devout followers of the 'Serpent of Death,' may all sacrifices be silenced forever in His witness."

"A humble pioneer - Boris Sarayan".

At first glance, he seems like a good person.

Inessa clearly recognized the name: "He was the mastermind behind the plague incident I mentioned earlier, who was shot dead on the spot during the pursuit after the incident."

"If we only consider the completion of the ritual itself, he could be considered a 'successful' one. After all, according to the signs at the time, 'Koyatl' did indeed briefly descend, or at least briefly project a phantom image, and his extraordinary abilities also showed mutations with feathered serpent characteristics."

"According to the Hunter Association, the Tranquil Church posthumously conferred upon him the title of 'Grand Master,' a title that was recognized by all of their internal branches. In Windsor, he was a relatively notorious follower of an evil god."

Brother Merlin seemed rather distrustful of what these followers of the heretical god had left behind; he held his teacup hesitantly, as if examining poison.
He was more concerned with a practical question: "If we speculate based on their usual modus operandi, will they hold another ceremony in the dock area after this failure?"

Inessa wasn't so sure. "The different branches of the Tranquility Cult have very different styles of doing things, each with distinct personal characteristics, which may be related to their 'mentors,' so it's hard to generalize. However, the procedure for the Gates of the Underworld ritual seems quite rigid, so I think the possibility of them seeking revenge is higher than the possibility of them re-performing the ritual."

Now that the plague investigation seems to be over, it's time for my schemes to be put to the test again in the dock area...

Wayne gulped down two mouthfuls of black tea mixed with holy water, pondering whether to focus all his efforts on hunting down the extraordinary materials or to take some time to continue his antics with the gang.
Then a monk who wasn't in the screening team was quickly led to the living room.

He whispered a few words to Brother Merlin, who immediately put down his teacup and stood up after hearing them.

"What happened?" Wayne asked.

Brother Merlin glanced at Wayne. "One of the monks who was with you in the emergency response last night has fallen into a deep coma and is in bad shape. He was rushed back to the church hospital in the city last night. His Holiness the bishop found out about this and ordered me to return to the cathedral immediately to report the situation."

Oh my god!
When I left, I felt the situation was still under control. Could those guys really have launched a surprise attack?

In some situations, the casualties may be minor, but the accountability involved could be far from trivial. For example, regarding last night's events, if there are witnesses, Wayne's decisive action—rushing from one battlefield to another without stopping—could be described as heroic.

But if there are no witnesses, it might turn out that Wayne abandoned the wounded and ran away in a crisis...

Wayne had already told Brother Merlin about the situation, and he only knew that the attackers looked like gangsters, but he hadn't had time to investigate their specific identities yet. Hearing this, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty: "Should I go too?"

The monk who came to deliver the message shook his head slightly. Seeing this, Brother Merlin could only reassure everyone, "You should stay here and rest for now. Those cultists haven't been captured yet, and we need capable and sufficient people to stay and guard the dock area."

Just as Brother Merlin came downstairs, Wayne had already instructed Lina to quickly mobilize the intelligence team.
At least there should be a contingency plan.
There's a cause for every grievance, and a debtor for every crime. I don't care about being slightly involved, but I don't want to take the blame for this.

Well……

Please allow me to think it over.

……

On the other side of Richmond, others also received the latest news.

"Your attack failed?!"

“Yes. I’m sorry, Mr. Schwartz. I didn’t expect that the detective agency also had an operation last night, with more manpower. Our preparations were not adequate in comparison.”

"Then why did you come to inform me so early?! I told you, I knew nothing about this from the beginning!"

The sailors' gang leader had intended to tell Mr. Schwartz that his men and the Irish gangsters might have accidentally injured people from the cathedral last night, and that church members had ended up carrying them on stretchers to a carriage and heading straight to the city. Things had taken an unexpected turn.
But after seeing the banker's reaction, he decisively chose a different story:
"Don't worry, I've already arranged for people to take our people away. Some will be temporarily sent to nearby towns to recuperate, and others have been secretly buried. The bodies still at the scene all belong to the Ellan gang, so there's no way Wayne could trace them back to us."

Many members of Richmond's upper class are followers of the Church of the Holy Spirit. If they discover that an innocent monk has been mistakenly injured by gang members, the resulting outrage would be far beyond what the Sailors' Gang could handle.
If the monk dies and the truth comes out, and Mr. Schwartz doesn't offer any help, he might have a chance to clear his name, but he'll probably just have to wait for the noose to be put around.

Sure enough, after hearing what he said, Mr. Schwarz's expression gradually softened.
The cunning banker, still wearing his luxurious bathrobe, quickly devised a plan: "Find a way to lead the clues to those Erlanders. I've heard that Mr. Pryor has long harbored resentment towards that O'Sullivan; I'm sure he won't fall out with me over it."

The leader of the Sailors' Gang put on a troubled expression: "As you know, this cooperation is only because our two gangs happen to have the same goal, but my men don't usually have easy access to the territory of those Ellan people, so some things might be a bit difficult to handle..."

Slightly displeased, Mr. Schwartz shook the bell on the table and summoned the butler. “There’s a shipment that needs to be transferred before it’s loaded onto the ship today. Take him with you and have their carriages mixed in with the caravan. He will be in charge of specifying the route for that trip.”

After the butler nodded and left, Mr. Schwartz looked again at the mob boss who seemed to be losing his usefulness. "You should know how to handle the rest, right?"

The sailors' leader's face lit up with genuine joy: "Of course. I will definitely get things done."

(End of this chapter)