New Gods of North America.

Chapter 640 Dizzy
When Wayne groggily woke up, he saw that it was already getting light, and he was covered with a thin blanket, lying in the cargo wagon of the detective agency.

Inessa, leaning on her specially made bolt-action rifle, sat quietly with her eyes closed in the driver's seat, her back against the canopy, seemingly having been keeping watch for some time.

Having changed back into her dress, Lina was now acting rather furtively, fumbling for something next to Wayne. Wayne glanced in her direction and realized he was practically sleeping in a pile of junk, surrounded by all sorts of random things.

Noticing that Wayne was awake, Lina, who was holding a feathered serpent-shaped "dragon head short club," looked over and asked, "You're awake?"

After saying that, she seemed to suddenly remember something, and then leaned close to Wayne's face, holding up two fingers with one hand, "How many is this?"

Well……

Wayne was still a little dizzy, and Lina had only raised her thumb and forefinger, while the other three fingers were bent.

According to his past life's customs, this gesture represents "eight," while in some Old World countries it represents "two." Windsor and the United States do not have this custom of comparing numbers. In the West, this gesture is generally used to represent a "handgun"...

Seeing Wayne hesitate, Lina quickly straightened up again with one hand on her hip. "This doesn't seem good, Inessa. Wayne didn't lose control on the spot, but he seems to have gone mad... I remember he has no other relatives, so who will inherit his shares? Will he donate them to the Blackrock Town council?"

"Thank you so much for not thinking of taking over my shares outright..." Wayne interrupted Lina's rambling with a hint of helplessness, sitting up in the carriage and resting his forehead on his side fist. "How are the others doing?"

"You haven't turned into an idiot, have you?"

Lina tilted her head and turned her face sideways, hesitatingly checking Wayne's reaction through the gap under her fist. "Everyone is basically fine. Sanders and Connor were contaminated by the curse when that guy unleashed the mist, but it wasn't severe, and they had already saved themselves before the monks arrived. The others only suffered some minor injuries, and you might be in mortal danger."

Wayne frowned slightly. "'Wisdom and Wisdom...'"

Just as she finished speaking, Lina raised one index finger and pressed it against her lips, glancing around out of the corner of her eye.
After a moment's thought, Wayne immediately changed his tune, "When He appeared, weren't Sanders and Connor also there? Why were they unharmed?"

Inessa's voice came from behind Wayne: "Because they didn't 'look directly' at him."

"Normal awakened extraordinary beings usually instinctively avoid the influence of higher beings when they sense it. However, extraordinary abilities that involve probing can sometimes be very dangerous, as they may accidentally discover higher beings that they shouldn't be looking at, leading to loss of control or madness. This is why the saying 'one should not look directly at a god' is widely accepted."

“I roughly knew that Wayne had a similar extraordinary ability, but I didn’t expect that you would actually investigate when His projection descended… As their rank increases, the ability of extraordinary individuals of the middle and above to sense things in this area will gradually improve, but it is basically a vague spiritual intuition, which is not as useful as an investigation-type extraordinary ability. Even so, they will not easily ‘look directly’ at it, as the risk is too great.”

Wayne turned around upon hearing this, slightly bewildered, "I stopped using my extraordinary abilities in time..."

"Perhaps you had already noticed the exact location of the projection, but you still looked over there unintentionally."

Inessa seemed to be pondering the possibilities. "Most ordinary people can't directly see evil spirits or higher beings. Even if they do, they'll only retain a distorted image in their memories—but that doesn't mean they won't be affected by 'direct vision.' Just surviving is already incredibly lucky." Lina, finally certain that Wayne still possessed some semblance of reason, leaned closer with her beautiful face: "So, what did you gain this time?"

"Having escaped death again, I feel the preciousness of life even more?" Wayne tried to summarize his feelings.

"That's not what I'm asking you."

Lina's eyes shone brightly. "If you look directly at the higher beings without losing control or going completely insane, you can usually gain some extraordinary knowledge. This is also why wild extraordinary beings were able to emerge from the primitive era and gradually form various organizations, sects, and schools of thought. Since you were affected but were lucky enough to be unharmed, and His projected phantom seems to be clearer than usual this time, you should gain something."

Damn it?

Although it sounds like a good deal, Wayne, who had experienced it firsthand, could already imagine the horrific survival rate back then, and the sheer bravery of his predecessors in courting death...

Wayne's mind wasn't racing yet; his thoughts were still a bit jumbled.
He tried his best to recall, and his mind was indeed washed by a giant wave at the time, leaving behind some "flashes of inspiration." However, it was still a bit difficult for him to summarize them into words and put them into words: "I'm still a little dizzy. I'll tell you when I've figured it out."

Lina didn't insist. She seemed to be busy with other things anyway. Now, holding the "snake-head stick" in her hand, she was about to turn and leave. "It's a promise, no backing out. We can also offer advice on any unclear details. This is extraordinary knowledge gained from Him. Some organizations that believe in Him are willing to spend money on this."

“Wait a minute,” Wayne pointed to the “snake-head stick,” “what is this?”

Lina handed it to him directly: "I plan to call it 'Koyatl's Scepter.' Although it looks like an antique, it was probably made no more than fifty years ago. However, that cultist really did use it to summon the phantom of 'Koyatl,' so it should indeed have been imbued with His aura. This is probably a product of a successful ritual by the Tranquil Sect, which also shows that the guy's status within the Tranquil Sect is actually not low."

Wayne examined the "snake-head stick" for a moment, which had already developed a patina from handling it, and asked, "So what are you going to do with it?"

“Of course it should be handed over to the church,” Lina replied without hesitation. “This should be the most valuable thing on site, theoretically more precious than those extraordinary materials you’re hiding under your butt.”

Wayne's face was filled with suspicion, and he even looked like he wanted to pull out his gun.
This isn't the Lina I know... or maybe she's been possessed by a ghost.

Fortunately, Lina quickly covered her mouth and whispered in Wayne's ear, "The Sage has already taken away the phantom projected by 'Koyatl' and most of the aura in the scepter as a 'contribution.' If you hand it over to the Cathedral, the Church of the Holy Spirit should not pursue the matter of the missing extraordinary materials too much."

Wayne's hand, which had been secretly searching for a gun, stopped.

Okay, it really is her.

(End of this chapter)