New Gods of North America.

Chapter 642 Selection

At noon, this time it was "Whale Oil," who stayed behind at the workshop, who delivered lunch to everyone.
The members of the detective agency didn't eat a single bite, giving all the food to the monks and police officers who still needed to stay on site to continue their work. Then the cargo wagon was finally able to drive away openly, and the group planned to have a meal when they returned to the workshop.

The guy who summoned the feathered serpent phantom "Koyater" should theoretically have been the highest-ranking member of this group of cultists.

Unfortunately, not only was there no corpse, but there were no extraordinary materials left behind either. It's unclear whether it became the price for summoning "Koyater" or was taken away along with the feathered serpent phantom by the "Wise Sage".

Therefore, the extraordinary materials obtained by the detective agency actually came from other cult members who were in the house at the time.

It's unclear which part came from which person, but there were a total of four parts.

According to the Hunter Association's theory, ranks 0 to 4 are collectively referred to as "low-rank," while ranks 5 to 8 belong to "mid-rank."
Without special abilities or specialized testing methods, it's not always possible to tell the difference between living people under normal circumstances.

However, once it's made into an extraordinary material, the difference becomes quite obvious.

Despite originating from the realm of "death," one of the extraordinary materials appeared to be "alive." When Lina, wearing openwork gloves, retrieved it, it had already passed through a simple obstacle and "bit" onto another extraordinary material...

Good guy,
I haven't even touched my knife and fork yet, and you've already started eating.

Seeing this, Inessa silently took out her dagger and gently pried open the "asphalt" that was already partially covering a piece of "bacon" and a section of "soft tube."

If you stare at the "asphalt" closely, you can vaguely see some patterns that look like mystical symbols, but they don't seem very real, like a fleeting illusion. Then Inessa covered the "asphalt" with a piece of cloth.

The "Death" area primarily features gray tones, but there are variations in the concentration of gray. The parts of the "cured meat" and "tube" that were previously wrapped have been stained with a slightly darker gray ring, while the areas inside the edges are slightly whitish.
The items were quickly laid out. The "asphalt" that was lying dormant under the cloth like a steamed bun was probably the highest-ranking item. As for the remaining "bacon," "soft tube," and "pebbles," it was not easy to tell their relative quality.

So Wayne asked that fundamental question again: "How should we divide it this time?"

In theory, a normal person would naturally choose to pick out the best ones first.

However, Wayne's mana bar has been oversaturated for a while and hasn't increased for some time. In addition, he has been helping with "healing" in the past few days and is still a bit full. Plus, he has a history of absorbing too much mana and blowing himself up. It would be better to listen to the advice of experienced people.

"I still have the temporary unsealing badge that the church gave me as a backup, so the need for it is not too great at the moment."

Inessa has always been very generous in this regard, "but I suggest that this allocation should be done with caution, after all, they may all have been affected by 'Koyatl', even if they only have a trace of his aura or will, it may lead to the absorber losing control."

Wayne thought for a moment and decided to let Inessa choose first. "Inessa, you've used up all the injections you brewed before, right? You're the detective agency's last line of defense now, so I think it's necessary to prioritize replenishing your supplies."

Inessa pondered for a moment, "That's fine too. However, the effect of my injection formula is limited. It only requires the extraordinary power of the 'Death' domain, and the requirements for its rank are not strict—to be precise, its duration is not proportional to the rank of the extraordinary materials used in its preparation—so you can just leave one for me after you've made your selections." Wayne, upon hearing this, couldn't help but make a connection: "I remember you said before that when you encountered that magic circle impact last time, the restraints on your body seemed to have been weakened?"

"That's right. At that time, the restraints on me showed signs of loosening. But the restraints of the Exorcist Association were very stubborn. In the rubber warehouse, I used another injection and absorbed the chaotic and weak spiritual power from those rats. The balance of the restraints was affected many times in a short period of time, but it gradually stabilized again."

Inesa looked somewhat tired. "If we extrapolate from this result, then trying to break free of the restraints simply by impact might not be feasible. I might not be able to withstand an impact that could completely destroy the restraints."

Well……

Wayne's attempt to find a solution using the ritual manual has been thwarted... It seems he'll have to find another way.

While the two were talking, Lina had already begun inspecting the extraordinary materials one by one, while Peter the Spider stood by, as lively as a husky seeing its owner preparing to feed it.
She picked up the gray pebble that was originally not very noticeable and examined it for the longest time. "Then I'll choose this one."

"What are your reasons for choosing it?" Wayne asked curiously, after all, Lina was quite convincing in some ways.

Lina checked it again against the light, "It's very special, its material is close to crystal. Although its rank isn't the highest, its texture seems very solid, and its potential should be quite high. Moreover, the extraordinary material just now didn't dare to try to devour it, so this person should be the most favored by 'Koyatel' among these people, perhaps having received His 'blessing' or 'watchful gaze'."

The evil god's favor...

The hidden dangers that the church fears have actually become advantages in your eyes...

If it weren't for the conflict of faith and the potential for "raising a tiger to cause trouble," Lina might have tried to cooperate with the church to be in charge of "harmlessly disposing of" items related to evil gods.

Peter the Spider hoisted the pebble and hid back on Lina's back. After a moment's thought, Lina's gaze shifted to Wayne:
"You haven't been able to break through to the intermediate level before. Based on my own experience, you now have two choices."

"First, temporarily halt the accumulation of extraordinary power, wait for the integration of your own extraordinary power, and seek a suitable opportunity to attempt advancement."

"Lina," Inessa called out to her, seemingly wanting to interrupt her.

After saying "first," Lina herself hesitated a bit. Wayne, seeing the situation, could only take the initiative to ask, "And second?"

"Sigh... The second method is the one we usually use in our almshouse."

Lina glanced cautiously at Inessa, then reached out and pushed the lump of "asphalt" covered with cloth toward Wayne. "Using extraordinary materials of a higher grade than yourself to try to break through has been proven to be successful in practice. But the Detective Agency is not an orphanage, so you don't need to choose between 'failed promotion' and 'being eliminated' for the time being."

(End of this chapter)