New Gods of North America.

Chapter 656 Welcome
Because Liam had sent a message back by pigeon beforehand, Doug had already led his men and freight wagons to the steam train station to wait for Wayne when he got up for lunch.
Inessa led the sales team to the dock area, still worried that there might be some lingering members among the Quiet Cult's followers. Lina, on the other hand, seemed to be filling the gap in the intelligence team's social circle in high society; she was reportedly out socializing with Miss Harley and the others.

Progress with Tax Officer Quinn probably won't be quick either, so Wayne will stay home today and, as a partner in the detective agency, wait to welcome the new members.

When there are no missions, the detective agency is relatively "hands-off". After the new members arrived and dug a hole in the kitchen to bury the safe as Lina instructed, they started to have a competitive "physical education class" with Connor, Sanders and the others.

"Slingshot" wasn't with the sales team today either. He had faced the eruption of the curse while disrupting a ritual node. Wayne's rescue was timely, and he recovered quite quickly.

As a result, after being given extraordinary materials this time, he supposedly advanced to the 3rd rank, but he was injured even more severely than before. He punched several holes in his body from the inside out, but fortunately, his bones and vital internal organs were not damaged.

It wasn't clear whether those evil god followers were truly poisonous, but Inessa's initial diagnosis was that his condition was not yet stable enough. She then prescribed him a large pot of medicine to drink every day like water.
As for his wounds, after they were bandaged, his mobility was still relatively normal, but he could forget about fighting for the time being and could only watch Connor and his team's friendly match with Wayne.

Wayne looked at "Slingshot," now in a state of frailty and weakness, where even the slightest movement caused him to grimace. He felt both worried and relieved.
The worry is that after Wayne explodes, he'll probably look even worse than the "slingshot." The relief is that at least Wayne has a "fellow traveler," so he won't be the only one in the detective agency to get injured because of his advancement.

The last batch of new members reportedly numbered around ten, and adding the previous batch who hadn't yet received employee training, the total number is estimated to be around twenty.
Even if the staff of the first two offices are replenished and some people are kept for rotation, the "third office" can be prepared to report to Mr. Russell on its preparations. However, Ryan has only been in charge of developing the "second office" for a short time, and Wayne has not yet decided whether to send someone to "take over" or to send someone else to "pioneering".

The situation at the docks isn't settled yet. New employee training could be done alongside the crackdown on the gangs. Giving Willie's "Reputation Group" a couple more helpers would also be good. The workshop also needs basic defense.

However, the detective agency can't keep so many people in Richmond forever; they need to find a balance. The agents have a lot of work to do at headquarters, and there are no rewards or employer fees for this part of the work, so there needs to be a system for salary assessment.

Just as I was pondering this, the flock of crows in the workshop suddenly reacted; even parrots and peregrine falcons flew over from elsewhere, seemingly wanting to join the fun.
Wayne guessed that Doug had probably returned with the new members, so he called the players and onlookers to prepare to welcome him.

The group was gathered in the open space of the "living area" in the workshop, watching several birds fly in the direction of the workshop's gate, gradually approaching. The sound of hooves grew louder, and then two carriages soon came into view.

Oh, no.

How did you manage to make the carriage look like the "Third Brother" style?

Several people squatted or lay down on the hard roof of the freight wagon; couldn't they have squeezed in a little more inside the wagon?

It's not a very nice sight to come all the way from the city center like this.

Doug, who was the first to get out of the small van, was also helpless. He immediately began to explain to Wayne:
“Liam only mentioned on the note that they had a bit too much luggage, which I had already considered, but I didn’t expect that even after bringing the entire caravan over, it still wouldn’t be enough to fit everything…”

Once the freight wagons came to a stop, Wayne glanced at them and immediately realized they were indeed innocent.

The shed was piled high with goods, almost reaching the ceiling, with the remaining gaps filled with cloth-like bundles. The people in the wagons were crammed together like sardines; as soon as the freight wagons stopped, people jumped out to get some fresh air. Given the situation, Wayne stopped with the fancy stuff and clapped his hands, calling for everyone to help: "Let's all move things first. Lodging has been prepared, and the chef has prepared dinner. We can talk about the rest after we've rested."

There were familiar faces in the crowd, but most were unfamiliar. Connor and Doug were more acquainted with them.
So the group exchanged brief greetings and got to work. The group of men, who didn't need to know each other, cooperated quite quickly under these circumstances.

On the contrary, Wayne gradually became speechless during this process:

"Are these liquors a specialty from Kansas City? What? This is Winchester cider? Liam got it? And these huge baskets of apples too?"

"And what's in this bucket? Hmm... mushrooms, untanned fur, and these bottles are... honey? Liam not only took you on patrol, but also collected these along the way?"

"These green things... they're wild chives. No need to say more, I already have a pretty good idea where they came from..."

So most of the stuff that filled the carriage wasn't luggage brought by the new members.

Along with these items, a long letter written by Liam himself was also sent.
It describes the current situation of the First Office in a rather detailed and somewhat disorganized manner, including not only general accounts and expenditures, but also his personal evaluations of several new members, which can be regarded as a "preliminary review" during the brief period of working together.

How to describe this feeling?
It's a bit like when Lina led a group to escort jewelry to Georgia before.
Wayne no longer needs to worry about Liam causing the First Office to suffer losses abroad, but he is more worried about whether the team's style will completely go astray...

To be fair, Liam did a good job. His report was full of hunting, fishing, and raiding bird nests. He also mentioned that although he hadn't found any jaguars, he had encountered red foxes and wildcats. If Inessa wanted to raise them, he could try to get Wayne a few cubs.

But if you say he did a bad job, Liam seems to have a good relationship with the team and the steam train company staff. There were no security issues, and there was also new bounty income. The accounts and income and expenditure looked healthier than when Ryan was in charge. He even had the time and energy to bring local specialties back to the base camp...

Wayne thought about it and felt that it was better to leave some things to each individual.

When Liam returns from his rotation, we can consider awarding him a "Clerk of the Year" or similar recognition, depending on the circumstances.

Then we should consider whether to have Sanders hang him up to correct his style...

Being active is not a bad thing.

But when it's time to be serious, you have to be serious.

(End of this chapter)