New Gods of North America.

Chapter 664 Choice
After chatting with "Little Tuto" for a while and discussing some details of their teamwork, Wayne dropped him off halfway and then ran to the Erlan settlement.

Sanders, who was driving the carriage, put on the red armband he used when checking for the plague again. It seemed that the thing was still effective in the dock area. The carriage did not speed up, but no one ran out to cause trouble. However, a few people deliberately avoided it on the side of the road.

The guide, Ciel, was genuinely afraid of Wayne.

After the carriage stopped outside the guide's house, he probably heard the noise and came to investigate. He quickly peeked through the second-floor window with half his head inside, then turned and climbed out the window on the other side of the house.

Unfortunately, Sanders had been to this place several times already and was familiar with the surrounding roads.
He immediately sensed that the guide Seren's reaction was not right, so the carriage turned around and changed direction, deliberately taking a detour to wait for the enemy to come to them.

When the guide, Seren, reappeared, the guy had already run to the next street corner.

After hiding behind the wall, he leaned against it, panting heavily with his hands supporting his knees, while also craning his neck to look back.

Then, after the guide, Ciarán, had finished letting out a sigh of relief and turned his head back, he suddenly looked up and noticed the detective agency's carriage, which had been parked on the side of the road around the corner—Sanders had deliberately slowed down and kept a low profile earlier, precisely for this effect.
Wayne, still feeling his pulse, adopted a calm demeanor: "About 500 yards, a sprint time of over 3 minutes would be considered a failing grade in our detective agency's speed test. I'm not in a rush today, are you still planning to continue the challenge?"

Seren, the guide, nearly gasped for breath. There was no need to delve into whether he felt it would be impolite to continue running, or whether he genuinely couldn't run anymore.
He almost choked on his breath when he tried to speak, and for a moment he could only lean against the wall and weakly shake his head and wave his hands.

After his breathing calmed down a bit, the guide, Seren, obediently lowered his head and got into the car.
Wayne was a little curious about his change in attitude. "What's happened to you this time?"

Even after entering the carriage, the guide, Seren, remained somewhat furtive, peering out through the glass wall of the carriage, his expression a mixture of speechlessness and unease.

“Mr. Wayne, after I went with you to see Mr. O’Sullivan last time, I thought you two had finally made up completely.”

"As a result, by last night, rumors were spreading all over the bars in the dock area that Mr. O'Sullivan and his team had offended some big shot they shouldn't have messed with and were doomed this time, and that your detective agency would be the 'knife' that actually stabbed them in the back."

"With you and Mr. O'Sullivan going back and forth between making peace and falling out, someone as insignificant as me really doesn't dare to get involved anymore..."

Wayne understood. He first knocked on the partition of the carriage, then didn't respond, but continued to ask, "I remember you said you grew up in the community? You should know a lot about their gang's business and property situation."

“Our community is different from the territories of other gangs…”

The guide, Ciel, evaded the question, saying, "Some laborers can continue to live even if they move to another neighborhood, but if we leave our fellow villagers, we might not even be able to find a place to stay. You're practically asking me to completely betray Mr. O'Sullivan and his men..."

Wayne nodded upon hearing this: "That's exactly what I mean, no need for 'almost'. Actually, even if you don't say it, once our detective agency has investigated and found out, we can still tell others that you told me—conversely, if you cooperate actively, we will at least keep your secret and provide protection."

This seemed to have crossed Seren's bottom line, and his expression instantly turned cold:
“Mr. Wayne, I’m an Irishman. You may not understand what that means, but Mr. O’Sullivan and his gang are at least the same kind of people as us. If they’re completely gone, the other gangs certainly won’t be any better to us.”

“We Erlans have no homeland to return to, and we’ve had a harder time than other laborers in the docklands. I could expose some of the wrongdoings the gangs did before, forcing them to change for the better, but this time it’s different. I can’t let all my fellow countrymen pay the price for this in the end.”

Wayne agreed with the guide, Siren. He'd randomly encountered several gang leaders that day, and nearly half of them had expressed their willingness to help eliminate the Ellan yakuza, including even their supposed "ally," the Tuto gang. This suggested that there were likely many more gangs secretly willing to lend a hand.

However, Wayne wanted the dock area to be "peaceful." He certainly wouldn't let those who instigated and participated in the attack get away with it, but he had no grudge against the Ellans.

“Ceren, have you ever considered that just because I have a grudge against the current ‘Elland Gang’ doesn’t mean I’ll help other gangs target ordinary people in your community? Without O’Sullivan, can’t you choose a new leader from among yourselves?”

"Huh?" Guide Seren was clearly a little confused.

Wayne currently only has a general idea: "It's not convenient to go into details right now, but in short, I'm someone who's willing to follow the rules and protect the living space of innocent people. Remember when I said I'd offer you a job? Our detective agency recently closed a big deal, which might provide jobs for many people—I hope you understand that our detective agency isn't a gang." "Uh…"

Siren, the guide, pondered the meaning behind Wayne's words, and a moment of silence fell over the carriage.
Then, seemingly wanting to avoid making the atmosphere too awkward, he temporarily changed the subject, asking, "Where are you taking me?"

Wayne responded casually: "I asked you to be my translator, of course, so I can go see Mr. O'Sullivan."

"what?!"

Guide Seren didn't even close his mouth again, as if for a moment he felt that among "him," "Wayne," and "the whole world," at least one of them must have gone mad.

……

The atmosphere was slightly tense at the Erlan gang's stronghold.

Mr. O'Sullivan's office now feels even more crowded. Even if Wayne pulled out his revolver and took them all out with one shot each, he wouldn't be able to deal with everyone inside and outside the door without reloading.

O'Sullivan sat behind his desk, toying with a gold coin in his hand, his tone slightly accusatory: "Mr. Wayne, the information I've received these past two days is completely different from what we agreed upon beforehand."

“I’ve said it before, I will deal with everyone involved in the attack. It’s just that the Sailors’ Gang is ranked higher in my mind than you guys, it’s just a matter of order.”

Wayne shook his head and sat down on the sofa. After saying that he thought O'Sullivan was a bit weak, he took out a one-dollar silver coin from his pocket, which danced more smoothly and actively between his fingers.
It was Wayne's gesture of reaching into his pocket that made the gangsters standing next to O'Sullivan a little nervous, as if they almost pulled out their weapons.

Wayne felt the onlookers were a bit of a nuisance. "How about we ask them all to leave first? We might be able to talk about some things privately, or we can each leave two people behind. It's up to you."

"Do you think you still have a chance to speak?" O'Sullivan retorted.

"The executive order to collect taxes was issued by the city hall. Even if you kill me now, new tax collectors will still come, and the attitude of the gentlemen in Richmond will probably change."

"In comparison, I may not be the worst candidate. Besides, someone just saw the red armband on my bodyguard. What you're doing is a blatant attack on a public official, which is worse than the previous attack."

Wayne adopted a matter-of-fact expression. "So many people in the dock district want to deal with you, but at least I'm willing to come and talk. If I don't have a chance to speak, then you won't have one later."

An angry-looking henchman took a step forward, and Wayne casually tossed the silver coin behind him. Sanders caught it, and his clothes tightened; the coin, already deformed upon hitting the floor, was clearly warped.
Wayne wasn't going to play along with him like that. Under the watchful eyes of his henchmen, he bent down and picked up the silver coin again. "Hurry up and decide. I still need to investigate your gang's finances later."

O'Sullivan made a gesture, and only the others, except for his two henchmen, began to walk out.

The guide, Seren, originally wanted to leave with the group, but Sanders grabbed her by the collar and pulled her back.

嗐，
O'Sullivan always does this kind of thing.

Even though they were all standing there in a mess, none of them were as unsettling as Lina pretending to speak a "foreign language".

All this empty rhetoric, who are you trying to scare?

(End of this chapter)