New Gods of North America.

Chapter 686 Fighting
The detective agency transferred personnel, which created chaos in the dock area.

After handing the scene over to Brother Merlin and his team, the detective agency saw unusual signal fireworks rising above the base, so the main force quickly returned to launch a surprise attack.

While some members of the Rabbit Gang did help stake out the area, they primarily acted as human surveillance cameras or alarm systems, and did not participate in the physical altercations or maintain order.
The detective agency didn't provide them with fireworks, to avoid being used as a diversionary tactic or a feint; they mainly relied on the detectives' patrols.

Doug was actually able to gather some information more quickly at the base. Besides the intelligence team secretly sending messages, the birds that could fly at night could also be of some help. In addition, some people used the base as a police station and would come to report cases on their own initiative.

If he sends a signal, it means the situation has gotten really bad.

Wayne followed Inessa's carriage towards the Ellan community. To save time, some other agents who had arrived in batches also boarded the carriage, which was now packed with people, even the roof.

On the way, they encountered an owl that was following a few guys in the sky, cooing. One group of agents jumped out of the car and chased after it, and even fired warning shots as instructed by Wayne.

Taking advantage of the situation to cause trouble is an even more serious offense.

They arrived relatively quickly; at this moment, many people in the community are still observing the situation, and no one has yet stepped forward to call on their neighbors to "join in."
To prevent them from going out together and taking matters into their own hands again, the detective agency made a lot more noise than they had the previous two days. Before, they were mainly focused on dealing with the situation promptly and restoring peace to the community as soon as possible. Now, they were exchanging greetings and firing warning shots to let everyone know that someone was still in charge of this kind of thing.

So, compared to the occasional "fireworks displays" of the previous two days, the rest of the evening was more like "thunder without lightning"—the noise quickly became loud and then gradually faded into a discontinuous, indistinct sound.
Sanders' boasting played a part in this, as many of the agents who rushed over earlier were somewhat reassured after hearing Sanders' version of the story—although there might be "high-level" extraordinary individuals, the one who committed the crime today was nothing special, so there was no need to panic, and it wouldn't be so easy for them all to be wiped out instantly.

Then, as dawn approached, Wayne roughly understood why he had encountered that guy in that place.

Because the Sailors' Gang is in trouble again.

That short guy probably got lost after finishing his work and walked in the opposite direction after leaving the house.
Another way of thinking is also reasonable. Maybe his next target is someone from the Erlan gang, and he has chosen a new route where it is relatively less likely to encounter people.

The leader of the Sailors' Gang will definitely be replaced this time.
After all, if a normal person is split in two, it's probably not very easy for them to come back to life...

Moreover, a guy who was supposed to be a "witness" and accused Wayne of murdering the journalist was also killed at the Sailors' Gang's small dinner party tonight.

Wayne was a little hesitant, wondering if he should offer a discount on the compensation for the carriage to the white-masked man.

One thing at a time.

……

"Have you heard? It seems the Sailors' Gang was almost wiped out yesterday. Several of the leaders are dead, and the rest haven't shown their faces since." "It was those 'red armband' thugs who did it. I knew they'd be so active in the dock area lately that they'd eventually take matters into their own hands. They pretended to be police at first, but they just wanted to take over the territory."

"Really? I've noticed they've only been arresting troublemakers lately. There was a disturbance near my house a couple of days ago, and they didn't take any further action against those who surrendered on the spot. It really does seem like they have official backing."

"You've been misled by the illusion they've created. Richmond police don't care about things in the dock area, so why are they doing this? It's all because it's profitable. Just you wait, once the other gangs have been dealt with enough, they might be even more brutal than the current ones."

The next day at noon, Wayne took Seth and the others to the Sailors' hideout to assist in verifying their assets. Unexpectedly, these well-educated weaklings were utterly shocked by the scene that had just unfolded the night before, and they all vomited profusely.

Wayne found a bar nearby and asked Sanders to bring them some drinks to calm their nerves. Then, in a bar that is not normally open during the day, he encountered a small group of people drinking and chatting, who happened to be at the Cricket Detective Agency.

So Wayne told Sanders to talk to the bartender about the price, while he himself went over and pretended to be a passerby: "I heard they seem to be planning to open a workshop in the dock area, and they might recruit workers here. If they want to do business, it's normal to want to avoid being bothered by gangsters, right?"

The loudest guy at the table clearly disagreed: "That sounds nice. Opening workshops and hiring workers, isn't it just the same old tricks these gangs at the docks play? They'll get a fixed share of the wages, and if they want to work at other docks, people will come knocking. If you ask me, we might as well continue to support the Sailors' Gang now. At least their profit-sharing ratio and rules are clear, and they might even remember our favor. Who knows what the new gang will be like?"

Although the other person wasn't looking at him, Wayne nodded: "That makes sense. But didn't the Sailors' Gang leaders have an accident last night? When I came over just now, I saw a lot of people gathered there. I heard their leader is dead."

"It's just the police making a fuss. Everyone in the dock area knows that even if they put on a show of investigating, the gang members will still get away with it in the end. But it's true that something happened to the Sailors' Gang. Mr. Henry is the only one who's doing relatively well. It would be great if he could become the new leader of the Sailors' Gang. Don't you think so?"

At this point, the man looked around at the crowd seeking approval. He paused slightly after noticing Wayne, whose clothing and demeanor differed from the dockworkers.
Wayne initially thought this guy was setting the tone for the detective agency, but now he felt like he was bolstering the morale of some remaining members of the Sailors' Gang, trying to stabilize the situation externally and smoothly take over the reins.

The former needs close monitoring, while he doesn't really want to deal with the latter.
It's a good thing that someone wants to rebuild the mountain stronghold; otherwise, it would be more troublesome if the remaining gang members hid and caused trouble, making them even harder to catch than wild boars running all over the mountain.

So Wayne and Sanders didn't actually make a move in the end, not even bothering to take out their red armbands.
Seth and his team are getting ready for new work. Collecting taxes is just a short-term task, and if they only help Willie as his assistant lawyer, the workload probably won't be enough.

Their publicity campaign went quite well the night before, so why not just put together a small local newspaper for the dock area?
This will also show these bartenders what it means to upgrade the efficiency of message dissemination.

More importantly, it would make finding people easier. If there were a regular publication that could feature his portrait, finding that shapeshifting little guy from last night would be much easier.
Even if the agents run themselves ragged, there are only so many of them. It's not as cost-effective as just spending a little money to buy information.

Resources need to be allocated more rationally.

(End of this chapter)