New Gods of North America.

Chapter 690 Details
Wayne had specifically pointed out that the white-masked man likely had accomplices, intending for Brother Merlin and his group to be responsible for "finding bait" and "laying the trap."
But Brother Merlin's seriousness far exceeded Wayne's expectations: "If your guess is correct, then this matter could be very serious. Assuming that Jason Wohrze's recent crimes were orchestrated, then his successful escape from the monastery was not a coincidence, but a premeditated deal."

At this point, Brother Merlin seemed to suddenly realize something. "No wonder His Excellency the Bishop was so angry before, and even specifically assigned Warren Leitcher to conduct a security assessment and internal audit of that monastery—something that wasn't originally the cathedral treasurer's responsibility."

"..."

Such an important detail, and you didn't mention it once during our meeting tonight?!

If Wayne or Inesalina hadn't thought of this, then everyone's investigation might have gone in the direction of "the escaped extraordinary killing indiscriminately"?

When will we be able to bring him back? ... Maybe by then White Mask will have already left the dock area and gone somewhere else.

However, Wayne himself only realized the impact of this matter on the cathedral after Brother Merlin had come to his senses—he had been so focused on finding opportunities to fish in troubled waters that he hadn't paid any attention to what was happening there.

If we follow Merlin's line of reasoning, it seems that Bishop Tyrell was unaware of Jason Worherz's escape, making his subsequent arrangements quite intriguing.

However, Brother Merlin's sensitivity in this regard doesn't seem very reliable... Wayne thinks the reason he didn't think about it in that direction at first was because his premise was that "everyone in the church is a good person."
He might omit some crucial details and lead people astray again.

Alright, anyway, that shouldn't be the detective agency's business. I'll have Lina and the intelligence team find out later.

While the other side is having a battle of the gods, the detective agency should focus on "ghost hunting" first.

……

In some ways, Inessa's search methods were similar to those of Brother Merlin.

Upon arriving at the scene, her top priority was to try and find the killer's trail as quickly as possible.

When Wayne found Inessa, she had followed the scent of blood to a small river, and then she came to a standstill in the vicinity.

“This Jason Wohrz ​​is troublesome. Because he has a physical form, he doesn’t need to attach himself to a specific object or area like evil spirits. He can move freely, and under normal circumstances, spiritual flames won’t have any evil influence on him. Also, since he is still an evil spirit in essence, the strong smell of blood can’t stay on him forever. In fact, if he changes his form, even his footprints and gait will change.”

Inesa sighed slightly. "I suspect he might have crossed the river here and then there was no blood on him at all. There are so many small rivers and ditches flowing through the dock area from the city. If it's like this every time, it'll be very difficult to find him."

After hearing this, Wayne couldn't help but feel a little envious. No need to bathe, possessing a built-in "cleaning spell," the ability to change size, and the capacity to simply sell a knife if he was broke.

Aside from losing intelligence, reducing combat power, and becoming neither human nor ghost, it seems to have virtually no flaws.

However, Wayne didn't come to see Inessa just for idle chatter or to see the white-haired beauty focused on her work.

He had serious business to report: "The Sailors' Gang hasn't caused much trouble these past few days. We've been busy maintaining order and have been a little neglectful of them. That white-masked guy is after them. Judging from his crimes over the past two days, he seems eager to resolve this as soon as possible—we now need to shift some of our focus to the remaining members of the Sailors' Gang."

Inessa pondered for a moment, then asked a crucial question: "But it's nighttime, and the rest of the Sailors seem to have avoided their usual hideout. Where are we supposed to find their remaining members?"

Well……

To be honest, if Wayne hadn't wanted to secretly deal with that white-masked guy and see if there was a chance to absorb him as extraordinary material after "breaking" him, he wouldn't have bothered with the Sailors' Gang's mess. He'd rather the gang's main forces crippled each other.
Finding the remaining members of the Sailors' Gang, who had suddenly retreated into hiding, was indeed a bit troublesome. And by the time they were found, they might already be lying in a pile somewhere... What was originally a simple situation had been disrupted by this white-masked man. Wayne, who could have simply watched the gangs fight amongst themselves, was now in a predicament, having to search for or protect them from being devoured by other gangs, making things rather chaotic.
The fact that the other party was the Sailors, whom Wayne disliked the most, made him even more upset.

Fortunately, Wayne quickly recalled a clue: "I ran into a suspicious guy at a bar in the Sailors' territory around noon today. He seemed to be in contact with the rest of the Sailors' gang. The bar is usually not open at that time; those who go during the day are probably regulars. The bartender might know where that guy lives."

……

In a small outpost of the Mongoose Gang, "Softener" was in a cramped room, meticulously recording the latest news brought back that evening by his subordinates who were unaware of his true identity.

Since the former pickpockets in this branch (who still occasionally work part-time) have all transitioned to the intelligence business, they are quite wary of each other to ensure their profits. They all choose to report to "Soften" alone in their rooms, and always close the door and lower their voices, as if afraid that their companions will hear a single word.

In reality, most of the information provided by these informants is worthless. They themselves mostly get their information from hearsay in bars or alleyways, and only occasionally have the opportunity to obtain firsthand, timely news.

Although many of the messages seem to come from different sources, most of the content is the same after being put together—some boastful drunkards can go to several bars in one night, making some of the stories sound like they are true at first glance.

However, Miss Lina was still willing to temporarily fund "softening" to support them, saying that's how the intelligence system works. As long as the informants actively gather information and don't fabricate stories, occasionally obtaining a key and valuable piece of intelligence is already considered a return on investment.

Therefore, "softening" is usually assessed based on the difficulty of obtaining these messages. Even if they have no value, they will still pay Miss Lina's request for a message fee that is actually not high to begin with, and then tell their subordinates that these messages have been sold.

Another subordinate came in and closed the door, then excitedly squeezed to the table: "Boss, I think I've found a secret hideout for the Sailors' Gang. Selling this information to that detective agency should be more profitable, right?"

I've heard similar "softening" remarks far too often lately, because the detective agency has been publicly soliciting clues about gang assets, so they have the most relevant information.

But the validity of much of this information is equivalent to saying, "That's the XX gang's stronghold, do you need to tell me?! Who in the dock area doesn't know that?"

Therefore, "softening" simply meant re-inking, with no change in expression: "Let's get straight to the point. If this message can fetch a good price, you'll receive a corresponding reward."

"Boss, here's what happened. Tonight I saw a short guy—he was about this tall, and he looked very suspicious, with his head down—coming out of a member of the Sailors' Guild's house. He deliberately didn't take the normal route, but instead secretly crossed the river. I ended up following him all the way to a scrap metal shop."

"I didn't dare get too close, but that little guy chatted with someone inside for a while and then left quickly. I guess that's a hideout for the Sailors' Gang to secretly hide their goods, and that little guy was probably someone who relayed messages for them. The dock area has been so chaotic lately, and the Sailors' Gang has had two incidents in the last two days, so the rest of their people and goods are probably being hidden in batches like this."

Little dwarf... Sailors' Gang...

Because of the monks' guarding and cordoning off the area, "Softening" was unaware that the Sailors' Gang had gotten into trouble again that night.

However, the general details of Mr. Wayne and Sanders' encounter and battle with an extraordinary being last night have already been communicated within the intelligence team during the day today.

Besides this news, the subordinate sitting next to "Softening" had a lot more news to tell, but "Softening" had already torn the written content into strips of paper, stood up, and stuffed them into his pocket.

"Boss, where are you going? I haven't finished talking yet. I'm planning to go to another bar for another drink later, so don't keep me too long."

"Soften" patted him on the shoulder, gesturing for him not to block the way: "Go ahead, I might not be back so soon—if you're lucky this time, you might have enough money for drinks for the next few weeks."

(End of this chapter)