New Gods of North America.

Chapter 696 Appearance
After a busy day of preparations...
Around 9 p.m., Wayne received news of a new murder case next to the scrap metal shop, which had been restored to its former glory.

"Which secret hideout of the Sailors Gang has fallen victim this time?" Wayne asked, taking a map of the dock area that had been prepared in the carriage and having Lina point out the exact location.

It wasn't that Wayne didn't want to help them; in fact, when Wayne and Inessa went to the bar to question them last night, they had already subtly hinted at it.

But the remaining members of the Sailors' Gang seem to have been secretly recruiting these past few days, as if they believe it's all a conspiracy by some gang targeting them.
Furthermore, they don't seem to trust the police or detective agencies, so they prefer to hide and don't seek protection from others. We can only respect that and wish them well.

Lina shook her head: "This time it wasn't the Sailors Gang that got into trouble, but another gang called the 'Claws Gang.' But I just went to the scene and it seems like it was Jason who did it."

The Claws... a medium-sized gang. Their leader even had a meeting at James Damody's house before.

So Jason is currently helping to clean up the gangs targeting the Erlan rioters.

Upon receiving news of the murder, the scrap metal shop quickly increased security and fell silent again, as if no one was around.
The church had a very detailed understanding of Jason's situation, and even made targeted arrangements for any unusual things he might notice. At this moment, not only were people hiding in the two-story building, in the trees in the yard, and outside the yard wall, but several pits had also been dug in the yard, where monks were hiding in disguise.

Brother Merlin was even more audacious; he was currently on the roof of the small building, with reinforced ropes secretly strung around the perimeter.

When necessary, he can pull himself up by the rope and jump down, aiming to "flash" in the corresponding area and indirectly block Jason's teleportation landing point.

The fake bearded man who had secretly come to help was not around at this time. He didn't intend to appear in front of the cultivators, and he also had to guard against the cultivators who could see something amiss and discover his extraordinary abilities.

So the detective agency provided him with a covered wagon, and he even set up a magic circle inside beforehand, supposedly for amplification. Agents would bring the news over in time, and the wagon could also move around flexibly during the process.

Having someone familiar with the situation to help is very convenient.

Putting aside any additional intelligence, the fake beard temporarily alleviated many of the detective agency's concerns.

Before Bishop Corleone passed away, they regularly patrolled the dock area. The traces that Inessa discovered, suspected to be left by a high-level extraordinary being, have at least for now preliminarily ruled out the possibility of "long-term dormancy."
Based on their understanding of the Pryor family behind the Irish gangs, it was impossible for the Pryor family to have high-level extraordinary individuals readily available locally—various objective conditions were limiting. For example, they couldn't find enough extraordinary materials in Virginia for consumption, and while the cathedral might have oversights in the short term, it wouldn't remain completely unaware of such situations for an extended period.

So, to be optimistic, that high-level extraordinary individual either "just happened to be passing by," or stayed for a short time and had no intention of publicly revealing their presence.

However, it can be basically determined that the other party is not Jason's accomplice, and it is unlikely that they would stand up and openly oppose the local church for the sake of the dock area gangs or the Secretary of State.

Therefore, the plan actually implemented by the detective agency was almost identical to the version that Wayne and Brother Merlin had discussed.

The only slight difference is that Wayne and his team need to find an opportunity to kill Jason completely at the last moment, and then they need to shake off the church's people and secretly go to find Jason's "cocoon".

If Wayne can truly absorb it, then there's no need to be polite.

If they really can't do that, they can just say that they happened to find Jason again, and then have the monks in the cathedral arrest him again.

……

As night deepened, time ticked by.

Considering Jason Wohrze's attempt to conceal the meeting place, Wayne estimated the distance based on the latest crime scene, allowing him ample time for walking and detours. Now, his only concern was that Jason might not come, or that the timing of his return might not be opportune.

People living in the dock area generally don't have the habit of spending money on lighting at home to stay up late. They mostly go to bed early and get up early, and if they want to have fun, they'll choose to go out. This is one of the reasons why some Americans like to spend their evenings in bars.

The residents in this area had already been visited by the monks. Those who believed in the Holy Spirit would receive holy water with added ingredients, while those who did not believe might receive a small bottle of wine or something similar. The church had special tranquilizers, and there was a monk on site who could give subtle psychological suggestions through words, and another monk who could directly help people fall asleep—the effect was not as good as regular sleeping pills, but it was also less noticeable.

The two guys who were caught at the scrap metal shop earlier have been brought back to act as actors.
The Merlin brothers didn't exactly trust them, but if they dared to play any tricks, the cathedral had plenty of ways to deal with them.

Finally, the figure of a short man appeared near the scrap metal shop.

There are still some streetlights around, but they are very sparsely arranged. The shadows appear, shorten, lengthen, and disappear among the streetlights, which are not actually bright enough, and look almost like living people.

This guy didn't even use the main gate; there was a shorter route he could have chosen, yet he ended up circling almost the entire courtyard.
Wayne, who was lying nearby with his bolt-action rifle set up, was speechless. He wasn't sure if Wayne was being extra vigilant or if he was just taking the familiar route because he wasn't thinking straight.

Once Jason fully enters his Extraordinary form, he'll essentially be in an invincible state, like a mana bar constantly being depleted.
So everyone had to be patient and wait for him to slowly enter the core of the encirclement.

"Boom, boom!"

That's so rude of him to knock on the door with his foot.

Then the door opened, the little man went in, and the people in the yard immediately began to quietly get busy.

The cathedral may act domineeringly in some ways, but every believer is actually within its duty of protection.

If all goes well, one of the guys in the house will tell Jason about a fake gang hideout as a backup plan in case the operation fails, and the other two will end their meeting as soon as possible and hide under the protection of the monks.

The monks used torches to block Jason's teleportation ability. These torches were extremely bright; if there were enough of them, they could illuminate the entire courtyard, making it safer to deal with Jason than in the complex conditions of a house.
However, due to the limitations of the era, the oil and gunpowder used in the torch had a strong odor. If it were taken out too early, the surrounding area would be filled with an unpleasant smell. Even a fool would probably notice something was wrong. The only option was to indirectly trap the tortoise in a barrel.

There seemed to be no accident inside the house. The little man left the house not long after, and then the two figures who were originally inside were quickly half-pushed and half-pulled away from the scene from the other side of the two-story wooden house.

Swah——

A ring of lights quickly lit up around the courtyard, compressing the little man's shadow to his feet, and Wayne decisively pulled the trigger.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

What rang out all around was a sudden burst of gunfire.
Meanwhile, the monks and agents formed a layered formation, each armed with weapons or shields, and began to try to weaken the burly figure who seemed to have instantly donned a white mask and drawn a large cleaver.

Why does this feel a bit like a group bullying Peter in the arena?

(End of this chapter)