New Gods of North America.

Chapter 702 is in doubt
"The Wise Sage wasn't summoned by you, Lina?!"

After a brief moment of joy, Wayne lay back down on the ground, still soaking wet, to rest.
Peter the Spider had previously let go of Wayne's mouth to rub against her cheek, but now he's back biting Wayne's fingertip, seemingly blaming him for everything that happened before and wanting to get revenge for being blown up.

Oh well, let him bite then.
It's better than Peter dying and Lina being forced to "exchange her old one for a new one".

When the explosion occurred, Inessa and Lina split up in a panic. Inessa jumped into the water first to rescue people, while Lina stayed on the riverbank to guard against possible attacks and unexpected events. She also managed to retrieve Peter, who had been blown into the air.
At this moment, Inessa went to the carriage to change into spare clothes, while Wayne lay there motionless, chatting with Lina as they reviewed the events.

From Wayne absorbing the "ink" to his apparent loss of consciousness, and finally his regaining of consciousness and triggering the explosion,
Although Wayne felt as if a long time had passed, for Inessa and Lina on the shore, it was only a few minutes of rapid development.

Although Peter the Spider had given Lina warning signals, Lina's perception seemed to ultimately stop when the Spider looked puzzled in the water—it seemed like there was a risk, yet it also seemed like he was already under Wayne's control.

Wayne's thoughts were then swept away by the turbulent currents during the absorption process. Peter, who had been taken over by the "wise sage," swam up to him without his knowledge. Inessa and Lina were unaware of the situation until the explosion occurred, at which point they realized something was wrong.

“At that time, I hadn’t noticed anything unusual about Peter… and you said that the Sage descended at that time, could that just be your own illusion? Neither Peter nor I sensed the Sage’s presence, and Inessa didn’t feel anything unusual either.”

"Isn't it?"

The overwhelming feeling I experienced at that moment was definitely not something an ordinary extraordinary person could achieve. While the giant feathered serpent phantom might have been more destructive when unleashing its curse, it lacked the profound and oppressive aura and sense of power that I felt then.
If it were an old acquaintance, the "wise sage," that would be fine. But if it were some other high-ranking being, just thinking about it sends chills down your spine...

Inessa returned at this moment. The clothes in the carriage were all for combat, without any long dresses or similar garments. She was wearing her hunting outfit.
Her voice was faster than her steps: "There was indeed no aura of a higher being descending at that time. Either the higher being deliberately concealed its presence, or it could really just be a hallucination created by your consciousness in the process of saving itself."

Wayne certainly hoped it was the latter, but there was no point in deceiving himself; he actually felt the truth was probably closer to the former.
He raised one of his hands, with the large, refusing-to-let-go spider still dangling from it: "If there weren't any additional signs at the time, was there any way to verify it afterwards?"

Inessa shook her head: "At least not the Hunter Association. In the Middle Ages, people could be imprisoned for life by the Holy See simply for claiming that they had encountered an unknown superior being, because some deliberate concealment could not be verified or disproven."

This doesn't sound good. Even if the other party meant no harm, having a back door in your house that others can come and go at any time is something no one would be happy about.
Just as Wayne was about to continue questioning, footsteps came from the bushes a little further away. The three of them turned their heads in unison and saw a group of agents who seemed to be on night patrol, accompanied by two church monks.

"Sharpening" obediently put the dagger back in his hand, and the two agents beside him also put away their lever-action rifles. The question that he seemed about to blurt out immediately turned into an explanation:

“The ‘Air Situation Team’ just reported that there was an unusual noise here. Boss, you and Sanders encountered that masked ghost in this area before, so we came to check the situation.”

What the heck is the Air Intelligence Group...? How come even I, a major shareholder of this detective group, have never heard of it?
However, Wayne quickly realized that the aerial intelligence group referred to the owl and the flock of crows.
That should be called the Sky Birds Group...

However, the fact that patrolling agents were able to arrive at the scene to confirm the situation so quickly after the explosion demonstrates that the monitoring system is effective.

Dealing with Jason might be a bit difficult, but it would be more than enough to handle ordinary gangsters. Under the watchful eyes of the church's monks and agents, Wayne couldn't continue to stand idly by, so he could only stand up and barely maintain his composure.
“We also came to check the situation. Jason, whom I just mentioned, encountered another problem and was scattered again.”

According to the man with the fake beard, some church monks are also capable of "psychic communication."
Since we've already been caught by the church members, we might as well be honest about some of the facts to avoid them noticing anything unusual in the details.

"Sharpening" also participated in the support at the scrap metal shop tonight. He wasn't surprised that the three partners were able to handle Jason. What concerned him was something else: "Should we continue the search in the vicinity?"

“No need. You can just patrol as usual. We also need to make sure that other gangs don’t take the opportunity to cause trouble.” If Wayne hadn’t been soaking wet and had mud from the riverbed sticking up to his knees, he would have actually looked quite like a boss.

"Yes!"

After the agents agreed, Wayne turned his gaze to the remaining two monks: "Please help inform Brother Merlin. Jason was in this spot in the river earlier. If the monks examine it carefully, they might find some additional clues."

“Okay,” one of the monks nodded in response.

Wayne was also secretly planning something at this point, since he had already intended to use this place as the site for his cannery.
If the monks could help with the inspection, not only could they eliminate potential dangers like extraordinary contamination, but there might also be a tiny chance that they could inadvertently confirm the identity of the superior being possessing the giant spider Peter—if it was indeed the "Wise Sage," it would at least put Wayne a little bit at ease.

As everyone saw, the church staff walked right into the room, and according to their work procedures, these security checks are routinely arranged.

It's not that I intentionally wanted Brother Merlin to help me for nothing.

As for Jason...

Practice makes perfect, and Wayne now feels he has a basic grasp of how to deal with him. He knows which parts are "inedible," how to "avoid the storm," and roughly what his current "quantity" is.

The matter of the higher-ups is something we can't figure out in a short time, and there's no use getting anxious about it. So we might as well go back to the base and find that fake bearded man, and ask him if he can find Jason's new location after he disappeared again.

Although the gecko had lost its tail, its overall size was still considerable. Wayne had felt like he hadn't eaten much before exploding, so there was clearly still a lot of meat left.

Wayne also wanted to try his luck and see if he could get a "second" or "third" chance.

(End of this chapter)