New Gods of North America.

Chapter 220 Location
To be honest, as a "hothouse flower" who grew up in Black Rock Town,
Wayne really didn't have much experience in dealing with provocations from strangers he met in other places.

The townspeople in Black Rock Town are all very simple and honest.
If they are acquaintances, then they are just joking with each other, at most they will tease each other a few times or say a few words starting with certain letters.

If it's a stranger, it's even simpler. Compare the speed of pulling out a gun or shooting. Basically, just give a warning and the problem can usually be resolved quickly.

Fights usually occurred between "people who knew each other", especially after drinking too much or having an argument, but townspeople usually did not fight with strangers.

Unless it was a one-sided beating.

So when Wayne turned around and saw that the person coming was a stranger, he was a little confused.

Virginia is a prosperous state on the East Coast, and is considered part of the so-called "civilized world".
I don't know if I'll just pull out my gun.
Wouldn't it seem like the reaction was a bit too reactive and bullying of ordinary people?

So Wayne and the other two turned around and leaned against the bar, looking at the drunk behind them.

Wayne turned his head slightly and looked at the red-neck drunk, but he was asking the bartender a question, "Is he a local here?"

"Well, this is Kevin, he's a regular here."

The bartender first answered Wayne's question with a smile, then raised his voice, "Hey! Kevin, these are my customers, don't make trouble. Go back and hug your goats."

"***!"

The drunkard yelled back at the bartender, his eyes moving from side to side between Inesa and Lina, and finally fixed on Inesa, "Girl, let's sit down and talk together?"

This is a bad choice.
Lina probably has a lot of ways to deal with such guys, but Inissa usually doesn't chat with strangers. When she's not fighting, she's like a good kid, but when she's fighting, she's like an old hunter. When it comes to dealing with drunks, she might be even worse than Wayne.

For example, the Wendigo in Blackrock Town might have felt deeply about this.

Wayne politely helped Inesa reject him, "Sorry, we still have things to talk about. Please don't disturb us."

This drunkard looks completely defenseless. I estimate that one kick would make him collapse to the ground like a shrimp. I can only hope that he will listen to advice.

After all, sheriffs these days don't have so-called medical insurance. Besides American-style Iai, Wayne also learned some life tricks from Uncle Benjamin since he was a child: "Make the opponent lose resistance quickly while trying to avoid getting hurt yourself."

If a fight broke out and the sheriff was summoned, Wayne had already thought of what he would call him.

I don't know if the news of "Gray Wolf" Freddy's death has reached the East Coast. The wanted order may not be withdrawn in time. It is not safe to pretend to be a church member or a public official. It is easy to be "incriminated". You can't play around if you have nothing to do.
So if Wayne meets the sheriff because of a fight later, he plans to call himself "Tony" this time, and his character is a former bartender in a small town in the West who discovered gold.

Of course, drunkards don't listen to advice.
Then before he could speak again, a group of people had already gathered around him silently.

In addition to the detectives from the detective agency, several strangers who had been sitting at the same table with Doug and his friends also formed a human wall.

Doug didn't look like a good guy anymore. He looked at the drunkard coldly and said, "Go away. This is not someone you can mess with."

Compared with Wayne's team, it seems that the cold-eyed onlookers of a group of bounty hunters can make people feel the murderous aura and oppression more intuitively.
The drunk opened his mouth at first, as if he wanted to say something harsh like a tough guy, but in the end he just picked up the beer glass and took a sip, then turned around and walked away embarrassedly.

Then Doug bowed his head respectfully towards Wayne and waved to his companions.

Everyone returned to their seats. The pub was originally quite noisy, and the noise here was not that loud, but after this incident, the atmosphere suddenly became quiet.

This was a scene Wayne was used to.
Usually when the sheriff takes someone away from the tavern, the scene will be quiet for a while.
So Wayne looked around at the people who were looking at him, nodded slightly, then raised the beer glass in his hand and raised his voice a little, "Cheers!"

Some polite observers raised their glasses slightly at this time, and the others also turned their eyes away and continued their conversation.
Compared to the initial noise, the sounds in the pub were mostly whispers.
But Wayne didn't care too much about it. He turned back to the bar and continued chatting with the bartender.

A place like a pub, like a classroom during recess after the head teacher leaves, usually won't be quiet for long.

The bartender had already poured a glass of whiskey and handed it to Wayne, "This glass is for you from our bar. I didn't expect you to be such a big shot."

"Thank you." Wayne raised his beer glass to the bartender again, "I wonder if there will be a discount if I ask the 'big shot' for information?"

The bartender raised his eyebrows. "That's not what a big shot would do. But as compensation, I can give you a piece of information for free. I know the location of a stronghold of the 'Skinny Gang'. Do you have a map?"

Lina quickly took out a map from her small bag, along with a pen.

The bartender unfolded the map, then folded it over again, leaving part of the map exposed at the top. He then drew a small circle on the map with a pen and rolled the pen back:

"I'm not sure if this is their only base, but this news has at least been confirmed."

Wayne looked at the map and found that this place was still a little far from Clarisburg.

However, it is located on the state border of Ohio and Virginia, and at the junction of two counties in Ohio. It seems very reasonable to say that it is a gang stronghold.

Wayne flicked his finger and let the pen roll back to the bartender. "Didn't you just say there were three big gangs? How much is the information about the remaining two gangs worth?"

The bartender put his pen on the bar:

“The ‘regulators’ don’t seem to have a fixed base, and usually commit crimes on the borders of various places.

"As for the Gary Adventure... they seem to be preparing for some action in the near future. They recently appeared next to the steam train line. I think this news is worth at least $10. If you want to buy it out, it will cost $20."

Wayne touched a large double eagle gold coin with a face value of $20 and flicked it over.
After the bartender took it, he picked up a pen and marked a location on the map, while praising, "Generous choice. Don't worry, I won't tell this news to other bounty hunters."

Wayne ignored his nonsense.

If it happened in Blackrock Town, if a stranger told Tony a piece of news in a tavern at night and told him to keep it secret, the whole town might know about it by the next morning.

Only a fool would trust a strange bartender; their credibility is only useful to regular customers.

So Wayne curled his lips and shook his thumb behind him:

"Do you remember who those people were that just now? Serve them a few bottles of good wine. Count the remaining money yourself and choose a suitable price. I will treat all the guests in the tavern to a round of drinks."

(End of this chapter)