New Gods of North America.

Chapter 316 Make do
When it was time for dinner after the fight, the partners at the detective agency were all in good shape.

Inissa's current state is not suitable for "unlimited fighting". If she doesn't get the acupuncture, she may not be able to beat anyone. If she gets the acupuncture, she may not be able to beat anyone either.
Lina was busy trying to get close to the other party and get information from them privately, and she didn't participate in the competition at all.
Wayne also planned to watch more and do less, and he just slacked off the whole time. His group didn't even make it to the second round.

The battle at the dinner party was even more brutal than in the arena.
America does not have the habit of directly "persuading people to drink", but the atmosphere similar to "If you don't drink, you are a wimp" is not uncommon in western taverns. In a land where even duels are popular, many people are familiar with similar skills of instigating and fanning the flames.

Those who have been in the limelight in the friendly matches before are almost inevitably "targeted" at the dinner party.
David Mills still had some face. New detectives like Connor, who were the focus of the arena, became the main targets of both sides. Some people on both sides even began to become "friends" or "comrades-in-arms".
However, all the drunks who tried to compete in drinking ended up bowing down to Chef Parker. Except for the need to go to the toilet from time to time, Parker was almost invincible when facing the test of alcohol.

Several partners of the detective agency and David Mills are considered the "bosses" of both sides. They stayed at the scene for a long time during the dinner and did not drink alcohol, which would affect everyone's performance to some extent.

So after drinking for a while, several people quietly left, leaving only Lina who stayed there to fan the flames enthusiastically, and took the opportunity to help Willy get revenge and gather information.

Wayne and David Mills were resting in the reception room. Wayne also secretly suggested that David Mills should not be too busy dealing with the daily affairs of the exorcism department. He should properly train a few assistants and select some members who are more willing to cooperate with him.
Anyway, in Wayne's eyes, no matter what the reason was for David Mills to be changed from the captain of the state special services to the head of George Berg's exorcism department, the cathedral probably did not want to see George Berg's exorcism department being controlled by someone who would only passively execute the orders of the local church.

Tom Hagen had previously hinted that Wayne could "communicate" more with David Mills.
Wayne felt that he didn't want him and David Mills to learn from each other how to solve cases.

……

After the rest day, Ryan got to know a few more people in the church.
Although it may not be useful, it is a roundabout way to gain more "connections" that can be used to try to build closer relationships.

It seems that all the members of the exorcism department in the same diocese have undergone something like "intensive study" or "collective training" in batches.

So when they knew Ryan was going to the mountainous area in western Virginia to be the head of an office, some people would say things like, "I know so-and-so, he's currently in a church in such-and-such a town over there."

If you are a little more enthusiastic, you can at least get a preliminary understanding of the situation. It may not be of great use in the future, but it may be of some help.

After being able to communicate privately on a daily basis, Wayne discovered that not all members of the exorcism department in the Virginia Diocese were Beyonders in the "holy" realm - but it was said that all Beyonders among the clergy were Beyonders - some of them were so-called "fallen ones" who had been regularized.

However, the conditions for this kind of "regularization" are very strict. At least one must be born into a local Christian family that can be traced back for several generations, and one must be a believer himself, preferably one who has been "baptized" in childhood.
After becoming an Extraordinary Person, the rejection reaction to the power of the "Sacred" realm should usually not be too great.

When they or their families discover something wrong with their bodies, they often turn to the church for help immediately, which basically means that the entire process can be traced back to the source.
Then, only after the Holy Spirit Church recognizes their piety, safety, and reliability, can they become a member of the church.

Wayne quietly assessed himself.
He discovered that his ability to obtain Bishop Corleone's special permission might not be entirely due to his "sensibleness" and "ability to get things done".

After another day of rest, the office members officially set out.

Driving a few horse-drawn carriages, carrying luggage and equipment, they headed to the steam train section currently "contracted" by the detective agency.

After finishing the initial work here, Wayne planned to temporarily put his energy back into studying.
None of the "handlers" that Peter has given up so far are directly involved in the crime. At most, the detective agency can only be regarded as having a few more informants with evidence.
The only good thing now is that the local newspapers will probably not publish random "bad reviews" against the detective agency.

Even if someone really sent it, Wayne probably would have a chance to figure out where the command came from.

Seth's investigation of Reverend Pycelle has been "generally favorable" so far. Even if the information Seth provided before is included, it is at most "mixed".
Wayne felt that Pastor Pycelle might be similar to Pastor Bazzini. Both were church managers with their own ideas. If they could find faults with each other and conduct "attack and defense" within the rules, they could probably get by.

Time flies and it is Wednesday again. Wayne finished his morning classes on sociology of religion and basic economics. Just as he was about to look for the carriage that would deliver lunch, the "building manager" Macon Reeve, with a serious face, came over.

At this time, Mackenzie Reeve looked like some of the townspeople in Blackstone Town, reckless yet also a bit simple and straightforward.
Wayne couldn't tell whether he came to ask for help or to accuse someone, but the message in his words was very clear:
"'Washington' also disappeared this morning. Can you find out what went wrong?"

what's the situation? !

Wayne thought for a moment, "You went to the college church to drink medicine again last week? Did you take out extra potions?"

Mackenzie Reeve seemed to be about to get angry.

After hearing Wayne's question, he became a little speechless, "I drank it...but we didn't get the potion out this time."

After he finished speaking, he continued to explain:

"It's all Georgia's fault! She said that we've been drinking the potion from the academy church for such a long time and nothing has happened. The problem may not be with Reverend Pycelle. Instead, the abnormality started to appear soon after he met you.

"And you made us drink a lot of potions, but you still can't come up with a solution, just let us continue to drink holy water. You didn't seem to take the matter of Macon to heart during this period, so she initially persuaded us last week not to trust you too much.

"At first, everything was fine. Even Washington fell silent. Until this morning, when Washington suddenly felt something was wrong during class, he left a last word for us to find you... Well, York, that wasn't a last word, but Washington did disappear like McCann."

Wayne thought for a moment and responded relatively formally:
"First of all, our detective agency has been following up on this matter. I have asked someone to find professionals to try to identify the medicine you brought here, but I haven't received the results yet.

"Secondly, our detective agency also has its own things to do. You are responsible for assisting in the management of the dormitory. During this period, you should have also learned about my busy situation. Under the premise that there is no new situation, since you don't react much to holy water, drinking holy water may be a good way to relieve it - I often drink holy water myself.

"Third, if you want us to continue to provide assistance, then I require you to trust and cooperate with us. At least believe that we have no ill will towards Macon, and do not tell Reverend Pycelle about our affairs."

Mackenzie Reeve's expression changed rapidly several times, and one of his expressions almost looked like he wanted to curse.
However, that expression seemed to be quickly "suppressed" by the other personalities, and was finally replaced by another personality that was relatively easy to communicate with:

"I understand. During this time, I will do my best to convince others, just like 'Washington' did.

"In exchange for helping each other, is there anything you 'personally' want us to do?"

Wayne still doesn't trust this group of "Macken Reeves". He remembers that there is a personality among them who will find an opportunity to secretly kill cats. If he is too careless, he may be sold out by one of them at any time.

So Wayne still looked businesslike:

"As I told you at the beginning, our detective agency is just conducting routine investigations and helping ordinary harmless 'fallen people'. This has nothing to do with personal gain and is not directed against anyone. You just need to continue to assist us with the normal investigation."

(End of this chapter)