New Gods of North America.

Chapter 369 Reasons
The custom of "dueling" has a long history in America.

Influenced by the customs of the upper class in the Old World, formal public duels were actually quite troublesome. There were even publicly published "duel manuals" specifically used to regulate various details in duels.

For example, it is necessary to issue a public statement in advance, wait for the other party to accept the challenge, agree on a venue and multiple witnesses, sign a contract, arrange for assistants and even medical staff to be present, etc.

You can't block someone in private to launch a "surprise attack", nor can you put the muzzle of a gun to someone's head and call it a fair duel. Of course, you can't shoot again after the winner is determined.

From the original source, "duel" is a "dignity or honor struggle" between civilized people above a certain class, rather than a "life and death struggle" between lower class people.
At the beginning, you have to be at least a "knight" to be qualified to initiate or accept a challenge.

Ordinary people in the Old World, at least for most of the time since the Middle Ages, were not qualified to "duel".

In history, "common people's duels" are usually given other names, such as "murder", "intentional injury", or "fighting".

However, contrary to what many people think,
Even in the southern United States, "dueling" was actually banned very early on.

The most popular period of dueling in America was probably when the Federation had just gained independence. At that time, it was one of the symbols that the "privileges of the nobility" were officially shared with "all free people".

Even figures like the "founding father" of America have records of public duels.

But it didn't last long before some people felt that this couldn't go on any longer.
Free people were a precious resource in the New World, and well-educated free people were even rarer. How could they just fight to the death just because of a quarrel? Why not fight the natives if they had the time?
Therefore, due to the accumulation of casualties and various subsequent negative effects, although the custom of dueling still existed among the people at this time, it was especially popular in the south.
However, some states, including some southern states, actually enacted laws within 20 to 30 years after the independence of the federation, gradually beginning to equate "public duels" with murder.

Public duels are not allowed. Publicizing in newspapers and making a big fuss is not allowed. It is even more forbidden to publicly insult the opponent by saying "refusing to accept the challenge".

It is difficult to control a private duel, but even if the winner is convicted of "murder" or "intentional injury", he will not be exempt from punishment.

However, the laws of the American Federation are as follows:

For things that the federal government has no legislation on and the Constitution does not cover, each state needs to enact laws to prohibit them, otherwise they are legal within the state.

So by chance,

As a result of Wayne's confirmation, Virginia has not yet enacted legislation prohibiting public duels.

……

To be honest, Wayne didn't have much direct hatred for that guy named Malcolm Baker.
After all, when facing an "organization" like Cohen Pharmaceuticals, it is actually difficult for outsiders to tell who is doing evil and who is innocent.

So the focus of the duel initiated by Wayne is not on the "duel itself".
But it lies in the "reason for the duel".

Wayne's reason was to be written like this:

Due to the experience of his relatives and friends taking the "Tranquility" drug (the trade name of the small green pill), he "suspected" that the drugs produced by Cohen Pharmaceuticals were harmful to the human body and addictive. He tried to make these things public and called on the public and academia to strengthen in-depth research on related drugs.
During this process, Cohen Pharmaceuticals' local agency slandered and suppressed Wayne and the detective agency, and even arranged for people to carry out the attack.

The reason why Wayne approached Malcolm Baker was simply because he was the authorized agent of Cohen Pharmaceuticals in Virginia, the mastermind behind the crackdown on the detective agency and the promoter of "evil products".
Wayne not only had a personal grudge against that "Malcolm Baker," but also against "all the local staff" at Cohen Pharmaceuticals.
So starting with this guy, Wayne will have to find everyone who continues to work for Cohen Pharmaceuticals in Virginia one by one and beat them up until he dies in a duel.

According to Wayne's attempt, those parts that spoke ill of Cohen Pharmaceuticals could not be published directly in the newspaper, but the challenge letter for a public duel could.

Given the enthusiasm of southerners for dueling, they may not come to witness it in person, but they will definitely not miss the chance to "listen to the story".

As long as the public's "enthusiasm for gossip" and curiosity can be aroused, the remaining gossip can be spread privately or by agents. Some members of the public will even take the initiative to inquire around about the reasons for the duel.

Then the news about Cohen Pharmaceuticals will spread, and maybe it will become more and more outrageous.

Wayne would not even publicly speak ill of "Cohen Pharmaceuticals as a whole," but would only say that he was suppressed by "Cohen Pharmaceuticals' local organization."
You asked Wayne for evidence?
Come on, it's because there's no evidence and he's so angry that he's publicly challenging. If there was evidence, wouldn't Wayne just sue directly? At least everyone can see the report in the newspaper.

Otherwise, you can ask the people from Cohen Pharmaceuticals to prove their innocence.

If he neither accepts the challenge nor proves his innocence, then according to Southern values, it would be equivalent to saying "Wayne is right."

There are only two key points:
First, there were indeed problems with Cohen Pharmaceuticals’ products, so they tried to cover up the news; second, working for Cohen Pharmaceuticals locally would bring “oneself” enemies.

One is aimed at the other party's "potential market", and the other is aimed at the other party's "living force".
By the way, he secretly tried to "whitewash" the detective agency.

The accounts of fighting and killing can be settled separately.

But if you ruin my business, then I will definitely ruin your business too. That’s reasonable, right?

Since the other party has money to buy traffic in newspapers and can also hire people to carry out attacks, we should try to make the other party "penniless and without people" first.

Wayne also wrote a few seemingly professional medical popular science articles.

There are too many pseudo-sciences in modern society, so Wayne made up some tragic cases, emphasizing that pills are not only useless but also have side effects. He also used some strange words, such as "pain addiction" and "painkiller dependence".

In all fairness,

According to Doug and Liam's own experience, the little green pill is indeed "effective". After Liam gradually reduced the dosage, he has not seen any serious side effects yet.
But whoever saw Liam howling like a ghost when he stopped taking the medication wouldn’t feel a chill in his heart, right?
If the other party could publish negative reports about the detective agency in newspapers, why couldn't Wayne make some strange urban rumors and small leaflets? Anyway, they were not signed.

The other party can continue to send people to attack secretly.

Now that the main force has returned, the detective agency is no longer as difficult to manage as before.

Now I'm worried about where to collect extraordinary materials, so I can only say welcome to come and see how much blood Cohen Pharmaceuticals can spend first.

Wayne pondered for a while.
Well……

To be on the safe side, before officially releasing the news, should we ask someone to steal some of the other party's hair or something, so that the other party won't run away in the end?
(End of this chapter)