New Gods of North America.

Chapter 371
Wayne has been very busy these days.
We must find ways to create as much momentum as possible, while also preventing the other party from running away.

Wayne begged for favors from others and obtained a certificate from the local exorcism department, and asked for leave from the college on the grounds of a recurrence of an old injury. During this period, Wayne didn't even go to class.

Some of these things didn't go so well.
Although the people of Richmond and Georgeburg were indeed curious about the public duel, it seemed that the matter had nothing to do with them.

The public's enthusiasm seems to have only remained at the stage of "eating spectators and watching the show", which feels a bit insignificant.

Some things are going as expected.

We arranged for people to stake out the office of Cohen Pharmaceuticals for a few days. It seems that the other party has indeed become busy. I don't know what they are holding back this time.

Lina sneaked in in the middle of the night and picked out a bunch of "personal belongings" that might be useful. Although she couldn't do experiments in advance, she probably wouldn't let the person get away.

But some things went so smoothly that it was a little beyond Wayne's expectations.

In many ways, the United States of America does not conform to people's stereotypes.
For example, as a country that was largely developed by Puritans, the American Commonwealth at that time actually had a "total ban on gambling" in principle.

Oh, don't get me wrong.

Playing a little bigger with friends and family at home, or betting a little higher at a horse race at a ranch, these are not considered "gambling" in the United States.

"Gambling" prohibited by the American federal government refers to casinos that are open to the public.

Due to the advocacy of the Holy Spirit Church and the persistence of the Puritans, the American Federation adopted a "white list" system for some matters.
Without a license, it is illegal.

Therefore, the existing casinos in America today can basically be said to be illegal.

But just as the law also prohibits "murder" and "robbery",
Gambling, which seems to be of a lighter nature, is, in the actual management of this era, "just so-so".

However, legal "gambling" is not completely absent.

The history of the lottery industry in the Commonwealth of America can be traced back to the colonial period.

Lottery in this era is not considered a form of "gambling", but rather a voluntary "tax".
It is usually issued individually by each state to raise various "public welfare funds".

Even before the Revolutionary War, Virginia had held a public lottery to raise funds to build fortifications.

Even individuals can issue lottery tickets.
Washington, the "Father of the Nation", once presided over the issuance of lottery tickets to build a local road. The "Father of the Nation" owned a large amount of land in the area, and the construction of the road was conducive to the appreciation of the land.
Unfortunately, his release was not successful, and in the end, almost no tickets were sold, so the prize drawing became a non-event.

Wayne didn't catch up with the good time.
Due to the frequent occurrence of corruption and fraud, there have been cases where issuing brokers have fled with huge sums of money.

So around the time Wayne was born, states began to ban lottery sales.

Virginia has not yet banned it so strictly, but "commercial lotteries" are no longer allowed to be publicly issued.

Therefore, in order to avoid the other party from being a coward, Wayne had no choice but to choose a compromise method and apply for the issuance of a special lottery.

The rules are similar to horse racing. You bet on whether the other party will accept the challenge, who will win or lose, and how many games Wayne can win, and then distribute the prize money from the prize pool according to a certain ratio.

The funds raised cannot go into your own pockets, but can only be used as public welfare funds within the state and donated to local medical causes. You cannot decide where to spend them.

Missed the opportunity to get rich overnight through insider trading, just wanted to make a profit.

Wayne had just given it a try, thinking that such an application would have little chance of being approved.

Unexpectedly, it was approved the next day. Printing of lottery tickets is easy. It has been mature these days. There are also various fonts and patterns for anti-counterfeiting. You can solve it by paying money. You can advance the money and then deduct it from the prize pool.

Different situations correspond to different prize numbers. The basic amount of each ticket is fixed, which is similar to tearing an invoice. After winning the prize, just bring the ticket to redeem the prize.

The more troublesome thing is that lottery tickets these days need to be signed by the issuing agent.
Wayne and Seth's hands were about to break from writing so much.

Then Wayne shamelessly placed the lottery sales point in Richmond next to Malcolm Baker's office.
A white cloth was pulled and black words were written. A small table was placed next to the carriage and government staff supervised the procession. Everyone lined up on the sidewalk.

The staff only talked about lottery matters, and some agents pretended to be passers-by to conduct science popularization and publicity.

In this day and age, a duel is a matter of dignity and honor. The outcome of a duel will be talked about for the rest of your life. No respectable person would joke about such a thing, let alone something that was reported in the newspapers.

Therefore, many citizens who saw the newspaper or heard the news began to buy it.

It was relatively leisurely at the beginning, but it became lively at noon on the second day.

I don't know if Simon Sherman wanted to curry favor with Lina, but he brought his servants over and bought a lot of things at once.

As a result, the signed lottery tickets were not enough, and Wayne had to write them quickly. During people's daily rest time, the queues were as long as a book signing event...

After buying lottery tickets, some citizens went to the office of Cohen Pharmaceuticals nearby and shouted slogans, some of which were nice and some were not, and some even used provocation.

"Come on! Mr. Baker, you must win!"

"What an unethical pharmaceutical company! Get out of Virginia if you lose!"

"Long live Cohen Pharmaceuticals! You must win at least three games in a row, or I will tell everyone that you sell inferior drugs!"

Wayne didn't care about these people and just sold lottery tickets honestly.
Chef Parker also set up a small stand next to it to sell hamburgers and hot dogs, and business was surprisingly good.

Then he would close up shop at a certain time in the evening, and drive the carriage loaded with cash back to the detective agency with the agents every day, just in case someone came to attack.

Someone working for Cohen Pharmaceuticals did come over and try to question Wayne.
However, once the agents nearby set the pace, the other party was regarded as someone who wanted to cut in line, and was driven out of the crowd by the citizens who were buying lottery tickets.
There were also reporters nearby who wanted to interview the other party, asking his name and whether he would accept the challenge of a duel.

After two incidents, Cohen Pharmaceuticals became silent.
On the fourth day, no one came to work at all, but the other party did not publicly accept or reject the challenge.

Lina had no other tasks these days, so she was responsible for keeping an eye on that guy every day.
As long as you dare to run out of Richmond, given the security situation in America these days, you might encounter robbers.

Wayne would not rush to take action. He might tie up the other party and throw him back.
The main reason for all the hesitations was to show a people-friendly and public-spirited image, and to take the opportunity to restore the reputation of the detective agency.

Even if I can't save my reputation, I have to make a show of it.

At least let as many people as possible see that the detective agency is not so easy to mess with.

Wayne's public challenge to the other party came with a countdown. If the challenge was accepted, a response would be required within ten days of the challenge being published in the newspaper.

The detective agency has been selling lottery tickets for almost a week, but there has been no movement over there.
Wayne was even prepared to issue a notice saying that the other side had given in and then start a "fight".

Until the last night,

The carriage encountered a "roadblock" on the way back.

(End of this chapter)