New Gods of North America.

Chapter 390 Duel
This sermon in the prayer hall had a faint atmosphere of "no one is listening".

The middle-aged pastor who was explaining the scriptures to the believers on the stage was quite experienced. After noticing that the whispers of the believers in the hall were becoming more and more frequent,

He joked that he seemed to hear "the restless sounds of souls" and quoted scriptures to make a little joke, which made the believers laugh it off and gradually quiet down.

Wayne was not sitting comfortably in the corner. He could always feel people looking at him from far and near.
After the service and saying goodbye to the priest, Wayne put on a calm and confident attitude and walked out of the cathedral to find the detective agency's carriage.
By the way, looking at Liam who seemed to be celebrating Wayne's "triumphant return", it seemed like he "couldn't praise him" or "couldn't beat him".

It was still a long time before the duel, and Wayne and his team had rushed here because they were worried that the extraordinary materials they had sent would "deteriorate".
However, we can’t stay in the cathedral any longer, lest we be surrounded by more people.

So Wayne asked Connor to drive the carriage around Richmond first, and by the way, he also found a temporary place to have a leisurely lunch in advance.
When the time was almost up, he rushed to the suburban location where the other party had publicly expressed his acceptance of the duel in the newspaper.

The custom of "duel" has a long history. The earliest popular origin can be traced back to the "judicial duel" in the Middle Ages in the Old World.
Things were even wilder back then. Take the laws of the Holy Roman Empire as an example. In some lawsuits without witnesses or evidence, the judge would require both parties to engage in a "judicial duel" on the grounds that the righteous party would receive the "protection of the Holy Spirit" and would often be "more courageous."
The winner of the "judicial duel" will then be judged by the judge as the "correct" party. As a result, "professional duelists" who specialize in judicial duels for others have emerged.

In that era, if the defendant still did not appear in court after being summoned three times, the plaintiff could even take the initiative to attack the defendant when he "wanted and had the opportunity", and after doing so, he would be considered to have "won the case."

The American Federation now claims to be the successor of the Roman Empire in a certain sense.
It's not surprising that the customs among the people have become like this...

However, once a trend spreads, it is inevitable that some "localization" will occur, and in the end it may become completely different from the "original".

For example, in the southern United States, the rules of dueling now seem to be very complicated and fussy.

Wayne first publicly initiated the duel, so the time and place of the duel would be decided by the other party. In addition, there would be various small details, which were theoretically decided by both parties in order to demonstrate fairness.

Wayne and his team arrived at the duel scene not too early. This was a large crossroad outside the city, with a large open space and a small forest next to it, which was considered the "public land" supporting the road.
It can be considered as Richmond's territory, the county's territory, and even the state's territory.
So all parties should be in charge, which means no one is in charge.

The other party chose to play "edge ball" here, which shows that his lawyer is quite professional.

The carriage hadn't even reached the designated location yet. Wayne stuck his head out from under the hood and took a look.
Well……

It's not surprising that some people came to watch. After all, the detective agency has been promoting it for so long, and the result of the duel is directly linked to the lottery prize, so it can be said that many people have "interests".
But why the hell are there so many people?!
Wayne got off the carriage in a daze. Malcolm Baker, who was surrounded by the crowd a little further away, also seemed a little out of shape.
The most active people at the scene at this time were not the crowds of onlookers around, nor the ladies and young ladies holding gorgeous little parasols that formed a beautiful landscape.
Rather, it was a small group of "gentlemen" who looked very enthusiastic.

As soon as Wayne's feet landed on the ground, several people who looked like butlers came to greet him and escorted him to the center of the "duel field".

The group of gentlemen who had originally surrounded "Mr. Baker" also gathered together with the other party.

The butler with the highest status at the scene introduced the gentlemen at the scene to Wayne one by one.

Good guy,
The former former former governor who had left office many years ago, a congressman from somewhere in the state, the old man from this wealthy family, the honorary director of that association... and the staff who were pulled out from the state government to "witness" the incident.

These people are here to "mediate the fight" or "judge the situation".

It is specifically here to teach both parties in today’s duel “how to duel correctly”.

Wayne was convinced after hearing this.

I know you southerners love dueling, but I didn't expect you to be so keen on it...

For so many years everyone has been dueling secretly, and I've never seen anyone do it openly and with great fanfare, so now everyone's coming over to join in the fun, right?
Then both sides arrived and the duel was officially ready to begin.
They even brought a large number of servants to the scene to help maintain order. They arranged in great order where the ladies and young ladies should gather, where the gentlemen should stand, and what areas the ordinary citizens should stay.

A small table was placed by the servant near the center of the "venue".

One of them, a young and strong guy who had gained the collective trust of the gentlemen, automatically became the recognized "referee" on the scene without the consent of Wayne and Mr. Baker.

The referee confirmed the identities of both parties and the assistants they had chosen, and then asked them to sign a "life and death contract".
Oh? Neither of you are prepared?

It doesn't matter. We know that young people nowadays are not professional. We have prepared in advance.
If you are not satisfied, there are lawyers on the scene who can ask you to come and draft another one.

Huh? You all use your own guns?

How can this be done? A duel is all about fairness, and the weapons must be exactly the same as possible.
Fortunately, Mr. Biton was thoughtful and brought all the "Dueling Guns" that he treasured at home.

Wayne watched as the old man's butler quickly brought over an exquisite wooden box.
When I opened it, I saw a pair of shiny guns inside, with bullets already placed beside them...

Wayne and Mr. Baker were urged by the gentlemen next to them to flip the coin, and then they chose their guns and loaded the single bullets.
The referee wanted to ask both sides what kind of duel method they would like to choose, but the gentlemen spoke at once and all thought that the method they thought was fairer.
So with the approval of the old governor and the old man, the plan of "both sides standing still and shooting at each other" was ruled out.
It became a pattern of "Wayne and Mr. Baker stood back to back, then they each walked forward, and then turned around and shot after hearing the referee's gunshot."

No,

Who is dueling with whom today?!

Don't you consider the opinions of the parties involved? The two were also taught a lot of "cautions" for dueling, such as if one party was hit by a bullet, the winner would be determined, if both parties missed, they would continue, and if both parties were hit by a bullet, the party with the more serious injury would be the loser.
As for things like "continuous shooting", the gentlemen on the scene directly controlled the bullets, so even if they wanted to violate the rules, they couldn't do it.

This is actually one of the reasons why there are many ladies and young ladies present at the scene.

Upper-class ladies may not be afraid of "seeing blood", but they often don't like "facing life and death".

At this point, Wayne felt a little calm inside and just wanted it to "be over quickly".

Finally, the referee announced the start of the game.
"Both sides prepare!"

Wayne and Mr. Baker, who looked equally desperate, stood back to back in the center of the venue - by the way, they even decided the direction by tossing a coin, a game in which the person who tosses the coin guesses later.

Some of the onlookers who had been waiting for a long time began to scream and cheer.

“Wow—it’s finally started!”

"Come on, Mr. Wayne—"

"Bullshit! I bought all of them for Mr. Baker. Mr. Baker will win!"

Unfortunately, the gentlemen's "teaching" is not over yet.
"Check weapons!"

"boom!"

"boom!"

Wayne and the other party raised their guns speechlessly and fired a shot into the sky respectively.

Then the two of them took the bullets and reloaded them with the help of their assistants. This time, the gentlemen hid behind the servants at a safe distance.
Waiting for the referee's order, the duel is about to officially begin.

"Wait a moment!"

Wayne raised a hand in full view of everyone, which caused a burst of curious surprises and some sinister questioning.

You've all done all the hard work, now it's my turn, right?

Wayne put the gun under his armpit and pulled the silk scarf from his breast pocket.
The bra trembled in mid-air, then was rolled up and covered Wayne's eyes:
"Because of my personal contempt for Mr. Baker's character, I decided to duel with him with my eyes closed!"

The surroundings suddenly rang out in surprise.
Wayne used his simple-line vision to see the outline of the referee turning and twisting, as if asking for instructions from the "respected" gentlemen on the scene.

In the end, no one stopped it and the duel continued.

With Wayne's move, the scene suddenly became quiet.
The referee gave the order.
The two began to pace forward.

One, two, three, four, five... Why haven't you started yet? Referee, your gun misfired?
"boom!"

At this time, the sound of gunfire finally came from behind.
Wayne turned quickly, aimed at the opponent's waist and pulled the trigger - the opponent's hand just swung here,

"boom--"

A gunshot was heard, and the gun in the opponent's hand was knocked away, followed by a painful groan.

Wayne didn't even look at the man who was kneeling on one knee with his hands covering his abdomen, but tried to strike a handsome pose.

She raised her hand high and pulled the scarf off her head, letting it fall with the wind.

"Wow--"

Amid the cheers of some gentlemen, servants and citizens, a bunch of small parasols nearby were thrown into the air, like a bunch of flying mushrooms.

It was then that Wayne noticed Miss Olivia, who was still holding an umbrella and smiling among the "flying mushrooms", as well as the usual Miss Russell and Miss Mary.

Oh, you are here too.

(End of this chapter)