New Gods of North America

"Cheers!"

After the bartender served drinks to all the guests, Wayne raised his glass to everyone again, then continued to listen to the bartender's gossip.

The information sold by bartenders is mostly like this: apart from a few truly useful and valuable key pieces of information,

at least 70% of the remaining news can be considered "stories," and about 25% should be considered "local common sense" or "local news."

The latter two categories are almost like meat scraps in Black Stone Town that are difficult to keep fresh for a long time and are not very popular among the townspeople.

If free people buy enough good meat, they can "half-sell, half-give away" or "appropriately donate" these scraps.

If they still can't sell them, and if the big landowner is willing to arrange for someone to buy them at a low price, then after the servants and overseers pick and choose again, they can be sent to the plantation before they rot completely, becoming a delicious meal for the slaves.

Even in the relatively meat-rich West, cut meat is still a "commodity," and even free people can hardly eat good meat every day, so there's no reason to waste it.

Of course, if it requires extra money or effort to deal with the leftovers, then even if merchants and townspeople can't sell or finish eating them, they would rather let them rot and throw them away.

So, Wayne and his companions chatted with the bartender for a while here.

It can't be said that they didn't hear any useful information at all, after all, many things are indeed unclear to outsiders, but there wasn't much that was nutritious.

For example, the bartender said that a local blacksmith shop had recently had some crude iron chains and iron bars stolen. Surely the detective agency wouldn't stay to help them catch petty thieves.

At this moment, another figure holding a glass of wine seemed to be coming towards them.

After Wayne and the others noticed, they didn't formally turn around, and just secretly made bets.

Inessa and Lina's score for being approached by strangers tonight was one to zero. Lina bet 5 cents on herself this time, seemingly wanting to personally play to even the score.

Wayne deliberately bet against her, betting on Inessa two to zero, gambling that Lina wouldn't have a chance for overtime.

The other person quickly walked behind them:

"Excuse me, may I sit down and chat with you all?"

This was considered a relatively polite approach.

Wayne turned around and saw that this person wasn't exactly a stranger; he had seen him once before during the "interview" at Mr. Russell's house.

Wayne and Lina nodded in unison at this moment.

The other person looked left and right at Inessa and Lina sitting next to Wayne, and finally chose Lina's side.

Lina raised an eyebrow, her eyes showing a hint of triumph as she glanced at Wayne.

But the other person made a "please" gesture towards Lina, "May I sit here? I have some things I want to discuss with this gentleman."

Lina immediately deflated.

However, she picked up her glass and sat down next to Inessa, and incidentally threw a 5-cent copper coin at Wayne.

The bartender, sensing the situation, busied himself with his own work.

Wayne watched the other person sit down, and at the same time casually caught the copper coin, tossing it in the air and letting it roll between his fingers, making Lina seem like she wanted to reach out and snatch it.

Wayne then honestly put the copper coin away and said to the gentleman, "We've met before. I wonder what brings you here?"

The other person nodded, acknowledging Wayne's words:

"My name is Chris Mannix. Like you, I'm a bounty hunter who accepted Mr. Russell's commission. I've recently learned about some of the major gangs here, but our manpower is probably not enough. I wonder if you're interested in joining us in a partnership?"

"Wayne Constantine."

Wayne reciprocated by giving his name, then thought for a moment, "How many people are in your team in total?"

Chris seemed quite sincere:

"Including me, there are six people. From what I understand, although the number of members is not as large as your detective agency, it's not too small. If we cooperate, we might be able to compete with certain teams, and perhaps even avoid their potential 'hunting'."

Wayne raised his eyebrows slightly, "What news have you received? Are there teams among us that hunt each other?"

Chris nodded again:

"Bounty hunters are mostly potential outlaws, it's just a matter of which side pays more. When different bounty hunter teams encounter each other while arresting criminals, it's not uncommon for one side to suffer major casualties or be wiped out. In fact, it's difficult for everyone to judge who is responsible.

"So, just like some gangs of similar size often gather together to jointly fight against large gangs, it's also very common for bounty hunters to form teams together."

Wayne pondered for a moment, "What is the method of cooperation? Does one side join the other, or do we all make decisions together?"

Chris seemed to have a pre-planned response to this, "In terms of specific decision-making, I suggest we still discuss it together. Of course, considering that the number of people on our two sides is not equal, we can distribute the profits according to the proportion of people."

This doesn't seem impossible...

"Have you heard of the so-called 'Fallen'?" Wayne asked.

Chris seemed slightly taken aback, "Do you mean those people possessed by evil spirits in horror stories? Of course I've heard those stories."

Hmm...

Considering the situation in Virginia, this kind of thing doesn't seem like something you can casually talk about with strangers...

Wayne decided to reveal a little more, "What about 'Extraordinary Ones'? I heard that the church seems to be considering changing the name of the 'Fallen' recently. Some things may become different."

"Is that so? That's really interesting."

Chris nodded as if he understood, then redirected the topic back, "So, I wonder what your opinion is on my proposal?"

No reaction...?

Could this guy be a Muggle?

If he's not an Extraordinary One, then dividing the bounty by headcount would feel like a loss for the detective agency...

However, Wayne wasn't in a hurry to refuse. As long as ordinary people are professional enough, they can still play a big, or even bigger, role.

So, he stroked his beer glass and finally gave a vague answer:

"I personally agree in principle with your view of 'joint collaboration', but I haven't yet decided whether to cooperate with other teams.

"If we have the chance to meet again, why don't we continue to consider this issue then?"

Chris's emotional intelligence was sufficient, and he immediately understood Wayne's meaning, so he exchanged some innocuous information with Wayne and then bid him a friendly farewell.

After slowly finishing their beer in the bar, Wayne and his companions felt that they had passed the time, and finally returned to the hotel.

Unexpectedly, Doug soon returned to the hotel with those strangers from earlier,

and they were also talking about similar topics.

However, these strangers were "lured over" by Doug. They all wanted to join the detective agency as individuals, hoping to become "agents" of the detective agency.