New Gods of North America

Some things, while not bad in intention, are best not done openly.

For example, Wayne couldn't just walk up to a townsman and say, "Excuse me, can I have a few drops of your blood to have someone pray to an evil god for guidance?"

He'd likely be reported to the church or receive a bullet in response.

Fortunately, unlike most Americans, Wayne is more conscious of carrying various documents.

So, he chose to secretly show the townsman a copy of the permit issued by the church and a letter of recommendation from Tom Hagen—perhaps the other party couldn't understand the contents of the permit, or didn't recognize Tom Hagen at all, but at least they could see Wayne's name on the permit, and the church's emblem and decorations on the smooth, thick, specially-made paper.

"We are a professional detective agency licensed by the church. I heard your child was abducted by 'Skinny' Charlie, and we are willing to help you find your child while continuing to search for 'Skinny Gang' hideouts."

"But we may need some of your blood. We have some professional methods to preliminarily determine blood relationships through blood, such as the blood of direct relatives usually being able to merge, or some blood being able to seep into the bones of relatives. This way, if we find a suspected child, we can use it to make a judgment."

Blood kinship tests and bone blood tests are both ancient Eastern folk methods that Wayne had heard of, both with some rationale, but neither very scientific, with limitations of the era and knowledge.

However, such a statement, placed in modern America and used to persuade ordinary people, seems just right in both "scientific" and "mystical" aspects.

So, the townsman quickly accepted this "although I don't quite understand it, it seems very reasonable" explanation, and then he took the syringe given by Ineza from Wayne's hand, ran into the bushes, drew a full tube of blood himself, brought it back, and asked Wayne, "Is this enough?"

Wayne had actually told him beforehand that only a small amount of blood was needed, about a few drops, a little more would be fine,

But looking at the other party's expectant eyes, Wayne could only nod in the end, indicating that it was enough and thanking him for his cooperation, and then took the heavy syringe and put it away relatively carefully.

In fact, if strictly judged from a logical point of view, the townsman's child has been missing for several years, whether alive or dead, it can only be said that there is "a certain probability" that they are still in or near the Skinny Gang's hideout, and the probability is not very high.

Therefore, Wayne and the others originally considered it as a last resort—if they couldn't think of any other way after searching for a few more days, they would treat it as a dead horse.

Ineza and Lina didn't expect Wayne to bring back a full tube of blood, almost pulling out the plunger of the syringe.

Ineza sighed slightly, then rummaged out a large test bottle from the carriage, and injected the blood into it. Lina asked for some anti-coagulant powder, sprinkled a little bit into it, and temporarily preserved it.

If they could find the hideout by other means, they might be able to save the opportunity to help people find their children.

The next morning, after saying goodbye to the sheriff and several townspeople of the "problem town,"

Wayne and the others took the new map copied overnight and continued their search.

Even without considering extraordinary factors, a gang of bandits with at least twenty people should have a hideout that isn't completely untraceable.

So many people going in and out of the mountains, even if they don't ride horses and rely entirely on walking, they must have roads, right? There can't be no traces along the way, right? There must be basic food sources, right?

Even the wary beasts in the mountains can't avoid leaving any traces.

As a result, after searching for three consecutive days, everyone was almost tired of drinking fish soup, and no one found relatively suspicious signs in the several main access routes relatively close to the periphery of this area, giving people the feeling of receiving false information.

It is said that the "Skinny Gang" has been seen entering and leaving this area more than once or twice,

Assuming a group of people repeatedly walk along similar roads, and have never been found by others, feces can be "digested" by nature, but cigarette butts, wine bottles, campfire ashes, etc., can always resist for a longer period of time.

If they really have such good discipline, and can consciously eliminate all traces cleanly, then why be a gang of bandits, pull off a few big jobs and find a town to be mayor.

After sunset this day, Wayne finished drinking the fish soup and looked at the map for a long time, and finally decided to let Lina take the father's blood and secretly find a place away from the camp to pray for enlightenment from the "Wise Sage."

The reason for staying away from the camp is because that "Mr. Daggett" is currently suspected of being an extraordinary person, and his motives and identity are still unclear, so he doesn't want to disturb him for the time being.

Lina took out the mirror she had obtained earlier, and confirmed with Wayne as she walked:

"I don't mind, but you have to think clearly. Whether the child is alive or dead, they may not be in the bandit's hideout now, or even in this mountain forest. This may not be of much help in finding the hideout."

Wayne nodded, "Yes, I already have a preliminary idea. It would be best if it can be confirmed from the side, if not, at least it can be considered helping others."

"What idea?" Lina asked here, and Ineza was also listening beside her.

In addition to Wayne and the others, several agents of the detective agency were also quietly called over, and they would be roughly guarding Lina at a slightly farther distance, preventing members of other teams in the camp.

"Those locals have been searching in this mountain forest intermittently for so long, and now we have so many professionals here, but we still haven't found any suspicious signs.

"From a reasonable point of view, it is possible that the people of the 'Skinny Gang' have never left too many traces in the mountains."

"..." Lina looked over speechlessly, not knowing what Wayne wanted to express.

Ineza blinked slightly, "They may be traveling by water?"

"Yes, that's what I'm guessing too."

Wayne recalled the contents of the map: "Before, I kept staring at this mountain forest, but I almost forgot that the dividing line between Ohio and western Virginia is actually drawn along the Mississippi River—called the Ohio River in this section.

"I suspect that after they entered this mountain forest, they boarded a boat in a place that could be reached within half a day, and then reached the hideout through the tributary of the water system.

"So they don't need to make fires or camp in the mountains, and many things can be thrown directly into streams or rivers. Deliberately riding horses into the mountains and being witnessed may be intentional."

Lina understood, "Therefore, if the location of the missing child is near a stream of water, then searching along the stream of water may lead to their hideout?"

Wayne shrugged, "At least I hope so."

...

The commotion created by the "Wise Sage" in the mountains felt more direct than in the town.

Wayne was guarding at a high point here, and saw that around the location where Lina was, approximately,

Birds were startled, some slightly larger animals such as squirrels or rabbits seemed to be fleeing, and there were some subtle but dense sounds, feeling like even the insects were running.

Wayne has learned to be good now, not looking at what he shouldn't look at, spiritual intuition constantly giving him warnings like pop-up windows, Wayne tries his best to hold down the invisible "eye" in his body, not to open the minimalist line of sight,

360° panoramic view, if that "Wise Sage" knows that Wayne has recently said bad things about Him in his heart, and suddenly glances over at this time, it will not be fun.

After a while, Lina returned, holding the mirror wrapped in cloth again,

Wayne and Ineza greeted her and asked about the results.

Lina had already marked a point on the map, which was a tributary location extending from the Ohio River to the depths of this mountain forest,

But Lina wasn't very sure:

"The revelation the Sage gave me was a bird's-eye view, probably pulling from close range all the way to the sky, with the field of vision getting bigger and bigger. I can be sure about this river, but it flew too fast all of a sudden, and there may be some deviations in the specific location. But I should be able to recognize it when I get there."

Wayne looked at the mark Lina made and flicked his finger on the map, "Having a rough location is enough. Whether our speculation is confirmed or completely denied, it's actually a great help."

The group greeted each other to retreat, still a short distance from the camp,

Wayne and the others met Mr. Daggett and Chris, who were also bringing some manpower and were coming this way.

The two groups looked at each other, Chris greeted him like a peacemaker, and explained:

"Mr. Daggett noticed that there seemed to be an anomaly in this direction, and just in case, he brought us over to see what was going on. I didn't expect it to be the commotion you guys made."

Wayne was also very amiable, "Hahaha, it's okay. We also thought there were wild animals here, so we came over to look for prey."

After returning to the camp warily, Wayne took out another map by the campfire:

"We suddenly have a guess, could it be that the people of the 'Skinny Gang' concealed their tracks through the streams? So I suggest that we can choose some streams and rivers with larger water flows next, and search in that area, maybe there will be unexpected gains."

According to the cooperation agreement of the crowd, Mr. Daggett and Chris's team are mainly responsible for assisting,

So since Wayne made up his mind, they basically agreed without other clues.

It was just that Mr. Daggett looked at the river that Wayne seemed to point to casually and was selected, and seemed to be a little thoughtful.