New Gods of North America

Returning to the camp with the observed results,

Inez quickly gathered several agents and, based on the distance of "at most 20 yards per 'jump'," began modifying the traps and alarm devices.

Wayne also informed Mr. Daggett and Chris about the situation.

After all, knowing the distance the opponent was more likely to move in a sudden situation meant being able to make more predictions.

Noticing that Inez had changed into hunting gear, Mr. Daggett's side, though not explicitly stating it, no longer seemed to be concealing their extraordinary identities.

So, even though Wayne only stated the objective facts he had observed, Mr. Daggett quickly indicated that he understood the situation.

Chris, on the other hand, raised a question:

"Even if the distance between that 'monster's' footprints is 20 yards, and the number of consecutive intervals is four, isn't that only under 'normal' circumstances?

"What if it changes when the opponent senses danger? Like how beasts often fight more fiercely than usual when they are about to die."

Sigh, that's why you Muggles are so troublesome…

Wait.

What Chris said seems to make some sense.

So, the night passed uneventfully, and the next day, taking advantage of a temporary lull in the rain, everyone hurried to continue their journey.

During this time, the opponent tried to attack again in a densely wooded area in the mountains,

But Wayne noticed an abnormal change in the "lines"—the sudden "snap" after the "rubber band" was stretched tight—and shot in advance.

The landing point wasn't guessed correctly, and the opponent managed to escape behind the trees.

Before the heavy rain came again, the group chose to camp by a stream in a relatively open area.

Without large trees to hang the tarpaulin from, the shelter had to be supported by temporarily cut thin wooden stakes,

Making the space feel much lower and a bit oppressive to stay inside.

However, mentally, everyone had already switched to "waiting for the rabbit to stumble into the trap" mode.

As long as they could see that "Slender Man" near the camp, they would have a chance to hit it before it completed its third "teleportation."

Another jump and it might go into the woods, then they could only rely on luck.

Mr. Daggett seemed quite satisfied with the location of this stronghold:

"I suggest we stay here temporarily until the heavy rain stops. Since even we are having difficulty traveling, even if the gang has reinforcements, they will also be hindered by the heavy rain.

"So, instead of blindly rushing and giving that guy the chance to pick us off one by one, it's better to wait for the rain to stop, so we'll be in a better position to travel or fight back."

Wayne didn't think this was a great idea, but the group currently had a relative advantage in numbers, and it wasn't easy to find in such an open terrain, so there was no reason to back down.

Therefore, from the perspectives of "expanding the results of the battle" and "traveling in the rain is too troublesome," everyone voted to stay here for a day or two or three—the heavy rain came hard, but it usually only lasted for a week at most, and then it would have to ease up for a few days.

After getting the result, Wayne tentatively probed Mr. Daggett:

"Mr. Daggett, do you think our team will have internal conflicts before we leave these mountains?"

Mr. Daggett was slightly taken aback. "How could that be? At least until the 'Skinny Gang' is eliminated, we shouldn't be enemies."

…

With the stream nearby, there was no need to worry about food for the time being.

No one knew who started it, but everyone started to go fishing during the breaks in the heavy rain.

And the harvest was not bad. At first, everyone took whatever fish they caught, but later they gradually became picky.

Unlike wild animals, freshwater fish that eat meat usually taste better.

For the next two days, the "Slender Man" did not come to harass them again.

Wayne pondered slightly. If it wasn't because this camp was not suitable for ambushes, then it might be because everyone's current choice was exactly what it wanted.

So, the agents' fishing time was interfered with. While ensuring the source of food, the agents were forced to strengthen their shifts on duty. Except for the necessary rest, they had to be on guard at all times.

On the evening of the third day, the heavy rain finally seemed to stop. Seeing the sky gradually turning blue, Doug's pile of drowned chickens were placed on top of the carriage to "dry."

It was estimated that tomorrow would be a good day to travel.

After dark, Linna suddenly brought an empty wine bottle and handed it to Wayne, "Emma found it in the water. Take a look."

An unfamiliar brand, originally containing whiskey, the label looked very new, neither moldy nor soaked in water…

Wayne thought for a moment, "The other party's people came by boat?"

Linna nodded, "And they should have arrived long ago. Judging from the speed of the water flow, they probably spent some time upstream."

"Bang!"

"Enemy attack!"

"Bang, bang, bang…"

Linna's words had barely faded when the camp was already in an uproar.

The members on guard duty discovered a large number of people approaching in the dark and fired a warning shot in advance.

Responding to him from the shadows opposite was a barrage of gunfire.

The camp immediately launched a counterattack. Wayne quickly arrived at the direction of the intense gunfire with his gun to provide support.

Spreading his vision to sweep through the darkness, the distance was a bit far, and everything in the distance was pixelated.

But being blurry also had its advantages. While Wayne fired at the front where there seemed to be more people, he gestured in another direction,

Where there vaguely seemed to be a pile of pixels moving in a specific direction: "There's also a team of people in that direction, be careful of an ambush!"

The saying that "the Skinny Gang has fewer people than the Galley Adventurer" seemed like a rumor at this moment,

There felt like at least forty or so people in total, front and back, and since they had the element of surprise, the members in the camp who were originally on shift and resting were gradually reinforcing, making their firepower much fiercer than the camp's for a while.

And the synonym for open vision was flat terrain, so they could only rely on the pits and mounds on the grass for cover,

The camp did have the defenses that had been temporarily cobbled together these past few days, but most people had to lie down or squat to fire, often having to duck after firing a shot, while the other side might return several shots.

The other side was similar, mostly on foot, crouching or crawling forward. After being discovered, they immediately threw a lot of things like smoke bombs to obscure their figures,

And there were also those hiding in the distant woods and shooting potshots.

The encirclement was gradually shrinking,

Inez's bolt-action rifle made a louder noise amidst the dense gunfire,

Linna changed direction and began throwing several things that looked like yarn balls to the other side.

Some "yarn balls" were very active, "exploding" in mid-air, like a group of snakes huddled together being released back into the mountains, darting around quickly, as if they would bite whoever they caught,

Some were relatively "Buddhist," lying near the landing point like traps,

Occasionally, there were those that ran back, and Linna would "step on them to death."

Seeing someone using extraordinary abilities, members of Mr. Daggett's team also began to use extraordinary abilities.

One of the members pressed his hand on the ground, and in Wayne's simplified line of sight, a straight line that wasn't very wide but quite long rolled forward,

An attacker on the opposite side who was trying to break through to a closer part of the camp under the cover of the terrain, just tried to use his foot to push aside the grass in the path of the straight line and rushed over, immediately squatted down and covered his leg, looking like he had been cut or poked.

Other strange extraordinary abilities also appeared one after another, but most of them didn't reach far enough, and those that could function at closer range seemed to be more useful,

At least they didn't fly as far as the high-explosive explosives that were thrown out from time to time.

The "Slender Man" also reappeared. If it was just him alone, and a bunch of people squatted down and looked for its landing point, that might still be easy to hit,

But at this time, the opposite side was a group of people pressing in with weapons. Everyone prioritized hitting the gunmen with a longer attack range, rather than the elusive "moving target,"

Therefore, although the Slender Man looked big and moved slowly,

It was still able to "jump" and break through to the vicinity of the camp under the cover of darkness and smoke, looking like it could "teleport" into the camp at any time and then take care of someone by surprise.

Wayne was busy playing a gunfight with a team of enemies in front of him, and could only ignore it for now, first relying on the panoramic simple lines to roughly lock it in with his peripheral vision,

If the other side really dared to approach, he would switch to a revolver loaded with demon-hunting bullets to deal with it.

Compared to the Detective Agency and Mr. Daggett's team, Chris's side seemed more like a "ragtag bunch,"

Several members were hit, and the rest were gradually retreating, turning the camp's line of defense into a "concave" shape,

And it was a "concave" shape that had been bitten twice.

Wayne could only take a few agents over to fill the pit, trying to push the defense line back up.

In his peripheral vision, the outline of the "Slender Man" half-hidden behind the smoke, once again "rebounded" like a rubber band that had been released.

This time, the rapidly moving afterimage was aimed at the direction of the camp.

Wayne was busy filling one of the pits at this time, but the "Slender Man" was heading towards the vicinity of another pit,

Its outline was "stretched open" again, turning back into the image of a skinny, tall, faceless man in a suit,

But the tentacles on its upper limbs had more roots than before, and they could also "extend and retract," stabbing towards a member who had been shot.

Wayne threw the lever-action rifle to his left hand, and grabbed the revolver in his right hand to turn around and prepare to aim and fire rapidly,

"Pa—"

The sound of glass breaking sounded, and at the same time, Wayne felt an even stronger spiritual intuition warning than the "Slender Man."

The bottle shattered, and a glob of thick, asphalt-like liquid appeared at the "Slender Man's" feet,

Chris's eyes had completely turned black at this time, and there seemed to be black gas emanating from his body:

"Charlie, I finally caught you, didn't I?"