New Gods of North America

"Wayne, I don't understand what you're talking about..."

Faced with Wayne's question, Macken Reef quickly shrank back, avoiding Wayne's gaze as if afraid of conflict with other students.

For this kind of situation,

Wayne, who had been following Sheriff Benjamin since he was a child, had a practical and effective way to handle it—

"This is a copy of the charter granted to our detective agency by the church, with my name and the signature of Bishop Corleone of Virginia on it. Believe me, no one would easily counterfeit such a thing in Virginia."

Wayne unfolded the charter in front of Macken Reef.

For a sheriff, the items that can usually gain the trust and cooperation of the public are just a few: a badge, a wanted warrant, and weapons and ammunition.

To persuade different types of people, you can choose to display different things.

"This..."

Macken Reef's gaze immediately fell on the charter.

The text on the charter wasn't particularly long, but the unique format and intricate ornamentation of church documents, as well as Wayne's name and the signature at the end, might contain a lot of information in themselves.

In the light of the street lamp, Wayne saw Macken Reef's expression change rapidly several times, and finally his temperament settled into a relatively calm and capable gear.

"What do you want to do?"

Macken Reef asked, with no trace of vigilance or panic on his face.

"I said, this is a routine investigation."

Wayne still maintained a businesslike attitude:

"Virginia's management of 'Fallen Ones' is entirely based on maintaining the stability of the parish.

"But on this basis, the church will still respect the basic rights and personal wishes of the 'Fallen Ones' from the perspective of 'redemption.' This is also the Bishop's intention."

This "Macken Reef" clearly looked at the contents of the charter in more detail.

After a while, he raised the question again:

"What do you want to know?"

...

Wayne didn't know how he became a popular figure in the dormitory.

Responding to everyone's greetings along the way, Wayne brought Macken Reef to his room.

"As a student of the academy and a private detective with a church charter, I have an obligation to assist the church in understanding whether students with the identity of 'Fallen Ones' are being unduly influenced and interfered with in their lives.

"Macken, what do you think of the academy's church and Pastor Parish?"

Macken Reef sat on the chair Wayne pulled over and answered very appropriately:

"Pastor Parish is a respectable elder. He told me a lot about the details of the church's management of the Fallen Ones and reminded me to abide by them. Objectively speaking, although Virginia's requirements in this regard are very detailed and cumbersome, the church's clergy are very kind."

Wayne pretended to take notes seriously at his desk, "Does the church in the academy require you to assist in supervising other 'Fallen' students?"

"No. Pastor Parish promised that our identities are strictly confidential. As long as we don't violate the management regulations, the church will provide us with shelter and keep our identities secret," Macken Reef replied.

Wayne remained noncommittal, "Besides the clergy of the academy's church and me, has anyone indicated that they know your 'Fallen' identity?"

Macken Reef shook his head, "No."

"What is your ability?"

Wayne asked, while throwing a corn kernel over.

The corn kernel exploded into "corn crumbs" in mid-air, "As you can see, this is my ability. I am also a 'Fallen One.'"

Macken Reef pondered for a moment, then shook his head again:

"Pastor Parish also asked me similar questions, but I don't have any abilities. He thinks I'm just an ordinary 'Contaminated One,' not yet to the point where I can use abilities."

Then the extent to which you've been contaminated seems to be quite deep... The "little partners" are almost enough to make up an America.

Wayne complained slightly in his heart, and then felt that the situation was not quite the same as he had expected:

"Does the church in the academy assign you any extra tasks? When you usually go to the church to report, what do you usually do?"

Macken Reef thought for a while, "Pastor Parish only requires me to abide by the church's regulations and doesn't require me to do anything extra.

"As for going to the church to report... In addition to attending church every week, I only need to go to the church once more to report my itinerary for the past week and my arrangements for the next week. I am not allowed to leave Georgeberg without permission, and then I take a potion to stabilize my condition. That's basically it."

Hmm...

Wayne chewed on his pen and pondered for a while:

"Our investigation needs to be kept confidential during the process. Only after the investigation report is completed will the local church be informed. I hope you can not tell anyone else about our routine investigation.

"At the same time, I hope you can assist us in completing one thing. Can you secretly keep some of the potion that Pastor Parish asks you to take regularly? This is also a routine part of the investigation."

Macken Reef was slightly stunned, "But Pastor Parish always asks me to drink it all, and emphasizes that I must take a sufficient dose..."

"Of course," Wayne smiled, "Pastor Parish should also be considering your well-being. However, in order to ensure safety, the church usually reserves a safe margin. Leaving a little bit for inspection will not have any adverse effects."

"Okay, I'll try my best."

Watching Macken Reef leave,

Wayne was instead a little confused.

Judging from tonight's preliminary investigation alone, some of Seth Grayson's information has been confirmed, while some of it doesn't quite match.

The church in the academy does secretly control the "Fallen Ones," but based on the current accounts of Luke Matthew and Macken Reef, Pastor Parish's behavior doesn't seem to be too "out of line."

If the "oppression" isn't enough, the strength of the "resistance" naturally won't be too great.

Could it be that Seth Grayson is a "bait" that someone released?

Based on the principle of "trusting people you employ," the breakthrough that Wayne can think of at the moment is still to focus on Pastor Parish:

If the church doesn't actively investigate the students and professors in the academy,

Then there should be at least one person in the academy's church who can detect extraordinary individuals, or extraordinary items and some strange methods.

And if Pastor Parish is indeed in contact with a hidden organization,

Then the potion that Luke Matthew and Macken Reef both mentioned may be worth paying attention to—especially since it also involves Cohen Pharmaceuticals, which is associated with the School of Life Sciences.

While thinking this, Wayne walked to the window and opened it for ventilation.

At this time, it was completely dark, and the lighting outside relied entirely on street lamps and the light from the buildings.

An owl flew silently past the dormitory.

Wayne looked at it and felt a little familiar, so he tried to wave at the passing owl.

Is this Doug coming back?

The owl noticed the movement on Wayne's side, turned its head in mid-air and looked over. Its pair of round eyes looked as if they hadn't been contaminated by any intelligence.

Then it just stared at Wayne with its big eyes, as if it recognized him, and at the same time stretched its wings, seemingly wanting to "brake."

Then it crashed headfirst into the canopy of the shade tree next to the dormitory...