New Gods of North America

After chatting with the kind academy security staff member who provided the "lucky coin" sample, Wayne didn't manage to extract much useful information.

Judging solely from the conversation, the person's logic seemed fine. Regarding the origin of the five-cent coin, their attitude was one of "I don't really want to talk about it, so I'll just make something up."

A little comparison, a change of perspective, and a repeated confirmation revealed numerous loopholes.

From Wayne's minimalist vision, problems were occasionally visible.

Sometimes, he could see illusory "lines" peeking out from the person's ear canal or "swimming" along the edge of their eyeballs.

Wayne also hadn't realized he'd become so famous in the academy.

Even a security patrol officer who was a complete stranger to him could connect his name with his face...

Normally, strangers with no interaction would either know the name and deeds, or simply find the face familiar.

For example, a staff member in the cafeteria might have seen him eating lunch or heard of a "Wayne Constantine" at the academy, but wouldn't necessarily know his name upon seeing his face.

After finishing his conversation with the guy tied up like a mummy in the carriage, Wayne had Doug fetch David Mills.

Firstly, to inform him and prove that the detective agency had discovered something "dirty" and was doing legitimate work. If there were any contributions, the detective agency would be the first to uncover the situation.

Secondly, to use David's authority to formally question the other security patrol officers – which was more efficient than asking around privately.

After a preliminary investigation, it was discovered that the guy had started playing with the coin only last week. The earliest sighting was last Tuesday or Wednesday. The witness wasn't sure, but it had definitely been "a few days."

As for where the coin came from, they had no idea.

After an examination by the exorcist priest brought by David Mills, it was found that several patrol officers had been "contaminated." Four of them were only slightly affected, having recently made bets or treated the caught guy to something.

One of them was more heavily "contaminated." This person was their team leader and was considering recommending the guy for a position like "deputy team leader."

"Even exorcist priests need to use tools to confirm the situation. How can you directly sense anomalies in a crowd?"

David Mills and the detective agency were quite familiar with each other, so he wasn't particularly surprised. His tone was more like complaining.

So Wayne wasn't very serious. "We're private detectives. We need a keen 'sense' to get business."

David Mills continued, "The academy is a place highly valued by the Cathedral. We definitely need to investigate this situation. Since you can detect anomalies, continue to participate in the investigation. I'll record your contributions in the report."

Perfect.

The "dirty stuff" with fading extraordinary power wasn't suitable for selling to premium clients. Getting some contribution points from the church wouldn't be a loss.

As for the rest, it would be mainly left to the church to handle.

Then David Mills couldn't help but add, "But next time, don't tie up innocent people like that. It doesn't look good..."

The guy was uncooperative and tried to attack at first, and Ineisha discovered the anomaly. What else could we do?

It was good enough we didn't just 'bring him over'.

Wayne helped explain and then had Seth continue to "point the way."

...

The local exorcism department also investigated several students Seth knew had discussed the "lucky coin."

A problematic five-cent silver coin was found on one of them.

This thing can "reproduce"?

Five cents wasn't much, but if it reproduced fast enough, maybe it could be raised...

Unfortunately, some things could only be imagined.

The exorcist priest team on-site quickly gave a preliminary analysis:

"Based on the current information, the two contaminant holders don't show any particularly obvious physical changes and seem more inclined to 'retain' the contaminants rather than let them 'circulate.'

"The 'lucky coin' story was probably fabricated to make these 'contaminants' more easily accepted. If not detected in time, this method is very stealthy."

"The contaminants have the ability to cause secondary contamination, but this influence on the mental level should consume a considerable amount of spiritual power. Without regular replenishment, the contaminants shouldn't be able to maintain their effect for long."

"Combining the fact that the two people's versions of the 'lucky coin' story are different and they don't have daily interactions in their lives, we tend to believe that the source of contamination has some degree of consciousness, most likely a fallen one, but we can't completely rule out the possibility of a special extraordinary item or evil spirit. It's preliminarily judged as a Level II threat, with the possibility of being upgraded to a Level III threat."

Wayne secretly asked beside him, "How does the church classify 'threats'?"

Ineisha tried to be brief:

"Level I, can be handled by a single exorcist; Level II, requires a small team to solve; Level III, the local church can complete the cleanup and control the situation; Levels IV and V increase in turn, requiring the 'Diocesan Cathedral' to use its available forces and the 'entire church' to handle it respectively."

"Threat upgrades are usually based on judgments of the 'source of contamination itself' or the 'development of the situation'."

This classification idea seems pretty good.

Note it down, note it down. We'll create a similar system for internal communication within the detective agency later.

David Mills then began to arrange for investigation and called for the transfer of sacred objects for making holy water, striving to replace the water sources in the academy's various water supply points by tomorrow morning, which was roughly a large-scale "disinfection."

Wayne heard that the academy might arrange for people to check dormitories with exorcist priests later, so he quickly wanted to slip away.

Moreover, tap water wasn't so widespread these days. The dormitory water tank's water source mainly came from the academy's lake or surface water system. Usually, staff needed to "pump" the water into the water tank for storage. It was okay for showering, but not good for drinking.

Students usually preferred to drink the groundwater drawn from collective water supply points. Wayne had to get some in advance, not wanting to drink chili water tomorrow.

David Mills noticed Wayne's "lack of enthusiasm":

"You don't plan to participate in the investigation?"

Tch.

The so-called "lucky coin" wasn't that magical at all, and that thing was a "contamination" with an expiration date, not good for selling for money, no fun.

At the same time, Wayne felt that the root cause of the problem shouldn't be in the students or academy staff. Although the academy church's Pachel priest was a rogue, he could even pick out students hiding their extraordinary identities one by one, so there was no reason he would let go of such a big fish.

So the detective agency would just take the name of "discovering the problem" and freeload some contribution points. As for a large-scale investigation of contaminants, it wasn't directly fighting a BOSS, so the cost-effectiveness wasn't high. If he could slack off, he would.

Wayne made a random excuse. "I'm still a student at the academy after all, so it's not appropriate to publicly participate in the investigation. And it's not good for the impact if I become a special case during dormitory checks."

David Mills seemed to have learned a bit of badness recently:

"Okay, but I still suggest you don't completely abandon the investigation. I'll have someone report the results of the investigation to you later. If you can find and clear the 'source of contamination' one step ahead, I'm willing to highlight the role you played in the report, and the contribution you can get should be higher."

"In my experience, being able to spread contamination so stealthily and in so many places is likely a premeditated criminal fallen one, or a evil spirit or extraordinary item of not low rank - I mean, the contribution may be enough to exchange for extraordinary materials of the same rank."

"Our detective agency is a law-abiding organization that assists in maintaining law and order. Participating in the cleanup of unstable factors is our inescapable responsibility."

Wayne answered him with a straight face. "Look, Ineisha and Doug are still here. We will follow up in a timely manner."

Cleaning isn't our forte,

But we're very happy to fight BOSSes.