New Gods of North America.

Chapter 221 Cooperation
"cheers!"

After the bartender served drinks to the guests, Wayne raised his glass again in front of everyone and continued to listen to the bartender telling gossip.

The information sold by bartenders is basically like this, except for a few key pieces of information that are really useful and valuable.
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 like the meat scraps that are difficult to keep fresh for a long time and are not very popular among the townspeople in Black Rock Town.

If the freemen bought enough good meat, they could get it “half-sold and half-given” or “given away appropriately”.

If it still cannot be sold, and if the landowner is willing to arrange for someone to buy it at a low price, then after being picked again by the servants and supervisors, it can be sent to the plantation before it completely rots and become a delicious meal for the slaves.

Even in the West where meat was relatively abundant, well-cut meat was still a "commodity". Even free people found it difficult to eat good meat every day, so there was no reason to waste it.

Of course, if it takes extra money or effort to deal with the leftovers, the merchants and townspeople would rather let them go bad and throw them away even if they can't sell or eat them.

So Wayne and the other two chatted with the bartender for a while.
It cannot be said that we have not heard any useful information at all. After all, there are many things that outsiders really don’t know, but there is indeed not much nutritious information.

For example, the bartender said that there was a local blacksmith shop and some thick iron chains and iron bars were recently stolen. Does the detective agency have to stay and help catch the petty thief?

At this time, another figure holding a wine glass appeared and seemed to be coming over to the group.

After Wayne and the others noticed it, they didn't turn around and just made a secret bet.

Inissa and Lina's record of being approached by strangers tonight was 5 to . This time, Lina bet cents on herself, as if she wanted to personally fight back.

Wayne deliberately placed a reverse bet, betting that Inissa would win 2-0 and that Lina would not have the chance to play overtime.

The other party quickly walked behind the three people:

"Excuse me, can I sit down and chat with you guys?"

This is considered a relatively polite approach.

Wayne looked back and realized that this person was not a stranger. He had seen him once before during the "interview" at Mr. Russell's house.

Wayne and Lina nodded in unison at this time.
The other party looked around at Inissa and Lina who were sitting next to Wayne, and finally chose Lina's side.

Lina raised her eyebrows and glanced at Wayne with a bit of pride in her eyes.

But the other party made a "please" gesture to Lina, "Can I sit here? I have something to communicate with this gentleman."

Lina was immediately deflated.

But he still picked up the cup and sat next to Inissa, and threw a five-cent coin to Wayne.

The bartender then went about his business.

Wayne watched the other person sit down, and at the same time, he caught the copper coin and tossed it in the air for fun, and let the copper coin roll between his fingers, which made Lina seem to want to reach out and grab it.
Wayne then honestly put away the copper coin and said to the gentleman, "We have met before. What can I do for you?"

The other party nodded, agreeing with Wayne's words:

"My name is Chris Mannix. Like you, I'm a bounty hunter commissioned by Mr. Russell. I've recently learned about several big gangs here, but I'm afraid we don't have enough manpower. I wonder if you are interested in joining forces with us?" "Wayne Constantine."

Wayne introduced himself and thought for a moment, then asked, "How many people are there in your team?"

Chris seemed sincere:

"Including me, there are six of us in total. From what I understand, although the number is not as large as the members of your detective agency, it is not too small either. If we work together, it may be enough to compete with certain teams and even avoid their potential 'hunting'."

Wayne raised his eyebrows slightly, "What news have you received? There are actually teams among us hunting each other?"

Chris nodded again:
"Bounty hunters are always potential criminals, it's just a matter of which side has the higher price. When arresting criminals, if different bounty hunter teams meet, it is not uncommon for one side to suffer heavy casualties or even be wiped out. In fact, it is difficult for everyone to determine who did it.

"So just like bandits of similar size often come together to fight against larger gangs, it's also common for bounty hunters to form a team together."

Wayne thought for a moment, "What is the form of cooperation? Should one party join the other, or should everyone make a joint decision?"

Chris seemed to have a plan in place for this. "As for the specific decision, I suggest that we discuss it together. Of course, considering that the number of people on both sides is not equal, when distributing the profits, we can distribute it according to the proportion of the number of people."

This doesn't seem to be a problem...

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

Chris seemed slightly stunned. "You mean those horror stories about people being possessed by evil spirits? Of course I've heard those stories."

Well……

Considering the situation in Virginia, this doesn't seem like something you can just chat about with a stranger...

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

"Yeah, that's really interesting."

Chris nodded as if he understood, and then brought the topic back to the topic, "So, what do you think of my proposal?"

No response...?
Is this guy a Muggle?
If it wasn't for the Beyonder, then if the bounty was divided by head count, I feel like the detective agency would be at a loss...

However, Wayne was not in a hurry to refuse. As long as ordinary people were professional enough, they could also play a big or even greater role.
So he stroked his beer glass and finally turned a blind eye:

“I personally agree with your idea of ‘collaboration’ in principle, but I haven’t decided yet 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 EQ was high enough and he understood what Wayne meant immediately. So he exchanged some trivial information with Wayne and then left in a friendly manner.

After finishing their beers in the bar, Wayne and the other two felt that time was almost up, so they returned to the hotel.
Unexpectedly, Doug soon returned to the hotel with the strangers.
Then we talked about similar topics.

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

(End of this chapter)