New Gods of North America.

Chapter 236 Selection and Determination

Although some things are not bad in terms of purpose, they are not suitable to be done openly.

For example, Wayne couldn't just run up to the townsman and say, "Excuse me, can I ask you for a few drops of blood so that someone can take it to pray to the evil god for enlightenment?"

There was a feeling that I would be reported to the church, or receive a bullet in response on the spot.

Fortunately, compared to most Americans, Wayne is more aware of carrying various documents.

So he chose to secretly show the townsman a copy of the charter given by the church and the letter of recommendation written by Tom Hagen - perhaps the other party might not be able to understand the contents of the charter, or might not know Tom Hagen at all, but at least he could see Wayne's name on the charter, and the smooth and thick special paper also had the church's emblem and patterns.

"We are a professional detective agency chartered by the church. I heard that your child was kidnapped by 'Thin Guy' Charlie. We are willing to help you find the child while continuing to search for the 'Thin Guy Gang's' base.

"But we may need some of your blood. We have some professional methods that can use blood to preliminarily determine blood relationships. For example, the blood of direct blood relatives can usually mix, and some blood can be soaked into the bones of relatives. In this way, if we find a suspected child, we can use it to make a judgment."

Blood test and blood bone test are both traditional oriental methods that Wayne has heard of. They both have some truth to them, but they are not very scientific. They are limited by the times and cognition.

However, if such a statement is used in today's America to convince ordinary people, it will appear to be just right in terms of both "science" and "superstition".

So the townsman quickly accepted this "not very clear but seems to make sense" statement, then he took the syringe from Wayne, ran to the bushes and drew a full tube of blood himself, and asked Wayne, "Is this enough?"

Wayne had actually told him in advance that only a small amount of blood would be needed, maybe a few drops, or 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, then took the heavy syringe and put it away relatively carefully.

In fact, if we judge strictly from logic, the child of this townsman has been missing for several years. Whether he is alive or dead, we can only say that there is a "certain probability" that he is still in the base of the Skinny Gang or near the base, and the probability is not too high.
Therefore, Wayne and the other two originally considered it as a backup plan - if they couldn't think of any other solution after a few days, they would just give it a try.

Inissa and Lina didn't expect Wayne to bring back a full tube of blood. They almost pulled out the piston of the needle.
Inessa sighed slightly, then took out a large reagent bottle from the carriage and injected the blood into it. Lina asked for some anti-coagulation powder and sprinkled a little into the bottle to preserve it temporarily.

If we could find the base by other means, then maybe we could save the opportunity to help people find their children.

The next morning, we said goodbye to the sheriff and several townspeople of the "problem town".

Wayne and his team continued their search with the new map they had copied down overnight.

Even if we ignore the extraordinary factors, a gang that is said to have at least 20 people should not have a base completely without trace.

With so many people going in and out of the forest, even if they didn't ride horses and just walked, there must be a path, right? There can't be no traces along the way, right? There must be a basic source of food, right?

Even the vigilant wild animals in the mountains and forests cannot leave no trace at all.

As a result, after searching for three days in a row, everyone was almost tired of drinking fish soup, but no one found any relatively suspicious signs on the several main entrances and exits of the area that were relatively close to the periphery, giving people the feeling that they had received false information.

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

Suppose a group of people walk along a similar road repeatedly and have never been found by others. The feces can be "digested" by nature, but cigarette butts, wine bottles, campfire ashes, etc. can always last for a while.

If they really have such good discipline and can consciously eliminate all traces, then why do they still want to be gangsters? They can just do a few big things and then find a place to be the mayor of a small town.

After sunset that day, Wayne finished his fish soup and looked at the map for a long time. Finally, he decided to let Lina take the father's blood and secretly find a place far away from the camp to pray for enlightenment from the "wise sage".

The reason why they wanted to stay away from the camp was because "Mr. Daggett" was currently suspected to be a Beyonder, whose motives and identity were still unclear, and they did not want to disturb him for the time being.

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

"I don't mind, but you have to think carefully. Whether the child is dead or alive, he may not be in the gang's base now, and may not even be in this forest. This may not be of much help in finding the base."

Wayne nodded. "Well, I already have a preliminary idea. If I can get indirect confirmation, that would be great. If not, then at least I'm helping others."

"What's the idea?" Lina asked here, and Inissa was listening beside her.

In addition to Wayne and the other two, several agents from the detective agency were also quietly called over. They would stand at a distance to serve as guards for Lina and guard against members of other teams in the camp.

"The locals have been searching for this forest intermittently for such a long time, and now we have so many professionals here, but they still haven't found any suspicious signs. "From a reasonable point of view, it is possible that the people from the 'Skinny Gang' didn't leave too many traces in the forest at all."

“……”Lina looked over speechlessly, not knowing what Wayne wanted to express.

Inissa blinked slightly, "Maybe they took the water route?"

"Yeah, that's what I guessed."

Wayne recalled the contents of the map: "I had been staring at these mountains and forests for so long that I almost forgot that the western boundary between Ohio and Virginia was actually drawn along the Mississippi River, which is called the Ohio River in this section.

"I suspect that after they entered this forest, they boarded a boat at a place that could be reached within half a day, and then reached the base through the tributaries of the river system.

"So they didn't need to light a fire or camp in the mountains, and many things could be thrown directly into streams or rivers. Deliberately riding horses into the mountains and being witnessed by others might be intentional."

Lina understood, "So if the missing child is near a stream, then if we follow the stream, maybe we can find their base?"

Wayne shrugged. "At least I hope so."

……

The noise made by the "wise sage" in the mountains and forests feels more intuitive than when he is in the town.

Wayne was on guard at a commanding height here, and he saw the area around where Lina was.

The birds were startled, and there seemed to be some larger animals like squirrels or rabbits fleeing. There were also some small but dense sounds, and it felt like even the insects were running.

Wayne has learned his lesson now. He doesn't look at what he shouldn't look at. His spiritual intuition keeps reminding him like a pop-up window. Wayne tries his best to suppress the invisible "eye" in his body and not open the field of vision of simple lines.

It's a 360° panoramic view. If the "wise sage" knew that Wayne had said bad things about him in his heart recently, it would not be fun if he suddenly glanced over at this time.

After a while, Lina came back with the mirror wrapped in cloth again.

Wayne and Inessa went up to ask about the results.

Lina had marked a point on the map, which was the location of a tributary extending from the Ohio River deep into the mountains and forests.
But Lina is not so sure:

"The revelation the sage gave me was a bird's-eye view, which was probably from nearby all the way up to the sky, with the field of vision getting wider and wider. I can be sure that I am in this river, but I flew too fast at once, so the specific location may be a little off. But I should be able to recognize it when I get there."

Wayne looked at the marks Lina had made and flicked his finger on the map. "As long as we have the approximate location, it will be fine. Whether our speculation is confirmed or completely denied, it will be a great help."

Several people called each other to pack up, and they were still a little distance away from the camp.
Wayne and his friends met Mr. Daggett and Chris, who also brought some people with them and were heading this way.

The two groups looked at each other, and Chris came over like a peacemaker, explaining:

"Mr. Daggett noticed that there seemed to be something unusual in this direction, so he brought us over to check out the situation just in case. I didn't expect it was you who made the noise."

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

After returning to the camp with mutual vigilance, Wayne took out another map by the campfire:

"We suddenly had a guess. Could it be that the members of the 'Thin Gang' covered their tracks by using streams? So I suggested that we choose some streams or rivers with larger water flows and search around them. We might get some unexpected gains."

According to the cooperation agreement, Mr. Daggett and Chris's team are mainly responsible for assisting.
So since Wayne had made up his mind, they basically agreed without any other ideas.

Mr. Daggett was looking at the river that Wayne had chosen seemingly at random, and he seemed to be thinking about something.

(End of this chapter)