New Gods of North America.

Chapter 571 Conflict
Wayne and his group weren't very familiar with the area, but fortunately the weather was relatively clear tonight, so they wouldn't lose their way.

The carriage continued along the road, making several turns at forks, essentially going in circles. The person who had been accompanying the carriage was still there, which could be preliminarily identified as a "stalker".

There is still some difference between "people of unknown origin" and "clear enemies."
The overall security situation on the East Coast is not like that in the West, where you can easily encounter gangs. If the other party is just following someone on orders, you can simply arrest or beat them up. Most of the "little devils" here have powerful backers, and they may not necessarily have the intention to commit violence.

So Wayne had already prepared his weapons and didn't plan to fire the first shot. The three carriages had already quietly spread out, intending to lure the enemy into a trap.

"Bang! Bang! Bang bang!"

Unexpected gunshots rang out from a distance, not from the trackers who had been discovered, and it didn't seem to be aimed at Wayne and his group.

Lina peeked her head in that direction. "Shall we go take a look?"

"Sure, it's not far anyway."

Upon receiving the order, Sanders, the driver, caused the carriage to veer off the road and head straight ahead on flat ground.

The gunfire started sporadically, then became more frequent, and the intervals gradually subsided.

Inessa, with her extensive experience, said: "It seems to be an encounter or ambush, and the battle is almost over."

Wayne thought so too, and was about to knock on the partition to get Sanders to speed things up, so they wouldn't miss the live feed if they joined in the fun.

Before anything even happened, the carriage had already started to slow down.

what's the situation?
The sound of horses' hooves approached from afar. Wayne half-opened the car door and peeked out, only to see the plantation foreman and a supervisor rushing towards him.

The other party probably recognized Sanders driving and shouted in their direction, "Run! There's an evil spirit!"

Even Inessa seemed to take an interest now, squeezing in alongside, and with Lina and Emma joining in, the car door was almost forced open.

Once the two sides approached and came to a stop, Wayne and his men quickly got out of the car and surrounded them. "Explain clearly, what kind of evil spirit is it?"

The foreman was still panting on horseback, his words slightly incoherent: "We thought they were slave thieves, but they are actually evil spirits. They have kidnapped the slaves from our plantation. We shoot them, but they can't be killed. Things grow back from the wounds. Several of our men have been knocked off their horses."

Wayne barely understood and guessed that the other party must have encountered an extraordinary person. He half-pulled and half-supported the other party to get off the horse. "It's alright. You two go and rest in the carriage first. We'll go and take a look."

"Don't go! They're practically invincible!"

"Don't worry, we are professionals."

"Really, Mr. Wayne, you believe me!"

It's not that I don't trust you... I just wanted to ride your horses over there to check the situation.

The foreman comforted him and helped him into the carriage. Another foreman, equally shaken, saw that the foreman didn't object and followed him into the carriage.

With Lina staying behind, Wayne and Inessa mounted their horses and headed towards the direction where sporadic gunfire could still be heard.

Before Wayne even arrived at the scene, he saw someone who was probably also a plantation foreman being tackled to the ground by a "tree-man."
The foreman's hunting rifle seemed to have just been fired when it was swatted away by the tree-man's massive, branch-and-leaf-covered "big swatter," sending it flying and spinning in mid-air. The tree-man, as if shot, shook its "canopy" in place, while its other "arm" was still raising upwards.

"Bang!" The sound of the bolt-action rifle was more powerful than that of a shotgun, and the branch that the tree-man was about to use to hit someone's head snapped in response.

Shouts of rage, screams of panic, and the steady, calm cacophony of gunfire.

The foreman yelled and crawled backward on all fours on the grass. The "tree man" looked intimidating, but he wasn't actually that strong. He was shot in the leg and fell angrily halfway through his charge, slapping a branch into the grass.

Wayne stepped forward slightly, with Inessa behind him, holding a gun. The muzzle of her revolver was raised, and she pointed it at the other person's forehead from a safe distance—actually, Wayne wasn't sure, as the thing didn't seem to have a "neck," so he could only choose a spot that "looked like" it.

"If you have any sense left, change back to normal. You obviously can't defend against the Demon Hunter's bullets."

A response came from another direction, "Wait! Are you exorcists? We're from the church too. He's injured and can't be unleashed until he recovers."

With his eyes scanning the surroundings through the minimalist lines, Wayne slightly shifted his body. "Evidence."

The other person's clothing was not that of a monk, and they did not have the "ring" around their neck that priests wore in civilian clothes to identify themselves.
The man seemed to cooperate, slowly approaching with his arms half-raised. "I have no evidence on me, but I can go with you to the parish church in the city. There are people there who can verify our identities."

"Put your hands behind your head and stand still. We need to assess the situation first."

……

After surveying the area for a while, besides the foreman from before, the "tree man" on the ground, and his accomplices,

They also found two slaves tied up and "attached" to the backs of horses, as well as three corpses and a pack of dead dogs.

Based on the manager's account and the situation at the scene, we can roughly reconstruct the course of events.

The plantation foremen and overseers, following the hounds, found the place and encountered the two men with slaves. The slaves were tied up, matching the foreman's description of them as "slave thieves."
Perhaps to stop them from escaping, a conflict broke out, the horses were shot and fell, and the tree-man was probably also shot, and then the two sides fought fiercely.

Well……

Determining the nature of this kind of case is quite complicated...

It seems the plantation manager from the Beaton family fired first, so the "Tree Man" could be considered to have acted in self-defense. These days, even slightly excessive self-defense is easily understood by the jury.

However, the two slaves were clearly not leaving with them voluntarily. If it were a theft case, since property was lost first, the plantation was actually the party in legitimate self-defense. Now that they had been killed in the counterattack, the "Tree Men" had offended them even more.

But the two of them seemed to be from the church, and the idea that church members were stealing slaves didn't fit the common understanding of the American people at that time.

Moreover, it's uncertain whether the land beneath his feet is "public land" or someone's "private land."
The former may involve clauses such as "intentional homicide," while the latter may involve the unlimited right of self-defense of one party, which is also a fundamental condition that can directly influence the judgment.

After thinking for a moment, Wayne decided to pack up both groups and send them to the police station.
As for the part related to the extraordinary, the church should handle it on its own, so you don't need to worry about it.

Just as I happily made the decision, I heard a cry of "Help!" and a small fireball rose into the air a little distance away, followed by a "pop" of a red firework.

Wayne's pupils contracted; this was the detective agency's tacitly accepted signal of an attack.

Something happened over there.

(End of this chapter)