New Gods of North America.

Chapter 737 Follower
After leaving the safe house, Wayne immediately headed back to the temporary base.

Although Michael also explained some characteristics of common "superior beings," judging from this keyword alone, the most suspicious one at the moment is undoubtedly the "wise sage."
Within the detective agency, there's Lina, whose understanding of Him is arguably on par with any expert; there's no reason not to ask her first.

Speaking of which, the twins Michelle and Michael are quite interesting.
At first, Wayne thought that the relatively outgoing Michelle would be the one to "make decisions" in daily life.

While it seems that this is indeed the case in reality, Michelle does indeed have the final say in almost all of their daily affairs.
But Michael is actually the backbone of the two, the kind of person who "doesn't care about small things, but can make the final decision on big things." If the detective agency really wants to recruit these two siblings, then the focus of their strategy should be on Michael.

This is evident from the fact that they both mentioned that so-called "bunker."

Besides being treated as subjects of research, Michael, compared to Michelle, had an additional role similar to an "apprentice" or "laboratory assistant." The reason why their treatment gradually improved and they were even able to find a chance to escape was probably related to the role Michael played.

After all, according to Inessa and Lina, while the members of the Abyss Society have a high average rank and are quite dangerous, they prioritize "the pursuit of knowledge." Committing evil is merely a "cost" or "byproduct" that comes along with this process; they are not an organization primarily focused on combat power.
Therefore, Michael's value in the eyes of the other party is probably not limited to his extraordinary abilities. An "apprentice" who can gain recognition in a certain sense even in such a godforsaken place should be more than qualified to be a full-time doctor for the detective agency.

Thinking about this, Wayne really remembered the "book list" Michael had mentioned earlier.
Unless it's particularly difficult, it feels necessary to provide as much as possible, and the standards for food and living conditions can be appropriately raised—by American secular standards, "doctor" and "lawyer" are actually high-status professions that guarantee a middle-class lifestyle.

Back at the temporary base, before Wayne could even step inside after alighting from the carriage, a clearly marked "church carriage" pulled up beside him.
Merlin brothers don't usually use these things in the dock area, and they certainly wouldn't have the coachman dressed in church attire. They are usually only seen when church personnel need to display their identity, such as when bishops travel or perform public duties; it's a kind of "openly displaying" behavior.

The dock area wasn't this crowded with customers a while ago, making Wayne wonder if he'd been having a run of bad luck lately.
They had just been planning to formally investigate the whistleblower who was silenced at the hearing, when the very next day, the legendary Secretary of State personally showed up at their door.
He had only recently been diagnosed with a problem by Michael, and now the church people have already arrived...

When the carriage door opened, Wayne saw the person getting off and realized he wasn't someone easily fooled.

It was that new treasurer of the cathedral, Warren Leitcher—the one who could write an essay titled "My Uncle Governor."

Well……

Well, at least this guy shouldn't be in charge of "captures" or anything like that. It's better than Brother Merlin personally leading a bunch of cathedral guards to kill us.

If the cathedral really sensed something was wrong, this guy would probably do something like "a wise man doesn't stand under a crumbling wall," and stay far away to "remotely control" things.

I invited him into my office for a brief chat, and surprisingly, he brought news that wasn't bad at all.
Warren Leitcher quickly took a document from his henchman, bowed slightly, and handed it to Wayne, who was also sitting on the sofa: "His Holiness the Bishop has already read this. If you have no objections, then your detective agency's collaboration with some monasteries in the state to produce cheese can officially begin."

Wayne knew the other party was just being polite on the surface. Even the Bishop of Tyrell had approved the terms, so how could he possibly change them now? At most, if the terms were too harsh or not economically viable, the detective agency would secretly find various excuses to slowly sabotage the matter. However, on the surface, they would still have to "sincerely accept" the terms, and then everyone could blame the world for being so bad.

Wayne looked down at the terms and conditions, and felt that apart from the detective agency needing to bring in cows or calves first, the subsequent arrangements were actually quite reasonable.
In fact, many monasteries produce very popular cheeses, and if they were to be sold, the price would often be higher than that of similar cheeses. Moreover, in the long run, the cost of cheese produced by workshops in cooperation with these monasteries in the state would be much cheaper than buying directly from the market, and the supply would be more stable.

Especially for workshops that mainly use cheese to produce reconstituted cheese, there's no need to pursue particularly high-quality aged cheese; just a small amount added for "flavoring" is sufficient, with the rest being primarily short-term fresh cheese.
The time and economic costs combined are far superior to those of any cheese vendor on the market, and any unsold portions can be used to make canned goods.

Of course, when collaborating with the church, money can't be discussed; it's like some things can only be discussed through "fate."
The workshop and the monastery were, in a sense, a "barter" exchange. Wayne provided cows, and the monastery gave back cheese—some of which was already aged cheese that had been stored away. As for the gradually increasing profit difference, Wayne had to "donate" it to the cathedral regularly according to a certain proportion.

We're all devout believers, so talking about money will hurt our feelings.

Wayne was quite satisfied with the contents of the document. While considering getting the mayor to send over a batch of dairy cows as soon as possible, he also thought about what he had heard about Warren Leitcher being specifically assigned to conduct an internal investigation of the monastery where Jason was being held.
Taking advantage of the pleasant atmosphere of their cooperation, Wayne then began to probe during their subsequent casual conversation:

“I heard from Brother Merlin that Jason seems to have escaped from a monastery. Our detective agency is still cooperating with Brother Merlin and his team in the investigation, but unfortunately, we haven't been able to catch him yet. It seems like things like this are quite dangerous. Producing cheese shouldn't interfere with the monks' original work, right?”

“Some monasteries are not involved in the cooperative cheese production. Although they are all called 'monasteries,' their roles within the church are actually quite different.”

Warren Leitch smiled, seemingly understanding Wayne's intention quickly. He then pointed to his henchman who had been standing by the sofa. "Let me introduce you. This is Brother Horus, the younger brother of Secretary of State Andrew Price. You can ask him for help with anything related to cheese production in the future."

Wayne bowed slightly to exchange greetings with the other party, and the various pieces of information in his mind were quickly connected.

The Secretary of State now appears to have indeed reconciled with the cathedral, and both sides are currently showing a consistent attitude.

However, the initial news that their family was going to change heirs was actually obtained by Luke Matthew through channels with the Fisk family, so its reliability should have been quite high.

Did the Bishop of Tyrell calm down so easily? Or was it just a show to scare people all along?

This younger brother seems a bit unlucky, like he's been unfairly made a scapegoat... It's not so easy to get along in a big family.

(End of this chapter)