New Gods of North America

For individual business owners such as detective agencies that mainly provide "services\

,"The American Federation at this time could be called a "paradise".

Because the main taxes in the United States are now "tariffs", "commodity taxes" and "consumption taxes", and there are no other taxes. Even the "inheritance tax" that was once levied has not been collected for decades.

Therefore, as long as they do not involve the production and sale of physical goods, small businesses in the service industry basically pay zero taxes.

After the basic layout is completed,

The people in the detective agency celebrated that night, and the next day they all went to the church to pay their respects.

Church of the Holy Spirit in Georgeburg,

Nowadays, it is considered quite special in the whole of America.

During the colonial period, Georgeburg was an important city in the New World supported by the Kingdom of Windsor.

At its peak, it was not only the capital of the richest state of Virginia, but also the "most populous" capital of the original states of the New World.

Therefore, the predecessor of Georgeburgh Church of the Holy Spirit was the "Cathedral" that the Anglican Church of Windsor planned to build.

However, due to various reasons caused by historical changes, this "cathedral" was ultimately unable to continue to expand and grow, and also lost its corresponding status.

Therefore, after being taken over by the Holy Spirit Church, it has now become the "little guy" among the cathedrals, the "veteran" among the small churches, and the "giant".

The pastors of Georgeberg Diocese have become special because of this. It is said that in recent decades, those who have been assigned to manage this diocese are either senior pastors who have no hope of being promoted to bishops, or young pastors with great prospects.

However, the promotion path in the church is quite special. In theory, it must go through various public nominations and elections, and the bishops are also relatively old.

Wayne looked at Emilio Bazzini, who was about 40 or 50 years old.

In fact, it is impossible to tell whether he should be considered a "veteran" or a "young and middle-aged".

But Wayne didn't care about all that. After listening to the pastor's sermon with the believers as if he was in prison, he first went to the donation box and put a small stack of $10 bills into it, totaling $300, and then waited aside.

They were waiting for the pastor to finish communicating with the believers in need, and they were also waiting for the members of the detective agency to come and line up.

Compared to the "tithe" that the Holy See once forcibly collected in the Old World for a long time, churches in various countries have now become more "sunny" and "enlightened" in this regard.

Although the proportion is still roughly as advertised,

But the form has long since changed from “compulsory collection” to various forms of voluntary or “voluntary” donations.

After each sermon, believers can donate or just leave according to their own circumstances, but usually the amount is not large.

Usually, large donations are only made when one is new to a parish or encounters some unexpected event.

Ryan, who is quite devout, donated $20 at one time.

Although Lina followed the local customs, she only gave a copper coin with a face value of one cent.

The people from the detective agency gradually lined up around Wayne, both to hint to the pastor that "we have something to do" and to show off their faces in front of local believers.

——Participating in church "worship" is often the first step for many outsiders to integrate into the local circle.

Wayne and Inissa had come here to register with the Exorcist Association with their license and other documents.

So after the sermon, Reverend Bazzini, who was still wearing his vestments and vestments, came over to greet everyone as the "head of the clergy of this parish".

The expression on his face was a smile mixed with a bit of solemnity, and it was impossible to tell what he was really thinking:

"Wayne, are these the 'companions' you mentioned? There are more of them than I thought."

"Yes, these are our current colleagues in the detective agency."

Wayne responded, then introduced everyone to Pastor Bazini one by one, and everyone smiled and greeted the pastor in turn.

Once you pass this level, you won't have to worry about being attacked by the local church.

Even if it is targeted by clergy from other parts of the church, in theory the local church will clarify and prove it.

After greeting each other, there were some customary pleasantries.

For example, the pastor would say, "May the Holy Spirit bless you," and welcome you to come for sermons often. The believers would then express their hope to receive more guidance from the Holy Spirit and listen more to the pastor's teachings.

Some people may really think so, while others are just being polite.

After leaving the church, Wayne took his friends to chat with the police chief:

"Hey, Bill. Nice to meet you."

After it was no longer the "capital", the Georgeburg Police Department, like the police departments of other cities, could only supervise the public security within the city area.

The difference may be that some cities are wealthier, so the police stations have more personnel and equipment, and their combat effectiveness is stronger.

Georgeburg is no longer ranked among the "first-tier cities" in America.

But it can't resist its profound background.

Under the premise that "there are many rich people and relatively abundant sources of funds", the urban area is not particularly large, so the police are relatively effective in terms of increase and decrease.

Bill Tench is in his early 40s. His official position should be the head of the case handling department or something like that. He is almost the first person under the director.

His hair is already gray, and if you don't look closely at the condition of his skin, he looks older than Pastor Bazzini.

However, Bill Tench's overall condition is still relatively "young".

After knowing that Wayne had been a sheriff in a western town and had arrested some well-known wanted criminals, he quickly became superficial friends with Wayne.

Bill Tench was a little surprised when he saw the group of people following Wayne. "Although I know that you opened a detective agency, why do you have so many people?"

Shouldn't a detective agency be staffed by one or two people, or at most two or three?

Wayne took the opportunity to advertise:

"Our detective agency mainly wants to take on cases that are interstate and intercity. When a case is handled, the manpower will be dispersed. In fact, it only looks more now.

“Besides, we sometimes inevitably come into conflict with gangs and the like, so even if we need a little more manpower, it is understandable.

"If you know of anyone who needs this and it's inconvenient for the police to intervene, you can have someone come and entrust us. We'll give a discount to anyone who mentions your name."

Bill Tench was the type who had a favorable impression of the "Western Sheriff" and was not disgusted by this. "Do you have business cards? If any citizens need it later, I can help introduce them to them."

"Yes, but it's still being printed. I'll have Doug bring it to you once it's finished."

As Wayne was talking, he half-embraced Bill Tench and introduced him, "You've met several partners in our detective agency. This is Doug, this is Ryan, and this is Willy..."

Many passers-by, or believers who were leaving, saw Wayne and his companions chatting and talking with the local police officers.

Although it is not clear who Wayne and his friends are, at least the first impression they leave on us is that they don’t seem like “bad guys”.