New Gods of North America

To be honest, before the operation started, Wayne felt that their plan still seemed very "special forces-like."

Wayne and several members who claimed to be good at close combat tied ropes to the trees above the mountain wall, then grabbed the ropes and rappelled down the mountain wall, with heat even generated between the gloves and the ropes due to friction.

A team of members who could swim dragged driftwood as "water ghosts," the driftwood serving both as a safety net and to prevent torches and some firearms from getting wet.

Inez found a high point on the opposite side of the mountain wall with a bolt-action rifle, preparing to be the "wall breaker" of the mountain wall, as well as the "overseer" of the other members.

Lena unlocked a new skin, changed into a cowboy outfit, with Peter on her hat, carrying a gun and a small backpack, following Wayne and several agents to rappel down and assault the cave.

With a "bang!" the camouflage on the mountain wall shattered and collapsed like a glass curtain wall.

Just like the hidden cave in Black Rock Town, the mountain wall revealed its true appearance to everyone—a semi-circular entrance nearly three meters high and four meters wide appeared.

At the entrance, there were several things like rune strips stretched across, hanging with decorations such as skull heads, small bone fragments, and other strange odds and ends.

The "water ghosts" relied on the driftwood, holding guns to guard the area or slowly advance.

Wayne and the assault team members, already halfway down the mountain wall, also rappelled down one after another, grabbing the ropes and kicking off the mountain wall to continue falling.

When they reached the upper position near the cave entrance,

Wayne slightly increased the force of kicking the wall, slid down a distance in mid-air, then put his feet forward, preparing to swing his body into the cave to land.

Crap...

Why is the cave also full of river channels, with no place to set foot even nearby...

So, halfway through being cool, the assault team members who rappelled down from above could only honestly lie on the driftwood contributed by the "water ghosts," half-floating and half-sinking, and paddle inside.

There were a few constantly burning braziers in the cave, with spare braziers that had been extinguished nearby, but the overall tone was still dark and dim.

Continuing to explore along the water flow, they first went down a long slope, and finally a "branch cave" appeared where they could land.

There was also a stake next to it, tied with two small boats.

"It feels like people have already left..."

Lena muttered, taking the lead to jump from the driftwood into the branch cave and stepping on the ground.

Wayne and his team of assault members also left the water flow one after another, jumping or climbing ashore.

With the blessing of simple line vision, Wayne was not afraid of the dark environment. Holding a gun, he walked at the front, and began to move toward the depths of the cave along the cave wall.

The big spider Peter was very active at this time, and soon overtook Wayne, becoming a pioneer.

Lena was at the back of the team, keeping an eye on everything. If anyone made a move, even "one of their own," they would probably get shot.

This place was like a natural karst cave. Throwing a large stone could create a long echo.

Strangely, there were no bats, which made it feel less "natural."

Mr. Daggett and Chris were also brought to assault the cave. At this time, Wayne couldn't leave them outside to guard, and even the proportion of members everywhere was kept as "half on each side" as much as possible.

Mr. Daggett's men seemed to be more well-trained, and soon lit torches one after another behind Wayne, exploring together while maintaining a slight distance.

Although they didn't encounter anyone, this place looked very much like the "Skinny Gang's" stronghold.

The team first passed through a large area that looked like a "hall," with a "kitchen" next to it, and a space like an "entertainment room"—with wine barrels, wine bottles, and many cigarette butts and scattered playing cards.

A little further past, connected to the "hall," was a circle that looked like a "dormitory."

Some dead-end forks or shallow caves were piled with haystacks and other things, showing signs of people having slept there.

Wayne roughly identified the direction and tried to explore in the direction of the location where Lena said the "missing child" was currently located.

After passing through a narrow path that was sometimes wide and sometimes narrow, they reached a place close to the location.

There was actually light ahead, and the space suddenly opened up.

Letting the simple line vision's "lens" float inside, after confirming it was generally safe,

Wayne poked his head in to take a look,

Good heavens, this was simply a dream back to Black Rock Town.

This place was also a place similar to a sacrificial site, at least 80% similar to the hidden cave in Black Rock Town.

A circle of "small towers" built with skull heads at intervals, next to thick white candles.

In the middle was an inverted pentagram magic circle surrounded by several concentric circles, filled with strange patterns and incomprehensible symbols.

Above the center of the magic circle was still a mass of amorphous black gas, but the spiritual intuition was not as "dangerous" as the one in Black Rock Town.

It was a simple mini-replica of the same style, with the number of skull heads estimated to be at least 70% less.

The good news was that the missing child should have been found,

But the bad news was that even if the biological parents were present at this time, they probably wouldn't be able to tell which one it was...

Wayne already had experience at this time, signaling everyone not to enter the range of the magic circle.

Quiet, low-key, don't move, wait for the professionals to deal with it later.

Then Wayne divided everyone into teams according to proportion and explored other places in the cave, first confirming whether there were any living enemies inside.

The fact proved that there were still people left in the cave. Soon, gunshots of "bang, bang, bang" echoed, the actual number of shots fired was not many, mainly because the echo lasted for a long time.

Wayne was a little scared when he heard the movement at the sacrificial site,

Afraid that the black gas would explode again and give Wayne a flat fall.

After confirming that the magic circle was still fine, Wayne followed Peter to find the source of the sound. It turned out that Chris had reached a space similar to a "treasure room."

The two remaining gang members hiding inside launched a preemptive strike, and were then shot dead on the spot.

Lena and Mr. Daggett were in a group, supervising him by the way.

After they also came over and met again, Peter jumped back to Lena's side, and Lena quietly gave Wayne a gesture, indicating that there were no abnormalities.

It's just that the gangs these days don't seem to be hoarding a lot of gold coins anymore.

Everyone roughly rummaged through it. On the surface, the cash hidden here, including coins and banknotes, was only a few dozen US dollars. There were a few good wines and cigars, and secondly, some brand-new spare firearms and bullets.

Lena looked around everywhere, and then took out a waterproof leather bag from a hidden place, which was full of rolled-up banknotes, with large and small denominations, and the total value should exceed one thousand US dollars.

There was also a small box of strange things, which Peter noticed, and Wayne dug out from behind a cave wall in a corner.

It felt like some materials that could be used in the field of mysticism, but there were no extraordinary items that could be seen at a glance with the vision.

The gang was not at home, and some other members also entered the cave one after another. They moved out whatever was slightly valuable.

Inez first assessed the magic circle.

Her final conclusion was that although it could be blown up directly, it was better to submit it to the church or the exorcist association and let them send someone to deal with it, and also accumulate some contribution points.

As for the small box of things that Wayne found, it was something that was more troublesome to collect, but the value was difficult to define.

They mostly belonged to black magic materials that were made according to specific sects, almost a bit like special models of semi-finished parts or screws.

For most people, these things were useless, the materials were not precious, and they were almost garbage, but for those who needed them, they might be willing to buy them at a high price. If they were taken to the church, they would probably be hammered to pieces or burned in a fire.

After the spoils were successively transported out of the cave and packed into boxes, Chris and Mr. Daggett had no objection to the detective agency taking all the spoils.

On the one hand, this was indeed an agreement made in advance, on the other hand, the hidden stronghold was also found because of the detective agency. Just the sacrificial site inside was enough to make many people who might regret it halfway fall silent.

"So what are you going to do next?" Mr. Daggett asked.

Wayne thought for a moment:

"Now that we have found a possible stronghold of the 'Skinny Gang,' why don't we continue to lie in wait outside for a few days to see if there is a chance to ambush them? But if they don't come back, the detective agency won't stay here for too long."

"If we don't ambush them, since you also know the location of this stronghold, you can organize people to come and encircle them at that time."

If it were an ordinary cave, then ambushing inside would actually be the best.

Unfortunately, seeing things like sacrificial sites and magic circles, one had to consider whether the other party could gain other blessings in the corresponding environment, and could not be treated as a simple extraordinary person. In order to avoid excessive casualties, it was best to change the place to strike.

As for the detective agency, it was indeed a pity not to catch anyone.

However, without having to fight, pocketing more than a thousand US dollars was considered worth the price, and it wasn't a loss to leave.

Willing to stay a few more days was not only to expand the harvest, but also to take care of the emotions of Mr. Daggett and Chris.

Otherwise, it would be much easier to report directly to the church and let the church arrange people to lie in wait and clean up the aftermath. It would also be good for Wayne to earn some contribution points and make a difference.

After lying in wait for four consecutive days, the Skinny Gang had not returned.

The dry food that everyone carried was almost exhausted. If they continued to lie in wait, if they ran out of dry food, then everyone would have to go hungry if they couldn't hunt prey.

So everyone dismantled the rune strips hanging on the "door" of the cave, and reluctantly went back home.

Nothing happened in the first two days, and no gang members were seen chasing after them.

On the night of the third day, an outer member of the detective agency suddenly screamed while on night watch.

Wayne jumped up and ran to support with a gun, but saw a tall figure in the forest not far away—

The figure was about 3 meters tall, with a slender build.

Overall, it looked like a "person," wearing something like a black suit.

But the head seemed to have no facial features, not even hair, and the upper limbs did not look like "hands," feeling closer to "tentacles."

Slender Man?!

"Skinny" Charlie?

Wayne scratched his hair. Shouldn't that urban legend only spread in the Internet age? Are you a bit ahead of schedule?