New Gods of North America

The Holy Spirit Church is not that extreme.

At least not yet.

According to Tom Hagen, the reason why many people have the impression that Virginia "manages Extraordinary People" is actually due to such regular "clean-ups".

This place has long been one of the main ports connecting the New World to the Old World, and the external challenges it faces are more severe than those in inland areas like the West.

So in a sense, the so-called "strict management" may just be a disguised form of hoarding extraordinary materials.

"But don't forget that, no matter what, the 'balance' is also a symbol of order.

“It may not be so fair, but those who are responsible for maintaining order and stability must never really abandon it, let alone let the world think that it has completely lost its function and meaning of existence.

"The Bishop once told me that the 'balance' is never a constraint. Like the 'sword', it is also a powerful 'weapon' of the goddess. You may also be able to appreciate the meaning of the Bishop's words.

"So during the 'big cleanup', you can let the 'balance' tilt slightly, but you can't let it tip over. Otherwise, you too might become a target of cleanup."

Got it.

Probably you can "make a mountain out of a molehill", "fishing for trouble", or "deal with it seriously", but you can't be "lawless".

Wayne thought about it:

"Although this is a big challenge, it is also a great opportunity for the Beyonders, right? Why does the church allow 'outsiders' to participate?"

Wayne is very conscious in this regard.

Having a few acquaintances in the church does not mean that you are truly one of the church’s “own people.”

Mr. Greenspan from Blackstone Town is often a distinguished guest at the mayor's home, but in fact, the mayor will never stand with him on many issues.

For example, the person chosen by Mr. Greenspan would never become the sheriff of Black Rock Town unless the founders of the town and their descendants lost power or died.

Tom Hagen has made no secrets about this:

"According to Virginia tradition, only priests who are qualified to compete for the position of bishop will be allowed to participate in the 'Great Purge'.

“You and the gentleman from the army were both specially invited in by the Bishop.

"The bishop may have other intentions, but the official response he gave to the bishops was that he was not satisfied with the current situation in Virginia. If someone's ability was even lower than that of candidates outside the church, then he was not qualified to be a candidate for bishop."

My goodness, they are treating us as “other people’s children” and using them to beat their own children.

There seems to be a slight flavor of "mutual supervision".

This job is really hateful...

And Bishop Corleone is actually a member of the Holy Spirit Church Bishops? I had never noticed this before.

There is no strict correspondence between the Episcopal Conference of the Holy Spirit Church and the Archdiocese;

Except for the Chief Archbishop who will definitely go to New York City to preside over St. George's Cathedral, the other members of the Episcopal Conference are not fixed, and the bishops of certain states are not necessarily members of the Episcopal Conference.

"But why did you choose me?" Wayne asked.

I was a child…

Even the extraordinary materials in your warehouse have higher ranks than mine...

Tom Hagen led Wayne out:

“In fact, including you, the Bishop has provided similar shelter to at least ten extraordinary people this year.

"Some of them were proven to have no 'sword', and some quickly lost their 'balance'. You are considered to be one of the better ones in terms of conditions and performance.

"Besides that, time is more urgent than expected. Many things must be accelerated, and those that don't work will be quickly abandoned."

Well, there is still half a year before the war officially ends, including the time it takes to travel from the Old World.

At most, there are only about eight months left - in April of that year, the Grass sailed to the New World and drifted on the sea for 66 days - which is indeed quite tight.

And according to what was said at the meeting, some places in the Old Continent have already de facto ceasefire, and there may be some "early bird flies first" guys,

And maybe they are already "flying" now.

There is no need to have too many "beasts" come over,

Just imagine that there might be dozens or hundreds of "Inissa" or "Lina" who are doing evil and killing people from the Old World.

Wayne feels that the local security situation may become very serious...

But if I think about it a little more, it seems that there won't be many "experienced hunters" everywhere, and it doesn't sound like "wise sages" will take care of everyone.

Maybe it's not that scary.

To be a little more moderate, there might be a lot of "Connors" or even more powerful criminals coming?

hiss……

It doesn’t seem to be a good feeling…

As Wayne was escorted to the cathedral gate, Tom Hagen came a little closer:

"The potions you sent over earlier should be the ones that were allegedly stolen from your college church, right? Their identification has not yet been completed. Although they are not common potions and their specific effects are unknown, they seem to be basically fine.

"But there is a potion inside that has attracted the attention of the identification personnel. They are now considering sending it to St. George's Cathedral for further identification. They suspect that it may be related to some kind of ritual that nourishes evil spirits, but it does not seem like the common practice of hidden organizations."

"When will the identification results be available?" Wayne asked.

"I don't know. Even if it is really sent to St. George's Cathedral, according to the normal process, it usually takes at least one to two months to get the results. This is the speed of direct short-sea shipping, which saves a lot of travel time compared to the steam train that requires waiting and changing trains."

Finally, Tom Hagen patted Wayne on the shoulder:

"At least you knew the storm was coming. Although you are not allowed to publicize it, I hope you can save more houses in your community."

"I'll try my best."

…

Back at the detective agency, Wayne told Inessa the story in secret.

Then they began to plan, intending to conduct a targeted "mopping up" of wanted criminals in Virginia once the personnel returned.

The news itself cannot be leaked, but Wayne feels that informing the partners of some of the information will still be more conducive to the control of the detective agency's actions.

Let's just say the cathedral is now encouraging the crackdown on extraordinary criminals, especially those who commit transnational crimes.

Although Tom Hagen indicated that the "scale" could be tilted slightly, Wayne still preferred to continue to follow the rules of bounty hunters.

After all, Wayne was not a member of the church, so he did not intend to take the initiative to touch upon things that might cause controversy. At most, he regarded this as a special "crackdown operation".

After all, if the detective agency uses the excuse of "the left foot entered the door first" to deal with others today, then tomorrow someone may use the excuse of "the right foot entered the door first" to deal with the detective agency, which may not be a good thing.

The story of "when the cunning rabbit dies, the running dog is cooked" is not new, and the other two pastors are not vegetarians either.

The detective agency hadn't done anything before, but they had secretly arranged people to investigate. If they really found out something, who knows what would happen.

But Wayne has one most concerning issue right now:

"Inesha, if we compare our detective agency to some of the Beyonder organizations in the Old World, what level is it at now?"

Inissa hesitated for a moment. "A small-scale hidden organization? If they want to secretly plan sabotage operations, they may have taken shape and are somewhat dangerous. But is it not enough to ensure the security of a place?"

Hmm... okay.

In that case, let's practice on the wanted criminals first.

Show them who the professionals are.

Happy National Day, sir!

By the way, I'm asking for votes at the beginning of the month to help the children.