New Gods of North America

Wayne and the others arrived at the entrance of the charity home at 12:40 AM.

The reason he specifically took out his pocket watch to check the time was that as he stepped down from the carriage, he noticed that fires had simultaneously broken out in two different distant locations in the city.

The fire in one of the locations seemed quite intense, likely having ignited a lot of oil or other flammable materials. It was probably a warehouse or something similar.

The other fire was in a higher location, on the top floor of a "high-rise building" for this era. The fire itself wasn't too large, but it was quite eye-catching at night. He wondered which wealthy person's property had suffered.

Nowadays, most cities in America don't have professional fire departments. When a fire breaks out, they mostly rely on neighborhood mutual aid or self-reliance, neither of which is ideal in these situations.

While Wayne lamented that the church and local public officials would be busy tonight, he turned back to the carriage.

He put down the supernatural creature-specific shackles he had swiped from David Mills before departure and rummaged for the lever-action rifle, spare demon-hunting bullets, and simple high-explosive charges from under the seat.

Since the other side had arranged for people to deliberately set fires and create such a commotion, this wasn't the "simple escape" they had initially predicted. The danger rating had to be adjusted upward.

Firepower is something you might not need, but in crucial moments, whoever doesn't have it will suffer.

Charity homes in America can generally be divided into two categories. One is more similar to so-called "orphanages" or "nursing homes," which are often located in more remote areas and house some homeless people for long-term stays.

The one tonight seemed to be the other type, which provides free food regularly or irregularly, while also arranging some promotional or general knowledge night classes, and occasionally allowing people in need to stay temporarily.

The more accommodating ones usually allow poor people to take the prepared food home, while the less accommodating ones may require them to attend a class before filling their stomachs.

Because they basically don't provide accommodation, the layout inside is divided into "front desk" and "backstage" areas.

The former is usually "open to anyone" on weekdays, while the latter is relatively closed off, theoretically "off-limits without permission."

The entrance to the charity home is in an inconspicuous but deep alley next to the street. Irrelevant people could pass by the alley entrance dozens of times without actually walking in.

Wayne and the others left a marker on the roadside outside the alley. If the detective agency people saw it, they would know to turn in.

The road inside wasn't short. After entering the alley, you had to walk a bit and then turn a corner to see the charity home's wall.

It felt like this area was a good spot for ambushes. The alley itself wasn't perpendicular to the street outside, so you couldn't see too far at a glance. Police officers probably wouldn't patrol this deep. Even if someone shouted for help, by the time a kind passerby arrived, the robbers might already be gone.

Although wealthy people probably wouldn't appear here alone usually, it shouldn't be easy to catch petty bullies stealing other people's food or small items.

Because it was late at night, the charity home's usually open courtyard was locked up.

Iinesha reached up to the wall and peeked over, taking a deep breath to confirm the scent of her specially prepared blood. Conner lightly flipped over and quietly opened the small door next to the main gate from the inside.

This little broken door was a double door. The outside was an iron gate with a lock, and the inside was a wooden door to block the wind.

The wooden door could be opened by lifting the latch, and the iron gate was probably to prevent intrusion. The iron bolt was installed in a position unreachable from the outside.

Wayne glanced at it and thought the design was good. The detective agency could learn from it when they had the chance.

Moreover, it only prevented entry from the outside, indicating that at least the "front desk" area of the courtyard wasn't like a prison.

Theoretically, a charity home like this should have someone on duty at night. After all, people who need help come in all shapes and sizes, and not everyone comes during the day.

However, there was no one near the gate at the moment. Wayne walked in with the lever-action rifle, and Iinesha followed behind him.

The carriage prepared by the church tonight was parked in a corner of the courtyard. The blood dripping from the bottle under the car had formed a small puddle.

Because the issue of endurance had to be considered before, the bottle had been treated so that the blood dripped at a rate of about one small drop every ten to twenty seconds.

Iinesha checked it briefly with the faint light and estimated the time, "It was probably parked here a few minutes ago."

There was only one pathetic little night light hanging in a corner of the courtyard. There were no signs of fighting around the carriage. The church naturally wouldn't prepare weapons for escapees. Theoretically, with Damon McReady's level, he shouldn't be easily taken down in such a short time.

Wayne guessed that Damon McReady might have chosen to cooperate temporarily, perhaps wanting to find the other party's subsequent base or route.

But that big "Kirin Arm," even though he had tried to cover it up with clothing, could he really continue to fool people after getting out of the car?

The three dispersed in the courtyard to continue searching for subsequent traces. Conner quickly waved from the other side.

Wayne and Iinesha went over one after the other, then each raised their weapons and loaded their bullets.

It wasn't strange to have an iron gate here since it looked like one of the passages to continue deeper inside. Anyway, the detective agency had a lock-picking course.

The main thing was that the traces left on the ground looked wrong. The size roughly matched Willie's, but they were fresh drag marks, and the force was very light.

Wayne mentally pictured someone's upper body being supported by someone else, with their toes pointing backward, being dragged backward softly.

No way,

Damon McReady, a semi-special agent and former Interpol officer, was taken down in seconds?!

This iron gate was the kind with a lock core in the middle section, requiring a key to enter and exit. Unfortunately, limited by the era, it could defend against chickens, but it couldn't defend against agents who started carrying small tool kits with them.

Conner spent less than three minutes passing this practical lesson, carefully pried the door open, and passed through the small aisle, which led to another small courtyard.

The inner courtyard was only for pedestrians, and it felt darker than the outer courtyard. A section of the road inside was paved with rough floor tiles, and there was less dust, so the traces quickly disappeared.

Wayne opened the minimalist line of sight and couldn't find any subsequent traces for a while. The information Iinesha quietly provided was half good and half bad.

No blood smell, indicating that the two were not injured at least for now,

But it also meant that the other party had quite effective control methods. Even if Conner wanted to take down Damon McReady, it wouldn't be so easy in the arena.

Fortunately, there weren't many buildings inside,

Seeing that the courtyard was as gloomy as a demon's lair at the moment, it shouldn't be too far off to explore the more remote building in the distance first.