Shortly after Willie left, Doug and "Soften" quickly arrived.
Once they were seated in the carriage, Wayne got straight to the point: "Willie and his team's investigation into that gang is nearing its end. I just agreed with his assessment, and he will now work with the Richmond prosecutor to file charges against some of the gang members—I need you two to keep a close eye on them from the shadows and protect them for me."
Doug nodded first, "Sir, how do you wish us to proceed?"
"Doug, you are the 'Butler' at the Detective Agency, and I think you should be aware of this so you can coordinate and provide assistance when necessary. However, this matter might still need 'Soften' and his team to be actually responsible, as they are more familiar with the situation in Richmond."
As Wayne spoke, his gaze shifted to "Soften."
The Indigenous person, whose appearance was no longer very "Indigenous," quickly nodded: "Your command."
"Private investigators assisting with investigations, prosecutors charging criminals. Willie and his team are currently following completely normal secular procedures. As I understand it, if no extraordinary powers are involved, then the Holy See and other forces will not interfere in these minor matters, and everything will proceed according to the law."
Wayne paused slightly, "We do not actively break the rules, nor do we allow those behind the opposition to break them. I hope you can keep an eye on those hiding behind the gang. If anyone takes actions outside the rules, you must be able to detect the signs of something amiss in time, and ideally, be able to promptly stop any sudden 'accidents.'"
"Soften's" expression became a little solemn: "Just a few of us peripheral members might not be able to handle those big shots… nor can we monitor too many people…"
Wayne waved his hand, "I'm not asking you to confront them directly, nor do you need to conduct overly detailed surveillance. Your role is primarily 'ears' and 'noses,' serving as the outermost early warning. If you can hear some rumors and smell some hints in advance, then you've served your purpose. After this, we will have more focused follow-up. Can you manage that?"
"Hmm…"
"Soften" pondered for a moment, "If it doesn't require precise information, and only a general understanding of movements, then perhaps it can be done. We still know some familiar faces in Richmond and have some understanding of their work habits. If relevant people are conducting surveillance, we should be able to detect it in time…"
"Very good."
Wayne was quite satisfied with "Soften's" attitude, "You don't need to feel too much pressure. I plan for you to lead, and then I'll provide a budget, so you can also appropriately recruit some informants. Lina will probably participate as well; I've noticed she's met quite a few street kids in Richmond recently. You can use a similar model to reduce your workload."
"Soften" seemed to breathe a slight sigh of relief: "I understand."
Wayne continued to outline his work ideas, "I hope your work can move towards a 'systematic' direction. For example, roughly listing known gangs and the people who might be behind them, to help us keep track of the situation—we will need to investigate more gangs than just this current one.
"For scattered intelligence collected, it also needs to be regularly organized and filed. I just thought of this aspect; Lina and her team might have more experience. For now, try to do it, and if you have specific suggestions, we will bring them up.
"However, there's one thing you can rest assured of. Provided you don't betray us, peripheral members are also part of our Detective Agency. As long as you do what needs to be done according to the rules, we won't throw you out alone to face risks, nor will we cut off peripheral organizations like local intelligence agencies do."
It's unclear if "Soften" truly took it all in, but he responded quite readily, "Yes!"
…
After Doug and his team left, about another half hour passed before Lina, with a gloomy face, came to give Wayne his winnings from the bet.
The Little Black Girl was quite sensible and did not try to escape. She just took the food to a shack where the slaves lived, threw the items in, and spoke a few words to a female slave from a distance.
It wasn't that she didn't want to chat more, but the overseers had dogs tied near the shacks, and upon hearing the commotion, they went over, so the Little Black Girl could only quickly slip away.
It was said that when she returned, she barely managed to climb over the fence. Liam, who had been following her in "Transparent" form, had to help scare away the hounds and saw her still struggling in place, almost wanting to pull her up.
That small bet was not a lot of money for Lina now, but she would still be unhappy when she had reason to be.
After listening to Wayne's new plan, Lina's brows were still furrowed, "In the middle of the night, why did you think of doing this again? It's not like you're going to build an intelligence network just because one slave ran away, is it?"
"These two are not the same thing…" Wayne continued to ask for her opinion, "Do you think it's feasible?"
"It's not hard to collect some non-confidential information. Many relief agencies of the Holy See specialize in this kind of thing. Sometimes, they can even piece together a lot of news from the city in advance."
Lina thought for a moment, "However, Richmond has developed for so many years, and businesses involving cargo transshipment and shipping must have been completely allocated by the local big shots. Those small gangs probably can only pick up some overlooked businesses, and they don't earn much money. I really don't know what fun you find in contending with them for the position of 'King of the Dock Area.'"
"For justice?" Wayne tried to propose a seemingly righteous slogan.
Lina pouted, ignoring the remark, and her thoughts immediately jumped to something else, "Oh right, wasn't it said that the Dock Area was haunted before? Did 'Soften' and his team investigate it thoroughly?"
"No. I just asked, and there have been no follow-ups since that haunting. The Holy See believes we did it, so they haven't followed up either."
"Well, if there's nothing else recently, I'll go investigate this with 'Soften' and his team. While I'm at it, I can help them sort out their work procedures." Lina said, with a hint of complaint, "Are you really not going to bother with your murder-suspect case anymore? Just waiting for the police to release the results?"
"Pretty much. The police also told me not to leave Richmond for now, so I'll stay here and keep an eye on the 'Workshop's' progress."
"Your America schools are really free… No wonder even Ian Fisk could graduate smoothly from your academy."
"My situation and his are not the same, okay!"
"Indeed. You're a history major. Have you decided what you're going to donate to the academy when the time comes?"
"I'm not donating! I'm graduating based on my exam scores."
"But I heard that attendance in classes usually counts towards assessment scores… Are you sure you don't need to retake your courses this year?"
Hmm…
Wayne briefly recalled the collection in the basement of his home… As a member of the history department, to fill some gaps in history, it might not be impossible to donate some historical documents about the april grass for academic research…
At least Professor David Lee, who is in charge of the General History of America course, seems very approachable.
