Chapter 615: Feathered Serpent
Initially, Wayne didn't think it was a big deal on the way. The fireworks Merlin had procured came in red and yellow, with yellow being the less severe of the two.
But he quickly sensed something was wrong, as gunshots rang out one after another—"bang, bang, bang, bang"—and lights in some houses the carriage passed by flickered on, then immediately extinguished.
The scene was outside a house by the road. Connal had already fallen onto the sidewalk, and the sounds of engagement had moved to the vicinity of the house in the small courtyard.
Wayne emerged from the carriage, carrying a lever-action rifle in each hand. He tossed one to Sanders, who caught it, and then immediately joined the battle.
Connal was a proven first-tier combatant among the Agents. With even him down, the situation seemed to be getting out of control.
Seeing the newcomers, Connal, half-lying on the ground, slightly raised his head and succinctly explained the situation: "We found a suspicious Extraordinary Person whose ability is to summon a semi-corporeal Feathered Serpent. He's dressed like an ordinary laborer, speaks with what sounds like a Windsor accent, and he's very formidable."
"Can you still hold on?" Wayne felt Connal's voice was too weak and asked, looking down.
Connal was now pale, his upper garment half-torn open, large areas of his skin a dull gray that was slowly spreading from his shoulder.
He himself seemed unsure: "That Feathered Serpent makes people weak and powerless just by getting close, and it can shatter my defenses with its gaze. I feel like it bit me, but there's no wound. Now, around my shoulder, it feels like countless ants are gnawing, and they're gnawing deeper and deeper. The areas that have been gnawed seem to have lost all sensation..."
Seeing the dull gray spreading almost to his heart, Wayne waved Sanders to go reinforce, while he performed emergency treatment.
He pulled out a spherical bottle he'd tucked into his pocket before getting out of the carriage. "This is holy water from Richmond Cathedral. It tastes a bit off, but it might alleviate the situation."
As soon as the holy water touched his skin, Connal silently clenched his fists, and the muscles in his body tensed in reaction.
In his simplified vision, countless "tiny dots" were active on that dull gray skin. The circle at the edges looked densest, while the already "stained" areas were relatively sparse.
Unfortunately, the holy water's effect wasn't too good; it seemed to slightly reduce the tiny dots, but the remaining ones were still full of vitality.
Increasing the dosage and spreading it, he felt that this entire bottle of holy water probably wouldn't solve the problem, yet the illusory and invisible "eye" within Wayne's body opened instead.
Spiritual intuition was a very subtle thing. Wayne felt a vague stirring, then frowned again, looking at Connal and asking, "Do you feel them drilling into your body?"
Connal was in pain, yet also seemed to be trying hard not to fall asleep, his voice very soft, "Mhm."
If this area continued inward, it would injure his heart and lungs...
Wayne quickly made up his mind. He had done similar things in the Indigenous people tribe of Blackstone Town. There were some things he could absorb from others, but they tasted quite bad and were prone to indigestion.
Placing a hand on Connal's shoulder at what seemed to be the origin of the spread, urged by the illusory and invisible "eye" within his body, he was indeed able to absorb the extraordinary power contained within those "tiny dots." He could also feel that its taste was extremely strong, incredibly salty, even saltier than overly salty...
The domain of death...
Wayne couldn't help but raise the spherical bottle and took a sip of holy water. The patch of skin on Connal's body remained dull gray, but the "tiny dots" were no longer active, their distribution gradually becoming uniform, like "a school of fish collectively turning belly-up in a pond."
Here, Connal's clenched fists slowly relaxed, while the gunshots from the house gradually thinned out. It was unclear whether the situation was good or bad. Only when the absorption of extraordinary power weakened to a stop and the "tiny dots" became stagnant did Wayne withdraw his hand. "Feeling better?"
Connal's head was resting on the ground, looking up, and he let out a soft sigh: "I don't feel as sleepy now, and it's starting to hurt a bit... Compared to just now, I feel like I should be able to last longer."
"That's good. I'll go check the situation first. Inessa or Merlin might be more professional in terms of treatment, and they should be arriving soon."
At a time like this, too much politeness was useless. Even Connal was down; a complete wipeout there would be even more fatal. Wayne shoved his pistol into Connal's hand, picked up his lever-action rifle, and stood up. "Don't fall asleep. If you can't help it, slap yourself."
"Boss..."
"Hm?"
"Thank you... I honestly thought I was going to die just now."
"Heh, after you recover, remember to work twice as hard for me."
Upon entering the courtyard and glancing around, familiar faces were either standing or crouching, arrayed in a siege formation around the house.
Wayne relaxed slightly, and then "Slingshot" quickly walked over:
"That guy is trapped inside the house. He can't defend against bullets, and his side is already injured, but after we were repelled a few times, we lost sight of him and temporarily don't dare to enter rashly. If we get too close, we're no match for him."
Like catching a turtle in a jar.
Wayne nodded to indicate he understood, took another sip of holy water in the interim, and habitually began to "aid digestion."
Seeing Merlin guarding the direction behind the house, he walked while surveying the house in front of him. "Why does this house look a bit strange?"
"This place is ostensibly a winery, but it's actually a hideout for the Sailor Gang, so it's a bit different from a typical residence. Some Sailor Gang members who have tried to attack our sales team several times in the past often appear here."
"Slingshot" followed Wayne, continuing to explain the situation, "We originally came specifically to 'catch mice' tonight, but we didn't expect anyone to be here. On the way, we found that guy's behavior a bit suspicious, so we questioned him as a routine. After he ambushed and knocked down Connal, he ran inside himself to avoid being shot..."
"I see. Guard it well; don't let that guy escape."
"Yes!"
Turning to the back of the house, besides Merlin, there were two other people from the Cathedral. One of the monks' arms was already exposed, and the skin on it was the same dull gray as Connal's.
However, another monk was applying an oily substance to his arm. Unlike Wayne, who could make the tiny dots "turn belly-up," this stuff seemed to make the tiny dots "dissolve."
Wayne raised his hand and pointed to where Connal was lying. "Merlin, we have another injured person in the same condition by the road over there. He's injured his shoulder, and the contamination is almost spreading to his chest."
Merlin gestured to the monk who was treating the injured, and the latter quickly ran over with his supplies, leaving the previously injured monk to bandage himself.
Then Merlin's gaze fell on Wayne, his eyes seeming to hold a hint of surprise.
"What's wrong?" Wayne felt a bit guilty under his gaze and quietly turned off his simplified vision.
"Nothing, I just didn't expect your extraordinary ability to be of the investigative type. No wonder you became a great detective often appearing in newspapers."
Fortunately, Merlin didn't seem to pay too much attention to this point, nor did he intend to delve deeper. He raised a hand and pointed to the house next to them. "The people who went to the Cathedral to request reinforcements have already left. We must keep this person here tonight at all costs. Even if we have to kill him on the spot, we absolutely cannot let him escape."
"You know him?" Wayne asked.
"No, but this person is definitely a believer in an evil god. And he should be connected to the Silent Sect. He's very likely the plague spreader we're looking for, or at least one of them."
Hmm?!
Wayne wasn't entirely clear on Merlin's basis for judgment, but ideas were already rapidly churning in his mind.
Then Wayne's eyes shifted slightly: "We don't have enough people on site. Constantly guarding him makes it easy for him to find an opportunity to break through, and a direct assault might cause unnecessary casualties. How about we first find a way to worsen his injuries, so he has no chance of escaping?"
Merlin hesitated a little. "Do you have any ideas? He hasn't shown himself since just now, and crossbows and firearms are hard to aim."
"I have some powerful explosives in my carriage; at the very least, they can blow open the outer wall of this house." Seeing Merlin's expression even more surprised than before, Wayne quickly added, "Private detectives like us easily attract enemies; it's perfectly normal to carry some self-defense weapons."
Merlin seemed about to speak but quickly gave up on unnecessary Tangled, refocusing on the main topic: "Alright. When dealing with members of the Silent Sect, the Cathedral allows slightly aggressive methods. If it's just an empty house, the loss isn't too great."
Heh, that makes things easier.
