Chapter 632: Thoughts and Countermeasures
As dawn broke, the group quickly gathered in the Ireland territory. Even Lina was brought along by Wayne to revisit the old place, while "Soften" got off the carriage halfway, adhering to the intelligence team's secrecy principle.
The place was indeed deserted. Lina, being quite bold, even dared to rummage through the kitchen, continuing to collect leftover silver tableware and other supplies, while also finding ready-made tea and pastries.
Inessa and Merlin also successively finished dealing with the nodes they went to reinforce and joined the group with their people.
Anyway, there were seven nodes in the ritual, and only three had accidents or exploded prematurely. Wayne pretty much didn't avoid a single trap.
Although no more thugs appeared at the last few nodes, it didn't mean there were "no problems." It was just that after gaining experience in that foul-smelling large warehouse, the remaining node locations were already quite clear, and everyone was more careful when going to reinforce them.
When Wayne dealt with his last node, he chose to break through the wall with high explosives. The thugs, when setting up the traps, obviously hadn't considered this situation and didn't expect someone to enter the house without approaching the magic circle.
After confirming that the house Lina had visited before was fine, everyone took a temporary rest there, replenishing their strength or re-bandaging their wounds.
The conditions of those with potentially severe injuries had been reported to Merlin, who arranged for them to be taken to the Church's property in the Dock Area.
Soon, several people gathered again in the living room for a meeting. The so-called ritual manual was spread open on the low table, currently open to the title page:
"Dedicated to all devout believers of the 'death Serpent,' may all sacrifices forever rest in His witness.
"The Humble Forerunner — Boris Salayan."
At first glance, he seemed like a good person.
Inessa clearly recognized the name: "He was the mastermind behind the plague incident I mentioned earlier. After the incident, he was killed on the spot during the pursuit.
"In terms of the completion of the ritual itself, he could be considered a 'success.' After all, according to the signs at the time, 'Coatle' did briefly descend, or at least briefly projected a phantom, and his own extraordinary abilities also showed mutations with Feathered Serpent characteristics.
"According to what the Hunter Association knows, the Silent Sect even posthumously awarded him the title of 'Grand Master' afterwards, which was a 'Master' jointly recognized by several of their internal branches. He is considered a relatively infamous cultist in Windsor."
Merlin probably didn't trust the things left behind by these cultists. He held his teacup, hesitating, as if looking at poison.
He was more concerned about practical matters: "If we infer based on their usual modus operandi, will they hold the ritual again in the Dock Area after this failure?"
Inessa was not very sure, "The Silent Sect's branches have very different styles of action, with obvious personal characteristics, which may be related to their 'Masters,' making it difficult to generalize. However, the process of the Underworld Gate ritual seems quite fixed. I think the possibility of them seeking revenge is higher than the possibility of them holding the ritual again."
Since the plague investigation seemed to be over, it was time for my schemes to re-enter the Dock Area...
Wayne took two sips of tea mixed with holy water, wondering whether to focus on tracking down extraordinary materials next or to take time to continue bothering the gangs.
Then, a monk who was not in the investigation team was quickly led into the living room.
He whispered a few words to Merlin, who immediately put down his teacup and stood up after listening.
"What happened?" Wayne asked.
Merlin looked at Wayne, "Among the monks who were responsible for emergency rescue with you last night, one has fallen into a deep coma, and his condition is not very good. He was rushed back to the Church Hospital in the city last night. The Bishop learned of this and asked me to return to the Cathedral immediately to report the situation."
Oh my god,
When he left, he felt the situation was still controllable. Could those guys have really made a "return attack"?
Some situations might not cause many casualties, but if responsibility was pursued, it might not be a small matter.
For example, regarding last night's events, if there were witnesses, it could be said that Wayne acted decisively, rushing from one battlefield to another without stopping, his performance being heroic.
But if there were no witnesses, it might turn into Wayne abandoning the wounded and escaping himself in a critical situation...
Wayne had already told Merlin about the situation at the time. He only knew that the attackers at the time looked like gang members, and their specific identities had not yet been investigated. Hearing this, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty: "Do I have to go too?"
The monk who came to deliver the message shook his head slightly. Merlin, seeing this, could only reassure everyone, "You all stay here and rest for now. Those cultists haven't been caught yet, and the Dock Area also needs capable people to stay behind."
As soon as Merlin went downstairs, Wayne immediately told Lina to mobilize the intelligence team.
At least have a contingency plan first,
Every wrong has its source, and a little collateral responsibility is fine, but I don't want to take the blame for this.
Hmm...
Let me think twice.
...
On the other side of Richmond, someone else also received the latest news.
"Your attack failed?!"
"Yes. I'm very sorry, Mr. Schwartz. I didn't expect the Detective Agency to also be in action last night, and they had more manpower. Our preparations were still insufficient by comparison."
"Then why did you come to inform me so early?! I told you, I knew nothing about this from beginning to end!"
The leader of the Sailor Gang originally wanted to tell Mr. Schwartz that his subordinates and those guys from the Ireland Violent Group might have accidentally injured people from the Cathedral last night, and that the Church's people eventually carried them on stretchers to a carriage directly to the city, meaning something unexpected had happened.
But upon seeing the banker's reaction, he decisively chose a different narrative:
"Don't worry, I've already arranged for our people to be taken away in time. Some will be temporarily sent to surrounding towns to recuperate, and others have been secretly buried. The bodies still at the scene are all from the Ireland Violent Group. That Wayne will never be able to trace it back to us."
Most people from all walks of Richmond's high society are believers of the Holy Spirit Church. Once people discover that innocent monks have been accidentally injured by gang members, the anger that could erupt is clearly something the Sailor Gang cannot bear.
If a monk died and the matter was exposed, and Mr. Schwartz did not offer help, he might have a chance to clear his name, but he himself would probably just be waiting for the gallows.
Indeed, after hearing him say that, Mr. Schwartz's expression gradually softened.
The cunning banker, still wearing a luxurious bathrobe, quickly devised a countermeasure, "You find a way to lead the clues to those Ireland people. I heard that Mr. Prior has long been dissatisfied with O'Sullivan. I believe he won't fall out with me over this."
The leader of the Sailor Gang made a difficult expression: "You know, this cooperation was only because our two gangs happened to have the same goal, but my people usually can't easily get close to the Ireland territory. Some things might be difficult to handle..."
Mr. Schwartz was slightly displeased. He shook the bell on the table and summoned the butler, "There's a batch of goods that needs to be transshipped today before loading. Take him over there and let their carriage also blend into the convoy. He will specify the exact route for that trip."
After the butler nodded and left, Mr. Schwartz looked back at the gang leader in front of him, who seemed to be becoming less useful, "You should know how to handle the rest, right?"
The Sailor Gang leader's face showed genuine joy: "Of course. I will definitely get things done."
