New Gods of North America

The next morning,

Mr. Ben Harmon went to the Capitol again, then went to his tobacco company to deal with some business. After lunch, everyone set off back to Georgeburg.

This time, Mr. Ben Harmon specially called Wayne to his carriage.

It is not only to shorten the distance, but also to gather information at the same time.

But his tobacco company is now in a "struggle" mode.

If Ben Harmon can secure a special share of the Old World market he is striving for, then the expected sales volume will have a long-term and relatively stable rise, and the company's stock price will inevitably rise accordingly, and may even rise all the way.

Therefore, in the short term, he does not have an urgent need for capital injection, and he even does not want big capital or big families to pay attention to him too early.

On the contrary, he would be more interested if there were funds willing to lend to him at a low interest rate for his working capital.

So although he was interested in connections like Ian Fisk, whom Wayne knew, he did not seem so urgent or utilitarian.

Mr. Ben Harmon's assistant also clearly realized what happened at the dance last night.

His attitude towards Wayne also changed, becoming more humble and friendly.

Mr. Ben Harmon also had some business to attend to in the carriage.

He mainly listens to the assistant's summary report or reads the contents of some documents and letters in their original text, then makes a decision, and then the assistant makes a formal written reply based on his opinion.

For some of the contents that were not sure whether they should be kept secret from Wayne, the assistant would speak more cryptically, or directly hand the materials to Mr. Ben Harmon and point out the key paragraphs.

As for some content that was probably irrelevant, the assistant directly said:

"This is a letter from the Richmond Bar Association. They are very interested in your proposal to boycott the abuse of 'Green Fairy' and its products, and invite you and your wife to attend their charity dinner next month."

Mr. Ben Harmon hesitated for a moment and said, "Charity dinner... I may not be able to spare much money for charity at the moment. But you should still formally reply to the letter and thank them for the invitation. My wife and I will attend on time."

Wayne noticed some familiar terms in it.

Green elf?

The little mushroom that Lina mentioned is worth $1?

Noticing the change in Wayne's expression, Mr. Ben Harmon turned his head and looked over: "Mr. Wayne, am I also interested in the charity dinner? Perhaps we can go together then. Such dinners will never refuse unexpected guests."

Wayne told the truth, "I've heard of 'green elves'. It's a kind of mushroom, and it's said to be delicious when stewed in soup."

Mr. Ben Harmon couldn't help but shake his head slightly:

“That’s not a good thing. While it can be a source of some special flavor when fresh and is fine in small amounts for cooking, it becomes different when dried.

"It is said that in the academy, many students choose to use dried 'green elves' to make a pot of 'mushroom tea' when they are nervous, to refresh themselves and calm down. It has even become a trend and is tending to be abused. This is not good."

Wayne agreed, "It doesn't sound good."

"Yes," Mr. Ben Harmon also nodded. "If you just need to relax temporarily, then smoking tobacco is enough. You shouldn't use other substances with unknown pharmacological effects. At least according to current research in the medical community, smoking tobacco is completely harmless to health."

Hmm...

Mr. Ben Harmon’s starting point and arguments are actually quite “magical” in Wayne’s opinion…

…

Back at Mr. Ben Harmon's estate in Georgeburg,

Lina also seems to have gained a lot in the past two days:

"After preliminary investigation, it was found that the Williams family, one of the slaves on the estate, were believers of Voodoo. At the door of their shack, there was a small trench filled with brick chips ground into powder, which was a Voodoo practice to ward off 'evil spirits'.

"Mr. Myron, the butler, seems to have developed a secret crush on a maid. According to local customs, if the employer finds out, one of them will have to leave.

"Then I have figured out the approximate locations of several safes in their home. By the way, I also learned that Mr. Harmon's business was originally started entirely with Mrs. Harmon's assets."

Wayne thought for a moment, "Where is the person who secretly put peanut powder into Mr. Ben Harmon's food that caused his allergy?"

Lina shook her head:

"This has not been investigated clearly. The ingredients were placed in the kitchen while they were being marinated. In theory, the servants who had eaten in the small dining room next to the kitchen that afternoon are all suspects. After the food was cooked, at least four people handled or checked it: the chef, the assistant, the butler, and the valet. This matter is not easy to ask, so we can only investigate it indirectly."

What's the point of all that information just now? !

Besides, we are here to act as bodyguards. What does it mean if we know the location of the employer's safe? !

Wayne calmed down a bit, "Based on your observations over the past few days, do you think Mrs. Harmon is a suspect?"

Lina was quite frank:

"That's unclear. She doesn't like me, and her personal maid never talks to me."

Wayne was silent for a moment, then decided to scare her:

"By the way, do you know that someone in America is secretly supporting the expansion of the 'Life School'? It is said that it has developed to the point where the church in the south is ready to attack them."

Lina was obviously not afraid of the people from the School of Life, and she had no reaction to this. "I don't know. But isn't it said that this place has closer ties with the Old World? It doesn't seem strange that someone would support the infiltration of the hidden organization?"

"That's true..." Wayne nodded, "There is also a group called the 'Church of Light', which is said to be doing well here as well."

Lina visibly shrank to the side.

It was hard for Wayne not to notice this. "Why? Are you connected to them?"

“The connection is not very close.”

Lina rolled her eyes:

"I escaped from prison before. Actually, the Holy See's Inquisition mainly wanted to imprison me. Occasionally, someone would ask me to identify some spies from the Kingdom of Windsor. As an early retirement, it was not bad.

"But the people of the Church of Light were afraid that I would leak their information and wanted to silence me, so I had to escape from prison."

Um?

Wayne had "doubt" written on his face.

I have the impression that the power and influence of the Holy See in the Old World is greater than that of the Holy Spirit Church in America.

A member of a cult organization went to the territory of the Holy See to silence people?

What kind of a trick is this?

Lina obviously understood. "You should know that the Church of Light was originally composed of clergy and extraordinary people in the 'holy' realm, just like the Holy See, right?"

Wayne nodded.

"In that case, when the Church of Light was listed as an 'evil god worship organization' and was cracked down, which organization in the Old World do you think would be the most convenient and safest for them to hide their identities?" Lina asked.

No way?

Playing Infernal Affairs?!

"That's right. If you want to hide a leaf, the best way is to hide it in the forest. According to my previous dealings with them, some of the followers of the Church of Light may even have become cardinals in the Holy See."

Lina shrank her neck when she said this, "So if you say that the Holy Spirit Church has also been 'contaminated' by their people, it doesn't seem to be surprising..."

All right.

No wonder this incident alarmed the bishop of the diocese and made him personally go and give people a "kind reminder"...

But wait a minute.

Wayne crossed his arms and looked at Lina, "Which side were you on before?"

Lina thought about it:

"Initially, the Franks chose me and secretly placed me in a special orphanage in Windsor. Then the people in Windsor also chose me and sent me back to the Franks... In your opinion, should this kind of thing be counted according to the place of birth or the length of time lived there?"

Wayne gave up thinking and said, "Why not just use the nationality on your passport?"

"Oh," Linna shook her head a little, "then I'm Hans. Moin!"