New Gods of North America

“Knock, knock, knock.”

After the knocking, footsteps gradually approached from inside.

Then, one side of the front door was opened a crack, revealing a charming face with the air of a “newlywed wife.”

Judging by her attire, she seemed to be the lady of the house.

“Who are you?”

“Hello, I apologize for disturbing you so late. My name is Wayne Constantine, and I am…”

The same routine was repeated.

Under the “officer’s” witness, Wayne and his team were once again allowed to enter.

The young lady was very easy to talk to. Besides mentioning that her husband was already resting and hoping everyone would keep quiet, she was quite cooperative.

She even brewed a pot of hot tea for everyone, placed it in the living room, indicating that they could help themselves if needed, and then led the way to give everyone a tour of the house, roughly introducing each room.

Only the couple lived here usually. The cook and cleaning maid would come during the day but not stay overnight.

This was not uncommon for young couples. Young people often preferred to create a home themselves, and the newlywed bliss and private time were understandable.

However, Wayne paid closer attention this time.

Before entering, he had given the pre-arranged signal, and the team members had also slightly increased their vigilance.

“I noticed a dog house in your yard. Why haven’t I seen your pet?” Wayne asked, pretending to be casual.

The young lady was leading everyone down the hallway on the second floor, showing them each room and mentioning some things to note.

Just as Wayne finished speaking, the young lady opened a new room, and a dog walked out, deftly slipping past everyone's feet.

“Amber, why did you run here?”

The young lady said to the dog, then explained to Wayne, “This is our pet, Amber, that Jack and I keep. She likes to hide around the house.”

It was a somewhat aloof Labrador Retriever with a slightly off-white, light yellow coat.

Wayne observed the dog's back with his minimalist line of sight, sensing nothing unusual, and then turned his gaze back to the hostess. “I see.”

After roughly looking around the house, Wayne went into almost every room except the bedroom.

As for the master bedroom suite, although Wayne and the others didn't go in, the young lady still opened the door, allowing everyone to glance inside.

There was nothing unusual inside, and the husband was still snoring softly.

After having initially gone through all the rooms,

Wayne and the member posing as a “police officer” returned to the living room to learn more and keep the homeowners engaged, preventing them from becoming suspicious during the search.

The other members began a thorough search, using special “lamps” to meticulously sweep through each room again.

The beautiful young lady seemed sincere, generous, and unguarded in her interactions.

She seemed to have the personality nurtured by those who grew up in affluent environments, colloquially known as someone who “has never been beaten by society.”

So, Wayne didn't put too much effort into making up stories. When she asked what a cobra looked like, Wayne randomly selected material from the 《Animal World》 shows he had watched in his previous life.

Anyway, she didn't seem like someone who could find any flaws.

After about half an hour, the members who had thoroughly checked inside and outside returned and told Wayne that they had not found the “snake.”

Wayne received the signal and politely said goodbye to the homeowners.

Just as he was about to follow them towards the door, a cobra suddenly “stood up” from a corner near the window in the living room, its neck flared, and its upper body lunged forward, seemingly trying to bite someone.

Wayne pulled the closest companion away, and although no one was bitten, the cobra quickly turned around and slithered towards the window, disappearing in a flash.

Several members excitedly followed, trying to catch it quickly.

The two half-baked exorcist priests in the team seemed a bit puzzled, as if they felt something was wrong, but they couldn't quite put their finger on it.

Wayne was probably the most confused person on the scene at this moment.

His minimalist line of sight had never been turned off, but the cobra looked so real and normal.

Could there really be a cobra in this world with black scales, silver rings, a pitch-black mouth, a skull-like pattern when its neck flared, and a rattlesnake “bell” on its tail?

Thinking this, Wayne looked at his companions who seemed to be really going to catch the snake.

Wait, even if we assume that the snake is real,

Our mission isn't to catch snakes.

The beautiful young lady next to him seemed frightened, her reaction fitting perfectly with her ditzy persona, and she almost wanted to hide in the arms of an exorcist priest.

Wayne felt that this situation, which was obviously problematic but showed no abnormalities, was a bit tricky.

So, he chose a “normal” reaction, quickening his pace and chasing towards the window, slapping the two exorcist priests who seemed a bit puzzled, regardless of whether they were “in character” or not, taking them away first.

After bidding farewell to the young lady again in a hurry,

Wayne's team members followed the “trail” outside one after another. The members running in front eventually followed it all the way to the side of the road and were looking around.

“What do we do now?” One of the members, seeing that the snake had been lost, seemed a little anxious.

Another member tried to offer a suggestion, “Now that the snake has left here, it shouldn’t be back anytime soon. Should we continue to search the next place?”

Wayne sighed:

“Regardless, now that we’ve found the ‘snake,’ why don’t we go back and report to David Mills?”

……

Tonight, due to a shortage of manpower,

David Mills, as one of the few people with enough on-site inspiration, also led a team to participate in the on-site search.

Wayne searched the neighborhood, asking questions as he went, and then led his team members to David Mills.

David Mills seemed a little angry when he heard one of the members' report:

“The snake got away? Why couldn’t you catch it on the scene?”

The explanation sounded plausible, saying a lot of things like “the snake’s reaction was too fast” and “we had to ensure the safety of ordinary citizens on the scene,”

Then David Mills started chatting with him, and seemed to be gradually persuaded, thinking that he made sense…

Ah, this…

Wayne stood next to him with his arms crossed, secretly holding the revolver in his gun holster.

But he was a little unsure,

Were they being tricked, or was he being tricked?

I didn’t expect the power outage to make a comeback. The power just came back on… The update time is still according to trying to do it from seven in the morning to four in the evening…