New Gods of North America

Georgia, Atlanta.

Like many states in America, Atlanta, as the "largest city" in Georgia at this time, is not the state capital.

However, unlike many states where "the big city came first, and then the state capital was established," Atlanta was actually founded later than Milledgeville, the state capital of Georgia.

The terrain of the eastern United States is such that the Appalachian Mountains "cut diagonally" from the northeast corner to the southwest.

The "end point" of this cut is roughly where Atlanta is located.

Due to the obstruction of this huge mountain range, early colonists could only gradually develop along the more favorable terrain, gradually forming the "original thirteen states" of the American Federation, squeezed together in a "vertical string" along the East Coast.

However, after reaching Georgia at the end of the mountain range, the terrain changed again.

Without the obstruction of the huge mountain range, the East Coast of the southern United States is mostly flat plains, and this area developed into the "Southern states," with developed agriculture, lying in a "horizontal line."

Georgia is an important transportation hub and turning point for this "horizontal and vertical" structure in the early United States.

After the steam train was invented, lines quickly spread throughout the prosperous states of America.

To allow crops and goods to be transported more smoothly within America, people began to think about connecting the steam train lines built in a "vertical string" with the steam train lines built in a "horizontal line."

The intersection point ultimately selected for the two steam train lines was the original Atlanta.

Relying on the amazing agglomeration effect generated by connecting the two main steam train lines, Atlanta developed rapidly.

Today, it is widely recognized as the "commercial, financial, industrial, and transportation center" of the southeastern United States—without peer.

Although, judging from the industrial development level of the Southern states at this time, the title of "industrial center" seems somewhat exaggerated, a bit like "picking the tallest among the dwarfs,"

No one would question Atlanta's position among the "major cities" of the American Federation.

For MI7, loyal to the Windsor Kingdom government, Atlanta is a near-perfect strategic fulcrum:

Due to the trade in crops such as cotton and wheat, the descendants of colonists in the Southern states, unlike the Northern states, do not advocate "independence and autonomy" as much, nor do they have competitive pressure in terms of industrial products.

Also, because the Windsor Kingdom respects the American Constitution and, unlike the Northern United States, does not express objections to the slavery system in the Southern states,

The upper class here is generally more "gentle" and "friendly" to the Windsor Kingdom, giving MI7 more room to operate.

Atlanta's special position in the American South makes it an excellent location for collecting and disseminating intelligence.

Through "exchanges" and "friendships" with various sectors in the South, the influence of the Windsor Kingdom, after theoretically being expelled from the New World, has regained influence over American politics.

Therefore, MI7 is quite "meticulous" in Atlanta, sometimes even more "civilized" and "law-abiding" than within the Windsor Kingdom itself.

Of course, only "sometimes."

Norman Stanfield, a senior police officer of the Atlanta Police Department, was supervising officers at a "crime scene" in a middle-class neighborhood.

This crime scene was unusual; it was reported by a servant from a nearby resident's house, who claimed to have heard gunshots and fighting.

But when the police arrived, not to mention the murderer, even the homeowner and servants, who were presumed to be the "victims," had mysteriously disappeared.

The scene had been preliminarily cleaned up, and ordinary people could hardly tell that a crime had ever occurred here.

He said "supervising", but this was not a case that Norman Stanfield was responsible for.

However, because of his high rank, the officers at the scene felt that he had the right to enter and exit, and they did not stop or disturb him.

Instead, they all looked like they were inspecting more carefully.

Norman Stanfield pretended to casually pull out a thin booklet from a bookshelf, flipping through it a few times.

Feeling that the officers hadn't noticed his movements, he took the opportunity to hide this seemingly common leisure reading material in the inner pocket of his coat.

At the same time, he felt a little unhappy, wondering why all his subordinates were such fools, even leaving the codebook behind during an emergency transfer.

MI7 has two teams in Georgia.

One team is hidden in the shadows, managed by Norman Stanfield, and is the "lower-level" team.

Their main job is to secretly arrest criminals who have committed crimes in the Windsor Kingdom and fled to America, and then quietly execute them or escort them back to Windsor.

Norman Stanfield felt that he was generally competent and dedicated, but this job was not legitimate, so he occasionally "traded" with some criminals who could squeeze out a large amount of赃款, leaving himself a way out.

Some subordinates are very stupid, they really think of themselves as "messengers of justice."

Like Damon McQuady, who was previously imprisoned here, even though he was an American, he believed the nonsense about "cracking down on fugitive criminals" and didn't know how to maximize his own interests.

What benefits could he get from reporting himself to MI7? He couldn't understand.

Other subordinates were equally stupid, asking them to trick Damon McQuady's accomplices, who might know his identity, into coming to Atlanta, and then try to follow the clues or catch them all in one fell swoop, to prevent his actions and identity from being discovered by American federal agencies or MI7.

But now, the planned trap failed to work, and this other safe house was instead attacked by the other party.

Not only was Damon McQuady rescued by the other party, but even the safe house had to be transferred and abandoned.

The other MI7 team seems to be hidden in the sunlight.

Norman Stanfield didn't know who they were specifically, but he knew that they were real agents and had more prominent identities on the surface here.

Norman Stanfield's senior police officer position was the result of their operation.

However, because the two teams are not subordinate to each other, and the other party is responsible for national-level tasks, they seem to have never paid attention to the "lower-level" work on his side, and should not have noticed the little things he has done.

But Norman Stanfield also knew that if the other party wanted to, killing himself might be easier than killing an ant, just by publicly exposing his identity.

Therefore, he wanted to secretly accumulate enough wealth to enjoy for a lifetime, and then, without causing MI7 to have obvious hostility towards him, change his name and go to a northern state, where they couldn't reach him, and become a low-key rich man.

What were the names of Damon McQuady's accomplices?

Wayne National Detective Agency?

Should he take advantage of the fact that they haven't left Georgia yet, and, like dealing with Damon McQuady, have someone create a case first and list them as wanted criminals?

No, that's too risky.

He didn't know which fool was deliberately leaking information, loudly publicizing the other party's transportation of bait in the newspaper, causing this matter to attract attention from all parties.

It is said that many robbers have launched operations, with heavy casualties, and even Atlanta has noticed the situation in advance.

Operating in the sunlight is too risky.

Although Damon McQuady didn't know his name and senior police officer identity on the surface, their self-proclaimed righteous team was actually the most capable of his subordinates.

Before, when he wanted to secretly eliminate them, one of them even ran away.

If they continue to investigate, they may really dig out his identity…

Back at the police station,

Norman Stanfield saw the wanted warrant from South Carolina and suddenly discovered with surprise that the detective agency was already wanted in other states.

So, he inconspicuously put the wanted warrant on top, urging the officers to send it to the chief for signature and confirmation as soon as possible, and strive to complete the printing and notify all police officers and bounty hunters in the city as soon as possible—wanted warrants issued from Atlanta usually spread quickly to large and small towns throughout the South.

After a while, Norman Stanfield checked the signed and approved wanted warrants that were about to be distributed, but found that only that one was missing.

The officer handling the documents replied to him, "The number of wanted warrants is correct, none were missed. However, one wanted warrant was not signed by the chief, who said that in Atlanta, 'eliminating robbers' is never considered 'murder'."

Tsk, another troublesome fool.

Norman Stanfield's expression remained unchanged, it seemed that he still had to find a way to have someone act secretly.