Chapter 62: Phil
Amy smiled as she helped Caesar dress. Caesar joked, "I'm really enjoying the treatment of a big ranch owner now."
"Do you like it?" Amy stood in front of Caesar, focusing on arranging his collar. "I'll dress you every day."
Caesar didn't respond, just quietly watched Amy work.
"Hmm?" Not getting a response, Amy looked up, making a questioning sound.
"What's wrong? Are you touched?" Amy's lips curved into a smile as she pointed at her own lips. "Then give me a kiss."
Caesar didn't hesitate and leaned down for a deep kiss.
Amy closed her eyes, enjoying it fully until her legs felt a bit weak.
"I'm leaving."
After the tender moment ended, Amy watched Caesar walk out the door with a smile, gently waving her hand.
Not far from the house, Caesar saw Lloyd, Colby, and the other two cowboys leaning against the fence dividing the living area from the pasture area.
Besides them, Daryl and Merle stood at a subtle distance, along with Carol and Beth.
Beth had a cigarette in her mouth and waved her hand. "Did you have a good time last night? Happy?"
With that, several people burst into laughter, especially Colby and Merle.
Caesar glanced at Beth. "You can shut up now."
"We're already past the scheduled time. Should we hurry over now?" Ryan frowned, raised his hand, and looked at his watch.
Yesterday, Ryan had gone to Old Man Leon's ranch and arranged a meeting to discuss the previous incident with Teddy at Buffalo Pass.
Old Man Leon's forces weren't weak. According to what Teddy had said before, he'd recently recruited new people.
Caesar wanted to go see the situation firsthand.
Beth took a deep drag on her cigarette and blew smoke toward Ryan's face, ignoring his ugly expression. "We're the ones initiating contact. We've already taken the first step."
"If we arrive early, it'll look like we're eager, and they'll likely look down on us. We should arrive late, make them wait a bit, and test their patience."
Ryan frowned but didn't argue. He had no experience in this area and didn't know if it was right or wrong.
Caesar patted Ryan's shoulder. "Actually, it doesn't matter either way. Sooner or later we're going to swallow them up. It's just a matter of time."
"Old Man Leon may be strong, but he's not good at managing people. He has many subordinates, but many of them are just a rabble who don't really follow Leon's orders."
"Even if we clash head-on right now, we still have excellent odds of winning."
"So go ahead and negotiate with confidence."
Caesar then instructed Carol to send people to take over the other ranches, and had Daryl lead people to clear out walkers area by area, making sure there were no walkers where Caesar's ranch connected to the new territories.
At this moment, Caesar saw Andrea repairing the wooden fence in the distance.
Andrea was covered in sweat, sitting on the ground, gasping for breath from exhaustion.
Seeing Andrea, Caesar's eyes shifted as he thought of a good idea. He said to Beth, "When we go to Leon's ranch, bring Andrea along."
Though she didn't understand why, Beth followed the order anyway.
Afterward, Caesar took several cowboys, Merle, Beth, and others toward Old Man Leon's ranch.
The others stayed behind to guard Caesar's ranch.
Caesar's ranch was in a relatively central position in Black Pine Valley, while Leon's ranch was on the left side in a more peripheral location. Buffalo Pass was also nearby, close to Leon's ranch.
Caesar didn't choose to ride horses but instead chose to drive.
Bringing two teams of people, after more than half an hour of driving—thirty or forty kilometers—Caesar and his group arrived at Leon's ranch.
Leon's ranch was much larger than Caesar's. Sitting in the vehicle, Caesar could see hundreds of cattle grazing in the pasture.
A dozen cowboys on horseback herded them, each one watching the unfamiliar vehicles warily.
The convoy stopped in front of Leon's ranch, and Caesar and his group sat in the vehicles waiting for the ranch gate to open.
Several minutes passed with no one coming to open it.
Caesar turned his head to look into the ranch. A few of those cowboys had disappeared—they'd probably gone back to communicate.
But after several minutes with no response, they were clearly trying to intimidate him.
Caesar patted Morales's seat back. "Ram through it!"
Upon hearing this, Morales didn't hesitate for a second. His foot slammed down on the gas pedal, and the pickup truck shot forward.
Like a maddened bull, it smashed through the ranch gate.
The remaining cowboys in the distance stared in shock, then watched as the other pickups crashed through the wooden fence beside the gate.
"Hey!" Several cowboys rode their horses over with whips, looking furious.
Suddenly, over a dozen cowboys appeared from somewhere, blocking the path of those angry cowboys and driving them back with a few shouts.
Caesar watched as these dozen or so cowboys rode forward. The lead cowboy wore a friendly smile on his face, though his triangular eyes looked somewhat vicious.
Phil looked Caesar over. He was completely different from before—his posture much more confident and proud, his attitude very tough. You could tell at a glance he was ambitious.
"Long time no see, Caesar." Phil spoke first. "You've changed quite a bit."
Caesar didn't get out of the vehicle, just glanced at him. "The apocalypse has arrived. Isn't it normal to change a lot?"
Phil stopped the small talk and put away his smile, pointing his riding whip at the shattered ranch gate and the surrounding wooden fence debris. "Can you give me an explanation?"
"Give you an explanation?" Caesar opened the car door, got out, and slowly walked toward Phil.
Morales, Merle, and the others simultaneously exited their vehicles, following closely behind Caesar.
Phil wasn't a coward. He dismounted and stepped forward.
The cowboys behind him followed suit.
Phil took two steps forward and struck first, throwing a hard punch.
Caesar's eyes were sharp and his hands quick. He struck later but arrived first, hitting Phil's cheek, then following with a brutal liver shot.
The pain made Phil bend at the waist. Then Caesar grabbed Phil and threw him several meters away like a little chick.
Phil hit the ground hard with a muffled grunt.
His subordinate cowboys froze for a moment, looking back at Phil. They hadn't expected their boss to lose so quickly.
They looked at each other, then stepped back, not engaging with Morales and the others.
Two subordinates pulled Phil up from the ground. Phil looked terrible—bleeding from his mouth and nose, one side of his face swollen, his steps unsteady.
Phil waved his hand and gave orders to his subordinates. "Take them to see Old Man Leon. I'm going back to rest."
With that, he ignored Caesar and his group, mounted his horse with difficulty, and left in a sorry state.
Caesar watched Phil's retreating figure with deep eyes.
Phil was the second-in-command in Old Man Leon's group, and also the person who least followed Leon's orders.
In the old lawful society, Phil couldn't just kill Old Man Leon and inherit his ranch, so he could only submit and work under Leon for a living.
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