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Chapter 63: Coming to Demand Justice
But now things were different. If Old Man Leon could be the boss, Phil could replace him too.
Caesar could see the thick ambition emanating from Phil.
The earlier intimidation tactic of not opening the gate and the sudden confrontation were both Phil trying to show other ranches that he was the boss of Leon's ranch—which was undoubtedly overstepping his bounds.
"This way!"
The subordinates Phil left behind led Caesar and his group forward into the ranch.
Caesar sat in the vehicle, his invasive gaze sweeping across the pasture. The land was vast, the grassland flat and lush, and with plenty of cattle and sheep, the food reserves were clearly substantial—otherwise they couldn't support so many people.
In Leon's ranch conference room, Old Man Leon leaned back in his chair, eyes closed in a drowsy state.
Creak—the conference room door opened.
Caesar slowly walked in, with Morales and the others following.
Without waiting for Old Man Leon to speak, Caesar sat directly in the chair across from the old man. Beth sat beside Caesar, with Merle on the other side.
As for Morales and the others, they stood behind. Andrea, who had no idea why she was brought along, leaned idly against a wall, looking around.
After Caesar took his seat, Old Man Leon slowly opened his eyes. Acting as if he'd just noticed Caesar and his group, he said with delight, "Caesar, you're here?"
"Did you run into any trouble on the way?"
Old Man Leon was very old, his skin loose and barely clinging to his flesh. A smile leaked from the corners of his mouth like a kindly elderly man, but a scar at the corner of his right eye gave him a somewhat sinister air.
Caesar raised his hand and pointed at one of the cowboys—the one who'd led them in. "Phil is still the same as before, really doesn't understand the rules."
That cowboy's face changed. He opened his mouth wanting to defend himself, but after taking just two steps forward, he was surrounded by two cowboys who were Old Man Leon's loyal supporters.
Old Man Leon froze for a moment, then slowly raised his head and waved his hand. "Ah, it's not his fault. Let him go. No need to make things difficult for him."
Seeing the cowboys surrounding him disperse, the guide immediately looked at Old Man Leon gratefully and thanked him profusely.
Old Man Leon, like a family elder, patted the guide's head a few times and told him he didn't need to report these matters to Phil when he returned, saying something about not wanting Phil to have opinions.
When the guide left, the look in his eyes toward Old Man Leon was extremely loyal, as if Leon could order him to offer up his heart with a single word.
Caesar watched this scene, a trace of wariness rising in his heart toward Old Man Leon. He'd originally thought Leon was nearly controlled by Phil, but it turned out the old man's methods of winning people's hearts weren't bad at all.
Phil was probably stupid enough to truly believe he could control the entire Leon ranch.
"Old Man Leon." Caesar's thoughts shifted as he began sowing discord. "You're just letting that cowboy go so easily?"
Old Man Leon laughed twice, stroking his beard. "I'm so old already. No need to quibble so much with youngsters."
"Oh, really?" Caesar raised his eyebrows. "What if Phil has murderous intentions toward you?"
Before Old Man Leon could react, several cowboys beside him drew their weapons with furious expressions, glaring at Caesar indignantly.
Morales and the others also pulled out their guns, pointing them at the opposition.
The atmosphere instantly became tense. Caesar and Old Man Leon sat facing each other, both raising their hands simultaneously to stop their subordinates' actions.
It seemed Old Man Leon's people all knew about Phil's ambitions and were probably constantly disgusted by him.
Caesar observed the cowboys behind Old Man Leon and thought to himself.
"In my view, Old Man Leon." Caesar tapped the table and raised his head, looking at Leon, a flash of killing intent in his eyes. "If loyalty isn't absolute, then it's absolutely disloyal."
"Then you have to kill. If you don't kill Phil, are you keeping him around to cause you trouble?"
Old Man Leon didn't take the bait. He twisted his head, making a gesture of listening intently, and only after a long while did he nod as if suddenly understanding, playing dumb as he said, "Phil is a good person. He helps me manage the ranch and has killed many monsters."
"The people at the ranch respect him a lot, and I trust him very much."
Caesar glanced at Old Man Leon. It seemed sowing discord was useless—Leon was very clear about Phil's threat to him.
Narrowing his eyes, Caesar stopped dwelling on this and turned his head to look at Beth, signaling her to speak.
Beth nodded and raised her hand to light a cigarette. "Old Man Leon, we came here to demand compensation from you."
With those words, the air seemed to freeze.
The cowboys at Leon's ranch all knew about Teddy's situation. They all widened their eyes, staring at Beth.
Clearly their ranch had suffered damage, and even Teddy and several subordinates had all died.
Yet the perpetrators were coming to the victims to demand compensation???
Not just the cowboys—even Old Man Leon was stunned, his eyes opening wider, showing a shrewd appearance completely different from before.
Caesar glanced at him. Old Man Leon coughed lightly twice, shrank back, and returned to his previous appearance.
Beth wasn't surprised by their reaction. She took a deep drag on her cigarette and slowly exhaled, the smoke drifting through the air.
"We want food rations for thirty people for one year, plus fifty head each of cattle and sheep, and Caesar's ranch will jointly control Buffalo Pass with Leon's ranch."
This outrageous demand immediately silenced Old Man Leon.
Old Man Leon looked at Caesar. "This is your idea too?"
Caesar grinned and spread his hands. "As a core member of my ranch, whatever Beth says is final. Not a penny less."
"Do you know how much you're asking for?" Old Man Leon slammed the table and stood up abruptly, trembling with rage.
"Food rations for thirty people for a year—all our ranch's reserves combined don't add up to that much."
"Fifty each of cattle and sheep? You've really got nerve making such demands. Get lost!"
Old Man Leon no longer played the kindly, affable old man. He pointed toward the conference room door, his cane shaking continuously in his hand.
Beth smiled, stood up, and slowly walked behind Old Man Leon. She pressed him back down into his chair, saying with a smile, "Now, now, old timer, don't get so worked up."
"Business negotiations require give and take. I name a price, you counter with another price. We discuss and negotiate, and that's how we reach an agreement."
That's right, this is a negotiation. Old Man Leon thought to himself—as the victim, how could he be the one giving compensation?
Just as Old Man Leon was about to slam the table again, Beth's slightly husky, magnetic voice sounded in his ear.
"Old Man Leon, do you know what Teddy did?"
"He demanded we hand over all the supplies we worked so hard to scavenge from outside. Not only that, he also demanded we offer him several beautiful women."