Chapter 66: Incitement
Entering the wooden cabin, a faint woody fragrance drifted from inside. Caesar pressed his body against the wall as he walked inward.
Walking through the hallway, he came to the living room.
Old Man Leon stood with his hands behind his back in front of the fireplace, firelight dancing on his face as his hands caressed an antique gun.
The gun body had silver patterns and appeared to be very well maintained.
Old Man Leon stopped what he was doing and turned his head to look at Caesar. "What do you think about seeing Horus today?"
When initiating cooperation, the party who proposes first most easily loses the initiative.
Caesar raised his eyebrows and sat in a chair, letting out a comfortable hum. "Horus? What thoughts could I have about him?"
Watching Caesar treat this place like his own home, Old Man Leon looked at him with praise. "When I was young, I was like you too."
"Fearing nothing in heaven or earth, even daring to hunt black bears with my father."
As he spoke, Old Man Leon pointed to the black bear head mounted on the wall. The taxidermist was very skilled—the entire black bear looked angry and biting, appearing alive.
Besides the black bear, there were also heads of animals like elk.
Caesar glanced at them. He had no great interest in hunting and didn't respond.
After a moment of silence, Leon straightened up and looked at Caesar. "I want to cooperate with you and divide up Horus."
Finally.
Caesar's tone carried some excitement. "Oh, haven't you and Horus always had a good relationship?"
"Why do you suddenly want to move against him?"
"Because you appeared." Old Man Leon looked at Caesar. The second half of his sentence remained unspoken—also because Phil had begun shaking the foundation of his leadership.
Caesar stood up, walked to the wine cabinet nearby, took out a bottle of rum, and poured the golden liquid into two glasses.
He picked up a glass and shook it, looking at the color of the liquid by firelight, saying as if casually, "Then what's my compensation?"
Old Man Leon's expression didn't change. "What do you want?"
"I want all of Horus's cattle, sheep, and ranch." Caesar put down his glass, staring directly at Old Man Leon, flames called ambition burning fiercely in his eyes.
The corners of Old Man Leon's mouth curved upward, the arc growing larger, the smile growing thicker.
"Hahahaha!" Leon stopped laughing and walked to the wine cabinet, picking up the other glass. "I appreciate your ambition."
"Then I want Horus's firearms and all reserve supplies."
"Deal!"
Caesar extended his glass. The two glasses collided with a crisp sound.
After the deal was made, Caesar didn't linger and quickly left Leon's ranch.
Leon slowly sipped the remaining liquid until an entire bottle was consumed. Then he called for the cowboy outside the door.
He told him to find Phil.
Leon lay back on the sofa, restraining his aura. His entire person appeared listless, as if he didn't have much time left.
Before long, knocking sounded again.
Without waiting for Leon to tell them to enter, Phil swaggered into the cabin and sat brazenly on the sofa, putting his feet up on the coffee table.
The cowboy who'd wanted to stop Phil's overbearing behavior also came in. Only after seeing Leon wave his hand did he leave.
Phil glanced at the empty wine bottle on the coffee table and laughed. "Old man, your drinking capacity is still decent. Didn't expect at your age you could still drink this much."
Leon's cloudy eyes stared at Phil. "Phil, do you want to become the boss of Leon's ranch?"
Phil's entire body stiffened. Immediately his hand moved toward his lower back where his gun was.
At the same time, his gaze swept the room, searching for where people might be hiding, and he watched Leon warily.
Phil said unnaturally, "Old man, what bullshit are you talking about?!"
"Making it sound like if I say I want to, you'll hand over the position to me."
"Yes." Leon nodded, looking at Phil calmly.
Phil froze slightly, suspecting his ears had problems, forcing a laugh. "Stop joking, old man."
He couldn't quite figure out what Leon was trying to do tonight. His attitude was completely different from before, giving him the feeling that all his thoughts had been seen through.
"Phil, I'm already old." Leon lowered his eyes, stroking his legs twice. "I can barely walk anymore."
Leon raised his head, looking intensely at Phil. "You're still young, Phil. I want to let you take this position. After you become leader, you'll have twenty or thirty armed troops."
"Then occupy some smaller ranches, and your strength will rapidly advance. By then, all of Black Pine Valley will be yours."
Listening to the blueprint Leon painted, Phil inevitably became excited, his hands clenched into tight fists, the corners of his mouth unable to suppress their upward turn.
Idiot.
Leon cursed silently, outwardly coughing lightly twice to wake Phil from his fantasy.
"However, for you to become leader of Leon's ranch, even if I directly abdicate to you, some cowboys won't submit to you."
Phil smiled disdainfully, saying ruthlessly, "Then I'll just kill them all and make them into walkers to hang up, just like Caesar did."
"What about their families? If you kill those cowboys, will you also kill their families?" Leon, like an elder genuinely considering a junior, said earnestly, "You can't just kill and fight."
"Then tell me, what should I do?" Phil was too lazy to listen to Leon's long speech and asked directly.
Old Man Leon then said, "Horus. You lead people to ally with Caesar and take down Horus together."
"I've already agreed with Caesar—the firearms, food reserves, and such things are ours. The ranch and cattle and sheep are theirs."
"Anyway, Horus is farthest from us. We don't need his ranch for now. We can never have too many firearms and food."
"When the time comes, after you kill Horus, you'll have enough prestige. Bringing back abundant food and firearms, everyone will definitely submit to you. You'll be the undisputed next leader."
Phil no longer suppressed the corners of his mouth, laughing out loud, excitedly standing up and pacing around the room, completely unable to control his emotions.
Meanwhile, Old Man Leon watched Phil with a kind smile, but the smile didn't reach his eyes, which were full of cold killing intent.
After sending Phil away, Leon stood up from his chair and threw the bottle Phil had just opened into the fireplace.
The liquid splashed on the flames, making them burn even more vigorously.
"Heh, Phil, I've raised you all these years and still couldn't tame you."
"Since you're an ungrateful wolf, you should live with your tail between your legs. Being so arrogant, you deserve to die! In your next life, don't be so brainless."
The vicious ruthlessness in Leon's eyes was several times thicker than Phil's.
Black Pine Valley, Caesar's ranch.