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Chapter 67: Arrangements
The stars at night were bright and brilliant. The pickup truck slowly stopped in the parking lot.
After saying goodbye to everyone, Caesar walked back to the stone house.
"You're back~" Just as he entered the house, a figure carrying the faint scent of shampoo threw herself into his arms.
Caesar carried a faint smell of alcohol. Amy buried her head in Caesar's chest and sniffed.
Amy raised her head, her little face flushed. "You've been drinking?"
Caesar nodded. "Had a bit with Old Man Leon, discussed some matters. Tomorrow I need to discuss it with people at the ranch."
Amy didn't pursue this topic, only asking, "Do you want to eat something?"
"Does your stomach feel uncomfortable?" As she spoke, Amy reached her hand inside Caesar's clothes, gently rubbing his abs.
Rubbing and rubbing, it turned into caressing.
Caesar lowered his head and saw Amy's little face had become even more flushed, her eyes bright and shining, thinking who knows what.
"Hey." Caesar made a fist with his hand and gently placed it on Amy's head.
Amy pretended to be hurt, covering her head and looking at Caesar pitifully.
"I'm sorry, master. This slave was wrong."
Looking at Amy's appearance, Caesar immediately laughed and pinched Amy's little cheeks.
"Can you cook me a bowl of noodles?"
"Okay~"
Before long, a bowl of noodles appeared in front of Caesar. Caesar looked at Amy with surprise.
Amy had her hands propped on the table, looking at Caesar triumphantly as she explained quietly, "Look, yangchun noodles."
"I know you like Eastern cuisine. I specially went to the warehouse to find seasonings, then asked the Asians at the ranch to teach me."
"Try it quickly!"
"All right." Caesar lowered his head and took a bite.
"Mm, the taste is quite good!"
Caesar's eyes lit up as he gave Amy a thumbs up.
"I want some too."
Amy opened her mouth, signaling Caesar to feed her.
Caesar fed her with chopsticks. Amy chewed and her face was full of admiration for herself.
After enjoying the late-night snack, the two undressed and went to sleep.
The next morning, wind blew through the grassland.
Caesar sat on the sofa, looking at the assembled ranch leadership—his cowboy confidants, several combat squad leaders, Carol, Beth, and Amy.
"Speak up, what are your thoughts?"
Caesar clapped his hands, signaling everyone to speak freely.
Steady Ryan spoke first. "No matter what decision we make, we need to understand the situation on Old Man Leon and Horus's sides."
"The two of them have coexisted peacefully for so many years. Even with the apocalypse outbreak, there should be corresponding understanding or trust. Under these circumstances, with a suddenly powerful force appearing, logically they should join forces to eliminate this force."
Ryan was practically saying outright that this cooperation was a trap.
Caesar nodded, neither affirming nor denying Ryan's thoughts.
He just looked at Daryl. "Daryl, you take some people and figure out the situation on Horus and Old Man Leon's sides."
Daryl accepted, reliable as always.
Merle beside him glanced at Daryl and volunteered. "Boss, my side can also take on part of the reconnaissance mission."
Caesar thought for a while and still nodded.
They still had too few people. Daryl and Merle jointly led one squad, and most of the squad members listened to Merle, with only two or three listening to Daryl.
Daryl was better at scouting work, and Merle was the same, but their team members weren't.
To train an excellent hunter took years of time. They mainly relied on Daryl and Merle, with others at most helping out.
Horus's ranch was much closer—one squad would need several days to scout. Not to mention Old Man Leon's side, where the journey alone took nearly an hour.
Caesar's own direct combat squad couldn't be moved carelessly, and Glenn and the others hadn't returned yet.
They lacked people!
Caesar looked at the two of them. "The reconnaissance can be done slowly, no need to rush. Even if it's slow, don't risk your lives."
After giving instructions, Caesar looked at the others and asked, "Do you have other thoughts?"
Merle crossed his arms and leaned back on the sofa without saying much.
Daryl and Guillermo only followed Caesar's orders and rarely expressed their own opinions.
Elderly Lloyd laughed and stood up, his steps a bit unsteady. "We don't need to care what Horus and Old Man Leon are thinking. We only need to know whether we can profit from this."
"We attack Horus together with Old Man Leon. If we win, we can harvest the land and livestock we want."
"If we lose, we'll have to bear the pressure of personnel losses, but we can try to avoid this problem—for example, fight more cautiously, or more... conservatively."
"Let Old Man Leon's people charge ahead. Besides, I estimate Old Man Leon probably won't send many of his own people anyway, since he still has Phil under him."
Caesar looked at Lloyd with approval, tapped the table, and everyone's attention focused on him.
"I'll share my thoughts."
"We must participate in this battle."
"We attack Horus with Old Man Leon, and we'll definitely profit whether we lose or win. Because we're powerful—if we hold back a bit and lose the fight."
"We turn around and attack Old Man Leon, saying it was problems with his subordinates that caused the operation to fail."
"If we win, there's nothing more to say."
A cruel smile appeared on Caesar's face as he drew his knife and stabbed it into the tabletop. "We kill Horus first, then kill Leon."
He extended his palm and slowly clenched it into a fist.
"Their population, livestock, weapons, territory—all ours. We're not playing house with them. We only have one problem to consider, and that's how to swallow them up with the smallest cost."
The overwhelming killing intent made Merle's entire body excited, his eyes full of red light. He could already imagine himself standing on the corpses of Horus and the others, enjoying the fruits of victory.
This is truly... exciting!
The discussion ended, and Caesar kept Daryl and Carol, letting the others leave the study.
"Carol, I've noticed you've been practicing with the knife every day lately."
Caesar propped one hand on the desk, his tone relaxed and casual, as if chatting about everyday matters.
"Yes." Carol couldn't quite understand why Caesar was asking this and subconsciously used her past experiences to disguise herself.
"After Ed died, Sophia only has me. I want to protect Sophia well, so I practice."
Caesar raised his head to look at Carol. Carol shrank back slightly, identical to how she was when being abused, except the confidence and sharpness in her eyes weren't well concealed.
"Carol, no need for such polite words."
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