Chapter 73: Phil's Ambition
Horus looked at the beaten ranch owner and asked in disbelief, "You're not from Caesar's ranch?"
"I, I'm really... not!" The ranch owner was beaten black and blue, one side of his cheek swollen high, saliva uncontrollably flowing out.
He didn't understand.
Why was he beaten so badly just for delivering a letter!
Horus was silent for a moment, then let out a long breath. He'd originally thought he could get a bit of revenge.
Turned out, he hadn't expected Caesar's ranch wouldn't use their own people to deliver letters.
Horus closed his eyes. His low voice sounded. "Deal with him. I don't want to see him again."
The ranch owner didn't have time to beg for mercy before being gagged and dragged out.
When only Horus remained in the room, he took an envelope from the drawer.
That envelope was identical to the one Caesar received—both from Old Man Leon.
...
Two days later, morning sun shone brightly, gentle breeze blowing.
Caesar looked up at the sky. "The weather's nice today."
Amy responded quietly, "Too bad you have to go to work and can't stay home with me."
Seeing Amy's little woman appearance, Caesar lowered his head and kissed her lightly. "Wait for me to come back tonight."
Amy embraced Caesar's waist, burying her head in Caesar's chest. A muffled voice came out.
"You have to be as careful as possible today. Don't get hurt."
Amy's voice carried a hint of crying. She was a bit afraid but putting on a brave face.
"Don't worry. I'll ensure my own safety."
After saying goodbye to Amy, Caesar and his group took their people and horses to the designated location.
Daryl and his people had already scouted the surroundings and found no tricks from Old Man Leon.
Caesar gave Daryl several bulletproof vests, telling him and his people to put them on quickly.
For every person participating in combat, Caesar allocated bulletproof vests and sufficient bullets and weapons, wanting to preserve their lives as much as possible.
After Caesar and his group arrived for a while, Phil slowly appeared on horseback.
Seeing Phil again, the injuries on Phil's face had healed, and his face again carried an arrogant expression.
Caesar thought to himself—sure enough, it's this idiot.
Phil saw Caesar personally present. He pulled the reins, the horse's speed dropping slightly as his eyes dodged Caesar's gaze.
Clearly, he hadn't forgotten being beaten by Caesar last time.
Phil rode his horse in front of Caesar, looking down at Caesar from above, feeling somewhat pleased inside.
"Caesar, you're here so early?"
Caesar tilted his head and said coldly, "Are you sure you want to talk to me like this?"
His expressionless face carried an indescribable sense of oppression.
Phil immediately dismounted. In front of all his subordinates, he didn't want to be pulled off his horse by Caesar and beaten again.
He turned his head to look at the group of subordinates riding horses behind him and angrily rebuked, "All of you, dismount and organize equipment."
After speaking, Phil looked at Caesar.
Caesar turned around and walked straight toward a relatively deep part of the forest.
At the same time, Caesar gave Daryl a look, signaling him to record the equipment of the people Phil brought.
Phil followed Caesar like a puppy.
The two came to the deep area and chatted sporadically.
Both sides organized equipment very quickly. On Phil's side, everyone had a gun, no equipment on their bodies, wearing regular clothes, no different from usual, all riding horses.
No heavy firepower, automatic rifles, or sniper rifles.
All were guns people in the valley had bought before to protect themselves—naturally couldn't buy fierce firearms.
On Caesar's side, just the firearms were all automatic rifles. After all, they were all moved from the CDC, equivalent to taken from the military.
Everyone had a bulletproof vest, their clothing also looked very defensive and unified—looked much stronger.
Caesar even equipped one person with a sniper rifle and had two people bring grenade launchers.
Everyone also had handguns—armed to the teeth. Although still incomparable to a regular army, much stronger than Phil's hastily assembled force.
Both sides had a dozen or so people each, not deploying all the ranch's personnel.
Phil's side brought all his own subordinates. At Leon's ranch, the remaining cowboys all followed Old Man Leon.
After organizing, they set out.
Along the way, they encountered no accidents or incidents, arriving smoothly in front of Horus's ranch.
Phil's face carried an inextinguishable joy, like the feeling of popping champagne at halftime.
Caesar glanced at Phil, that look carrying a trace of pity.
Caesar thought to be as conservative as possible. Anyway, the biggest goal was to get these two sides fighting while his own side reduced their presence.
And coincidentally, Phil was full of fighting spirit toward Horus's side. He raised his rifle high and shouted:
"Attack!"
Phil's subordinates also shouted one after another, using their voices to embolden themselves, riding horses and charging at Horus's ranch.
Caesar raised his hand. Merle had instructed teammates in advance. Soon, Caesar's side opened distance from Phil's side.
Caesar looked into the distance. Horus's ranch looked the same as usual—patrol teams standing at the gate's defensive fortifications, and some cowboys apparently herding cattle, not much different from usual.
Except, there were only a few cattle, but a full dozen cowboys. The patrol team appeared to only have those few people.
But Caesar had already discovered Horus's people in some relatively hidden positions.
Phil rode his horse not toward the gate. He wasn't stupid—there were many people there with defensive fortifications. How could he charge in on horseback?
The wide boundary's wooden fence wasn't high. With a little effort, horses jumped over.
Phil led his subordinates into Horus's ranch interior. Phil laughed wildly, raising his gun to shoot.
Directly confronting them were those dozen cattle-herding cowboys. The cowboys also rode horses, taking out prepared guns from saddlebags.
They raised guns and exchanged fire with Phil's group.
Phil indeed fought fiercely, charging at the front. His luck was also good—no one hit him.
He approached those cowboys, raised his gun and fired. In one encounter, two or three people on the other side fell.
The subordinates following Phil had their morale greatly boosted, charging even harder. In the blink of an eye, they killed all the opposing cowboys.
Their own side only paid the price of three or four lightly wounded.
Phil turned his head to look at his achievements, laughing heartily. He glanced at Caesar's group who hadn't entered the ranch yet, feeling contemptuous inside.
A bunch of cowards.
After I sweep through Horus's ranch, forget livestock—I won't even give you the territory.
The bloodlust from killing intensified Phil's greed. He no longer took Caesar seriously.
Caesar watched from afar without comment, only feeling that Phil's combat ability was indeed decent.