Chapter 75: Survive
Caesar walked behind the desk, sat in the chair, and lightly tapped the table surface, looking at Daryl.
"Daryl, what we lack most right now is manpower."
"And Horus and Old Man Leon's residents are what I want most. If I want to recruit their residents, I can't let them hate us."
"What do you say I should do?"
Daryl had a brainstorm at this moment. After thinking for a long while, he slowly spoke. "Then we can only kill Horus and Old Man Leon."
"Exactly." Caesar leaned forward, affirming Daryl's thoughts.
"In Horus and Old Man Leon's two ranches, only those two ranch owners have major issues with us. If they die, we can naturally recruit their residents."
"At that time, if ambitious people want to become leaders when the ranches have no leader, we can also use them as examples to establish our prestige."
Caesar sat in the chair, describing to Daryl with great spirit his method for annexing Horus and Leon's two ranches.
As he spoke, Caesar's expression was focused and serious. He'd thought about this for a long time and was very confident in his approach.
At that moment, Caesar's eyes were even glowing.
Daryl listened to Caesar's description, watching Caesar's appearance, and suddenly said, "Caesar, you are a noble leader."
"You'll definitely lead us to survive in the apocalypse."
Caesar froze for a moment, then smiled. "Of course. We'll all survive."
"This apocalypse has shattered the secular systems of the past. We'll stand at the apocalypse's peak and become the pioneers of a new generation of humanity."
The two stayed in the study for a long time.
Amy occasionally brought in tea and snacks. Seeing the two focused, the corners of her mouth curved into a beautiful arc. Then she closed the study door without disturbing them.
After seeing Daryl off, the time had already reached late night.
Caesar was tired from the whole day. He leaned against the chair back, head tilted up, eyes closed to rest his mind. The quiet space gradually relaxed his spirit.
Drowsiness slowly surged up, submerging Caesar. Caesar fell into deep sleep.
Not knowing how long had passed, Caesar felt something covering his body. A warm sensation immediately surrounded Caesar.
A pair of delicate hands gently squeezed Caesar's shoulders and neck. A soft voice sounded in his ear: "I miss the days when life was so simple.
Felt like the glass was always half full.
Where did that go.
And every second with you was so special.
Back when we didn't fear that unknowns.
...
Maybe that's why we had our heads in the clouds.
..."
In the tranquil night, beautiful singing floated through the study, soothing Caesar's spirit.
Caesar closed his eyes, enjoying this rare beautiful time.
...
The next morning, thin mist floated above the grassland. The quiet deep blue sky was pierced by a series of hoofbeats.
A cowboy rode on horseback, quickly crossing the grassland, entering the forest, dodging left and right from branches ahead. Throughout the process, the horse's speed didn't slow at all—clearly the situation was urgent.
In the distance, Daryl held binoculars observing, then put down the binoculars and picked up a pen to write something in a small notebook.
Lying on the ground wasn't just him, but also Carol.
Carol also held a notebook recording, writing the cowboy's appearance, clothing, body characteristics, and so on.
Seeing the cowboy about to disappear from sight, Carol asked somewhat anxiously, "Aren't we chasing after him?"
"We can't catch up." After Daryl finished writing, he picked up the notebook and looked carefully. "The messenger cowboy's riding skills are excellent. We can't catch up on horseback. Cars and motorcycles are too loud, easy to be discovered."
"So we only need to watch the most important person."
Daryl looked at Carol, waiting for Carol's answer.
"Horus."
"Exactly. We only need to follow Horus. These letter exchanges are secondary."
Stuffing the notebook into his clothes, Daryl turned over, organized his clothes, wrapped himself tightly, and closed both eyes.
Carol glanced at Daryl. "Aren't you afraid of missing important information?"
Daryl didn't even open his eyes, casually replying, "This place is very remote. Basically no one will come. That's also why Leon and Horus chose this small road for communication."
"If either side makes a move, the commotion will reach us. Making a fuss has no effect. Better to rest well and wait for the critical moment to arrive."
After speaking, Daryl ignored Carol and fell asleep on his own.
Carol stared at Daryl for quite a while, unable to tell if he was pretending to sleep. She observed the grassland in the distance for a bit.
No animals appeared. Wind blew the grass. Trees made rustling white noise.
The sky hadn't fully brightened yet. Drowsiness was already intense.
Before she knew it, Carol fell asleep.
While Carol was drowsily sleeping, Daryl quickly slapped Carol's face. "Wake up quickly!"
Carol opened her eyes, still carrying the dazed meaning of just waking.
Seeing she was awake, Daryl stopped paying attention to Carol and picked up the binoculars, observing the situation in the distance.
When Carol was still sleeping earlier, Daryl had already discovered that the cowboy who'd gone to deliver the letter had returned.
Moreover, last night, the guards Daryl left behind also discovered several traces of cowboys returning.
Looking at it now, they'd been discussing where to meet.
Probably just now they'd agreed on the meeting location. The time would naturally be as soon as possible.
In the distance, several fine horses whizzed through the forest, rapidly galloping into the distance.
Daryl saw the leading cowboy's appearance—it was Horus.
Following behind Horus were those twin muscular men. The others were also the ranch's elite backbone.
The group didn't stop at all, quickly disappearing from sight.
Seeing them disappear, Daryl quickly got up, took out a military walkie-talkie, turned it on, and called, "Merle, Merle. Are you there?"
"Little brother, I'm here." Merle's hoarse voice came from the other side. Merle knew the situation was urgent and had no intention of joking.
Daryl quickly informed Merle of the direction Horus and his group were advancing and the current time.
Not long after Merle received the news, he also received news from his monitoring personnel near Old Man Leon.
Because the ranch was far from Leon's side, Merle placed a monitoring person at intervals, conveying news in chain fashion.
Merle took the news from both sides and quickly drove to Caesar's stone house.
Caesar looked at the arriving Merle and spoke first. "They've made their move?"
Merle nodded. "Both sides should have determined the meeting location. We don't know exactly where yet, but the direction has been confirmed."
"Our people didn't follow, worried about being discovered. We can only determine the general range. We may still need to search."