Chapter 77: Rapid Death
Old Man Leon looked at Horus, his eyelids twitching. He had a feeling of impending disaster. Leon immediately changed his tune.
"Horus, since I promised you, I'll see it through."
"But it's different from before. Previously I said I'd fully assist you in fighting Caesar. Now I can only give you a portion of my troops to fight Caesar yourself."
Old Man Leon was worried Horus would flip the table and attack him now, so he chose to compromise.
But Leon was also worried that if he truly cooperated with Horus, Caesar would settle accounts with him later, and he might not be able to withstand it.
Leon chose to separate himself from the troops he gave out. Whatever those troops did afterward would have nothing to do with him.
Horus didn't speak, his eyes flickering with contemplative light. He was somewhat unwilling—if he could drag Old Man Leon into the water, the odds of victory would definitely increase considerably.
Seeing Horus's expression, Old Man Leon immediately added: "This is already the greatest sincerity I can offer, Horus."
"I'm already old. I don't have much time left. If you dare force me, I'll take you down with me first!"
"Let's see who's more ruthless?!"
Old Man Leon straightened his body, his hunched back going rigid. His cloudy eyes flashed with cold light. He was old, but that didn't mean he was livestock to be slaughtered at will.
Anyone who could become such a large ranch owner had dirty hands.
Not to mention Old Man Leon had been a large ranch owner for so many years—he'd killed far more people than Horus.
Seeing Old Man Leon's resolute appearance, Horus finally clicked his tongue and nodded in agreement.
"Fine. When will you hand over your people?"
"Oh, and I don't want those rookies you just recruited. I want people who can fight."
Horus further raised conditions. He was going to fight Caesar. If he got some worthless soldiers, they'd probably get torn through by the powerful firepower at first contact, then all run away.
Old Man Leon sat back down in his chair, saying leisurely: "Aiya, no rush, no rush."
Since Horus had agreed to the deal, Old Man Leon had achieved his goal. He appeared very accommodating, his words full of deflection.
Just as Horus was about to confirm a specific time, dense gunfire erupted outside the cabin.
The gunfire was the continuous rat-tat-tat of automatic fire, completely different from the sound of their hunting rifles.
And there was only one person in the valley who possessed large quantities of automatic rifles.
Horus and Old Man Leon looked at each other, saying in unison: "Caesar!"
Old Man Leon's heart immediately sank. If Caesar saw him dealing with Horus, he'd definitely directly classify him and Horus as allies.
Then his deal would be for nothing.
Old Man Leon looked up at Horus. A trace of joy spread across Horus's face—he'd thought of this point too.
Horus thought to himself, I didn't expect Caesar would actually facilitate cooperation between both our sides this time.
Before the two could continue talking, the gunfire outside grew increasingly dense, increasingly close. Accompanied by the screams of their subordinates, both men's faces grew increasingly ashen.
Outside the cabin.
Caesar rushed forward quickly. His astonishing physique, lightning-fast reaction speed, plus his rapidly advancing marksmanship—often he could take out an enemy in a single encounter.
Behind him followed Morales and T-Dog. Both men's marksmanship was average, but they held down the triggers without letting go, providing full fire suppression.
Colby and Tate's marksmanship was much better. The two held their guns and fired in bursts while running.
Around them were squad members, each one shouting as they fired. Although their accuracy wasn't great, at least they could kill a few people.
Caesar led the charge from the front. Merle and his team pushed in from the side. And Daryl with his team used longer-range sniper rifles for single-point elimination.
The power of the sniper rifles was terrifying. Each bullet was longer than a finger. One shot could instantly explode a skull, leaving only a headless corpse on the ground.
The scene was extremely bloody and brutal.
Relying on the sniper rifles and Daryl's cover, Caesar led the charge in. When approaching an enemy—
The enemy raised his gun to shoot, but the old hunting rifle frequently jammed due to poor maintenance. He frantically lowered his head, his hands and feet trembling as he unloaded the bullet, trying to reload.
The next second, a dagger firmly embedded in his eye.
He raised his head. Half his world turned blood red. That towering figure rushed toward him like a demon god.
In the last moment of his life, he felt his body floating lightly, as if... flying.
Thump—the corpse fell to the ground. The back of his skull was pressed against his back. His throat bone protruded from his neck. Small jets of blood sprayed out like a fountain.
Caesar strode over the corpse and walked inward.
The surrounding enemies died rapidly, measured in minutes. There were only a dozen or so people total. They didn't last long before dying one by one.
Merle grinned wickedly as he gripped a cowboy's arm. The cowboy lay on the ground with multiple wounds, his face pale from excessive blood loss. Merle gripped a dagger and viciously stabbed it into the cowboy's shoulder blade.
Pressing and stepping, he drove it in to the hilt.
The cowboy screamed with red eyes. His throat had also been cut. The sound was blocked, leaving only wheezing gasps.
Caesar still had some blood traces on him. Leaning against the wall, he directly pushed open the wooden door.
The moment the door moved, countless bullets shot through it.
Dust flew from the door, spraying wood splinters.
Caesar didn't charge in recklessly. He took three grenades from his waist, pulled the pins, and casually tossed them into the cabin.
Inside the cabin, the three grenades hit the ground. Under the momentum, they rolled, and one even stood upright.
Horus's eyes instantly widened, his face full of fury.
And aged Old Man Leon showed helplessness in his eyes, staring blankly at the grenades on the ground.
The few cowboys protecting them in the cabin ran toward the exit at the same time, their faces showing uncontrollable panic.
The three grenades exploded. The shockwave slammed into the wooden walls, instantly destroying the columns. The hunter's cabin let out a painful wail. Flames erupted from the first floor, climbing upward and burning.
The entire hunter's cabin quickly burned completely, the raging fire sending up plumes of black smoke.
The lush trees were quickly ignited by the flames. The fire grew larger and larger, until black smoke even obscured the sky.
Caesar stood in place, watching the cabin burning fiercely.
Two large trees beside it had their trunks burned through by the flames. They fell onto the cabin accordingly. The cabin collapsed. Flames mixed with dust swept over.
Caesar covered his mouth and nose and shouted: "Throw all the corpses in. Throw their guns in too."
If you're going to put on a show, naturally you do it completely. Since he'd said he'd make Horus, Old Man Leon, and their subordinates disappear, Caesar wouldn't leave any hidden dangers exposed.
The flames burned the trees, burned the corpses and evidence, finally turning everything to charcoal.
The fire grew even larger, even spreading to the entire forest. Caesar led people to ignite flames from the forest's edge to counter the fire.
Soon the flames were extinguished, leaving only scorched earth and blackened broken wood.