Chapter 96: Compensation
Caesar's footsteps stopped before the several people. He looked them over.
Ruddy complexions, naive eyes, vigilant yet taking no actual action.
Well, looked like apocalypse babies raised on abundant resources.
Caesar made this judgment in his mind and extended his hand. "Who's in charge?"
The several people looked at each other, exchanging glances, then their gazes landed on the wooden house with the big hole in it.
Uh, understood. The manager was already dead.
Caesar calmly withdrew his hand. "Want to talk?"
Caesar extended the invitation. Without waiting for them to accept, he walked leisurely toward the largest house.
That house was also built of wood, but its scale and design were far beyond what those other two-story simple wooden cabins could compare to.
Caesar walked into the house. Glenn and the squad members automatically spread out, both hands gripping their handguns pointing downward, quickly sweeping the interior situation.
Those several people were also carried by Jimmy and a few squad members, brought into the house.
Caesar walked into the living room. Beside the living room was a long table with a vase of flowers on it.
The floral scent was elegant. Caesar sniffed it and walked to the head of the table.
Morales had the good sense to step forward and pull out the chair. Caesar sat down, nodded at Beth, signaling her to preside.
Caesar glanced at Morales. Morales understood and walked out of the living room.
Afterward, Jimmy and the squad members marched those several people into the living room and pressed them into chairs.
They sat in a row, expressions anxious and uneasy.
Beth clicked forward in her high heels two steps, approaching the several people. "Do you still remember me?"
Among the several people, one woman had blonde hair tied in a braid. She looked at Beth, and familiarity washed over her.
Beth noticed her expression, tilting her head toward her. "Oh, looks like you remember me."
Beth slowly walked behind the blonde woman, placing both hands on her chair. "My name is Beth. We're from Caesar's ranch."
Hearing "Caesar's ranch," the several people's pupils shrank sharply. They twisted their heads to look at the blonde woman, their eyes carrying shock and accusation.
The blonde woman's entire body stiffened, cold sweat pouring from her forehead. She didn't dare turn her head to meet her companions' eyes.
"Oh~ What did you tell your companions? Their expressions looking at you are a bit subtle!" Beth was very close to them and naturally caught this irregularity.
The blonde woman's mouth opened and closed, wanting to say something but ultimately not speaking.
Instead, another black-haired woman with triangular eyes angrily accused: "Of course she doesn't dare say. If she hadn't whispered in Luther's ear, we wouldn't be in this situation now."
The blonde woman looked back at the triangle-eyed woman. She'd originally wanted to defend herself, saying how could she have known Caesar's ranch was this domineering.
But her gaze also caught the people standing around, and Caesar sitting across from them. She closed her mouth.
Seeing the blonde woman didn't scold her, triangle-eyes got bolder.
"Let me tell you, this is all her fault. She looked down on your Caesar's ranch, saying other ranches joining you was becoming your slaves. Having our own land, we could even raise the price with you."
The blonde woman couldn't hold back anymore. She looked at triangle-eyes in disbelief, pointing at herself and saying: "This is all my fault?"
"When we voted, weren't you the first to choose refusing to join? Now you're blaming me?"
Being pushed the responsibility, the blonde woman stopped being polite, pointing out triangle-eyes' hypocrisy.
Triangle-eyes noticed Caesar and Beth's gazes, swallowed her saliva, wanting to defend herself but was interrupted.
"And you others, didn't you make decisions too? Now you're sitting here not speaking, defaulting all responsibility to me, right? Fine, I'll tell you—if I die today, you won't live either."
The blonde woman got angrier as she spoke, standing up and glaring at her companions. From her eyes you could see she wasn't joking.
Her companions still sat in their chairs but were on pins and needles, looking very uncomfortable, sweat pouring from their bodies as they fearfully glanced at Caesar and Beth.
When the blonde woman exploded, Beth had stepped back two steps, better able to observe both sides turning against each other.
The ranch manager was dead, the core forces split.
This was a good thing!
Caesar raised his eyebrows at Beth, signaling her to speak.
Beth understood. She strode forward, directly blocking between the blonde woman and triangle-eyes. "Are you done arguing?"
"Now it's my turn to speak. We're taking your ranch. Name your price."
"Of course, don't think about asking too much. We have a certain valuation. If you exceed it, we'll choose another method to acquire the ranch."
"I can assure you, it'll be completely different from the merciful actions toward you before."
Beth pursed her lips, pretending to think, then said: "Oh right, just like your manager. He got to experience it before you did."
Beth's threat worked quite well. After all, someone had just been killed by them. Their force threat was very convincing.
The blonde woman's hands clenched tightly. She understood the current situation was completely different from before.
Before, perhaps she could put on airs and raise the price a bit. But now both sides had torn off the mask. The other side had already killed someone. It had reached the point where they must sell.
And she couldn't name a price either.
Triangle-eyes wasn't stupid either and could figure this out. She looked back at her other somewhat dull companions.
Their eyes were clear and foolish. Obviously they were still thinking about what to demand as compensation.
Beth moved aside, folding both arms across her chest, standing beside Rip, watching the several people negotiate with eye contact.
Though triangle-eyes and the blonde woman didn't get along, when it came to life and death, this bit of conflict wasn't much.
The two of them reached agreement and also suppressed their other companions' ideas.
Finally, the blonde woman's face held a forced smile. She stood up and bowed to Caesar and Beth. "Thank you for Caesar's ranch understanding our foolishness. We're willing to dedicate the ranch to Caesar's ranch."
"Oh~" Beth laughed strangely. "You're sure?"
The blonde woman was noncommittal, nodding her head heavily. The companions beside her also nodded along.
Nonsense—though they were dull, at least they were obedient. Otherwise they wouldn't have survived this long.
"It's just, we hope to join Caesar's ranch, to dedicate our own share of strength to Caesar's ranch."
The blonde woman's expression was very devout. If you didn't know better, you'd think the scene was the blonde woman leading her companions to pledge allegiance.
These words were said very humbly, but truly made Caesar feel comfortable listening.
Caesar nodded almost imperceptibly.
Beth understood Caesar's meaning and spoke: "That's no problem. But are you sure you don't want other compensation?"
Beth said it this way, but when it reached the blonde woman's ears it became:
Are you sure you don't want to die? I can send you to your death for free.