Six empty wine bottles were placed side by side on the old fence. Brandy stood ten meters away, making a gesture of drawing a gun.
On the side, Arthur was holding a cigar in his mouth, smoking it with relish while squinting to observe Brandi's every move.
The clouds drifted away, the bright sunshine suddenly appeared, and the ordinary wine bottle shone like a gem.
At this time, Brandi drew his gun.
The gunfire rang out, but within a moment, the gunfire subsided.
Arthur looked at a bottle that was still on the fence, and then at the bottle that was hit by the bullet and fell to the snow, and said: "Four out of six, I can't say it's good, but I can't say it's bad either. Even if you shoot
The four winning bottles were also hit at different locations, so if they were broken, luck would have to account for part of them."
Arthur patted Brandi on the shoulder and said, "To sum it up, rookie, you still need to practice more."
Brandi had no temper when Arthur evaluated him like this, because his evaluation was very factual and there was nothing to criticize, and in a sense, Brandi even understood what he had better than Arthur himself.
How strong, in Brandi's view, there is nothing wrong with treating Arthur's opinions as absolute authority.
"It's been very good to be able to achieve this level after only three or four days of practice." At this time, a slightly older voice suddenly sounded. Arthur and Brandy turned around and saw Hosea walking over with three bottles of whiskey.
Hosea handed the wine to Arthur and Brandi and said, "When Arthur was practicing this move, he didn't learn it as fast as you."
"You're just talking nonsense, old guy," Arthur bit open the cork, took a sip of wine, and said angrily, "My talent is obvious to all."
Hosea nodded: "That's true, but that was before John joined us."
Arthur was immediately speechless. Because of the fact, John learned to shoot much later than him, but his talent made Arthur ashamed. Although John is still not as good as Arthur now, he wants to catch up with him.
In fact, it won’t take more than a few years.
It was the first time for Brandi to see Arthur, the "King of Bad Mouths of the West," with a defiant expression on his face, as if he was just watching the fun and not taking it too seriously.
"Let's get down to business," Hosea suppressed the smile on his face and said, "In three days, the train will arrive."
"So Dutch decided to rob that damn train?" When Arthur heard this, he almost dropped the bottle of wine in his hand.
Hosea immediately shouted: "Arthur! Watch your words!"
Arthur immediately restrained himself a little, and then said with confusion: "I thought... I thought we were going to keep a low profile here, but now? Dutch wants to rob that railway tycoon's train! What the hell is he...
...Does he know what our current situation is? Pinkerton is hunting us, and bounty hunters want to use our heads in exchange for money! What does Dutch... want to do?"
Hosea sighed and said, "Can I not know what you are saying? But I failed to persuade him, and now he hardly listens to my advice. He now trusts the advice of old Matthews more than
His own plan."
Arthur took another sip of wine, as if he had made up his mind, and said: "Forget it, since Dutch thinks that robbing the train is the right thing to do, I won't have any objections, at least except for the vote in Blackwater Town.
, there has never been any problem with his plans.”
Hosea nodded in agreement. As Arthur said, except for the damn cruise ship in Blackwater, Dutch's plan has never had any problems, which is why they have been able to survive until now.
Arthur scratched his neck and said, "But you came here so mysteriously, you shouldn't just be talking about this, right?"
"That's right," Hosea said, "Although I couldn't persuade Dutch to give up this operation to rob the train, I proposed to send people from the gang to the town outside the snowy mountains to collect intelligence and prepare for our next transfer.
, and he agreed."
Arthur nodded and said: "Fortunately, he is still sane and has not gone completely crazy. I will make preparations later."
"I'm not asking you to go. You are an important force in the gang. An operation like robbing a train can't be done without you," Hosea said, casting his eyes on Brandi who was just watching the show. "Let's discuss
Afterwards, it was decided to send Brandi out."
"Him?" Arthur was a little surprised, but after some thought, he nodded in approval, "Indeed, Brandy is the most suitable candidate."
"Huh? Me?" Brandy didn't expect that the melon would even end up on her head as she ate it.
"Of course it's you," Hosea said with certainty, "Everyone in our gang either has a huge bounty on their head or is registered with Pinkerton and the bounty hunters, but you don't
Same. You only joined us in the snowy mountains, and Pinkerton and the bounty hunters don’t know you exist.”
Brandi also came back to his senses at this time and realized that he was indeed the best person to complete this task. His expression changed from surprise to serious: "I understand, tell me, what do you need me to do?
"
"Come, let's go into the house and talk." Hosea said as he led Brandi into the house.
"Then I'm going to discuss the train with them. We have to make preparations in advance." After Arthur finished speaking, he said goodbye to the two of them.
Inside Hosea's room.
Hosea spread out an extremely detailed map and gave Brandy directions while saying, "Look here, this is where we are, and here is a livestock town called Valentine."
"Is this our next destination?" Brandi asked.
"To be precise, it's here," Hosea pointed to another place on the map and said, "This place is called Horseshoe Lookout. I went to Valentine when I was young and I know this place. The terrain there is easy to defend.
It is difficult to attack and has easy access to water, so it is very suitable for our next base. You also know that what we do is business, and it is not suitable for living directly in the town."
Brandi nodded and asked, "What do you need me to do?"
"You have two tasks," Hosea said. "The first is to investigate whether there are Pinkerton detectives and bounty hunter groups in Valentine and nearby areas; the second is to settle down in Valentine and the surrounding areas.
We must establish good relations with the residents, and it would be best if we could break into the local police system and government agencies.”
"How long can you give me?" Brandi asked.
"Depending on the impact of robbing the train, it can take as little as a week or as much as half a month." Hosea looked confident.
Brandi smiled bitterly and said: "You really think highly of me. It's okay to investigate Pinkerton and the bounty hunters. But in a week to half a month, as a foreigner, you established a new relationship in a strange town."
Good popularity? It would be better to break into the police system and government agencies? How likely is this to you?"
"It's not as complicated as you think," Hosea smiled slightly, "Outside the civilized world, there are many ways to establish a good image. You are a smart person, and I believe you have the ability to express yourself freely."
Brandi was a little helpless: "Okay, I'll try my best."
"No matter what the situation is on our side, after you arrive in Valentine Town, send a letter to the local post office every Sunday, providing us with all the information you have learned and the current situation on your side. Remember, the content must be
Write it like a letter home, and then go to the local post office every Wednesday to check if there is a letter sent to you. If you have not received a letter from us within two weeks, then congratulations, our ship
The ship has capsized and you are free." Hosea closed the map and said.
Brandi asked, "Who should I send the letter to?"
"Tacitus Kilgore," Hosea said, "this is a common pseudonym for everyone. In addition, each of us has his own pseudonym, but that is not important because it changes from time to time. You have to think of one for yourself too.
Fake names, at least when sending letters to gangs, are less likely to be discovered."
"I understand," Brandi nodded and said, "When do I leave?"
"The sooner the better," Hosea said. "Besides, this is your first time to perform this kind of mission, so I have discussed it with Dutch and will try our best to meet your needs. Of course, there is no way around money right now.
Now we are all paupers."
Brandy thought for a moment and said, "In that case, I have three conditions."
"Tell me about it." Hosea looked at Brandi.
"First, I need a carriage, the smallest one is fine, but one thing is that I want that particularly big black shire horse to drive." Brandi said.
"No problem." Hosea nodded.
"Second, I need a detailed map, just like the one you just showed me."
"I can give it to you now." Hosea said, taking out a map that looked much newer than the previous map and handing it to Brandy.
Brandi put away the map and said: "Third, during my performance of this mission, all the personal gains I made will belong to me."
"This..." Hosea was embarrassed, "Brandy, gangs have rules. In gang missions, gangs have to take a cut of personal income."
"Oh? Is there such a rule?" Brandi asked, "What percentage is usually taken?"
"Fifty percent."
"Fifty percent?!" Brandy almost shouted, "The U.S. government isn't that bad, right? Come on, whoever wants to do this can go, I won't bother, I'm leaving." After that, he stood up.
Just walk away.
"Hey, hey," Hosea quickly grabbed Brandi and said, "Why are young people so impatient? This can still be discussed."
"Oh?" Brandi heard that it could be discussed, and sat back in her seat and said, "How can we negotiate?"
"I can discuss with Dutch that you only need to hand over 40 percent of your personal income from this mission to the gang." Hosea set out his conditions.
"Fourty percent?" Brandy looked embarrassed and said, "It still feels like too much."
"What do you think?" Hosea asked.
Brandy didn't say anything, just stretched out two fingers.
"No," Hosea shook his head, "I can't explain to Dutch this way. The minimum is 30%, and it can't be reduced any further."
"Deal," Brandy tapped his fingers on the table to signify the deal. He stood up and extended his right hand to Hosea, smiling, "I wish us a happy cooperation, Mr. Matthews."
Hosea stood up helplessly and shook Brandy's hand, saying, "You kid, you are better at settling accounts than Strauss, that loan shark. I might as well let you handle accounts with him from now on."
"Hey hey hey, haven't we lived a hard life enough and are afraid of being poor? It's okay if we don't make an example next time." Brandy said with a smile.
"You said it, I won't do it next time."
"Must, must."
At three o'clock in the morning, a carriage pulled by a huge black horse drove out of Plow Village and headed southeast. This chapter has been completed!