Chapter 54
Your Chrysanthemums, We Will Protect Them
Seeing Caesar's smile, More immediately stopped smiling.
Sure enough, after receiving Caesar's mission, Mor, with a bitter face, led Morales, T-boy, and others to patrol the ranch.
Patrolling itself is nothing special, just tedious and boring.
The ranch wasn't very big, and Moore and his men were able to patrol it quickly. They didn't see a single person, let alone a zombie.
You could say I just wandered around aimlessly.
But Moore and his men's patrols were not to guard the ranch, but to give newcomers a sense of security and make them feel that they were still protected.
That night, the moon climbed into the sky, and the darkness was banished.
Caesar's stone villa was brightly lit.
In the study, Caesar sat behind a solid wood desk, his fingers lightly tapping the surface, his eyes dark and unfathomable.
knock knock --
A knock came at the door.
"They've finally arrived," Caesar said quickly. "Come in!"
The wooden door opened, and Daryl entered first, followed by Moore, Morales, Guillermo, and his four confidants Lloyd, Ryan, Tite, and Colby.
They are all now high-ranking officials at the ranch.
Caesar pointed to the sofa opposite him, got up and walked over. "Sit down."
"Daryl, what do you think of the situation?" Caesar asked impatiently after they were seated.
Daryl looked disheveled; he had been scouting the ranch since he arrived that day, and he tossed a map from his pocket.
The map was given to Daryl by Lloyd; it was just a regular map of Blackpine Valley.
Daryl spread out the map, which was covered with writing and drawing, including the number of people scouted, the quantity of weapons, and various details about the camp.
Daryl recalled what he had seen and said calmly, "They're just a bunch of thugs. They're not very capable; they just take advantage of their numbers and guns to rob people."
"As for why they robbed you, it's because there were only three of you at the time, and even with guns, you couldn't intimidate them."
Lloyd coughed twice. He knew, of course, that those thugs weren't a big problem, but with more people and more guns, the difference in sheer strength was unavoidable.
At the time, Lloyd also wanted to find one or two groups of people to give him more things to help him defend against the others.
But those bastards took the stuff and then ignored us.
Caesar pointed at the map, zoomed it out a bit, examined it carefully, and nodded.
The number of people and weapons listed above is at most ten people and ten guns, which is no match for the current ranch.
However, if they were to unite, forming four camps, they might be able to overthrow Caesar and his men.
Caesar was always decisive and would never allow such a possibility to exist.
"Take a look, everyone." Caesar pushed the map forward, gesturing for everyone to look.
The composed Ryan took out a small notebook, scrolled over the map, and looked at it back and forth. A few minutes later, Ryan nodded to Daryl.
"This information is roughly the same as the information I recorded."
Caesar glanced at Ryan and Lloyd, who appeared to be unharmed, and Colby, who had a dark circle under his eye, and curiously pointed to Colby's injury.
"You two are both fine, so why is Colby the only one injured?"
Upon hearing this, Colby immediately lowered his head, his face flushed with embarrassment, turning a deep red.
Ryan and Lloyd both looked at Colby with strange expressions.
Tite looked at Ryan and Lloyd with surprise, his eyes full of doubt, as if he wanted to ask something.
"Just say it."
"Caesar said."
"Um...should you say it, or should we say it for you?" Ryan paused for a moment and asked in a low voice.
Colby took two deep breaths, raised his head, and tightened his face.
This strange appearance also caught the attention of Daryl, Mohr, and others.
Moore looked Colby up and down, unconsciously stroking his chin, and nodded thoughtfully. "Those thugs have their eyes on you?"
Colby's face stiffened. He had just mustered the courage to say something when he was instantly silenced. His eyes widened, and his face seemed to have several words written on it.
How did you know?
Moore nodded smugly, as if enjoying some applause.
What are you so smug about? Daryl glanced at Moore with annoyance, then lifted his butt and moved away.
Colby then said, "One of their camps came to the ranch to beg for food, and we had to give in because we didn't have enough manpower."
"But we gave them food, and one of them..." Colby's face darkened, as if recalling a nightmare, "...one of them reached out and touched me."
"I thought he was going to grab my gun, so I pushed him."
"He immediately brought three men to hold me down. I couldn't resist, and then he took off his pants..."
Caesar lowered his head slightly, unable to listen any longer. Was what was to come...?
Tite looked at Colby with heartache, feeling an overwhelming sense of care. She reached out and put her arm around Colby, patting him gently to comfort him.
Colby looked around at the people, all of whom had very sympathetic expressions. Colby suddenly broke free from Tite's arm and stood up abruptly.
"I wasn't attacked, what are you thinking, what are you pitying me for!"
"At that time, Ryan and Lloyd pulled out guns, took two people hostage, and forced them to let me go."
Colby quickly explained, pointing to the injury on his face: "This is from when I fought back against them, I'm fine."
He was eager to prove something, and Lloyd, with an expression that said he knew everything, patted Colby on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, we'll protect your chrysanthemums."
Colby cursed irritably, "Fuck!!!"
"You bunch of bastards, I'll feed you all to the zombies."
"Hahahaha!!!"
A cheerful atmosphere instantly filled the study, and the merriment of laughter brought the two people closer together.
After the laughter subsided, Lloyd recounted the origins of this group.
"They were all survivors from the surrounding area, with no real ability or talent, who just happened to get their hands on some guns by chance."
"They were scavenging outside with guns, and then they handed over some supplies to Teddy, and Teddy let them in."
Caesar thought for a moment and asked, "How did they know there were unclaimed pastures in Black Pine Valley?"
When this was mentioned, Lloyd's expression darkened: "It's all that Teddy's fault."
"After they blocked the Buffalo Pass, supplies were needed to get in and out. Teddy only gave a portion of the profits to old man Leon, but only he knows how much he took for himself."
"In order to increase his own profits, Teddy spread rumors to outsiders about how many cattle and sheep there were in Black Pine Valley, and how much grassland there was, which could support a lot of people."