Chapter 62
Phil
Amy smiled as she dressed Caesar, who chuckled and teased, "I'm enjoying the treatment of a big rancher."
"Do you like it?" Amy walked up to Caesar and carefully straightened his collar. "I'll dress you every day."
Caesar didn't reply, but simply watched Amy busily working.
"Hmm?" Receiving no response, Amy looked up and asked in confusion.
"What's wrong? Are you touched?" Amy smiled and pointed to her lips. "Give me a kiss."
Without hesitation, Caesar lowered his head and gave him a deep kiss.
Amy closed her eyes and enjoyed it so much that her legs felt a little weak.
"I'm leaving."
After their tender moment ended, Amy smiled as she watched Caesar walk out of the house and gently waved goodbye.
Not far from his house, Caesar saw Lloyd, Colby, and three other cowboys leaning against the fence separating the living area from the pasture.
Besides them, there were also Daryl and Mohr, who kept their distance, as well as Carol and Beth.
Beth, a cigarette dangling from his lips, beckoned with his hand: "Did you have a good time last night? Had some fun?"
Upon hearing this, the group burst into laughter, especially Colby and Moore.
Caesar glanced at Beth: "You can shut up now."
"It's time. Should we hurry over now?" Ryan frowned, raised his hand, and looked at his watch.
Yesterday, Ryan went to Leon's ranch to arrange a meeting where the two sides discussed the previous incident involving Teddy at Buffalo Pass.
Old man Leon is quite capable, and as Teddy mentioned before, he has now recruited new members.
Caesar wanted to go and see for himself.
Beth took a deep drag of his cigarette and exhaled it into Ryan's face, ignoring Ryan's unpleasant expression: "We were the ones who took the initiative to communicate; we've already taken the first step."
"If we arrive early, it will seem like we're rushing in, and they might look down on us. We should arrive later and make them wait, to test their patience."
Ryan frowned but did not refute. He had no experience in this area and did not know whether he was right or wrong.
Caesar patted Ryan on the shoulder: "It doesn't really matter. We'll devour them sooner or later, it's just a matter of time."
"Although old man Leon is strong, he is not good at managing people. He has many subordinates, but many of them are rabble and do not really listen to old man Leon's orders."
"Even if we go head-to-head now, our chances of winning are still very high."
"So, negotiate with confidence and boldness."
Caesar then instructed Carol to send men to take over the other ranches and Daryl to lead men to clear out the walkers piece by piece, ensuring that there were no walkers in the area where Caesar's ranch connected to the new land.
At that moment, Caesar spotted Andrea repairing the wooden fence not far away.
At this moment, Andrea was covered in sweat and sat on the ground, panting heavily.
Upon seeing Andrea, Caesar's eyes lit up, and he came up with a good idea. He said to Beth, "When we go to Leon Ranch later, let's take Andrea with us."
Although she didn't understand why, Bass did as she was told.
Afterwards, Caesar, along with several cowboys, Moore, Beth, and others, headed to old man Leon's ranch.
The others stayed behind at Caesar's Ranch.
Caesar's Ranch is located in a relatively central position in Black Pine Valley, while Leon Ranch is located on the left edge, near Buffalo Pass.
Caesar did not choose to ride a horse, but instead opted to travel by carriage.
With two teams of people, after driving for more than half an hour and covering a distance of thirty or forty kilometers, Caesar and his men arrived at Leon Ranch.
Leon Ranch is much larger than Caesar Ranch. From inside the car, Caesar could see hundreds of cows grazing in the ranch.
A dozen or so cowboys on horseback drove them along, each one warily eyeing the unfamiliar vehicles approaching.
The convoy stopped in front of the Leon Ranch, and Caesar and the others sat in the cars waiting for the ranch gates to open.
A few minutes later, no one came to open the door.
Caesar turned his head to look at the ranch. Several of the cowboys from earlier were missing; they had probably gone back to make communications.
But since it hasn't arrived in a few minutes, it's definitely trying to give me a hard time.
Caesar patted Morales's chair. "Break in!"
Upon hearing this, Morales didn't hesitate for a moment, slammed on the gas, and the pickup truck shot off.
Like a mad bull, it smashed through the ranch gate.
The remaining cowboys, standing not far away, stared in disbelief, then watched as other pickup trucks smashed through the wooden fence next to the gate.
"Hey!" A few cowboys on horseback, whips in hand, were about to charge over.
Suddenly, a dozen or so cowboys appeared out of nowhere, blocking the way of the angry cowboys and shouting at them to stop.
Caesar watched as the dozen or so cowboys rode up on horseback. The lead cowboy had a friendly smile on his face, but his triangular eyes looked a bit vicious.
Phil sized up Caesar, who was completely different from before. He was much more confident and arrogant, and his attitude was very tough. You could tell at a glance that he was ambitious.
"Long time no see, Caesar," Phil said first. "You've changed a lot."
Caesar didn't get out of the car, but glanced at him: "Isn't it normal for things to change a lot with the end of the world coming?"
Phil stopped the pleasantries, his smile fading. He pointed his riding crop at the shattered ranch gate and fragments of the surrounding wooden fence. "Can you give me an explanation?"
"Explain to you?" Caesar opened the car door, got out, and slowly walked towards Phil.
Morales, Mor and others got out of the car at the same time and followed closely behind Caesar.
Phil wasn't a coward; he dismounted and took the lead.
The cowboy behind him followed.
Phil took two steps forward and struck first, throwing a powerful punch.
Caesar reacted swiftly, striking Phil's cheek first, followed by a devastating punch to the liver.
Phil doubled over in pain, and then Caesar grabbed him and threw him several meters away like a chick.
Phil fell heavily to the ground with a muffled groan.
His cowboys were stunned for a moment, then looked back at Phil, not expecting that Phil, their leader, would lose so quickly.
They looked at each other, then took a step back and did not fight with Morales and the others.
Two henchmen pulled Phil up from the ground. Phil looked badly beaten, with blood coming from his mouth and nose, one side of his cheek swollen, and he was unsteady on his feet.
Phil waved his hand and ordered his men, "Take them to find old man Leon. I'm going back to rest."
After saying that, he ignored Caesar and the others, struggled to mount his horse, and slunk away.
Caesar took a deep look at Phil's retreating figure.
Phil is the second-in-command in Leon's team, but also the one who least obeys Leon's orders.
In the past, in a society governed by the rule of law, Phil couldn't have killed old man Leon and inherited his ranch. He could only submit to old man Leon and make a living by working for him.