Chapter 93
Training
After saying a few simple words, Caesar gave instructions to Ford.
"Go find Carol and have her register and fill out information for everyone. You need to accompany her throughout the process."
When Caesar met Ford's gaze, he could clearly see the confusion in Ford's eyes.
Caesar could only explain, "Although you haven't been in charge for long, they do trust you to a certain extent. Go!"
He waved his hand, signaling Ford to lead the crowd into the still unfinished town.
Caesar turned around with a warm smile on his face. "Thank you all for welcoming our new companions. Now, everyone, go and get on with your tasks."
They clapped their hands and dispersed the crowd.
……
Caesar sat in his office in the council chamber, looking at the pile of documents on his desk, and poked at them with resentment.
"Do I really have to edit so many documents?"
Amy was wearing a bodycon business suit, black stockings, and red-soled high heels, which made her already tall figure appear even taller. She rested her hands on the desk.
"Yeah, it's all because you didn't properly review the documents the other day, and yesterday you rode a horse and led the way in herding cattle and sheep."
"The day before yesterday, you asked Daryl and the others to go out and clear out the walkers."
"..."
Amy started counting on her fingers, one by one. As she counted, Caesar's large hand enveloped Amy's small hand. "Alright, alright, stop counting. I know."
Shaking his head, Caesar took a deep breath and looked at the documents in front of him.
The documents were actually about trivial matters, but Caesar was able to learn about the current situation of the ranch from them.
The ranch's expansion has been frighteningly rapid, thanks to Beth and Rip.
Beth was responsible for persuading with words, while Rip used his fists.
After Rip returned to Caesar's ranch, Caesar allowed him to keep his original position as a cowboy shepherd, commonly known as the cowboy leader.
Previously, he managed Lloyd, Colby, and others.
Now, the surrounding ranches are being rapidly absorbed by Caesar Ranch, the grassland area is expanding rapidly, and the cowboys from these ranches are also joining Caesar Ranch.
Caesar brought these cowboys under Rip's command: Colby, Tite, Lloyd, and Ryan. The four of them assisted Rip in management, essentially serving as deputy cowboy leaders.
Recently, Caesar has been able to discern from documents that some cowboys are complaining about Rip being too strict.
Caesar ignored it, casually tossing the document aside. "From now on, you don't need to show me these kinds of documents. Just throw them away!"
Amy tilted her head, watching Caesar review the documents, and nodded: "Okay."
"They also want to be captain, but they don't dare to actually confront Rip, so they choose to come to me this way." Caesar couldn't help but laugh at their clumsy methods.
"Hey, just be a good cowboy."
Caesar continued his review.
Not long after, there was a knock on the door.
"Boss, I have something to report." It was Beth's voice.
Caesar raised his head, gesturing for Amy to open the door. He leaned back, the comfortable chair back allowing his spine to relax.
After the door opened, Beth and Rip walked in.
Beth placed a file on Caesar's desk.
As Caesar picked up the documents and began to peruse them, Beth remarked, "These are the remaining ranches that haven't been added to our ranch."
Caesar nodded and looked closely.
The number of ranches mentioned above is not large, and when Beth contacts other ranches, it indicates that Caesar wants to acquire their ranches in exchange for grain.
Most of the ranches readily agreed and joined Caesar Ranch.
A small number of ranches would agree, given the strength of Fear Caesar Ranch.
Finally, the remaining group of holdout residents appeared on the list.
Caesar counted them carefully; there were more than a dozen pastures, enough for him to go out and play for a while.
A smile played on Caesar's lips as he looked up and met Amy's stern gaze, instinctively avoiding eye contact.
Caesar stood up, placed the documents on the table, and said as he walked out, "Let's go, we need to get rid of these ranches quickly."
Amy stood with one hand on her hip, watching Caesar leave with a helpless expression.
As Beth left, she waved to Amy, "We're off, bye-bye!"
Amy said, "Bye-bye!"
Amy sighed and turned to start organizing the documents on Caesar's desk.
On the other side, the atmosphere was completely different.
A smile appeared on Caesar's face as he put on his bulletproof vest and other protective gear, then mounted his horse.
Emerging from the stable, Caesar patted the Night Fury beneath him, "I can go out for another run today."
With a gentle squeeze of his legs, Night Fury understood and ran forward.
Caesar's Night Furies are usually kept in the small stable next to the Stone House. There are only two or three horses in the stable, and no one uses them.
We rode horses to the cowboy cabin.
The cowboy cabin was moved to a new location, placed on the outskirts of the town according to the plan, and was built to be much larger than before.
Single cowboys all live there; it has a bit of a boys' dormitory feel to it.
Upon arriving at the cowboy cabin, Rip and the cowboys also came out.
The cowboys, numbering over forty, were a formidable force, making them arguably the most powerful group in town.
However, the cowboys were not uniformly dressed, looked somewhat lazy, and even a little disobedient to Rip's orders.
This made Caesar frown.
Rip rode up to Caesar, approached him, and faced his group of cowboys. "Shall we bring the cowboys with us today?"
Caesar's gaze was like a sharp knife; every time he looked at a cowboy, the cowboy immediately straightened up, looking all tough on the outside but weak on the inside.
Caesar shook his head. "Take them back. They need some serious discipline. If we take them out like this, I don't even dare to imagine how many will come back!"
Leading such an unruly group to fight against other forces?
Caesar was worried that if they charged, they would rush straight at him and run right into the line of fire.
Rip responded sullenly. Although he hadn't been in charge for long, they were still under his command, and Rip could only be angry at his subordinates for being so incompetent.
Rip approached the cowboys with a grim face, pointed at the cowboy hut, and cursed, "You bunch of good-for-nothings, get back home!"
"You guys are all so lazy and careless. This is war! Do you want to die?"
"Let me tell you, if you die on the battlefield, no one will collect your bodies. When you become zombies, I'll have to cut off your heads and bring them to your families."
"Get out! Get back there right now!"
Rip glared at the crowd and chased them away as they scrambled to their feet.
Seeing the dejected group, Rip sighed deeply and returned to ask, "Should we use Daryl, Moore, or Glenn and the others?"
There are currently several combat squads in the town. Daryl's people are all highly skilled in wilderness survival and adept at hit-and-run tactics.
The people of Moore are rather reckless, fierce, and fearless, and they excel at confronting enemies head-on.
Glenn's men made a trip to King County and their strength has increased considerably.
There's also the newly formed combat squad of Frank and Ford, but their squad hasn't recruited enough members yet, and Caesar won't be taking them out for the time being.