Reborn in 1878: America's Number One Bandit

Chapter 9 The Trial in the Tunnel
Lawson wiped the rich broth from the plate with the last tortilla and set down his cutlery with satisfaction.

Marlene's craftsmanship wasn't exactly exquisite.

But its value lies in the freshness of the ingredients.

It's very generous in portion size.

It just happens to meet his body's huge energy needs.

He looked at Marlene, who was clearing away the dishes.

Mrs. Odell.

"It must be really hard work for you to manage such a large farm all by yourself," Lawson said.

Marlene looked at him: "There's nothing we can do, Lawson. Life has to go on."

"Why not consider hiring a few workers to help?"

Lawson suggested, "I see there's still a lot of work to be done in the fields, and the barn needs repairs. A few more hands will make things easier."

"Hire someone?"

Marlene put down the plate in her hand and sighed: "Not to mention that I can't afford to pay the workers at all, look around here, apart from those rude railway workers, there are only lazybones from the town who are idle."

"If we bring them in, who knows what might happen? I have to think about Lucy's safety."

Her concerns were not unfounded.

In this disorderly West.

A sexy widow with a beautiful daughter is dangerous in itself.

She couldn't afford the risk of letting a wolf into her house.

Lawson seemed to have anticipated that she would say that.

He offered his suggestion at just the right time:

"Perhaps I can help."

I have two fellow countrymen who just came to California and are currently unemployed and wandering around.

If you don't mind, you can have them come to the farm to help out.

How much are they asking for in wages?

"No wages required."

Marlene clearly didn't believe it. "Where in this world is there such a thing as working for free?"

"For us Chinese, sometimes it's enough to have a full meal and not go hungry."

"We've had it so hard here, Mrs. Odell," Lawson explained. "They speak English, are all good workers, and absolutely reliable, as long as you provide the meals."

These words touched Marlene.

She hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded: "Have them come over tomorrow and give it a try. But I have to make it clear first, if they're not a good fit..."

"of course."

"If they don't do a good job," Lawson said with a smile. "You can let them go anytime."

Four o'clock in the morning.

Outside the window, all was still deep darkness.

Even the howls of the coyotes have fallen silent.

Lawson opened his eyes right on time.

A new day has begun, and the list of 11 new suicide squad members has been updated.

Refresh everything.

Ethnicity: [European], [English]

Eleven robust British white assassins were sent to the Three Dogs.

After daybreak, they were dispersed to various towns in Marin County.

Logging yards, docks, remote post offices...

Settle down in the local area as soon as possible.

Find a job and integrate into the environment.

While making money, he also gathered all valuable intelligence for Lawson.

After the Park Manor and the scumbag Elsher.

Lawson realized that having the assassins work honestly to earn money was too inefficient.

In this wildly growing West.

The fastest way to get rich is always written on the opposite side of the law.

Unexpected wealth is the ultimate goal.

Intelligence is the map and key to finding unexpected wealth.

He glanced at his data panel and felt a surge of confidence.

[Core Level: 5] (11 assassin slots can be automatically refreshed daily; their stamina is 1.1-1.5 times that of a normal adult male, and they are randomly generated.)

[Next upgrade requirement: Absorb 1 cubic meter of zinc]

[Host Constitution: 8] (Potential cap 15, standard for normal adult male is 10)

[Earthwork Energy Reserve: 198] (1 unit of earthwork energy can generate 1 assassin)
Current number of suicide bombers: 40

My physical condition has improved a little.

The total number of suicide bombers has reached forty.

Earthwork reserves are also quite abundant.

And it's steadily increasing every day.

In case there isn't enough, all the assassins can dig earth in different places.

Among this batch of newly refreshed assassins, their skills remain highly random.

Proficient in horsemanship, marksmanship, hand-to-hand combat, hunting, disguise, drinking, and so on.

To Lawson's surprise, one of the assassins' skills was flirting with girls, and his special ability was having four strong kidneys.

This is fucking...

Lawson was somewhat envious.

He took a look and saw that the boy had blond hair, blue eyes, and was tall and strong; he was indeed special.

He looks a bit like a younger version of Brad Pitt.

An absolute killer of women.

If this kid manages things well, he can make a lot of money.

Where should we place him?

As Lawson pondered this, he fell asleep.

I slept until dawn again.

Two tall, muscular figures appeared outside the farm fence.

It was Er Gou and San Gou.

Marlene let them in.

"Go ahead,"

She nodded to the two of them, "The weeds in the field need to be cleared, and the irrigation ditch over there should be dredged."

Er Gou and San Gou nodded earnestly, picked up their farm tools, and headed towards the fields.

They are strong and powerful.

Whether it's weeding or digging ditches, they do it quickly and efficiently.

Marlene looked at the house for a while and nodded in satisfaction.

Lawson had eaten breakfast.

He then continued his daily rehabilitation training.

Chopping wood, jogging.

Then I moved to the most open spot in the yard and lay on the haystack to sunbathe.

Sunlight on the body accelerates blood circulation and metabolism.

He could feel the power deep within his body being awakened and gathered little by little.

With Er Gou and San Gou around, things became much easier for him.

Railway construction site.

Another noisy day has begun.

Today's task is to continue tunneling.

The workers had to use the most primitive methods—hammers, steel chisels, and explosives.

To pave a path for this steel behemoth.

Johnny and the others followed Finn and his six companions into the tunnel.

There were eleven of them, each responsible for one work area.

The dimly lit tunnel was filled with the pungent smell of nitrate dust and the acrid stench of sweat.

The flame of the kerosene lamp flickered in the murky air.

"Damn it, those Chinese guys should really be doing this job!"

Finn grumbled as he swung his heavy pickaxe, "This dirty and tiring work is only fit for those yellow-skinned monkeys!"

"That's right!"

Declan, his companion, chimed in, "Once we get through here, I'm definitely going to town to find a girl and wash away all my bad luck!"

Johnny, chiming in haphazardly with his chisels behind them, remarked, "This job is inhuman. The pay is so low, and it's fucking dangerous."

"Who says it isn't?"

Finn spat, "Once we get this month's wages, we'll go to Wildfire Town and have some fun. The girls there are way more exciting than those in Strawberry Town!"

They chatted and complained about their jobs.

Deep inside the tunnel, there were no other people besides the eleven of them.

Johnny and the other four assassins exchanged a silent glance.

The time has come.

"Cousin Finn."

Johnny suddenly pointed to the top of the tunnel and said, "Look up there, aren't there cracks?"

Finn and his men instinctively looked up in the direction Johnny was pointing.

In that very moment of distraction...

The heavy pickaxe traced a deadly arc in the dim light.

It slammed viciously into the back of Finn's head and neck of the six men.

"Puff puff!"

……

Finn and the others didn't even have time to let out a scream before collapsing limply forward.

Blood and brain matter gushed out.

The battle began in an instant and ended in an instant.

Johnny walked over to the dying Finn and knelt down beside him.

In low Chinese voice:

“You scum, Ah Gou has been waiting for you down there for a long time.”

Finn used the last of his strength to widen his eyes.

Shock, confusion, resentment.

He then died.

Johnny and his men quickly dragged the six bodies to the base of a rock wall, then vigorously hammered at the rocks above with pickaxes.

A large amount of rubble and soil collapsed, crushing the six corpses beyond recognition.

His head was smashed.

The marks on the back of his head that had been smashed were covered up.

An accidental landslide scene was thus created.

"Landslide! Help!"

Johnny was the first to rush out of the tunnel, his face smeared with mud and blood.

Distraught.

"My cousin and the others are all buried inside!"

"Hurry up and save people!"

His shouts immediately caused a commotion at the construction site.

A large group of people rushed in to rescue the people.

But they could only drag out six unrecognizable corpses.

They're all dead.

The Chinese laborers not far away also peeked and looked in this direction.

When they saw the dead Ershes, many of them laughed gleefully.

Soon, someone recognized the six thugs who had killed Ah Gou a few days earlier.

The news spread quickly among the Chinese laborers.

"Dead? Those few Ershe beasts who beat Ah Gou to death are dead?"

"Really? He was killed by a rock?"

"Karma! This is fucking karma!"

A murmur of discussion erupted from the crowd; everyone felt a sense of relief.

Foreman Liang Kuan rushed over upon hearing the news.

He glanced a few times in the direction of the tunnel.

He whispered to his Chinese laborers, "Did you all see that? This is what they call karma!"

Justice may be delayed, but it will never be denied!
Even the heavens couldn't bear to see Ah Gou's grudge go unpunished, so they personally took action to avenge him!

Alright, stop looking, everyone! Go do what you're supposed to be doing! Get to work!

He chased away the crowd of onlookers.

They were afraid that the Irish would hear this and take their anger out on them.

Hansen, the site manager, was also alerted.

"Damn Ersher idiot."

He cursed and ordered, "Drag them to the back of the mountain and bury them. Don't delay the construction schedule."

On the construction site.

The death of a few workers is no different from the death of a few livestock.

There is no such thing as compensation on construction sites.

In the past, weren't all the Chinese laborers who died just wrapped in a straw mat and buried in some random pit?
"no!"

Johnny grabbed Hansen's arm and roared, "They're my family! They died for the railroad, you have to pay for it!"

Hansen sneered, "What the hell are you talking about? If they died, it's their bad luck, they had short lives. Why didn't the others die? Compensation? There's no such rule on the construction site."

"So many Chinese laborers died, when have you ever given them any compensation?"

Johnny and his friends protested: "We are white! We have human rights!"

"They died for the Southern Pacific Railroad! If we don't get compensation, we'll strike! All Erscher people, strike!"

His shouts were immediately echoed by other Erscher workers around him.

"Yes! Strike! Strike if you don't get compensation!"

"We are not slaves! We demand compensation!"

The emotions of the Irish workers were stirred up.

They all crowded around, their emotions running high.

Hansen's face turned ugly.

He may not care about a few deaths, but he cannot disregard the construction schedule.

These Ersher men, though scum, were an important source of labor on the construction site.

Although the Chinese laborers were capable, they didn't know anything about explosives.

If the Irish really went on strike, he couldn't afford the consequences if he got blamed by his superiors.

"Alright alright!"

He finally compromised, saying, "Two hundred yuan per person, that's the highest price I can offer. Take the money and get out of here!"

"No!"

Johnny wouldn't budge an inch. He held up three fingers: "These are our dearest friends and family, our closest cousins. Three hundred dollars each, not a penny less."

(End of this chapter)