Dual wielding volcanoes, killing through the west

“Becky’s family is in the arms business. They sell arms for most of New Austin, so of course I know them well,” Barbara said casually. “When I was very young, I saw her take a revolver apart and then put it back together with her eyes closed.”

"It's alright~~~~ In the end, our family is just a bunch of merchants who buy and sell. Barbara's father, Gordon Jansen, is the sheriff of the White Torch Police Department, isn't that amazing! They are the ones who truly dedicate themselves to the safety of society."

Becky subtly distanced herself from the conversation, then steered the topic to her companion, which also brought the somewhat sullen Barbara into the discussion.

“I’d rather he didn’t become a sheriff. There are plenty of other good jobs he could choose from, right? Even buying a piece of land somewhere, fenced it off, and becoming a rancher would be better than being a sheriff… You’ve heard? The sheriff next door in the Windblown Sands, I think his name was Mark or something, my father said he saw him at an interstate exchange and learning conference before. He died such a horrible death! He didn’t even leave behind a complete body; most of his head was blown to pieces!”

When this topic came up, Barbara visibly became more talkative, but her concern for her family was genuine.

Her delicate brows furrowed slightly, her voice filled with worry, "I don't want to come home one day to receive news like this... It's too terrible..."

"what."

David gave a cold laugh, which basically meant "Your idea is so stupid that I don't even want to point it out," and continued to look at the scenery without saying anything more.

"Was your father a good cop? He shouldn't have taken bribes or colluded with gangs, right?"

Barbara was taken aback by the sudden question. She paused for a moment before realizing what the foreigner next to her was asking.

"He...he's definitely a good policeman, a conscientious and responsible one!"

Barbara emphasized her words, “After the Shrike incident in Australia, he worked day and night, only sleeping five hours a day, all to solve the case as soon as possible. He started as a local sheriff, but Mayor Wendigo noticed his diligence and integrity, which led to his promotion to sheriff.”

"Let me put it this way, even if all the police in White Torch Town have problems, my father definitely doesn't."

"That's good then," Zhang Renfeng said calmly. "Your father will definitely not end up like Mark Durand."

"Do you know Sheriff Mark?" Becky suddenly asked, seizing the opportunity.

“Yes, I’m from Fengchuisha.” Zhang Renfeng added to his self-introduction very briefly. “‘Fengchuisha Tragedy,’ that’s what you call it, right?”

"Really?" Becky seemed quite surprised. Unlike her previous perfunctory response to David, this time it seemed genuine. Her voice was noticeably lower. "Then... were you there at the time? Did you see Red Center? What did it look like?!"

“Isn’t there an arrest warrant?” Zhang Renfeng said slowly, answering her question with a question.

“The new arrest warrant seems to be circulating only in New Elizabeth because its authenticity is questionable,” Barbara explained. “According to my father, Red Center seems to have been hiding in the stables in Windswept Sands, working as their helper, but he was very inconspicuous and nobody cared what he looked like. In addition… the Windswept Sands massacre amplified people’s fear psychologically, and the images they described were very distorted.”

"Some say his eyes glow red in the middle of the night, some say he has wild boar tusks in his mouth, and some say he is a zombie from the East who can survive without coming and can twist his joints into a pretzel, and can run like the wind on the rooftops."

Barbara sighed, seemingly helpless about the farce.

"In short, there are too many details and clues, making it difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood. After discussion, we decided to first post the existing arrest warrant in New Elizabeth as a test. If we can obtain valuable intelligence, we can then synchronize it to New Austin."

"Hmm, I see." Zhang Renfeng dealt with the situation with his usual composure, as if he were completely detached from it, and commented quite naturally, "For Hongzhong, this is better, the less it resembles them, the safer they are."

"Haha... If you ask me, the sheriffs of any state are all useless. Isn't Windblown Sands the stronghold of that Chedel? I heard there were twenty or thirty people there, plus his own hired gunmen, and they were all wiped out in one fell swoop. It shows that this guy has absolutely no eye for talent."

David's tone was rather arrogant, "With the same number of people, if it were me, a mere Red Center would have been locked up in jail long ago."

“Mr. Mesvid once studied at the Virginia Military Institute, and I heard he did very well there!” Becky chimed in at just the right moment, making the boy raise his head even higher.

"...Is that so?" Zhang Renfeng inexplicably smiled as well.

Chapter 70: The Wolf and the Sheep (Bounty Still Available - 11)

"So, the daughter of an arms dealer, the daughter of the White Torch Town sheriff, and the son of a well-known banker."

Zhang Renfeng glanced at the scenery outside the window. Perhaps it was because of the thick snow, but he felt that the carriage was moving very slowly, not like the effect of four horses pulling a carriage. "Why would such an unusual combination appear on Sparrow Mountain?"

"Wait a minute... I didn't mention my family situation, did I?" David immediately became alert. "How did you know about me?"

"This young lady just said that you studied at some kind of military academy and called you 'Mr. Mesvid'."

Zhang Renfeng spoke calmly and answered fluently, without giving any clues. "You're the one who's going to start a bank with Mr. Cheder, right? That's not a very common surname. In Fengchuisha, almost everyone knows about it. It seems Mr. Cheder has already started advertising his new bank."

"What do you mean 'his'?!"

David was furious with his choice of words and retorted, “You better remember this: some foreign country bumpkin who came out of nowhere. The bank isn’t his, he knows absolutely nothing about how to run a bank, he’s just a wrinkled bastard! My father, he’s the real banker, he knows how to make money grow from money.”

"If this world were a dry desert, banks would be the only institutions that store large amounts of water, and everyone would depend on us for survival. That's the power of Mesvid Bank, and so is that Southerner named Childer!"

It sounds like it's more profitable than being a robber, and you don't have to risk getting shot.

Zhang Renfeng didn't know much about "banks." There were no banks in his hometown, so naturally he wouldn't deposit any money there after coming here. Leaning back in the soft chair, he started to daydream. No wonder the Thunder Gang wanted to cooperate with Chaider; this way of making money was indeed much more lucrative than robbing a train.

But then I thought, wouldn't it be better to just rob a bank?

"Such a big bank, security is very important. If I'm not mistaken, the Maysved Bank was robbed once when Mr. David was in school, right?" Becky frowned, pretending to think, but secretly glancing at Zhang Renfeng out of the corner of her eye. "What was the name of that bank robber again..."

“The man in the yellow shirt,” Barbara replied as if reciting a familiar story. “It happened a year ago. Judging from the scene, there seemed to be two suspects. But the man in the yellow shirt always acts alone, so this robbery is considered to be a sudden, impromptu operation by a temporary team. Perhaps they chose a bank to give a newcomer practice before he joined the gang.”

"Hmph!" David scoffed disdainfully. "If I weren't still studying at military academy, those yellow and black uniforms, I'd make them all..."

"Shh!"

Zhang Renfeng suddenly made a shushing gesture, as if he had sensed something, his back straightened instantly, and his eyebrows furrowed tightly.

Being interrupted halfway through his act of showing off was like having the music suddenly cut off when you're singing karaoke at the most exciting moment, which made David lose his temper.

He was thoroughly annoyed by the foreigner along the way, and now he had a reason to vent his anger. But before he could ask anything like, "What's wrong with your brain?", Zhang Renfeng preemptively asked, "Did you hear the sound of horses' hooves?"

"Nonsense! We're in a carriage, pulled by four horses, of course there's the sound of hooves!" David snapped angrily. "What's wrong with you?"

“Ouch————!!!”

A ferocious, twisted howl came from the heavy snow, slapping against the thin sheet metal of the carriage along with the fluffy snowflakes.

"Wolves?!" Barbara's expression turned ashen. "There shouldn't be any such animals on Sparrow Mountain..."

“That’s not the howl of a wolf,” Zhang Renfeng said with certainty. “It’s a person! Someone is imitating a wolf’s howl.”

"Why, why, why?" David's voice trembled slightly in the face of the unexpected situation. "Why would someone suddenly howl like a wolf?!"

The driver's scream the next moment said it all.

"It's the Wolf Shepherd Gang—!!!"

In the blink of an eye, several fast horses emerged from the snow, accompanied by a cacophony of overlapping wolf howls. Without exception, all of them were masked; their imitations of wolf howls were remarkably realistic, and their lung capacity was astonishing. The leader rode a foxtrot, small in size but perfectly suited for traversing the snow, leading the way. As he approached the carriage, he drew his double-action revolver and fired two shots into the air.

"boom--!"

"boom--!"

In the unobstructed natural environment, gunshots can travel far. The group quickly surrounded the carriage, riding around it and firing into the air. The strange wolf howls gradually gave way to unrestrained laughter, as if celebrating their capture of prey.

Unlike the legendary monster Hong Zhong, or the massive, corrupt gang like the Angry Thunder Gang that colluded with wealthy merchants, this was a group of true "bandits."

Hidden deep in the mountains far from civilization, they would occasionally descend to plunder, and each time they did so, blood was inevitable.

In this primitive era of development, countless gangs like these have sprung up across the land. Encountering them would be the most terrifying nightmare for ordinary people, because these guys are utterly unreasonable and unlikely to leave anyone alive—they're all men with one foot in the grave, and who knows when the sheriff will catch them and shoot them dead. Their style of doing things is naturally ruthless and extremely brutal.

Unlike typical gangs, the Wolf Shepherd Gang uses a unified wolf howl during operations, which is considered part of their unique corporate culture. Just like how Red Center leaves a small wooden tag at the scene after committing murder, people know it's them the moment they make a move.

"Bang bang!"

A tall, burly man circled around from the side, tapped the car door twice with the barrel of his gun, making a terrifying noise. He stuck the barrel inside, pointed it at David, and sneered, "Take it easy, don't try to be a hero. Nobody will get hurt, you know?"

"You...you want money? Please wait, don't hurt us, everything is negotiable!" David waved his hands repeatedly, sweat pouring down his forehead. He forced a smile and said, "If it's less than $15000, I can just write a letter to my father and get it directly. But if I die, I won't get a single penny, please don't..."

"Hahahaha—!! Boss, did you hear that? This guy's a fat sheep!"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

The brothers burst into laughter, as if they had never seen such a foolish hostage who would reveal his financial situation. If he could buy a life for $15000, he certainly wouldn't mind paying more.

The man they called "leader" was a rather thin-looking man who had been leading the charge on his fastest foxtrot. Now, however, he was the last to dismount.

Zhang Renfeng noticed that his fingernails were different from ordinary people's; they were longer, thicker, and incredibly sharp, and unlike the normal flesh color, they were a strange deep black.

His back was slightly hunched, his eyes were cold, and his voice was as sharp as a jackal's.

He seemed to sniff the air, then suddenly raised his hand, pointing his sharp fingernails directly at Zhang Renfeng in the car, and asked, "Is this person with you?"

Chapter 71: If I can unbutton your clothes, I can stab you in the throat (Bounty 12)

"Him? No, no, he just showed up halfway through! His horse died of exhaustion halfway there, so he shamelessly got on the cart..."

With a gun pointed at him, the coachman quickly told the truth, but the leader seemed not to hear him and stared straight at Zhang Renfeng.

"Hey! I'm talking to you, get out of the car!" The burly man walked around to Zhang Renfeng's side, knocked on the car door with the barrel of his gun, and shouted, "Are you deaf? If you don't want to get shot, get out of the car right now!"

Zhang Renfeng smiled at him, casually raising his hand and giving him a fleeting touch near his neck. The man felt a cool breeze brush against his neck, and looking down, he saw that his collar had popped open. Zhang Renfeng remained seated in the same position, seemingly unmoved. However, between two of his fingers was a button, which he had removed from his collar.

"What...what are you doing?!" He clutched his ripped collar, furious, but instinctively took a step back. "You're asking for it!"

"Wait a moment."

Just as he was about to draw his gun, the boss's voice suddenly came from behind. The man paused, his hand already on the gun handle hesitating. "But, boss..."

"Sandor, wait a minute!"

Although this is not his real name, the nature of the matter changes once his name is called.

Sandor had no choice but to release his grip, glaring at Zhang Renfeng resentfully before taking a few steps back. The bandits seemed to realize the situation had changed, and they all quieted down, making silence the dominant theme of the heavy snow once again.

The eldest brother tilted his head and stared at Zhang Renfeng for a long time, as if he wanted to dissect him inside and out and see him clearly.

Humans are social animals; the fear of awkward silences is ingrained in everyone's bones. Silence, especially in high-pressure situations like this, can instill fear and panic, making people unable to control their tongues. The leader attempted to use this prolonged silence and stare to test the other person's psychological defenses.

But to his surprise, those rare dark brown eyes showed no sign of backing down.

After staring into each other's eyes for a long time, his own mind began to wander, as if he were being sucked into the endless darkness.

He no longer relied on his eyes, but took another small step forward, moved closer to Zhang Renfeng, and sniffed his scent.

"...That's all for today, let's go."

After saying that, he didn't even hesitate for a second before turning around and mounting his horse, leaving his underlings looking at each other in bewilderment, wondering if their boss was joking. Such a dashing entrance, he'd been howling for ages, and now he hadn't even managed to steal a single nail from the carriage before heading back like this?

But the boss is the boss, and in matters like this, he has veto power.

Once the leader mounted his horse, the other underlings had no choice but to tighten the reins and turn away. Sandor gave Zhang Renfeng a deep look, as if trying to etch his face into his memory, and then turned and left as well.

The horses kicked up snow and dust, quickly leaving the luxurious carriage far behind. Only when they were completely out of sight did the rider slow down. Sandor tightened the reins, urging the horse to speed up, bringing it to the same level as his leader, his face filled with utter confusion.

"Boss, what exactly is this...?"

“Fool! Don’t you understand?” His voice was distinctive, dry, cold, and sharp, like that of a real animal. “If he can unbutton your clothes, he can stab you in the throat. He’s already let you off once! If you keep coming closer, he might stab your throat with his fingers first, then take your gun. Who knows what will happen after that.”

“That guy smells of blood, he’s quite dangerous, I’m not mistaken. He wasn’t originally in the plan, but now that he’s suddenly appeared, the plan has changed, and we can’t proceed as originally planned.”

Sandor felt it was all a bit too far-fetched. Putting aside everything else, stabbing someone in the throat and disarming them didn't seem like something a human could pull off. He was more inclined to believe that his boss's neuroticism had flared up again; for him, this was commonplace. He spent more time with wolves than with people each day, and he always liked to boast about having some kind of "beast intuition."

Lies, betrayal, danger... everything has a scent before it arrives, and he says he can smell them clearly, just like he can now.

Sandor was more inclined to believe that this was an excuse the boss made for himself, a way to hide his weakness from his underlings. Therefore, whenever he wanted to back down, he would find some excuse and ramble on to fool them. Normally, it wouldn't be so bad, but this time, the ransom from these three fat sheep was enough to make them a fortune, so stopping now seemed unreasonable.

It was clear that he wasn't the only one who thought this way. Although no one spoke up, the people who had taken off their masks all subtly revealed their dissatisfaction.

“Recently, a few people, it seems, came from the direction of Fengchuisha… They set up camp and settled down in our territory. I have a bad feeling about it.” The leader shook his head, as if trying to shake some voice from his mind. “These three sheep, let’s go according to the backup plan. Someone will take care of them. Leave them for now, all of you come back with me!”

----

"When you placed the order and received payment, you were practically bragging to the heavens. I thought you'd captured the leader of the Jack Gang! But when you encountered real bandits, you didn't fire a single shot?! You just sat there dumbfounded. What's the point of me paying you? I could have just hired two gardeners from my house to do the job!"

……

As soon as the man left, David didn't wait a moment longer. He seemed to have been fully recharged, jumped out of the car, and unleashed a torrent of abuse on the two drivers who also acted as bodyguards. It's no wonder he reacted this way; it proved that hired bodyguards were utterly useless in a critical moment.

If those Wolf Shepherds hadn't chosen to leave, he would definitely have been taken away, and his fate, whether he could buy his way out, was uncertain. David wasn't afraid of spending money, but what he hated most was spending money and not getting the experience he deserved.

“But Mr. Mesvid, our contract didn’t mention encountering the Wolf Shepherd Gang!” a driver argued. “A dozen or so men, a dozen guns, just facing us head-on, there’s really nothing we can do…”

"Enough, I don't want to waste any more time..." He took a deep breath, as if he didn't want to waste a single second on these people. "Guess what? What a load of crap, Lake Annabelle, what a damn white Arabian horse! I'm not going! Turn the car around right now and head down the mountain!"

Both girls were startled by these words.

"Not going?" Barbara frowned slightly. "But didn't you say before that you wouldn't give up until you found that snow-white Arabian horse?"

“What a joke! It’s just a horse. Even if it’s very valuable, you could sell it at the St. Quintak stables for a mere thousand dollars!” David glared at her, as if trying to get back at her for the fright he had just suffered. “If I had known there was a gang entrenched on Sparrow Hills, I would have made up for it!”

"If you want to stay here and study wildlife, that's fine, but I paid for the carriage! Turn around now and go back to White Torch Town!"

……

The two exchanged a glance, their expressions somewhat strange, as if pondering how to navigate their current situation. Their patron no longer trusted them, so it was clear this journey wouldn't be smooth sailing.

only……

“It’s like this, Mr. Mesvid, even if we’re heading back, we don’t have enough supplies.” One of the mercenaries scratched his head and said with a forced smile, “Let’s go to Mini Traveler’s Shop first to buy some things and make some preparations, and then we’ll go back to White Torch Town.”

"Is this arrangement acceptable to you?"