Dual wielding volcanoes, killing through the west

"No... After that, sooner or later, they will definitely call you over. That guy named Sandor will most likely interrogate you about whether you heard what we were talking about when he delivered our food. Because you were the only one who stepped into your boss's room, he has no one else to ask. If he's going to ask anyone, he'll ask you." Zhang Renfeng's tone was very certain, as if this scene had already happened.

"But...but I really didn't hear anything!" Igor tensed up immediately, his voice trembling. "I was only in charge of bringing you food. When I pushed the door open, you had already finished talking. What could I possibly have heard?"

“That’s true, but sometimes, even when you tell the truth, people aren’t satisfied. They don’t believe you didn’t hear anything; they just think you’ve already chosen your side, that you’re on your leader’s side, and that you’re not trustworthy.”

That's just how reality is. Those with real power who sit on the fence are "waiting and seeing," meaning neither side dares to touch them. But those without power who still sit on the fence are practically courting disaster.

Recalling Sandor's various acts of cruelty, as well as his dissatisfaction and warnings to him last night, he realized the seriousness of the situation and subconsciously swallowed.

"It's alright, I'll teach you what to say. You must remember this. When they come to find you, you must say exactly what I taught you..."

----

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

……

The sound of hooves gradually faded into the distance. Watching the chestnut warhorse disappear into the snow, Sandor angrily threw his cigarette butt on the ground and stomped on it.

Although Zhang Renfeng didn't exchange any further glances with him as he left, he still felt a sense of humiliation. This humiliation manifested as an itch. It made him want to scratch the scabs on his face, but as soon as his hand touched his skin, reason made him stop, leaving him to endure the torment of the itch.

"Damn it, I can't believe the leader just let him leave like that. Victor and the others all died at his hands. Weren't they members of the Wolf Shepherd Gang? They just died like that, without any explanation."

"What bullshit wolf pack! This farce should end now. It's all a lie he made up to fool people. I think he just chickened out. You didn't see how ridiculous his expression became when he heard that Hongzhong had some kind of family background!"

"You're only realizing this now? I've known it for a while. This guy's only good at dealing with his own people; he's afraid to do anything else. One Red Center scared him like he was nothing..."

No one needed to provoke them; the mere sight of Hong Zhong leaving was enough to ignite their anger.

Sandor's expression was unfriendly, and he gestured for everyone to be quiet. He half-squatted down, placed his hand on Igor's shoulder, and pressed down on him, demanding, "Speaking of which, Half-Man, you just went in and brought them food, right? You must have heard what they were talking about, didn't you?"

"I...I was only inside for a short while..."

Feeling the increased pressure on his shoulder, Igor quickly corrected himself, "I only heard a few words, they were talking while they were eating! They were saying something about... disbanding the Wolf Shepherd Gang, and..."

Need anything else? This one sentence alone is explosive enough.

In everyone's mind, the image of the Wolfman had plummeted to rock bottom, so they had no doubt about it and immediately started cursing.

"Quiet!" Sandor roared, silencing the crowd, and asked through gritted teeth, "What else?"

"They were talking about a business deal... I didn't hear the specifics. The guy in the red said he could earn $9600 a year, without having to split it with the gang. There was also something about banks, contracts, Maysvid... that's all I heard."

As Zhang Renfeng instructed, Igor didn't say much; a few keywords were enough. Humans are particularly prone to overthinking, especially when they have preconceived notions. There's no need to point them out; they'll naturally arrive at the conclusions they want.

"Is there even a question, Sandor? The answer is obvious!" one of the henchmen said indignantly. "That guy's planning to sign the contract and become that Maysvid's dog. He wants to kick us to the curb and pocket the $9600 all by himself!"

"It can't be that bad," some people said skeptically. "The Wolf Shepherd Gang is a gang he founded himself, and it's been around for seven or eight years. He should have some feelings for it by now..."

"Screw that, that's $9600! Has he ever seen that much money in his life? Compared to that amount of money, gangs are nothing. He probably wants us to get lost a long time ago."

“Even if that previous job had gone through, he would have only made $6000, and he would have had to split it with everyone in the gang. Now he can pocket $9600 all by himself… Even if he sold us all to the sheriff and had us all hanged one by one, he probably wouldn’t even blink an eye!”

……

Unbeknownst to many, 9600 seems to have become a magical number.

Everyone was convinced that the Wolfman had betrayed them, yet they would always intentionally or unintentionally bring up this number in their conversations.

Sure enough, after saying what they wanted to hear, no one bothered Igor anymore.

He was left out in the cold, observing the unspoken anger of the crowd, recalling what Zhang Renfeng had told him—that their anger had little to do with the Wolf Shepherds themselves, but rather with their resentment that the windfall hadn't fallen into their laps.

……

The more they talked, the angrier they became, and the angrier they became, the more they talked, until finally someone slammed their fist on the table, breaking the silence.

"Let's go! Let's find that bastard and get to the bottom of this!"

Chapter 94: His companion has turned back into a human (Bounty still up - 21)

Asking is one thing, but the people there aren't stupid. No one would risk offending them when the wolves are in the house. However, wolves are ultimately wild creatures and cannot be domesticated. There's no master-servant relationship between them and the wolf shepherds; this cabin is merely a temporary dwelling. To them, perhaps it's just that a strange fellow wolf lives here, nothing more. Once the sun has completely set and sunk behind the mountains, they will gradually return to their mountain burrows.

In other words, after the sun sets, he will no longer be the legendary figure who can summon wolves, but just a savage with sharp fingernails... nothing more.

"boom!"

The wooden door was kicked open.

“Roar…Woo…”

The room was brightly lit, casting a glossy sheen on the wolf pelts, revealing taut muscles beneath. The gray wolf, closest to the shepherd, instantly rose from its lying position, lowered its body, and let out a threatening growl at the group at the door. Wolves have the keenest sense of smell, and from the force of their kicking, as well as the resentful aura emanating from them, they could clearly tell that the newcomers meant trouble.

Wolves are not dogs; they don't bark loudly. With their tails held high, they only growl continuously—this is their only warning to these familiar scents.

The wolfherd was making a fishhook out of a blue jay feather. When they suddenly barged in, he remained unusually calm and did not lose his leader's authority despite their numbers.

……

"Go back now, and I can pretend nothing happened." The wolf shepherd issued a stern warning in a sharp, dry voice like that of a jackal, "but after that, things won't be so easy."

With a bang, Sandor slammed his door shut, completely cutting off the escape route for some wavering elements.

“Sandor, if you want to become the new Wolf King, you can challenge me fair and square. If you lose, the throne will naturally be yours.” The shepherd’s gaze also focused on him, he reached out to soothe the gray wolf’s emotions, and slowly stood up. “Do you really understand what you’re doing?”

"Oh, you bastard, don't talk to me like that now!" Sandor ripped off the gauze from his face, revealing claw marks that hadn't fully healed, and said angrily, "You've betrayed us, you've betrayed everyone!"

“Five lives, a full five lives, all killed by that yellow-haired barbarian! You were a coward, fine, but you even let him swagger away on horseback through the main gate… Are you out of your mind?” Sandor, suppressing his anger, questioned in a furious voice, “They risked their lives for you outside, and after they died, you didn’t even utter a fart? What? You want us to pretend these five people never existed?!”

"Shut up—!!" The wolf shepherd's eyes widened as he shouted, "Who do you think you are? All these years, it's me, not you, who has kept the gang of over twenty people alive to this day! Why? Because I know how to avoid risks and when to stop when I encounter certain people."

"Clearly smelling the stench of steel buried under the snow, yet still stepping on it—that's not bravery, that's stupidity, utter stupidity!"

"Who do you think Hong Zhong is? Someone your rabble can mess with? Do you think those few dozen people in Scarface Village, Windblown Sand, and White Torch Town are all he's killed? No!"

The Wolfman went berserk, clenching his fists and slamming them on the table, shouting, "No, no, no! The smell of blood on that guy... he's fought his way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, crawled out of piles of dead bodies! Of course I feel sorry that Victor and the others are dead, but a man like that is absolutely not to be trifled with. He'll be looking for a reason to kill you."

"I did all this for the gang, for you guys! I want you to live. Money can be earned back, but what about life?"

……

His words, though somewhat earnest and well-intentioned, were met with only ridicule after a brief silence.

"Ha." Sandor shrugged, his eyes filled with intense disdain. "What, old man, you really think you can smell some damn blood? That's something only animals can do. Are you an animal?"

"If you had listened to me back then, and hijacked that carriage halfway there, none of this would have happened. And that 'if he can unbutton my clothes, he can slit my throat' argument, haha... Could the reasoning be any more outrageous? According to that logic, he could kill me anytime, anywhere! Then why didn't he slit my throat with a single button when he was holding a gun to me?"

"..." The wolfherd squinted and stared at him for a long time before sighing, "You always think you have the situation under control, Sandor, but in reality, you're not as smart as you think."

"If the gang is in your hands, it probably won't last more than a few days before we all go to hell together."

“Heh…haha…” Sandor was so angry at his sarcasm that he laughed coldly at him. “Yes, of course, it won’t happen in your hands.”

"Because you're about to kick us to the curb and become a dog for the bankers, you bastard! There's no more 'Wolf Shepherd Gang,' and you're not the wolf king anymore. You're just... just a dog they keep!"

The wolf shepherd's expression finally changed; to him, this insult was the worst.

As the oldest and most trusted veteran, he knows best how to hurt people's feelings.

"What did you say?"

“Ha, isn’t that right?” Sandor pointed to the two Volcano pistols on his belt. “Look at this stuff. His belt, holster, and sidearm were all given to you. What else could you be but brothers? Are you going to say that these are spoils of war you ‘seized’ from Red Center?!”

Most people didn't notice this detail when they entered, until Sandor pointed it out to them, and they suddenly realized it and started whispering among themselves.

How did the belt of the Red Army end up on his own boss?

The answer is already there; how to deduce the process is no longer important. The fact that such a crucial personal item could be given away further confirms everyone's suspicions—during this secret meeting, the two reached a consensus on deep cooperation, and he himself became the one about to be abandoned.

Once he was certain of this, everyone looked at him differently than before.

Thus, this western variant of the "Golden Knife Strategy" reached its closed loop.

The wolf shepherd sensed something was wrong, but facing the fervent anger of the crowd, he couldn't immediately make sense of it. All he could think about was how to quickly restore the wolf king's dignity.

In a wolf pack, when the alpha wolf's dignity is challenged, there is only one way to retaliate!

"ah----!!"

He roared and tackled Sandor to the ground, driving the fishhook into his shoulder.

Blood gushed out, and the two rolled on the floor. The wolf shepherd seized the opportunity to bite into the flesh on his shoulder and ripped it off, tearing a large chunk of flesh along with pieces of his clothes!

However, what was pressed against his chest was indeed a cold, hard gun barrel.

He then realized with astonishment that the era of the "Wolf Pack" was over, and his companions had all turned back into humans.

"boom!"

The trigger was pulled, the bullet exited through his back, and the wolf king let out a scream that was almost a roar, before being removed from his body.

"Aww—..."

The gray wolf was about to pounce when its henchmen opened fire, its howl cut short as it was riddled with bullets. Blood flowed from the bullet holes, and its panting beneath its fur quickly subsided. Moments later, its eyes glazed over, and it went still.

“Damn you…” The wolf shepherd clutched his wounded abdomen, reaching out one last hand towards the gray wolf. His eyes suddenly widened, glaring at everyone before him as if he were about to breathe fire. “Damn you—!!”

“Damn us both!” Sandor spat, his menacing expression turning fierce, and pulled the trigger.

"boom!"

"boom!"

"boom!"

"boom!"

……

Amidst the barrage of gunfire, the Wolf King stopped breathing.

Chapter 95: All Tactics Shift... (Bounty Still 22)

"Ha ha……"

After the initial excitement subsided, what awaited them was a corpse beaten beyond recognition.

Once upon a time, the Wolfman was a legendary figure, and one of Colin's idols at the Red Bird Tavern.

Colin died first, and his idol didn't fare much better, being shot dead by his own henchmen, his face riddled with bullets. Even if someone found the body and wanted to claim the bounty, they wouldn't be able to. In fact, many wanted criminals with hefty bounties disappear in this mysterious way.

His fate is actually a microcosm of that of most gang members. From the first day you step into this criminal line of work, whether it's today or tomorrow, death is always chasing you.

"he died……"

One of the underlings seemed to have just woken up from a dream, his tone filled with disbelief, repeatedly saying, "He's really dead."

"Sandor, what should we do next?"

How to do?

Yeah, they've already killed him, what else can they do but split the money and break up the gang?

Sandor glanced at his still-bleeding shoulder and felt that he would be incredibly stupid to do that—didn't that bastard say that if he were to lead the gang, the entire gang would be wiped out in a few days? Well, he was going to show him! He finally had a chance to take over the position naturally, and if he just disbanded the gang like this, it would be as if he was afraid of him!

"Don't panic, find me a scooter first."

Perhaps accustomed to minor injuries, he bandaged his own wound with increasing skill, saying, "Don't panic! Do it the same way you always have! What he can do, we can do too! No... we'll do it even better! That guy turned you into a pack of dogs, only daring to bark at the weak, and cowering when faced with a truly tough challenge. I'm going to turn you into real wolves. When the opportunity arises, seize it and never let it slip away!"

"Ow-!!"

It had been a long time since they had heard such passionate words. The crowd gathered together from the bottom of their hearts and let out a wolf howl.

"We're not just going to make money off the big shots, we're going to intensify our efforts and expand our business channels! The Thunder Gang can get rich by robbing trains, we have people and guns, why can't we?! When will we be able to count our money with a smile after making so little from trafficking slave laborers?!"

"Ow-!!"

Sandor thoroughly enjoyed the moment, as if he were sitting on a light, floating cloud, with everyone's faces etched with deep admiration.

He became the center of the world; whatever he said went! Whoever he wanted, he could have! No wonder that guy always called himself the "alpha wolf" or "wolf king"—becoming a leader must be an incredibly exhilarating thing.

"If you all don't mind, I'm willing to replace this incompetent good-for-nothing and become the next leader of the Shepherd Wolf Gang!"

“Ahhhhhhhh!!”

There was no applause or cheers; the unified howls of the wolves were the best affirmation they could give him. A gang is like a wolf pack; it cannot be without a leader for a day. Sandor, who killed the old wolf king, naturally became the new wolf king, and he certainly knew how to make empty promises. Regardless of whether they were real or not, whether they could be fulfilled or not, he just made the promises first.

"As you all know, we have five poor companions: Victor, Saipan, Juana, Doston, and that damned Mexican. They all lost their lives because of this idiot's cowardice and inaction—he was killed by that guy called Red Center! And this guy, as the gang leader, actually turned a blind eye to it. Instead, he colluded with his enemies and got together with them. Tell me, can we allow this to happen?"

"NO—!!"

More than twenty people shouted at the same time, making a loud noise that was enough to make the windows rattle.