In fact, not only was he disoriented, but Charles, Sean, Javier, and even Hosea, who had already begun to accept the situation, were also disoriented.
Sean, the bigmouth, was even chattering in the carriage, "Oh, Javier, I didn't mishear just now, did I? I really didn't mishear, did I? Our Van der Linde Gang is going to start transforming into merchants now? My goodness, is this still Dutch? He hasn't been possessed by some damn undead, has he!"
"Damn it, Sean, if you say another word insulting Dutch, I'll shoot you dead!" David cursed.
"Oh, Sean, if your little mouth doesn't want to be idle, you can come and suck me!" Micah also chimed in.
Their lives were saved by Dutch, who took two bullets for them, so Dutch was their father from now on.
"Alright, guys, stop arguing! Sean, control your mouth, kid. David, Micah, don't be angry either, this unlucky kid just wanted to make a joke.
Alright, children, listen to me!" Hosea stopped the trio's antics, then sat in the carriage and shouted, drawing everyone's attention.
"Children, your lives have undergone tremendous changes in the past two days, and I know you are all very excited. But you must remember, you must execute Dutch's orders loyally and perfectly, without any mistakes, so as not to affect Dutch's overall plan. Dutch has a plan, a super big plan, a perfect plan! This affects our future lives, so everyone must be careful and cautious! Obey all of Dutch's orders!
Alright, children, control your behavior and words outside. Don't let others notice us, don't let them discover our identity as the Van der Linde Gang, and don't disrupt Dutch's plan!
Now, everyone go to work!"
"Yay!"
"Roar!"
------
Hosea led a group of people out to work. In the nascent Hope Happiness Ranch, Dutch and Arthur were not idle either.
"Ms. Grimshaw, Miss O'Shea, and Abigail, Uncle, Sadie, can the five of you clean up our ranch? Throw out all this damn trash. Our lives are going to get better, so let this trash be thrown into the trash can along with our old lives!"
Dutch glanced at the trash that had been packed up last night but not thrown out and called out, then his gaze turned to Arthur, who was standing behind him.
"Arthur, let's go, kid, follow me to the Valentine Police Station. I think we should get to know the Sheriff of Valentine."
Dutch mounted his horse and said to Arthur.
"Alright, Dutch, I'll listen to you." Arthur put on his gambler's hat, then mounted his horse.
He was also a little excited, because his letter had already been written, and he could take this opportunity to Valentine to mail the letter to Mary.
Dear Mary, I suppose your mood will be as excited as mine when you see this letter?
Arthur couldn't help but smile as he thought about it.
Although his love with Mary ended midway, and they each had their own families, their feelings for each other were not something that time could change. They spanned each other's most beautiful youthful years.
Although they had to eventually part due to reality, the beauty of that pure, unattainable love was something others could never compare to.
Dutch couldn't help but chuckle as he looked at the smile on Arthur's face, but then he stopped himself.
He couldn't comment on whether Mary was a good woman, because this was Arthur's own life experience, and he wouldn't overstep.
But from Mary's final invitation in the game and her final farewell at his grave after Arthur's death, Dutch felt that her feelings for Arthur must be sincere.
Given that, he wouldn't interfere with the development of their relationship.
"Come on!" Dutch and Arthur rode their horses towards Valentine.
The Sheriff of Valentine was named: Malloy Curtis.
This guy, in Dutch's impression, was a heartless scoundrel. This wasn't a definition Dutch gave him, but the game's definition.
In the game, he had an affair with a woman named Molloy, and they had a dispute, which ultimately led him to strangle this cheating woman at night. Players could trigger this story by going to the second floor of the police station at night.
Molloy and the Sheriff's wife both described him as a heartless scoundrel, only thinking of himself, selfish to the extreme.
But this selfishness was precisely his easy-to-manipulate side.
Having official endorsement within Valentine would undoubtedly be much better, so Dutch decided to develop Sheriff Malloy into his lackey.
And selfishness meant he was definitely greedy for money.
Therefore, there were countless ways to manipulate him.
Time slowly passed. The size of the map in the real world was far greater than in the game. Dutch and Arthur rode for a long time before finally arriving in Valentine.
It was already afternoon. As a livestock town, Valentine was bustling with people, and the smell of various animal droppings permeated the streets. This feeling was extremely disgusting.
People still traveled by horseback, so the streets were full of horse manure, which mixed with the muddy dirt roads, making them muddy and foul-smelling.
If this road were dug down two or three layers, Dutch estimated that beneath the road, there would be nothing but feces.
Sheriff Malloy was standing outside the police station, smoking his pipe. It was just before one in the afternoon, so there was plenty of time.
"Let's go, Arthur, eat first, and then we'll talk to the Sheriff after we eat."
Dutch led Arthur into a nearby saloon.
Since the storyline had changed, Arthur hadn't beaten Tommy yet, so their group didn't have any special reputation in the saloon.
Dutch ordered two portions of haggis, and the two of them found a table and sat down, pouring themselves a glass of whiskey.
Arthur was a bit restless, waiting for the haggis and drinks to arrive. He looked at Dutch, who was calmly smoking in front of him, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Dutch, oh, I'm going out for a bit, I'll be right back. Um, I'm going to buy some gun oil... Yes, gun oil. You know, my gun hasn't been well-maintained in the snowy mountains."
Dutch wanted to laugh at Arthur's behavior.
He didn't know that his attempt to cover up his actions made his otherwise unproblematic behavior seem problematic.
Dutch smiled and nodded, not mocking him.
"Alright, Arthur, go ahead, come back quickly."
Arthur breathed a sigh of relief and quickly turned to walk out of the saloon.
"Of course, I look forward to you bringing Mrs. Morgan back. You know, Abigail likes her very much. Miss O'Shea might also want someone to talk to."
Arthur stumbled, almost falling headfirst onto the ground at the doorway.