The group of six rode across the snow for nearly half a day before finally reaching the top of a small hill.
Arthur and Dutch halted their horses on the slope and looked down through their binoculars.
Watching Stephen and the others arrive a bit later, Dutch lowered his binoculars, turned, and said, “He’s down there.
We need to move fast.
I just saw him trying to run.”
“Then let’s go.” Stephen swung down from his horse, Springfield rifle in hand.
“Want me to take the lead?”
“No need.
We’re not at the point where we need an outsider charging in for us.”
Dutch spoke without hesitation.
“Javier Escuella, Lenny, you two stay here and make sure no one escapes this way.
Bill, take our friend Mr.
Johnson down this path.
Once we make a move, you follow.”
Dutch began issuing orders on his own.
Stephen shrugged, having no objections.
Bill, the big, heavyset man, led Stephen as they carefully made their way down a narrow path.
“I’m telling you, those O’Driscoll Gang bastards deserve to die,” Bill muttered viciously as they walked.
“What, you’ve got some kind of feud with them?” Stephen asked.
“Of course.
We’ve been fighting for years,” Bill said in a low voice.
“We’ll talk later.
We’re almost there.”
The two descended cautiously and took cover beside a cattle shed.
There were quite a lot of people inside.
At a glance, there had to be more than twenty.
Maybe it was because of their numbers, or maybe they were just used to acting without restraint, but these men showed no vigilance at all.
Some were drinking, some were sleeping, and none of them noticed that several intruders had already slipped into their camp.
Stephen was already getting restless.
He was itching to draw his knife and start cutting them down one by one.
But with Dutch and Arthur not yet in position, he had no choice but to wait.
Fortunately, they did not keep him waiting long.
After a short while, the two approached cautiously with guns in hand.
“Alright, time to get to work.
Let’s send these bastards to hell,” Dutch said, raising his dual pistols and opening fire on the completely unprepared O’Driscoll Gang members ahead.
“Bang!
Bang!”
Two sharp gunshots shattered the silence.
Not far away, two men who had been drinking were struck in the head, blood bursting out as they collapsed face-to-face.
The entire camp instantly erupted into chaos.
Shouts of enemies, cries for help, and even panicked wailing filled the air.
It was as noisy and disorganized as a marketplace.
These people were truly pathetic.
With a single glance, Stephen felt nothing but contempt for them.
He could not understand what Colm was thinking.
What was the point of recruiting such useless men, aside from making the gang look bigger?
No wonder the Van der Linde Gang, with so few members, had managed to fight them for so many years.
Once Dutch opened fire, the others followed.
Stephen did not hold back.
He raised his Springfield rifle and dropped a sentry on a broken water tower in the distance with a single shot.
After hitting his target, he quickly reloaded.
The rifle was powerful and had great range, but it had one drawback.
It only held a single round, so every shot required manual reloading.
Still, no matter how good other guns were, Stephen could not afford them right now, so he had to make do.
If last night had been a surprise attack where the Van der Linde Gang had not shown their full strength, then now Stephen was finally seeing what they were truly capable of.
Arthur’s skill went without saying.
The two revolvers in his hands were like instruments of death, hitting whatever he aimed at.
Wherever his muzzle pointed, someone fell.
Even Lenny, Javier Escuella, and Bill, who looked a bit slow-witted at first glance, were all highly skilled.
Their shooting was precise, and their tactical awareness was solid.
Compared to the O’Driscoll Gang, this was a complete mismatch.
What surprised Stephen even more was Dutch.
As the leader of the Van der Linde Gang, his skill with a revolver was no worse than Arthur’s.
The two of them cut through the enemy like reapers, taking down nearly half the camp on their own.
Stephen had just killed his fourth target when the fight was already over, leaving him somewhat unsatisfied.
“Looks like I underestimated you last night.
You’re really strong,” Stephen said sincerely to Arthur.
Arthur’s hands moved with practiced ease, quickly reloading both of his Cattleman Revolvers, which were known for being tricky to reload.
He held his pistols, a lit cigarette between his lips, wearing an expression that said this was nothing.
“These guys are just trash.
Maybe they weren’t even part of Colm’s core force,” Stephen said, looking at the bodies scattered across the ground.
“Hah, don’t overthink it.
Colm has always cared more about numbers than quality.
To join him, all you need is to ride, shoot, and kill without hesitation,” Dutch said with clear disdain.
Just then, a burst of gunfire rang out from the forest, and everyone quickly took cover.
“More of them are coming out of the woods!” Javier Escuella shouted.
In the nearby forest, a group of armed men rushed out from between the trees.
It was clear they were O’Driscoll Gang members.
“Arthur, do we push out or wait here for them?
Your call,” Dutch said calmly, as if he did not take them seriously at all.
Before Arthur could respond, Stephen tossed his Springfield rifle to Arthur, then drew the pistol at his waist and the long knife from his back.
“I’ll go.”
The moment he finished speaking, Dutch and the others saw only a blur streak past.
By the time they reacted, Stephen was already far ahead.
He was not acting recklessly.
He had his own plan.
Just as he had thought earlier, this was a typical gang where strength determined everything.
Even though he had the upper hand last night, it had been a surprise attack.
If he wanted to establish himself, he needed to show what he could really do.
He did not intend to join this gang, but for now, they were his only chance at revenge.
Working with Dutch and Arthur was inevitable.
Besides, Sadie had nowhere else to go for the time being, and he himself was still without a stable place to stay.
So he had to prove himself.
Only then could he avoid being at a disadvantage in their cooperation and gain more say in matters.
Stephen understood his own limits.
When it came to gunfighting, no matter how hard he tried, he could not match Arthur and Dutch.
At best, he was on the same level as Bill and Javier.
Since that was the case, he would fight using what he was best at.
This dense, rugged forest was the perfect place for him to shine.