Soon, Henry knew the approximate locations of the eight places where the bandits were ambushing. Four of them were the places he had previously found suspicious. By using those four places as a reference, he could determine the approximate locations of the other four places.
Henry woke up the other living captive and interrogated him again. Finding no discrepancies in their accounts, he re-stuffed the towels into their mouths. Then, he walked over to Bick and the other man, knocking both of them unconscious with a punch each.
"Mr. Mellon, I am about to go annihilate the remaining 97 bandits. I will leave this place for you to guard."
"Okay, I will protect this place."
"But I only have two pairs of handcuffs, and it's too dangerous for you to be with four bandits. You must know they have all sorts of strange skills and can attack you unexpectedly at any time, so you pick two."
"Pick two what?"
"Pick two living ones! You go kill the other two, or all four!" Henry looked at Richard strangely.
"Ah?!" Richard seemed a bit unable to accept it.
On the ground, Jim and the other bandit were sweating profusely from anxiety, but with their mouths gagged, they could only twist and writhe desperately like a grouper flopping on the floor.
Henry scanned Richard, Edith, and Madeline, and said gently, "Think about what you just went through. What would have happened if you hadn't met me?"
Henry paused, waiting for them to imagine and recall clearly, before continuing.
"If bandits really come later, Mr. Mellon, will you be able to protect the two young ladies in your current state?"
"You heard me, I'm about to face nearly 100 bandit gunmen!"
"In the West, people can only rely on themselves; they must rely on themselves!"
Madeline immediately recalled her recent fear and misery, and said bitterly, "Sheriff Henry, you are right."
Edith remembered what had just happened, and a wave of lingering fear washed over her. Schemes and beauty sometimes truly felt powerless.
Richard also remembered his pitiful state, twisting helplessly like a worm. He truly couldn't imagine what would happen to him if his beloved Madeline suffered such a fate.
As someone brave enough to venture into the West, Richard did not lack courage. He immediately stood up and aimed his gun at the two bandits right in front of him.
Jim and the other man were so anxious their throats felt dry, yet their mouths were completely stuffed with towels, and their eyes were almost bulging out.
Henry hid behind Richard and said, "Aim for their hips; there won't be as much blood."
"Bang bang!" Richard complied readily.
"Alright, let me see if they're dead." Henry darted forward, grabbed each of their necks with one hand, and shook them vigorously, then shook them again.
Below the release life progress bar, a new white bead and a gray bead appeared.
Henry released his hands and stood up, looking into Richard's eyes, and said, "Mr. Mellon, you did well. You killed them. You are very courageous. Now I leave this place to you. I will go deal with those 100 bandits, but there might also be scattered bandits or fierce beasts like gray wolves, Black Bears, and Cougars coming here. If they don't die, then you will die, so you must be extremely vigilant and not hesitate."
At this moment, Richard spoke with determination, as if some shackles had been broken. "Don't worry, I will."
After speaking, he walked over to Jim and began to search him, quickly retrieving his Patek Philippe gold pocket watch from Jim's person.
Henry unlocked the handcuffs from Jim and the other bandit who had just died, re-handcuffed Bick and the young bandit, then walked over and pulled out two daggers from Jim and the other man, handing them to Edith and Madeline.
"Take these and protect yourselves." Henry looked into each of their eyes, slowing his speech, and said solemnly.
Both immediately took them with both hands.
Edith felt an inexplicable energy contained within Henry's gaze; it was extremely penetrating, as if it saw into the depths of her soul, making her heart pound wildly.
"I must act immediately, or the bandits will grow suspicious. Wait for me to return, and do not wander off. Take care."
Richard and the others all said, "Sheriff Henry, take care."
Henry picked up Jim's and the other man's bodies and turned to leave.
Once Henry's figure disappeared into the cave entrance, Edith and Madeline suddenly felt a huge difference.
When Henry was there, he was like a giant rock in the middle of a river; no matter how turbulent the water, they felt very safe on it.
After Henry left, the entire cave suddenly became fraught with peril, filled with a dangerous aura that made them extremely uneasy.
Richard felt the same way, gripping his rifle tightly, staring intently at the cave entrance.
Edith and Madeline soon began to pray softly and earnestly, trying to dispel their panic and disarray.
The reason Henry wanted Richard to shed blood was also as a precaution.
He wasn't sure what specific use or how much use it would be, but at least there would be no harm in it.
After all, anyone who has read "Water Margin" knows the power of a pledge.
Henry used another gray bead to restore himself to "100% health," then quietly approached the nearest bandit location.
He had enough skill Flying Daggers, so this time he planned to use only skill Flying Daggers until the last group of bandits, unless he was exposed midway.
For the sake of safety and secrecy, he planned to activate his Super Reaction Talent every time.
Currently, 97 bandits were ambushing at eight locations, averaging about 12 per location.
In a state of Super Reaction, Henry could throw 20 skill Flying Daggers in one second.
Sometimes it might not be as efficient due to certain terrain, but ensuring that 12 bandits each had a skill Flying Dagger embedded in their neck or eyes within one second was still very easy.
The only problem was that the skill Flying Daggers Henry was currently using were too light, so it was best not to exceed 20 meters from the target for the spinning skill Flying Daggers to maintain good speed, accuracy, and lethality.
Within 10 meters, he would use straight-flying skill Flying Daggers, which had greater speed, accuracy, and lethality than spinning ones.
The Dodge Gang bandits were hiding in relatively secluded spots, which meant that when they were annihilated, it would be harder for their companions to find out, as long as Henry didn't let them create too much noise.
Henry first stealthily approached "Cross-eyed" Frank's position halfway up the mountain, because this was the highest point of the Dodge Gang's ambush, and clearing it first would make it less likely for people at other ambush locations to discover.
Furthermore, if he waited any longer, Frank would suspect that Jim and his group had already met with trouble.
Since Jim and 6 others had gone out, Frank only had 7 people here.
Wearing camouflage, Henry successfully approached this ambush point—a cave recessed into a mountain slope over 300 meters high, about 4 meters long, 2 meters high, and 2 meters deep, looking half-natural and half-man-made.
Henry looked at this cave, which appeared to be semi-natural and semi-man-made.
Because they had waited for about 3 hours without seeing Henry and his group, these bandits had relaxed and were chatting and laughing, with only Frank still diligently watching the path below.
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
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