Henry walked over to Bick and said, "Congratulations, Bick, your carriage driving skills have saved you. Keep up the good work, and you'll be free once we reach Denver tomorrow."
Bick immediately replied gratefully, "Thank you, Sheriff Henry! I will fully obey your arrangements."
Henry smiled and walked back to his tent. However, he wouldn't sleep tonight, nor would he absorb the skills from the two green beads or enhance his Constitution.
Because the current group consisted of women, children, and subordinates on their first mission, their combat effectiveness was questionable, and their loyalty was uncertain. Henry had to ensure he remained fully awake.
His current combat power was sufficient, and he was not in a hurry to improve his Constitution.
He also wanted to test what changes an all-nighter would bring to his "Health" on the panel.
At this moment, he could faintly hear the roars of wild beasts from Death Valley, about two miles away. They were very active tonight.
Henry replayed his conversation with Richard again.
The reason he laid out these facts for Richard was to make him withdraw from the matter, to prevent him from going to Fresco Town and mediating with William.
Henry didn't want to see William and Brendan start mediating now.
What if they successfully mediated and became partners, leading William to intervene in Henry's further cleanup actions?
Although Henry wouldn't heed William's intervention, it would be quite annoying.
Additionally, Henry didn't want Richard to foolishly get involved and be reluctantly let go by him.
His actions today, stepping forward to protect his wife, were commendable. Moreover, he had deep understanding and resources in both mining and banking. Henry had saved his life, making him a suitable potential partner.
As night deepened and silence fell, it was a good time for reflection, and Henry continued to ponder his next moves.
Meanwhile, in Richard and Madeline's tent, the two were also having a late-night talk.
Although they had only been newlywed for a short time, Richard and Madeline were a very close and understanding couple. So, when Richard saw the clearly exhausted Madeline forcing herself to stare at him with watery eyes, he knew the reason.
Given Madeline's family background, she was definitely one of the "old money" families, and marrying "new money" Richard was somewhat of a step down.
Moreover, Richard was well aware that his wife was not some naive, busty airhead.
They were more like partners in life.
Otherwise, Richard would never have brought her to such a remote mining area.
So he also wanted to hear his wife's opinion. He briefly recounted what Henry had just said to Madeline, which immediately terrified her.
Anyone who had witnessed Henry's full power would absolutely not want to stand against him unless it was absolutely necessary.
Madeline recalled Henry's awe-inspiring might when facing 22 gray wolves.
Within a short distance, 22 gray wolves were even more dangerous than 44 ordinary humans with revolvers, yet Henry annihilated them with lightning speed in mere seconds!
Not even one managed to get within ten meters of him.
Madeline immediately offered her advice.
"We must at least remain neutral, and ideally, try to befriend Henry. After all, although our mine is not within the jurisdiction of Fresco Town, it's not far either."
"This time, the McKinley Family concealed too much from us, abruptly exposing us to great danger. We should try to maintain our distance from them. We'll see what Brendan says when we get back."
"Regardless, with such heavy losses to their private forces and facing the powerful assault from Henry and the Sinclair Family, their future in mining near Fresco Town is bleak."
Richard reached out and gently stroked his wife's hair near her ear, saying, "That's what I think too. Sleep now, we have to get up early tomorrow to travel."
What they didn't know was that Brendan hadn't intentionally concealed so much information. After all, too many things had happened in the past few days, and he only roughly learned the situation a few days later.
An hour later, Henry stepped out of the tent and called all nine deputies and Bick to him, beginning to give instructions one by one.
"Except for Bick and Rock, everyone else go to rest immediately. I will wake you all up around 4 AM."
"Then Bick and Rock can rest. I will go scout ahead at Hangman's Hill. You all remain fully alert."
"I want to emphasize that Bick is now considered one of us. I will let him leave freely once we reach Denver, but if he tries to escape, you are to shoot him immediately."
"If I encounter bandits, I will eliminate them and then return. A few hours is normal, just like yesterday. You protect the camp."
So, everyone except Bick and Rock went into their tents to rest.
"You two guard those two positions. Be careful not to be dragged away by wild beasts."
"Yes, Sheriff Henry." The two separated, forming a triangle with Henry.
Perhaps because all the wild beasts had been drawn to Death Valley, nothing happened throughout the night.
Around 4 AM, Henry had Rock wake up Charles, Owen, Pete, and the other eight deputies.
Once they took over the watch, Henry set out alone, heading straight for Hangman's Hill.
He maintained a slow jogging speed of about 12 kilometers per hour on the road, expecting to reach the Hangman's Hill section, over 4 miles away, in about half an hour.
Running at this speed, with vision equivalent to a normal person's daytime sight, Henry had enough reaction time to face sudden dangers.
The wilderness in the early morning was far more vibrant than imagined, with occasional sounds from startled rattlesnakes, mice, gray foxes, badgers, coyotes, horned owls, and more.
Henry ran on, heedless of his surroundings, fully enjoying the vastness and solitude of the West, the clarity under the dim starry sky, and the wild romance.
His unrestrained and audacious behavior finally attracted the ambush of the wilderness overlords.
Less than half a mile from Hangman's Hill, he was forced to stop—five pairs of cold, cruel, green eyes were distributed within a dozen meters around Henry, like ghosts from the underworld, staring coldly at him.
These gray wolves weighed around 90 kilograms and had a bite force of up to 700 pounds; even Black Bear would retreat three paces when facing them.
By the time Henry noticed them, the cunning wolves had abruptly appeared from behind an ambush on a dirt slope, encircling and approaching him at a 360-degree angle.
If Henry had opened fire like yesterday afternoon, even twice as many gray wolves would have been nothing more than easy prey.
However, to avoid alarming any bandits potentially ambushing in Death Valley, Henry decided to use cold weapons.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!" Four skill Flying Daggers, in two pairs, shot out like cold lightning towards the two closest gray wolves, about ten meters away.
The initial speed of a straight-flying skill Flying Dagger thrown by an ordinary master could reach 20-24 meters/second. Henry had improved his Constitution twice, and he estimated that his full-force straight-flying skill Flying Dagger could reach 30 meters/second. With his Agility and Strength talents, it should be around 40 meters/second.
It would take 200-300 milliseconds for a skill Flying Dagger to travel ten meters. If a gray wolf's reaction speed was similar to a dog's, it would certainly be slower than a cat's 50 milliseconds.
However, it should still be around 100 milliseconds. It would be difficult for them to completely dodge a skill Flying Dagger when fully focused, but dodging vital spots was highly probable.
One of the two wolves was impaled through the eye, a vital spot, by a skill Flying Dagger, penetrating over ten centimeters deep, and immediately collapsed to the ground.
The other gray wolf managed to deflect its eye but was struck on the cheek by another skill Flying Dagger, and it charged forward in a rage!
At the same time, the other three gray wolves leaped forward!
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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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