On the other side, the bookmakers who had opened betting at the four bars were on the verge of tears.
Because most townspeople had bet on Henry winning, even when they later adjusted Henry's winning odds down to 1.4 to 1, it was useless.
Henry's performance these past few days had simply been too stunning, and the townspeople naturally favored the hometown-born Henry.
Fortunately, there were still some older people who knew Barrett's reputation well enough to bet on him, plus some people attracted by high odds who bet on mutual destruction, which somewhat helped offset the losses.
Since there were losses, they had to find ways to make up for them elsewhere.
So intelligence about this just-concluded duel event quickly appeared in the bar intelligence system, then the black market intelligence system and major family intelligence systems.
Conversely, the official system hadn't collected this intelligence so quickly yet.
Sean at Devonshire Manor learned this intelligence first, leaving him grief-stricken.
In these two days alone, Henry had openly killed three batches of assassins - 10 people, 6 people, and 20 people respectively.
Today's 20 were the most outrageous, actually killed during the duel with Barrett, along with eliminating "Blue Death God" Barrett himself.
Sean never underestimated opponents. He didn't believe Henry couldn't guess that all this was orchestrated by the McKinley family behind the scenes.
Because at the time, thinking they could overwhelm Fresco Police Station's effective forces with thunderous momentum, Ronald would naturally take over.
Even if he couldn't immediately become sheriff, as the only deputy sheriff, with the only marshal Duncan conveniently away pursuing criminals, he could naturally smooth over some clues and easily delay official investigations.
So many aspects were done rather crudely, leading to exposure of many of their intentions and personnel after the operation failed.
Sean's heart kept tightening now.
With Henry's decisive killing character, when he freed up his hands, Devonshire Manor would inevitably be first in line.
Sean truly never dreamed that someone with 48 cavalry guards would one day fear attack from a single person, with 36 additional family cavalry nearby.
But Sean honestly asked himself now - he was truly afraid!
Moreover, the opponent should have quite a few sharpshooter companions.
People in high positions with money and power were far more afraid of death than ordinary people.
Now Sean could only hope Henry was still relatively young, his heart not yet so cold and hard, and as Fresco Town's sheriff, he had many concerns and wouldn't be so ruthless as to leave no survivors.
Most importantly, he still needed to strengthen his own defenses.
He also needed to leave himself more escape routes.
Sean decided to immediately send 12 cavalry guards to escort his son and daughter staying with him back to Denver, along with all three grandchildren.
Then he telegraphed Brendan in Denver briefly about Barrett and several batches of assassins' failures, requesting that cavalry from nearby camps also be transferred to Devonshire Manor.
Brendan, current McKinley family leader in Denver, also quickly learned of Barrett and several batches of assassins' failures.
Not just through Sean's channels.
But news from Kalenbeck hadn't come yet - he probably hadn't acted, as he was different from Barrett.
If Barrett was a male lion, Kalenbeck was a venomous snake.
Brendan's mood was very poor, also deeply shocked by Henry's incredible battle record this time.
However, he had sufficient confidence in his current guard strength. Moreover, this was Colorado's state capital with powerful State National Guard - not a mountain town like Fresco.
He understood Sean's concerns, and combining forces could also prevent Henry from defeating them individually, so he agreed, sending Sean a telegram as proof, having the camp cavalry go to Devonshire Manor to cooperate with Sean in guarding the manor well.
As for Henry's side, Brendan could now only hope that Kalenbeck and other top assassins attracted by the ten-thousand-dollar bounty could successfully eliminate him.
On another side, at the Palermo family's Randy Manor about 7-8 miles from Fresco Town, patriarch Vito also received intelligence about this duel's outcome.
"Truly amazing! Continue closely monitoring intelligence on Henry and the McKinley family's conflict. Be careful not to let Henry know we're tracking and investigating him. Better to get no intelligence than be exposed," Vito instructed David, who was responsible for intelligence gathering.
David immediately said, "Understood. It's just a pity we couldn't insert personnel among the new officers Henry selected this time."
Vito smiled slightly and said, "If Henry couldn't even manage that much, he wouldn't be worth too much attention. It's fine - we're in the shadows now, no need to be too hasty."
At the same time, the fifty-plus large and small ranches surrounding the town and dozens of mining sites all learned this shocking news.
Many ambitious people and adventurers were also secretly calculating what benefits they could gain from this.
Henry's reputation, built on "Blue Death God" Barrett's blood and flesh, began to be widely praised.
Besides his marksmanship, his ruthless style of leaving no survivors was also deeply remembered by everyone.
Over half the adult residents of Fresco Town celebrated like it was a holiday today, including almost all police station officers, because they had all made unexpected windfalls.
So all four bars were packed early in the afternoon, with occasional cheers toasting Sheriff Henry.
Today the entire town was "Henry's Day."
This completely confused Billy the Kid, who had just arrived after 5 PM. He had originally wanted to come drink during the afternoon when bars had fewer people, to perk himself up.
But after a moment's hesitation, considering this was a remote valley nearly 500 miles from New Mexico, which had issued warrants for him, he still pushed through the Aurora Bar's double swinging doors, squeezed through the crowded people, and stood steady at the bar counter.
"Hey! Buddy, this one's on me," a white man beside him said enthusiastically.
Billy the Kid was completely confused - this was his first time receiving such treatment.
Wasn't the rule in Western bars always that newcomers to the bar counter bought drinks for those who arrived earlier?
How was it reversed here?
Though puzzled, this didn't prevent Billy the Kid from accepting the other's goodwill, cheerfully downing the whiskey in one gulp.
Huh?
This bar's liquor was actually relatively genuine? Though also blended, not heavily, and acceptable.
Unlike yesterday morning's place that was so outrageous the whiskey contained no whiskey at all.
Since others were so generous, Billy the Kid wasn't stingy either. He immediately also bought each of the two people beside him a bourbon.
With this back-and-forth, the atmosphere quickly heated up. Billy the Kid learned why the bar was so lively so early, and also learned about Henry's various incredible battle achievements these past few days.
Billy the Kid knew Barrett's reputation, because the employer who had taught him to shoot was formerly a Southern army soldier who had once been overshadowed by Barrett's fame, only hiding in New Mexico to ranch after the defeat.
(End of Chapter)
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