Arthur, with a smile on his face, reached out with his right hand without hesitation, slowly handing the lemat revolver, which emitted a cold metallic luster, to the man before him. He spoke softly:
"Johnny! I have to say, this pistol of yours is simply fantastic! It's incredibly powerful and exceptionally accurate.
It's just a pity that the reloading process is a bit too tedious and complicated. If that issue could be improved, I would buy one without hesitation, no matter how expensive the price."
Johnny took the pistol steadily. His gaze locked onto Arthur for a moment before his thoughts drifted far away. He mused to himself:
He remembered that during the last mission with Arthur, the situation was so urgent and hurried that he hadn't had time to check for any miraculous items. This time, he would absolutely not let such a rare opportunity slip by.
[Miraculous Item — Arthur Morgan's Gambler Hat]
[perk Effect: When others speak with you, they will subconsciously perceive you as a reliable person of integrity.]
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[Miraculous Item — Arthur Morgan's Cowboy Revolver]
[perk Effect: Consumption reduced by 30% when using Dead Eye.]
"Holy crap!" Johnny almost blurted out. Although these perks seemed ordinary, players knew exactly how massive these upgrades were. He then inquired in his mind:
"System! If I take Arthur's gun, won't his strength be weakened?"
[Ding! The essence of a perk is an inherent trait of the owner; it will not be transferred just because an external object disappears.]
Hearing this, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. He was particularly afraid that Arthur's strength would decrease because of this.
Just as Johnny lifted his head, preparing to respond, he suddenly discovered that there was no one left in front of him.
He looked closely and saw Arthur standing by the horses in the distance, hurriedly trying to help John onto a horse's back.
Seeing this, Johnny immediately quickened his pace to catch up, shouting at the top of his lungs: "Arthur! Arthur! Wait a moment, can you help me bring those wolves along?"
At this moment, Arthur had finally managed to successfully place John on the horse. Hearing Johnny's shout, he turned back somewhat surprised, his face full of doubt and confusion, as if asking: "Wolves? Why bring those wolves?"
Johnny took a deep breath and began to tell Arthur about his painful past. Since then, Johnny had sworn a blood oath to avenge this deep-seated hatred in this life, to "eat their flesh and sleep on their skins."
At first, Arthur didn't understand why Johnny had such deep-seated hatred for wolves, even wanting something as gamey, tough, and unpalatable as wolf meat.
However, after listening to Johnny's story, he couldn't help but fall silent. After a good while, Arthur silently pulled out a cigarette and handed it to Johnny.
Sometimes, friendship between men is just that simple and pure. It doesn't need many words; it only requires experiencing things together and then leisurely lighting a cigarette together, and all the emotions and understanding are understood without being spoken.
Javier also stepped forward to help. They stored two wolves each on the backs of three horses, and the remaining five were dragged across the snow with ropes.
The four of them thus prepared to set off for Clemens Point.
On the way, Javier comforted John, saying it was just a wolf bite and no big deal, but a single sentence from John made Johnny completely lose his composure.
John stated he knew a man who was just bitten by a dog and died within an hour.
The sound of the wind and the horses' hooves on the snow couldn't stop Arthur's verbal barrage. He mocked John mercilessly until the man was nearly boiling over with rage.
Fortunately, Javier smoothed things over, otherwise the two of them would have come to blows on the spot.
After returning to the camp, Arthur called for Abigail to take care of John, who had a broken leg. Then, together with Hosea and Strauss, he continued his verbal assault on John: "Really reached a new low of stupidity. Are there any more lost little girls who need me to save them?"
Hosea also looked speechless, then stated there were no more for today. He then looked at Johnny, who was busy moving the wolf carcasses, and asked in confusion:
"Wolves? Why did you bring these things back? Was there no other prey nearby?"
Arthur whispered something as he led Hosea and Strauss into Dutch's room.
At this time, Dutch was in the room warming himself by the fire, seemingly deep in thought. Arthur opened the door with a remark: "Dutch is thinking—that can't be good!"
Dutch turned back to Arthur and said, "If you don't know how to greet someone, you don't have to, Arthur. Is there something you need?"
Arthur then expressed his desire to know the Gang's next Plans and what exactly had happened in Blackwater Town.
But Dutch only replied that the Gang would be heading east next, glossing over the events in Blackwater Town.
Seeing that he couldn't get a straight answer, Arthur told Dutch and Hosea about what he had seen today and Johnny's past.
He felt that Johnny was a brave young man (eating wolf meat), clever (capable of making a Plan), had great potential (his marksmanship was getting better and better), was grateful (doing his best to help Mr. and Mrs. Adler and the Gang), warm-hearted (helping the girl separated from her family), and thrifty (looting corpses clean). He suggested they should try to get him to join the Gang.
Dutch and Hosea hadn't expected someone as foul-mouthed as Arthur to give such a high evaluation of this young man, but after hearing about Johnny's past, they only sighed.
Initially, when Dutch heard Jenny describe her rescue, he thought Johnny was a relative of Mr. and Mrs. Adler or something, but it seemed that wasn't the case. It appeared he needed to have a talk with this young man.
After Arthur finished speaking, he prepared to go to Pearson to see if there was anything to eat, only to see Pearson skinning a wolf by the Stable.
Arthur asked Pearson with a look of doubt: "Are we out of beef and mutton? Do we have to eat wolf meat that's as hard as a rock now?"
Pearson laughed as he removed the internal organs and replied: "Of course not, Mr. Morgan. It's because the lad Johnny wanted to learn how to do a perfect skinning from me. You know, it's been a long time since anyone has talked to me."
Arthur thought to himself that if you didn't tell your navy stories to everyone you met, people might not be so reluctant to talk to you.
Johnny was beside him, seriously studying Pearson's techniques, while using his hands to coat the wolf meat with a layer of coarse salt for a simple cure.
After finishing the curing, Johnny picked up the fangs that had already been completely removed from beside his seat, threaded them onto a rope to make a necklace, and put it on.
Although he hadn't obtained the perk yet, there was no harm in preparing early.
Once all eleven wolf skins were peeled, Johnny handed Pearson a box of cigarettes (20 sticks) to express his gratitude and asked Pearson to make him a satchel using the Alpha Wolf's pelt.
Pearson accepted the gift and happily agreed to the request.
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