The blizzard howled across the sky, as if announcing the final end of the Van der Linde Gang.
If Dutch died, the Van der Linde Gang might truly decline from then on.
Hosea, his mind full of worries, arranged for the members to busy themselves with chores, clearing the house and making a stable room for Dutch to recover from his injuries.
Arthur, Mac, David, and Micah also returned from the blizzard. Even without Dutch's presence, they still brought back the Valkyrie just as in the original plot.
"Mrs. Adler (Sadie), everything will be alright. I think you can rest for a while now." Arthur lifted Sadie down from the back of his horse, and several ladies quickly came over to take her.
Only the Legendary Rat was looking around at this moment, wanting to enter the house to rest, but Susan assigned him to a shared room with several others. Micah gnashed his teeth in anger, but under the gaze of Arthur, Mac, and David, he slunk away.
The atmosphere of the gang was actually extremely harmonious before the Legendary Rat arrived. Whether it was Arthur, David, or Bill, everyone was loyal to Dutch and had no other thoughts, only wanting to follow Dutch and Hosea's plans.
If it weren't for the Legendary Rat, Dutch would have followed Arthur and Hosea in their real estate scam instead of robbing the Blackwater Town ferry. It could be said that the gang began to change after the Legendary Rat arrived.
As the snow swirled, most of the gang members gathered in Dutch's room, looking at him with worry, coming over from time to time to see if he was dead.
Meanwhile, Arthur and Javier were sent out by Hosea to find John.
In a flash, two days had passed.
"He's awake! Dutch is awake! Oh my god! God bless us!" Miss Molly rushed out of the room excitedly, running through the snow to every house shouting, announcing her joy.
"What? Dutch is awake? Oh! God, that's unbelievable!" Led by Arthur, a group of gang members rushed out of their rooms one by one and ran toward Dutch's room.
David and Mac even tripped and fell on the ground in their haste.
They were already loyal to Dutch, especially since Dutch had saved their lives in Blackwater Town and hadn't given up on them until the end, which made them admire Dutch to the extreme.
Only the Legendary Rat, Micah, appeared even happier than the rest of the gang. He crowded to Dutch's bedside, currying favor: "Oh, Dutch, Dutch, you're like a father to me, you're finally awake. I knew God..."
But before he could finish, he was pushed aside.
Micah shut his mouth resentfully, his gaze sweeping over Arthur, Mac, and David nearby, not daring to make a sound.
Inside the room, the newly awakened Dutch looked at the weeping Jenny and Abigail before him and said weakly, "Oh, Jenny, Abigail, are we in heaven? Then who is this man lying next to me?"
"Hey, Dutch, it's me!" John, who was lying on the bed half-dead from wolf bites, spoke up, his expression equally excited.
This time, Dutch hadn't cruelly killed a girl in Blackwater Town and had even taken three bullets for the gang. Thus, not only did John have no doubts about Dutch, but he admired him even more.
"Oh, Marston, why are you lying here too?"
At that moment, the door was pushed open by the crowd, and a mass of people ran in from the snow outside.
"Dutch, my dear old friend, you've actually achieved another miracle!" Hosea sat by the bed with concern, tears almost welling up in his eyes.
Looking at these familiar faces, Dutch felt deeply moved.
Damn, I deserve to have transmigrated as Dutch. With this bunch of sharpshooters, wouldn't I just tear through America?
Shifting his gaze, he saw the Legendary Rat acting suspiciously at the back of the crowd. This bastard was looking left and right, seemingly searching for the $150,000 brought back from Blackwater Town.
"Son of a bitch, once I'm better, I'll catch you like a rat in a jar and skin your legendary hide!" Dutch cursed inwardly, but he didn't act now.
He wasn't recovered yet and couldn't get involved; acting now wouldn't satisfy his grudge.
"Dutch, oh Dutch, why couldn't you have just run away yourself? The two of us could have covered the rear!" Mac and David expressed their loyalty and gratitude to Dutch. Arthur's mind was completely at ease, and he even had the leisure to joke with John lying on the adjacent bed.
Only Micah, having already curried favor, turned his attention to the money: "Dutch, oh, my dear father, my respected father! I'm so happy to see you awake. In fact, I prayed more than once over the last two days, wanting to use that money from Blackwater Town to trade for your life..."
This bastard was indirectly asking where Dutch had hidden the money from Blackwater Town.
Still, no one paid him any attention.
For the Van der Linde Gang, Dutch's life or death was the most important thing at the moment, a heavy weight on everyone's hearts. Since no one else had died and the group was essentially unscathed, and they had brought back $150,000.
So as long as Dutch improved, it was the greatest surprise for them.
Outside the wind was bone-chilling, but inside the room was filled with laughter, completely sweeping away the gloom of the past few days.
Because their spiritual leader was back, and the road ahead of them was bright again.
Miss O'Shea sat by Dutch's bed, stroking his face repeatedly with sincere love. Jenny was busy working, her smile wide.
Dutch had taken an extra bullet just to save her, so one could imagine Dutch's current status in her heart.
The image of this lovely girl busying herself lingered in Lenny's eyes.
The blizzard gradually subsided, and the sky brightened, just like the future of the Van der Linde Gang, a sign of a bright prospect.
Time passed slowly, and in a flash, two weeks had gone by.
Dutch was completely recovered—well, not completely, but at least according to him, the wounds were no longer an issue. He had even spent a wonderful night with Miss O'Shea.
Arthur, who shared a room with him, had a lot to say about this. In short, he hadn't slept well all night and had no choice but to go out and keep watch in the snow all night.
The day dawned bright, and the blizzard of the last few days was gradually easing.
In Dutch's room, Dutch was sitting in a chair, discussing future plans with Hosea beside him.
This scene could be seen through Arthur's perspective after finding John; in fact, Arthur had been woken up by the sound of their discussion.
Dutch sat in his chair, reaching out to warm his hands by the fireplace.
Feeling the warmth on his body, he narrowed his eyes comfortably and lit a cigar.
Hosea, sitting next to him, said solemnly to Dutch, who was leisurely smoking his cigar, "Dutch, I don't think we can go any further east. The further east we go, the more developed the cities become. There's no way for people like us to survive in those developed cities!"
"Heh heh heh, Hosea, don't you see yet? The tide of civilization is already sweeping in, and one day it will sweep across all of America. What if we run to the West? Hide for five or ten years? Or ten or twenty? Hosea, we are outlaws; our future is destined to be spent in hiding. If we want our future to be stable, we must learn to adapt to this civilized society, to an America where only money allows one to live!
Hosea, avoiding civilization has never been a good solution. Our previous ideas were all wrong! Going to Tahiti to plant mangoes was never going to be a good outcome; we would only end up hanged from the mango trees.
Instead, we should embrace civilization, accept civilization, and even stay one step ahead of civilization!"
Dutch's eyes gleamed, and his whole being radiated a highly charismatic leadership quality.
Hosea didn't understand his words, just as he had no idea where Tahiti was.
But even if he didn't understand, Hosea still believed in Dutch. Even Arthur in the room and Mac and David, who had just entered, believed him. They had no doubt about Dutch, just as they believed they would eventually reach Tahiti.
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