North America 1849, from Gold Rush to Warlord

Chapter 84 What? You want a marriage alliance? (6,000 words, please continue reading)
Azu and his men carried the woman they had bought for eighteen dollars back to the shipyard.

Then, Bishop Evan specially assigned a doctor from the church hospital to perform surgery on the unconscious woman.

Just like the clinic owner, this Western doctor also said that the woman could not be saved.

The wound was already severely infected, but at Azu's request, the doctor patiently removed the rotten flesh, cleaned and sutured the wound.

"Mr. Li, this lady's wound is severely infected; she has at most half a day to live!"

"This person is absolutely beyond saving. I advise Mr. Li not to waste his time and money!"

After prescribing some commonly used medications, the doctor left with two sentences.

Looking at the woman lying on the bed, Azu thought for a moment and finally gave her an injection of penicillin.

Ah Zu didn't have much penicillin; he only had about ten vials extracted using traditional manual methods, which were only for emergency life-saving use in critical situations.

Every vial of penicillin could mean a life!
It is extremely precious, and its value far exceeds that of gold!
But Azu still used it on this woman.

For no other reason than that this woman is truly very beautiful!
Thick, shiny, dark golden hair like a waterfall, a healthy wheat complexion, a high, straight nose, large, full, sexy lips, and a small, oval face.

And there's her towering, snow-white breasts and delicate waist, long, straight legs...!
Even when she was seriously injured and unconscious, her beauty was comparable to Vivian's and slightly better than Daisy's.

But unlike Vivian and Daisy, Azu sensed a wild beauty in this woman that was beyond the control of ordinary people!
Although she was not tall or strong, her body had exceptionally smooth and agile lines, exuding a sense of power.

Although she was still unconscious, her expression and facial features were full of stubbornness and tenacity.

Her gunshot wound to the lower abdomen was extremely severe; an ordinary person would probably have died long ago.

But her vitality was so strong that even with a severe infection in her wounds and in a coma, she still stubbornly refused to take her last breath.

"I've done all I can!"

Whether you survive or not depends entirely on how tough your life is!

Leaving the woman in the care of the nurse Vivian, Azu walked out of the room and bumped into Blood Eagle, who had disguised himself as a Chinese mute and was rushing over in a flurry!
Prior to this, Azu sent Blood Eagle to the Blackfoot Tribe to recruit outside help.

The Blackfoot tribe has a blood feud with the Northern California Rangers!
In the year or so since the annexation of California, the Rangers have wiped out the Blackfoot tribe several times.

Each time, it brought immense suffering to the Blackfoot tribe, with countless members dying under the swords of the Ranger camp.

The Blackfoot tribe's original traditional territory was in the lush plains of the Central Valley, but they were eventually driven to the deep mountains of Nevada by the Rangers, and their population was reduced by more than half.

Therefore, when they heard there was a chance for revenge, the Blackfoot tribe dispatched their most elite cavalry almost without hesitation.

These cavalrymen, equipped with horse harnesses, firearms, and grenades provided by Azu, were now far more formidable than before.

Following Azu's strategy, the Blackfoot gang first harassed numerous bandit groups that were constantly approaching San Francisco, and managed to capture several prisoners alive.

We obtained the crucial time to act from the bandits' mouths.

Then, the Blackfoot cavalry launched a surprise attack on the Ranger Battalion's temporary camp overnight, killing and wounding the vast majority of their warhorses as arranged by Azu.

Finally, as Azu requested, they cut off the ranger battalion's advance, holding them off for an entire day.

Because of this one day, no matter how hard Major Daniel Cameron rushed afterward, he was destined to miss everything.

Now, Blood Eagle, having completed its mission, has returned.

Moreover, he brought back two other people!
"Li, I am your brother from the far East!"

With no outsiders around, Blood Eagle gave Azu a solid bear hug.

Azu hugged Blood Eagle tightly: "My brother, you Blackfoot Clan did a fantastic job this time!"

Blood Eagle learned a little Chinese, and Azu also learned some Blackfoot language.

Blackfoot belongs to the Algonquin language family. Compared with mature language families such as Chinese and English, these proto-language families have a small vocabulary and simple grammar, making them relatively easy to learn.

At least now, Azu is able to have some simple communication with the Blackfoot tribe.

"Hahaha!" Blood Eagle laughed triumphantly: "Li, the weapons you gave us are truly amazing! Moreover, the ideas you gave us were perfectly calculated, they were brilliant!"

"Li, this is the first time our Blackfoot tribe has defeated the Rangers!"

"Next time, we'll scalp them all!"

Blood Eagle, having won a battle, was bursting with confidence.

"Blood Eagle, my friend, there will be a chance, there definitely will be!"

Blood Eagle stepped aside, revealing the two men behind him: "Li, this is our Blackfoot tribe's war chief—Giant Stone!"

Ah Zu looked at the towering, thirty-something-year-old man in front of him!

He bears a striking resemblance to the man in later generations who was also named The Rock, with three-dimensional features and wheat-colored skin, but he is slightly shorter and his muscles are not as exaggerated!

"Li, I am the Giant Stone of the Blackfoot Clan, we have finally met!"

Jushi stepped forward and gave Azu a tight hug.

"Chief Rock, I have heard your name many times, and today I finally meet you in person!"

Like Blood Eagle, Boulder also dressed as a Chinese person, covering the tattoos on his forehead with a hat.

But with his large physique and muscular body, he doesn't look Chinese at all!

"Li, this is my sister, Youma! The most beautiful flower in our entire Blackfoot tribe!"

Azu's gaze fell on the last Native American, and he was immediately struck by a bright idea!
This is an Indian woman, a very young and beautiful woman!
Unlike other Native Americans, Yuma's skin was very white, as white as pure milk, and he didn't look like a Native American at all!
Her appearance is more like that of a typical Eastern beauty, but with an added touch of wild beauty!
Elegant and graceful yet wildly alluring!
Two completely different kinds of beauty are perfectly combined in Yuma!

Upon seeing it, Azu was immediately struck by the wonder of creation!
"Welcome, my little sister Yuma!"

Azu opened his arms and gently embraced Youma.

Azu clearly felt the warm, wildflower-scented body of the Youma in his arms stiffen slightly.

"Li, it's a pleasure to meet you too!"

Yuma was speaking in English!
Seeing Azu's surprised expression, Youma said, "I learned from Elder Xiongpi, did I say something wrong?"

Azu smiled slightly at Youma: "No, Youma, your English is very standard!"

"That's good!" Youma breathed a sigh of relief: "The elder and my brother asked me to stay by your side. If I don't speak English well, I'm afraid I won't be able to handle the job."

"What? Youma, you want to stay with me?"

Ah Zu was quite surprised, but also quite delighted.

"Yes, I am a brother from the Far East!"

Boulder patted Azu on the shoulder and replied, "We'll keep Youma here. She looks more like you Chinese people and can speak the language of the whites. She's more suitable for delivering messages than that Blood Eagle guy!"

“But…!” Azu stared at Youma and asked, “Are you willing to leave your tribe and family?”

Youma nodded: "For the sake of my people and my family, I am willing to stay!"

"If you want to pretend to be Chinese, knowing only English isn't enough; you also need to learn Cantonese!"

"I'm a quick learner!"

"Then, okay!"

Ah Zu called Vivian over and asked her to arrange the horse, and to stay by Vivian's side as her assistant, while also learning Cantonese.

Then, Azu gave the Blackfoot tribe's war chief a proper welcome.

Unlike other Native Americans, Rock had an amazing capacity for alcohol, which made Azu pass out completely drunk.

When he woke up, it was already late at night, and Boulder and Blood Eagle had already ridden away together.

"Grandpa...Grandpa...!"

Having just woken up, Azu opened his blurry, drunken eyes and looked at Vivian's face, which was so close to his.

"What's wrong? My little angel!"

As he spoke, Azu wrapped his arms around Vivian's soft, delicate waist and rested his head on her lap.

"You're finally awake. This is the first time I've ever seen you drunk."

Vivian gently massaged Azu's head with her small hands to relieve his hangover headache.

"There was nothing we could do, that Rock was just too good at drinking! Jason, Vic, and I all tried to get him drunk, but we still couldn't."

Vivian asked with concern, "Grandpa, what do you mean by saying the Blackfoot Clan sent such a beautiful woman to your side?"

"For easy communication, what else could it mean?"

"Pah!" Vivian spat lightly. "You big liar, I don't believe you don't understand what the Blackfoot Clan means!"

"Then tell me, what does 'Blackfoot Tribe' mean?"

"I'm wondering if the Blackfoot tribe... wants to form a marriage alliance with you?"

Azu opened his eyes and looked at Vivian in surprise: "What kind of nonsense are you thinking about with that little head of yours?"

"I'm not just imagining things!"

Vivian pouted, "Think about it, you've brought so much benefit and change to the Blackfoot Clan, they definitely want to establish a long-term, stable relationship with you."

"Think again, what relationship could be more stable than a marriage alliance?"

"Huh!" Azu was even more surprised: "My little Vivian, how did you suddenly become so smart?"

"Pah!" Vivian spat at Azu again. "Don't think I'm really stupid. Most of the time, it's just that when you're using your brain, I'm too lazy to use mine. Anyway, you're smarter than everyone else, why should I bother using my brain?"

"But Yuma is different. If you really marry her, what will I do?"

The arrival of Youma seems to have brought a real sense of crisis to this silly girl.

“How could that be…!” Azu quickly denied.

"Why is it impossible? You Chinese, as long as you have a little money, which one of you doesn't have three or four wives and multiple concubines?"

Azu wrapped his arms around Vivian's waist and asked, "So, my little angel, do you agree to me marrying many wives?"

"Hmph!" Vivian slapped Ah Zu's forehead: "I knew you were always looking for something better than what you have! Men, not one of them is any good!"

"Tell me quickly, do you agree or not?" Azu took a deep breath of her fragrant scent, finding it so alluring. "I don't know!"

"Don't worry, my little Vivian. Even if I have to marry someone else, I will definitely marry you first. We are a couple who have been through thick and thin together. You are the one I love the most!"

"Pah! Who said we're husband and wife...!" Vivian spat at Ah Zu again, but her heart was filled with joy and indescribable sweetness.

"By the way, the woman you rescued, she's awake!"

“A woman…?” Azu thought for a moment before remembering the woman he had saved for eighteen dollars during the day.

"She's awake? Let's go see her."

"You men are really impatient!"

Ah Zu arrived at the room where the woman with dark golden hair was staying. He pushed open the door and saw her leaning against the headboard, her emerald green eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.

"You're awake!" Azu said as she walked to the bedside.

The woman turned to look at Azu, her eyes unfocused: "Who are you? Did you save me?"

"I am Li Zunian. Whether I saved you or not is still uncertain!"

"Hmm?" The woman's gaze finally focused on Azu: "You're Chinese? That's not necessarily true."

"You survived, that's because I saved you!"

"If you don't come back to life, then I'll just be collecting your corpse!"

Ah Zu sat down on the edge of the bed and asked, "Are you done asking? Then it's my turn to ask you!"

"Who are you? Why do you have such severe gunshot wounds? Why didn't you go to a hospital, but instead sought treatment at a Chinese clinic?"

The woman looked at Ah Zu's face and remained silent for a moment before saying, "My name is... Susan. I was injured by the bandits who stormed into the city. I had no money, so I could only go to cheap Chinese clinics."

"Susan...heh, a pseudonym, right?"

Ah Zu grinned: "It's true that I was injured by the gang, and it's also true that I have no money."

"But instead of going to the hospital, they went to a Chinese clinic. Was it because they didn't have money, or because they were afraid of being recognized?"

The woman named Susan's eyes narrowed instantly, becoming unusually sharp. Her hands instinctively reached for her waist, but she found nothing.

So she asked sharply, "Who exactly are you?"

Azu shook his head: "Was your subconscious reaction just now to look for a gun?"

"I……!"

"I've seen your hands. Those calluses, so out of place for a beautiful woman like you, show that you've practiced shooting for years, and you've been exceptionally diligent!"

Hearing what Azu said, Susan looked down at her palms and saw that they were indeed covered with layers of calluses.

Only someone who practices and uses guns regularly would leave such marks!
Ah Zu continued, "People like you who deal with guns all year round are either bandits, bounty hunters, or lone wolves—people who walk on the edge of law and civilization."

“You don’t have anything valuable on you, so you shouldn’t be one of those bandits who stormed into the city to loot a few days ago.”

"Therefore, you can only be a bounty hunter or a lone wolf in the wilderness!"

“You don’t go to the hospital, you only dare to seek treatment for your gunshot wound at Chinese clinics because you think that someone among the white people will definitely recognize you.”

"Why would they recognize you? Well, either you're extremely famous, or... you're wanted by the police, or... both!"

Azu smiled and said, "A very famous, wanted, and beautiful lone ranger who is good with a gun... Hmm, for so long, I've only thought of one person who fits all these criteria!"

Ah Zu stated his conclusion word by word: "You are the vengeful goddess—Victoria Benjamin!"

"You are Victoria Benjamin!"

"The last surviving member of the Benjamin family in San Francisco!"

“Years ago, old Cameron killed more than 30 members of your family. You were only nine years old at the time, and you survived by hiding in the chimney because you were small. Over the years, you have practiced your marksmanship diligently, waiting for your chance to take revenge.”

"More than three months ago, when old Cameron was killed and the Cameron family collapsed, you finally couldn't hold back and began your revenge!"

"You single-handedly used two guns to wreak havoc throughout the entire Cameron Manor. Afterwards, you carried out several assassination attempts, and many Camerons died at your hands!"

"Therefore, you became famous, were wanted by the San Francisco Police Department, and had to go into hiding, waiting for the opportunity to completely wipe out the Cameron family."

“A few days ago, a large number of gangs stormed into San Francisco, killing, burning, and looting everywhere, which inadvertently forced you out of your hiding place.”

“You were seriously wounded in the abdomen during the gunfight with the bandits. But you were too afraid to go to the hospital and could only find a Chinese clinic that was unlikely to recognize you to treat your gunshot wound.”

"Unfortunately, Chinese clinics are not good at treating gunshot wounds, and besides, you don't have any money!"

“You wasted precious time for treatment. When you were about to die, the clinic owner threw you out, and I just happened to find you.”

"That's the whole story!" After the lengthy narration, Azu said calmly, "Is what I've said correct, Miss Victoria Benjamin?"

As Azu's reasoning unfolds, Victoria's eyes gradually widen in shock, until she is finally speechless!

After a long while, Victoria finally came to her senses: "Who are you? How do you know so much?"

“As I said, my name is Li Zunian. You can call me A-Zu. I am a Chinese and also the boss of Huamei Industrial Company!”

"What?" Victoria was even more surprised: "You're the owner of Huamei Industrial?"

"What? You know about Huamei Industrial too?"

“Of course I know!” Victoria pointed to the blue jeans on her legs. “Isn’t that your company’s product?”

"Furthermore, I also know that your Huamei Industrial bought up everything that once belonged to Bay Area Bank, including shipping companies, real estate, mines, and so on."

Azu smiled and said, "I didn't expect Miss Victoria to know so much."

“Of course I know! Because that shipping company originally belonged to our Benjamin family!”

"What?" Now it was Azu's turn to be surprised: "The shipping company originally belonged to your family?"

"What? You don't believe me? Anyone who has lived in San Francisco for more than ten years should know that our Benjamin family once owned the largest shipping industry in the entire Bay Area!"

"Heh!" Victoria gave a bitter laugh. "Don't worry, the shipping company is no longer the Benjamin family's shipping company. My only wish is revenge. I have no interest in any other industry!"

After thinking about it, Azu felt that it was entirely possible.

The Cameron family seized the shipping company from the Benjamin family. Then, after the Cameron family fell from power, the shipping company fell into Ross's hands.

After Bay Area Bank and Ross collapsed, the largest shipping company in the Bay Area finally fell into their hands.

He killed Cameron and his two sons, then took over the shipping company that originally belonged to the Benjamin family, and finally saved the last surviving member of the Benjamin family.

This is truly... what goes around comes around, and no one escapes the wrath of Heaven.

Then Ah Zu said, "Miss Victoria, I think it's all fate! Stay here with me and recover from your injuries. Once you're fully healed, I think I'll give you a chance for complete revenge!"

"Give me a chance for complete revenge?" Victoria raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

"I think we have a common enemy!"

“Daniel Cameron?” Victoria pressed.

“Yes!” Azu nodded: “Although he is still alive, I think that as long as we join forces, he is not far from death.”

Victoria stared at Azu in surprise for a long time, then couldn't help but ask, "Why? Why are you helping me? What are you up to?"

"Intentions? Heh, not at all. I've said it before, we have a common enemy. I also want to kill Major Daniel, that's all!"

Azu glanced at her perfect face and graceful figure, and said, "Of course, Miss Victoria's beauty is also one of the reasons I'm helping you!"

Feeling Azu's burning gaze, Victoria casually tossed her hair: "If you help me wipe out the entire Cameron family, I can agree to anything you ask!"

"anything?"

"Anything!"

"A word is settled!"

"A word is settled!"

Ah Zu and Victoria held hands tightly.

Ah Zu got up and went out. When he reached the door, he suddenly turned back and smiled slightly: "Miss Victoria, actually, I have already helped you a lot before this!"

After saying that, Azu's figure disappeared through the doorway.

"He's helped me a lot before this? What does he mean...?"

Victoria sat on the bed, her brows furrowed, deep in thought: "Could it be...! Impossible, absolutely impossible! How could a Chinese man like him possibly kill them?"
-
The next morning, after spending most of the night playing with Vivian, Azu sat down for a meeting with all the core members, feeling refreshed and energetic.

It was Ah Zu who started the conversation.

"How is it? Have you found out the situation outside? Are there many families rushing to sell all their assets and leave San Francisco, this dangerous and troublesome place?"

"Of course! Boss, your predictions have never been wrong!"

Vic replied, “Including the former acting mayor’s family, the speaker’s family, the police chief’s family, the chief judge’s family, the militia commander’s family, and so on, almost the entire upper class is eager to sell their family assets and take the money to a safer city.”

“Hehe!” Azu smiled and said, “They have lost most of the men in their family and have also been robbed of a large amount of cash and wealth. Even if they are not afraid of Major Daniel and the gang making a comeback, it is almost impossible for them to continue operating by relying solely on the noble ladies and young masters in their family.”

"They only have one option left: sell off their assets!"

"However, with a large number of assets being sold on the market at the same time, and given that almost all the wealthy people have been robbed, who would have the willingness or ability to buy their assets?"

"Haha, just us!" Jason took a deep drag on his pipe and laughed heartily.

"Yes, just us!"

"So, should we start acquiring their prime assets right now?"

“No!” Azu replied, “No rush! It’s not the time when asset prices are at their lowest yet. Let’s wait a few more days, and maybe there will be a pleasant surprise.”

"A surprise? What surprise?" Everyone was curious.

Azu winked at them: "Hehe, you'll find out in a few days!"

(End of this chapter)