Red Dead Redemption: The Great Philanthropist of the West

The next day, at Blackwater Bar.

Henry instructed Paul to mobilize all of town's intelligence resources to maintain a high level of vigilance against the Van gang members, but cautioned that it was better to gather less intelligence than to be discovered. The primary targets were Micah, Dutch, Jenny, the Calander brothers, and Arthur.

Henry also transferred Zhang Wei (a newly recruited assassin-type talent, skilled in disguise) over; last night, he had him discover the Fan gang's temporary camp on the cliff at the river mouth. Next, Henry plans to have him follow Micah throughout and keep a record, as he wants to unravel the mysteries in the game: was the Blackwater heist a trap, and what role did Micah play in it?

...

"Hey Henry, I'm here for the appointment." During lunchtime, Jenny pulled a helpless-looking Arthur into the Blackwater Bar.

"Don't look so grumpy, Arthur. You'll thank me later. Those sweet and sour pork ribs are absolutely delicious, and that wine... what's it called again? Lafite, yeah, Lafite. It's really good, and the best part is it's cheap." Little Jenny kept recommending it to Arthur.

"Hey, Jenny, you really know how to time this meal! Come on, pull your big brother over here and sit down. Eat and drink as much as you want today." After speaking to Jenny, Henry turned to Arthur, who had been waiting for him.

“Henry Allen, I’ve known you for a long time, Arthur. I hope you don’t mind me calling you that. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.” Henry nodded to Arthur and said.

"Arthur Morgan, I wonder where Mr. Allen's long history begins?" Arthur said casually, trying to maintain his self-perceived image of a cool and aloof male god.

"Come on, let's sit down and talk while we eat."

"Paul, three servings of each of the sweet and sour pork ribs and the Kung Pao chicken (which isn't available yet), two bottles each of Shrewynn and Lafite, plus three glasses." After Arthur and Jenny were seated, Henry asked Paul to bring the dishes.

“Arthur, if you don’t mind, you can call me Henry. I learned about you a few months ago from Trelawney. I heard about your deeds from him, and I felt that you were very similar to an old friend of mine. Your experiences, the way you speak, and your temperament are all very similar. It’s just that my old friend is dead now, and I rarely talk about him with others, but I often think of him.”

When I first learned about you from Trelawney, I was surprised and very curious about you. I looked forward to meeting you someday.

“Well, Henry, it seems we can have a good talk. Is the Trelawney you’re talking about Josiah? How do you know him? We haven’t heard from him for months.” Hearing news of Trelawney from someone else, Arthur was more concerned about what their unofficial staff member was up to.

"You know he has a family in Saint Denis, right?"

“Yes, he loves his family, so he’s never been involved with us.” Arthur said he knew this and had even run into Josiah, but Josiah seemed unwilling to let his family know about their gang.

“I, I, I need to speak. Who is Josiah? Why do you know him, but I don’t know him in the gang?” Little Jenny’s mouthful of chicken pieces couldn’t contain her curiosity.

Henry looked at Arthur, gesturing for him to introduce him to his little admirer. After they finished their brief introductions, Henry continued:

"My acquaintance with him was purely by chance. He was using false information to scam people out of money near the stock exchange, and I happened to be passing by. I also happened to know that the information was fake. I admired his eloquence and ability, and since he was a family man and didn't want his family to know about his illegal activities, I simply took over a tavern in Saint Denis and had him manage it for me, while also gathering some intelligence. As for you, you only need his information, so you can get even more information by paying a reasonable fee. It's a win-win situation, isn't it?"

“Yes, that’s exactly what he wanted. To grow up with his family, without having to travel all the time, without having to be hunted and hiding everywhere.” Arthur revealed a hint of envy that was hard to detect. But he quickly recovered. Fortunately, Dutch had promised that after this job, they could buy land in California or Tahiti and live a peaceful life.

At this point, Arthur still trusted Dutch, even though his plans had been frequently changing lately (when they were hiding in the western foothills, there was a suitable piece of land that he originally intended to buy and settle down, but Dutch abandoned the idea for unknown reasons. Also, this time when they came down from the snow mountain, they originally planned to go directly to California, but they ended up in Blackwater instead).

"Let's get back to the story of your old friend. I apologize for interrupting you because I was too excited about what you heard about your companion."

"It's alright, my old friend cares for and cherishes his companions just like you do."

"You might not know this, but despite my rich-boy looks, I'm actually quite skilled with a gun and a horse, at least as good as five or six Jennys." Henry couldn't help but joke, watching Jenny still happily munching on sweet and sour pork ribs.

Jenny, her mouth full of meat, glanced up at him and rolled her eyes before continuing to eat. The food here was heaven compared to the stew made by Pearson, the Tiger of Van der Linde.

"My marksmanship and horsemanship were taught by this old friend of mine. He became an orphan when he was a teenager, and after wandering for a few years, he joined a small gang that had just been established. He became a veteran member and regarded the gang leader as his father. He also had a deep affection for the gang. He was very talented and, under the guidance of the gang leader, he quickly grew into a sharpshooter."

Henry picked up his glass and clinked it with Arthur's.

"He seems very smart, able to grow up so quickly," Arthur said with a touch of emotion.

"Yes, he's smart and naive. He's always honest with himself, whether it's love or the people around him. It's just that he doesn't like to think things through. He's used to following his boss's orders. He does whatever his boss says. He loves the gang and trusts his boss a lot. His biggest wish is for the people around him to have a better life. He's willing to give everything, including his past love and his life."

He believed that his boss shared the same wish as him.

So he never thought about whether what the boss was doing was right or wrong, or what impact these things would have on himself or the gang. Henry took another small bite of Shrewyane.

“If his boss truly shares his wishes and his decisions have consistently been correct, then there’s no problem,” Arthur replied. He didn’t see anything wrong with it; he himself was a person who didn’t like to think things through. His mind was always on guns.

"If his boss is always right, then there's really no problem. But that's not what his boss truly desires. His real thought is to always be the boss and enjoy being fawned over. He's just a selfish person with an insatiable thirst for power."

In order to better unite everyone and gain their approval and obedience, he added a layer of packaging to his ideas, making them appear as if he hoped that the people around him would get better and better.

When everything goes smoothly, these contradictions can be well hidden.

However, when unexpected events occur, such as the rise of civilization, it's undeniable that the wild world of the West is gradually being replaced by civilization, and gangs will be unacceptable to a society governed by the rule of law. The members of the gangs face a crucial choice: to abandon the gang as a form of society.

Buy a farm or ranch and live the life of a farmer.

However, buying a farm would require a lot of money, so the gang leader suggested pulling off one last big heist. Once they made enough money, they could leave and live the life of a rancher they'd always dreamed of.

They fell into a trap; they succeeded and failed. They succeeded because they got the money, but they failed because they only hid it and didn't take it with them, and many people died. Arthur poured Henry a glass of wine and clinked glasses with him.

"Why not take it with you? Now that you've got it, you have plenty of time to hide it. With so many people, how difficult is it to bring out some cash? Why bother hiding it?" Arthur asked, voicing his deepest question.

"Who knows? Maybe the gang leader doesn't actually want the money. If he takes it, the gang will fall apart and it will be hard to lead the team."

They fled to a new place and settled down for a while. Then, the gang leader made an excuse that the previous sum of money was frozen due to martial law and couldn't be retrieved for the time being. But they still needed money to live, so the gang leader suggested doing one last job.

However, his last vote will never succeed, and it will only attract more powerful enemies to besiege them.

His lack of money and precarious situation continue to bind people together with him in their fight against the civilized world.

During this time, my friend listened to the gang leader's orders and followed him into battle.

By the time he realized the gang leader's true intentions, almost everyone in the gang he liked and who liked him was dead. He himself contracted tuberculosis during this time, was betrayed by a traitor, abandoned by the gang leader, and died alone in the mountains.

Henry downed his drink in one gulp and patted Arthur on the shoulder.

This made Arthur realize that Henry wasn't talking about his friend, but about him. Although he felt a bit empathetic, what did this story have to do with him? His gang had Hosea and Dutch, so this situation couldn't possibly have happened. He believed Dutch, and Dutch had always been right.