Red Dead Redemption: The Great Philanthropist of the West

Henry instructed Li Yi to personally gather the core members of the armed special forces team, including Eagle, Antora, Grant, Ashley, Carl, and Carter. "Oh, and call Paul too," Henry added before Li Yi left.

Paul's recent growth and performance have been quite impressive, and Henry intends to formally bring him on board.

Around noon, everyone gradually arrived at Henry's residence. A dozen or so people stood or sat, gathered in twos and threes, greeting each other amicably and chatting. This was the first time Henry had gathered all the core members together. Although they knew of each other's existence before, they rarely had the opportunity to communicate. They wondered what important matter Henry had gathered them for this time.

Paul, in particular, was thrilled when he heard that Lee Yi wanted him to attend the meeting. This proved that Henry had already accepted him as one of his own and allowed him into Henry's inner circle. Although Henry had treated him well before, he knew that it was just a boss being nice to a subordinate, not that he was truly considered one of his own.

When Henry arrived, everyone rose to greet him. He gestured for them not to stand on ceremony, instructed the servants to pour them fine wine, and then went to stand guard at the door, not letting anyone near.

"It's rare for everyone to get together like this for the first time, let's have a toast first." He said, raising the glass of fine red wine in front of him and gently clinking it with everyone's.

"I've gathered everyone here today because there's something important to discuss. It's not the time for us to get together yet, and the living room here is too small. Let's have a proper get-together at the Guy Bay Manor after we've finished this business."

Here’s what happened: I received intelligence that on April 2nd, which is 5 days from now, a ferry carrying at least $150,000 in cash from the North District Bank will arrive at Blackwater Port.

And I know this is a trap set by Pinkerton to deal with the gang. Although it's a trap, the money is definitely real. But knowing Milton's style, he'll definitely have a large number of armed men lying in ambush on the ferry, perhaps including many elite bounty hunters and legendary sharpshooters.

We now know that the Van der Linde gang has fallen into the trap—the same gang that helped us wipe out the Skinning Brothers last time. They're currently plotting to acquire this huge sum of money. There's also a gang called the Odrisco gang that knows about this, but whether they'll make a move is still unknown. Paul, you need to intensify your investigations here. Thank you for your hard work these past few days; I'll allocate additional funds as extra rewards for intelligence personnel.” Henry paused, taking a sip of red wine.

Upon seeing this, Paul immediately replied, "Understood, boss. After you told me about it a few days ago, I've intensified the intelligence gathering in this area. When I get back, I'll reiterate the importance of this intelligence to them, and with the extra bonus, I believe they'll be even more enthusiastic."

"But boss, what are we investigating for? Is our target $15 this time?"

"That's a good question, but that's not my goal, or rather, it's not my main goal. I wouldn't refuse it if it came to me on its own."

I have two main goals this time.

First, I need to save people; I don't want anything to happen to my friends in the Fan gang, especially Jenny and the Calander brothers.

Secondly, it concerns you, Grant. I intend to take this opportunity to formally promote you to the position of sheriff in District One.

Chief Dunbar has already spoken with me about the security arrangements for this armored ferry. He won't get involved; instead, he'll put your South District Sheriff, Bernard Weaver, in charge. Bernard works for North District Councilor Matthew. He's at odds with us. Paul's investigation found that the previous chaos in the South District was largely due to him. He supported several local gangs, frequently bullying ordinary families in the South and extorting substantial protection money. Several times, this even resulted in deaths, but Bernard covered it up each time.

When he leads his men to protect the armored ship this time, you should take your trusted confidants and find an excuse not to get involved. A fierce battle is certain to occur that day, regardless of whether he gets implicated or not.

"The moment the battle began, you led your men to wipe out those gangs and gather evidence of Bernard's crimes. If he survived that fierce fight, we'd use the evidence to impeach him and send him to jail. Then I'd have Chief Dunbar promote you to sheriff, and from then on, you'd truly be in charge of law enforcement in the South. Any questions about that?"

Henry looked at Grant, who hadn't expected him to be one of the two main targets. Grant quickly replied, "No problem, Henry. I've long disliked Bernard and those gangs. If Bernard hadn't been keeping me in check, I would have dealt with them long ago. However, they have a lot of people. If I only have my dozen or so confidants, I'm afraid we won't have enough manpower, and some of them will escape."

"Don't worry about manpower. I'll have Ashley bring people to support you."

"Then there's no problem. We'll make sure to wipe out these parasites and nail Bernard to the ground."

"Well, the whole Blackwater Town will probably be in chaos by then. If they start causing trouble on their own, you can arrest them with a legitimate reason, and you can get praise afterwards. It can also explain why you didn't go to the docks to help. If they don't take the opportunity to cause trouble, you can find someone to 'help' them."

"Back to our first objective, on the day the ship arrives, Flying Eagle, have a few men follow Li Yi and Zhang Wei. Li Yi, you and the others will keep a close eye on the ferry's progress. If Dutch and his men succeed, based on his reconnaissance routes from the past few days, he'll likely have people escape in four directions. You just need to keep an eye on the escape routes and personnel of the Calland brothers and Jenny. Don't interfere, and then have someone quickly and discreetly relay the information. (See the chapter description for the route map)"

Then, Zhang Wei, you'll be specifically tasked with following Dutch and recording his escape route, paying particular attention to whether he's carrying any large boxes or bags filled with money. Be discreet and follow from a distance, staying outside the range of your pistol. Dutch is an excellent marksman with keen intuition; if he spots you at close range, you won't be a match for him.

Then, Calcart, you two brothers take a few men and keep an eye on these two routes in the South. I anticipate that Mike and David will likely escape via these two routes respectively. Grant and Ashley, you two also keep an eye on things and help each other out. If you find the Calland brothers injured, arrange for them to be rescued, and then guide the pursuers in another direction, trying to prevent them from revealing their identities.

Our goal is to rescue people, so we should try to avoid direct confrontations with Peacekeepers or bounty hunters. Of course, if the situation becomes urgent, we can engage them, but we should try to avoid revealing our identities.

The escape routes in the remaining West and North districts will be followed by me and the special forces team. Eagle, you and your people will serve as reserves, remaining vigilant for any unforeseen events, especially the O'Driscoll gang in the Strawberry Town direction. I suspect they already knew this might be a trap, but weren't sure, so they had someone leak information to their enemy (Dutch) to scout the area. If Dutch fails, they'll find an opportunity to sabotage him. If Dutch succeeds, they might ambush and double-cross him. Of course, this is just my speculation; being prepared is always better than being forced to defend yourself passively after an unexpected event.

If given the chance, we could even turn the tables and ambush the Odrisco gang. Speaking of which, Paul recently discovered that Ellie's daughter's tragic death might be related to the Odrisco gang. We'll have to help Ellie get revenge later, as that was a condition we promised her (see Chapter 27).

"Oh, and if we run into Micah, we could capture him if the opportunity arises and hand him over to the police. We might even get a big reward and boost our public image. Remember, if you see him alone, shoot him and cripple his hand. Don't let him touch a gun; this guy's a sharpshooter, a ruthless one at that."

At this point, Henry clapped his hands and asked, "Do you all understand the various tasks? If you have no objections, then go and prepare accordingly."

"Okay, boss (Henry)."

Although everyone was puzzled as to how Henry could analyze so much information from such a small amount, they didn't care. Since Henry had made the arrangements, they would just do it seriously. Perhaps Henry had other sources of information.