Red Dead Redemption: The Great Philanthropist of the West

When Henry returned to Valentine and heard about the Emerald Ranch incident, he went directly to Sheriff Malloy and issued a $5000 bounty for Colm. As for the members of the Oakland gang, $50 per head, dead or alive. Of course, this bounty was only for the area around Valentine.

Actually, Henry isn't incapable of dealing with Colm, it's just not the right time yet. Keeping him around has some use, but it'll be soon. For now, let's just keep him out of Valentine's territory.

Since Henry bought the Emerald Ranch in the Heart of the Earth and the surrounding farms, his status in Valentine has risen sharply. After all, he has hundreds of Valentine's townspeople working for him and supporting them. Not to mention the expansion of his tavern business, which not only attracts a steady stream of customers to Valentine, but also makes him very popular with the local drinkers.

Most importantly, he took over the charity organization in New Hanover, established a relief home, and helped many people, earning him the favor of many townspeople. This made him the most respected person in Valentine. If the town were to elect a mayor now, he could probably take the position immediately.

So Sheriff Malloy abandoned his initial intention to check Henry and readily took care of the matter. Someone was offering a reward for the criminal, and he could even bask in some credit—why not? Besides, he didn't dare offend Henry now, and even offered to send mounted police to keep an eye on Emerald Ranch. After all, this was a capitalist society; money talks.

Of course, Henry didn't rely entirely on the police department. He also sent an email back to Robert, instructing him to continue recruiting and poach his elite friends from the army with high salaries. In addition, he sent a team of guards that had been trained to Valentine's place. Ashley and his men alone were too weak in terms of protection. Both the ranch and the bootlegging business needed manpower to protect them.

In addition, Henry instructed Ashley to build a shooting range on the ranch, which would not only meet the guards' daily training needs and be used to train new recruits, but also serve as a deterrent to the outlaws in the vicinity.

......

Valentine, Allen's Tavern.

Arthur and Tommy were drinking together, loudly discussing random things. Ever since his first love, Mary, left him, Arthur had been depressed for several days. During those days, he often drank at the pub, and gradually he and Tommy hit it off and became good drinking buddies. They often got together to drink and chat.

Meanwhile, Hosea kept an eye on the tavern patrons, looking for an opportunity to sell his Cornish Railroad bonds. He no longer expected to make much money off the $5 bonds; a few thousand dollars would be acceptable—a decision he and Dutch had reached. Holding onto these bonds indefinitely wasn't a solution; if they couldn't be sold, they were worthless pieces of paper, which would embarrass Dutch and be detrimental to the gang's harmony and development.

When Henry came in, he saw Arthur and Tommy arm wrestling. It was clear that Tommy was upset about Arthur's sneak attack and wanted to regain his pride in the arm wrestling match.

Upon seeing Henry enter, he quickly stood up and loudly greeted the boss, as he was still on duty and felt guilty about being seen drinking during work hours. Henry, however, ignored him, waving him away to make way for him.

Arthur was quite happy to see Henry return and invited Old He over to chat and drink together.

"Old Hosea, what have you been up to lately?" Henry pulled out a chair for Hosea to sit down and poured him a glass.

Although Hosea found it a bit odd that Henry suddenly called him "Old Hosea," the nickname sounded rather friendly, so he didn't think much of it. Actually, he wanted to talk to Henry about the bonds; Henry had extensive connections and should be able to find a way to sell them. He hadn't approached Henry before because he was afraid these bonds would cause Henry trouble and offend Cornwall. He didn't know if Henry would be willing to take on this hot potato.

"It's all because of those worthless papers Dutch brought back last time. They can't find a way to sell them. Henry, you have a wide network and know many business owners. I wonder if you know anyone willing to take these things?"

Hosea sighed and downed the brandy in his glass in one gulp. He wouldn't have bothered Henry and created unnecessary trouble for him if he hadn't been so desperate to find a suitable replacement.

Upon hearing Hosea's words, Henry did not immediately give an answer. Instead, he tapped the table lightly with his fingers and slowly took a sip of his drink.

"How much do you expect to sell it for? Although it's anonymous, you should know that this has been widely publicized in the newspapers, and many people know that this batch of goods is not clean. Moreover, it can only be exchanged for cash in ten years, so in reality, its value is not high. You should be mentally prepared."

Hosea breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Henry's reply. Since Henry hadn't refused, there must be a way.

“These past few days, I have fully understood its ‘true’ value, otherwise it wouldn’t have taken so long to sell. I talked to Dutch in detail, and we finally agreed that we could accept it as long as it was close to $5000.”

"If that's the case, I think it should be fine. I'll contact my friends in the East and let you negotiate yourselves, or I can be the one to negotiate with you. I can guarantee you no less than $5000, and maybe as high as $8000."

Henry had originally intended to buy it for $8000, figuring he could make a profit no matter how he sold it, and with his current power, he wasn't afraid of Cornwall. However, he changed his mind. He decided to let it sit for a while, let Dutch have some reservations about him, and then make his move when the time was right.

"Alright, let's not talk about that. Old He, did you go hunting? I heard you have something good, a record of some legendary animals from different places."

"Not yet. Didn't you say last time that you were interested and asked me to wait for you to join us?"

With Henry's assurance that he would no longer have to worry about the bonds, Hosea was also very happy. The bonds had become a major worry for him and Dutch.

Seeing that Henry was interested in animals, he immediately took out the legendary animal map and handed it to Henry.

Henry took it, examined it carefully, and memorized the location. He tried to return it to Hosea, but was refused.

"Henry, you keep it. I've kept it for so many years, I've memorized all the information on it, and I even made a copy and kept it. To be honest, I got this from someone in a tavern when I was young."

Recalling the past, Hosea sighed and picked up his wine to clink glasses again.