Chapter 366: That Old Scoundrel Doesn't Look Like a Good Person (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

1899, a very special period.

Developed cities in the eastern USA saw various advanced things spread to the West. The West had also been almost completely developed.

In the cities of the West, one could see very peculiar aspects.

Coupled with the political landscape forged by this unique era, it was no longer like the early period of the Westward Expansion.

Advanced and backward, civilized and barbaric. It was a chaotic era, one was fading, and another was emerging.

Many Western-themed films and novels Old Dai had seen before this would at least not use this era as their starting point.

Instead, they would choose an earlier period; it was rare to select a backdrop where the Old West was coming to an end.

Originally, Old Dai wasn't very interested, but at this moment, he found himself intrigued again.

As the subtitles on the screen slowly faded, the sounds of wagon wheels, horses whinnying, and a blizzard simultaneously emerged.

A cold front gripped the Hagen Mountains; it was only May, yet heavy snow was already falling. Four carriages relentlessly pressed forward through the blizzard, dim oil lamps hanging from the wagons in the dark, snowy night.

‘Abigail said he’s fading fast, Dutch! We gotta find shelter!’

Someone behind the carriage, arms wrapped around himself in the blizzard, rode forward and shouted to Dutch, who was driving the wagon.

‘Arthur went to look, I sent him.’

‘If we don’t stop, we’ll all be dead...’

‘This weather, and it’s already May...’

‘I hope the lawmen are as lost as we are.’

‘Look over there...’

‘Arthur, any luck?’

As Hosea and Dutch exchanged brief words, a middle-aged man on horseback emerged from the blizzard ahead.

Gently pressing down on his snow-laden hat, Arthur Morgan nodded: “I found a place, it’ll shield us from the wind and snow.”

Simple dialogue, yet it already made Old Dai understand the predicament of this group.

They were being pursued by lawmen; clearly, this was the Van der Linde gang mentioned in the previous promotional video.

Of course, what astonished Old Dai even more was the game's excellent graphics.

He was playing in first-person, able to see the blizzard falling on his character's skin, slowly melting into water.

And the exhaled vapor was exceptionally clear under the lantern's glow.

The vibrational feedback from the horse's hooves treading on the snow, and the hoofprints left in the ground's snow.

Originally, he thought these were all CGI cutscenes from the game.

But as Dutch finished calming the gang members and went out with Arthur Morgan to look for other gang members.

It was seamless, meaning these were all in-game graphics.

This instantly surprised Old Dai.

Moreover, once he entered the actual gameplay, these detailed elements showed no reduction in quality.

The howling blizzard, the white breath appearing when characters spoke, and the small gestures of hugging oneself and stomping feet to keep warm.

Compared to the previous Beautiful World, Red Dead Redemption was currently superior, at least in terms of visual presentation.

He wasn't exactly a graphics fanatic, but who could say they disliked better graphics and insisted on liking inferior ones?

Along the way, through Arthur Morgan and Dutch's conversation, Old Dai also learned more details.

The Van der Linde gang had attempted a robbery in a previous small town but had fallen into a trap.

Not only was the money left in the town, but several gang members had also died, and they had barely managed to escape from that incident.

However, Arthur Morgan wasn't with the gang at that time.

As they conversed, the three quickly arrived at the ranch they had scouted earlier.

Arthur Morgan and the two others tied their horses to a nearby post.

At the same time, Dutch instructed Arthur Morgan and his companion Micah: “The three of us clearly don’t look like good people; I’ll go alone so I don’t scare anyone.”

Hearing Dutch’s words, Old Dai couldn’t help but feel a strange sensation.

“This gang feels a bit different!” Old Dai thought, full of surprise as he watched Dutch walk to the house.

Before this, Old Dai had already learned through promotional videos and other materials.

That the protagonist might be a major Western villain.

But now, the Van der Linde gang was completely different from what he had imagined.

In this gang, there were old people, men, women, and even children. Especially Dutch, who would tell them not to follow, giving the reason that they might scare others?

Is this something gang members should do?

Although it was strange, Old Dai didn't dwell on it.

After all, the game had just begun; as the story progressed, these questions would surely be answered.

Fearing that the house's owner might misunderstand, Arthur Morgan and Micah hid nearby. It was precisely because of this that they coincidentally discovered a stiff corpse in a wagon by the cowshed.

Clearly, the owner of this farm had already been murdered by some outlaws.

What followed was an anticipated gunfight.

The shooting mechanics in the game were quite good, especially with the option to enable an auto-aim system, which allowed Old Dai to enjoy shooting to his heart's content.

The blood splattering as bullets pierced enemies, and their various falling animations, could also be described as very realistic.

After eliminating all the enemies, the next step was to enter the house to collect some items and eat some food to replenish health.

Although Old Dai hadn't played many games in this area, he could still sense that it was a tutorial mode, primarily teaching players how to eat to restore health and how to collect items.

However, what shocked Old Dai the most.

Was that there were too many interactive objects in this game!

All the cabinets and drawers inside the house could actually be opened.

The photos, books, and mirrors displayed could also all be picked up and interacted with.

It wasn't a very large cabin, but Old Dai spent a full five minutes scavenging, only leaving after confirming that there were no missed drawers or cabinets in the room and that he had taken all the resources himself.

Afterward, Arthur Morgan and Dutch continued to search separately for this place that might soon become their temporary small base.

In the stable, from the last surviving O'Driscoll gang member, Arthur and Dutch learned that their gang had a plan: they intended to blow up the railway tracks to carry out a robbery.

Coincidentally, this O'Driscoll gang was a sworn enemy of the Van der Linde gang, so Dutch immediately had the idea of intercepting their plan. However, the immediate priority was clearly to feed the gang members, so Dutch continued to check what was on the farm.

As for this O'Driscoll gang member, he was left to Arthur to deal with.

After Dutch left, Old Dai noticed different options appearing in his lower-right field of vision: let him go or kill him.

“Forget it, I’ll spare your life.”

After some thought, Old Dai couldn't bring himself to kill and chose to let the man go.

Because he knew this game had multiple endings.

The deaths of teammates in the previous Call of Duty: Modern Warfare had already made him very uncomfortable.

As for Red Dead Redemption, his impression so far was good, and he might eventually clear the game. So, naturally, he wanted to develop in a 'good person' direction, striving to trigger a good ending, otherwise, he wouldn't have the patience to play it all over again.

He calmed the horses in the stable, led one out, and chatted with Dutch for a bit.

But then a commotion came from the basement, accompanied by a woman's scream.

‘Micah, what the hell are you doing!’

Hearing the woman's scream, Arthur Morgan in the game was startled and immediately burst open the basement door with Dutch.

Inside, they saw the lecherous-looking Micah chasing a woman around a table.

‘Oh! Look what I found in the basement? Quite a feisty one, ain't ya?’

Micah chuckled menacingly, like an old scoundrel.

During the chase, the table in the room was overturned, and the oil lamp fell to the ground, instantly setting the house ablaze.

Dutch, who had followed closely, couldn't help but curse, then stepped forward to comfort the woman.

‘Ma’am, it’s alright now.’

‘We mean no harm.’

‘We need to leave here now.’

‘Don’t worry, even if we aren’t good people, we won’t hurt you.’

Looking at the farm, now ablaze, ignited by the oil lamp overturned earlier in the basement.

Arthur Morgan and Dutch had no choice but to leave, and this seemingly helpless woman also temporarily joined the Van der Linde gang.

This short segment of the story had already sparked a lot of curiosity in Old Dai's mind.

Namely, what kind of organization was this Van der Linde gang exactly?

Because it seemed neither the leader Dutch nor Arthur were bad people.

Of course, it wasn't as if there weren't any characters that Old Dai perceived as bad.

It was that Micah; Old Dai took one look at him and felt he was no good.

Not only was he lecherous-looking, but he also acted like an old scoundrel, and his words were always sarcastic.

(End of Chapter) <>