Chapter 373: Arthur isn't the protagonist!? (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes, with lots of plot)

Jack has been rescued, and some intelligence has also been obtained from Angelo Bronte; it seems everything is developing in a good direction.

In the early morning, Dutch, Arthur, and Hosea discussed how to rob the tram station.

Although someone mentioned that Kieran the stablehand was missing, no one paid much attention, as Kieran would occasionally go fishing alone.

But before long, a nightmarish scene unfolded.

Kieran's horse slowly walked into the camp, with a headless corpse riding on it, holding its own gouged-out head.

After Arthur escaped the O'Driscoll gang, the O'Driscolls had been tracking the whereabouts of the Van der Linde gang.

Near Saint Denis, they captured the traitor Kieran and subjected him to the cruellest torture. Then, using the horses' tendency to return to camp on their own, they tracked down the Van der Linde gang's camp, and countless gunshots erupted from all directions.

Shocked, everyone immediately began to fight back.

………………

Old Dai, controlling Arthur in the game, continuously aimed at enemies using Dead Eye.

However, in this battle, Sadie completely stunned him.

Upon seeing her greatest enemy, the O'Driscoll gang, arrive, the woman immediately went into a frenzied killing mode.

She charged ahead of everyone, and almost a third of the enemies were taken down by Sadie alone.

Under the formidable combat power of the Van der Linde gang, the enemies were repelled.

Dutch ordered everyone to bury the poor Kieran.

At this point, Arthur asked Dutch if they should continue searching for the next camp, as this one was no longer safe.

But Dutch merely shook his head slightly, a confident expression on his face.

“Your vision is too narrow, Arthur... You don't understand the extent of our difficulties... nor the magnitude of our opportunities.”

Facing Dutch's words, Arthur expressed his confusion: “Dutch, I don't quite understand what you mean.”

“You will understand, son... you will.” Dutch patted Arthur's shoulder gently.

Yes, Dutch had a brilliant plan!

Dutch went ahead alone to Saint Denis.

Everyone tidied up the camp, while Arthur returned to camp to write in his journal.

What made Old Dai emotional was Arthur's note about Kieran: “You saved me, but I couldn't save you.”

But no matter what, life had to go on.

Days later, Arthur finished up at the camp and met with Dutch in Saint Denis.

Amidst Dutch's repeated “trust me” and “I have a plan,” players learned of Dutch's new scheme.

Originally, Dutch's plan for the Van der Linde gang was to head south to lie low for a while, make some money, and then buy some land in the West for everyone to farm and raise pigs.

But now, Dutch had a grander plan after so many events.

Dutch declared that the Van der Linde gang's ambitions must expand!

Now they were going to Tahiti in the South Pacific to grow mangoes.

So Dutch, along with Lenny and Arthur, robbed the tram station that Bronte had mentioned earlier.

To their surprise, they didn't even get 50 Yuan from the entire tram station.

And the Saint Denis police seemed to have been prepared, deploying en masse to arrest the three of them.

Clearly, it was a trap, a trap Bronte specifically set for Dutch and his gang. Fortunately, they managed to escape in the end.

This operation was undoubtedly a huge failure, and Dutch almost suffered a concussion while escaping.

The three of them were in a sorry state, and Dutch seemed to have truly damaged his brain during this operation.

So Dutch, facing everyone, once again brought up his plan, his scheme.

That was to kill Bronte, and then rob the Saint Denis bank as their last big score.

Something had changed.

Not just the characters in the game.

Even Old Dai, who was experiencing the game, felt this way.

Facing Dutch's proposal, Hosea felt something was amiss, stating that they were being too conspicuous.

But Dutch clearly wasn't listening, so they headed to the swamps to find a boat and a captain.

During this time, Old Dai noticed many details.

For instance, in the swamps, they encountered a giant alligator, but Dutch made Arthur go rescue someone alone.

And finally, they successfully captured Bronte at his mansion.

The anger of being deceived, the shadow of continuous failures, and Bronte's words.

These caused Dutch to lose control, drowning Bronte directly in the swamp.

This also caused some dissatisfaction among gang members like John Marston.

By this point, Old Dai could clearly feel that the Van der Linde gang was becoming increasingly twisted.

At first, the Van der Linde gang was as Dutch had told Sadie.

They weren't good people, but they had their bottom line and their ideals.

However, the current Van der Linde gang was completely different from the one they started as.

If robbing the Saint Denis bank was still for a plan,

Then killing Bronte was purely for Dutch to vent his own anger.

After Bronte's death, Dutch's longed-for last score was finally about to begin.

Although Hosea disagreed, Dutch insisted on going through with it, so he still offered advice for Dutch. The most important thing for the aging Hosea was everyone's safety.

Hosea's plan initially seemed perfect; everyone successfully stormed the bank vault, and mangoes in Tahiti seemed within reach.

But then a familiar voice shattered everyone's beautiful dream.

Pinkerton Agents, who had been tracking Arthur and Dutch, now had Hosea seized as a hostage by Agent Milton.

Dutch tried to persuade Milton to make a deal with him, to let Hosea go.

But Milton coldly replied: “I gave you too many chances...”

With that, he pushed Hosea.

Along with a gunshot, the old man collapsed in a pool of blood, twitched once, and fell silent forever.

Like the tram robbery before, this operation also failed.

And the consequences were even more severe.

Lenny and Hosea were killed, John Marston was captured, and Charles, in order to allow Arthur and the others to escape, deliberately lured away the Pinkerton Agents, his fate unknown.

Arthur and Dutch fled all the way to a ship.

This was a ship bound for Cuba. Dutch bribed the captain with gold bars from the bank robbery, suggesting they might be able to go to Cuba first to lie low.

But as if fate itself was against them.

The ship encountered a storm at sea, and the entire vessel capsized. Dutch and Micah, among others, escaped by lifeboat.

Arthur didn't make it onto a lifeboat and had to jump into the sea.

Fortunately, Arthur still had some luck. After drifting at sea for a long time, Arthur was eventually washed ashore on an isolated island.

And he happened to run into Dutch and the others.

This island was familiar to them, the island where the great capitalist Cornwall produced sugarcane.

After a series of events, and helping to free the slaves on the island.

Arthur and Dutch returned to the USA and rejoined the gang.

Everyone was safe and sound; Charles also escaped and returned to the gang, even stealing back Lenny and Hosea's bodies to bury them.

All of this was due to Sadie's efforts. The former widow, now a Valkyrie, had single-handedly taken care of the entire Van der Linde gang.

However, John Marston wasn't so lucky and was directly imprisoned in Sisika Penitentiary, surrounded by water.

As they talked, Dutch and the others returned to the gang, and it seemed everyone could finally overcome their hardships together.

But unexpectedly, the Pinkerton Agents found them again the next moment.

After a tough battle to repel them, Dutch became suspicious. Why could the Pinkerton Agents find them so quickly?

The answer was simple: there was a traitor in the gang.

So Dutch ordered all members to leave and flee northeast, meaning Dutch had abandoned John.

And Dutch's actions during this time made players feel that Dutch was becoming less and less like himself, or perhaps this was the true Dutch.

However, although Dutch abandoned John Marston, Arthur and Sadie in the gang decided to help John.

Sadie went to prepare a rescue plan, while Arthur and Charles searched for a new camp.

Especially after the new camp was set up, Dutch's lover Molly appeared drunkenly, claiming she was the informant, which only added to their woes.

Facing Molly, Dutch held his gun, unsure what to do, when Susan suddenly and decisively killed Molly.

The death of Hosea, Dutch's oldest friend, coupled with repeated failures and the shadow of a traitor, plunged Dutch into a state of madness.

If anyone questioned him or the gang's situation, he would become hysterical.

The entire gang no longer felt as harmonious and friendly as it once did.

Dutch, who once said everyone in the gang was family and no one could be left behind, had completely forgotten John Marston, who was locked in prison.

But while Dutch forgot, Arthur did not.

He secretly went to rendezvous with Sadie, but on the way, Arthur coughed violently, his vision blurred, and he collapsed by the roadside. A kind passerby helped Arthur up and took him to the hospital.

Here, Arthur and the players received shocking news.

Arthur had tuberculosis.

In this era, tuberculosis was a terminal illness. Even finding a place with a good climate for peaceful recuperation could only slow down the symptoms.

Furthermore, Arthur was currently protecting the fleeing gang.

All players who reached this point were stunned.

How could this be? How could this be!

Arthur contracted a terminal illness!?

Tuberculosis!?

Isn't he the protagonist? Isn't Arthur the protagonist!

Watching Arthur stumble down the road, his face incredibly weak, Old Dai in the game was shocked!

(End of Chapter) <>