New Gods of North America

It took me a whole morning to eliminate a bunch of wrong answers.

Time consuming, but reassuring.

Wayne looked at the time and chose Mr. Stern, one of the three remaining landowners, as the next person to be screened.

Mission objective: secretly visit Mr. Stern's plantation.

Work quietly and don't shoot.

As for the reason for choosing him first, it’s very simple, one word - close.

The kind that allows you to go home in time for dinner in the evening.

The "acre" in this world is a unit of area inherited from the Kingdom of Windsor in the Old World, and is closer to the "acre" in Wayne's previous life.

Mr. Stern's plantation covers an area of ​​more than 3,000 acres, which is roughly the size of two West Lakes. It takes about an hour to gallop around it.

In terms of area alone, a plantation of this size is not qualified to speak loudly in the circle of "big landowners" in the West and can only sit at the children's table.

However, if land has no output, it can only be used to show off in the now generally wild and desolate West.

Although Mr. Stern's plantation is not particularly large, the conditions are quite good.

Being close to the river, with abundant water resources and being flat and open, it was easy to work on and had already entered a stage of high-efficiency production, making it a real "industry". The main crop was wheat grown by slaves.

Before finding solid evidence, Wayne has no intention of going to the trouble of mobilizing people and weapons to directly confront the big landlords.

So after strolling to Mr. Stern's plantation, he just wanted to chat with the slaves and overseers first.

I found several people.

The overseers were all soft-hearted, polite but wary, afraid of saying the wrong thing in front of the sheriff and damaging the reputation of their employer.

The slaves were even simpler, all busy at work. If they saw outsiders from a distance, they would drag their shackles to avoid them, and if they got close, they would pretend not to understand the local language.

Wayne felt a little bored, so he and Inesa continued riding their horses along the border of the plantation, considering whether to go to the manor to hook up with the maid.

"Mr. Benjamin——"

At this time,

A little head suddenly popped up from the field and trotted over to Wayne, his voice rising with a brisk tone.

Wayne turned around and saw a dark-skinned little boy coming over.

He had curly hair and tattered clothes. He was no more than eight or nine years old. Like most slaves, he had a lean build and looked even thinner than his peers.

He was not wearing any shackles, but he had an iron collar with a ring around his neck - this was both a symbol of slavery and a practical tool for the convenience of slave owners and overseers.

When they felt it was necessary, they would use chains or ropes to tie the slaves together to prevent them from escaping.

The dark-skinned little boy also saw Wayne's face clearly at this time, and his running steps stopped suddenly.

He first stood still, and then even took half a step back.

The little boy bowed and apologized to Wayne from a distance:

"I'm sorry, sir. I only saw the police badge on your chest and accidentally recognized the wrong person. Please forgive my stupidity and recklessness."

After saying that, the little boy faced Wayne, lowered his head, and stepped back step by step, as if he wanted to leave quickly.

Know Uncle Benjamin?

Wayne got off the horse and waved to the little boy, "Child, come here."

The little boy walked closer obediently with his head lowered, his two little hands hanging naturally in front of him. One of his hands held a small hoe, and his fingertips were nervously twisting the tattered corner of his clothes.

Seeing that he looked nervous, Wayne smiled and reached out his hand, wanting to touch his head to calm him down so that he could follow up with some questions.

As a result, as soon as Wayne stretched out his hand, the little boy reflexively raised his arm, hunched his shoulders, bent his back, and lowered his head to protect his face.

But he quickly lowered his arm again.

With his head lowered and his hands clasped in front of his crotch with a small hoe in them, he seemed to be waiting obediently to be beaten.

After a slight hesitation,

Wayne finally reached out his hand and rubbed his little head twice to show that he had no ill intentions:

"Do you know Mr. Benjamin?"

I have to say, it does feel a bit oily.

The little boy's body seemed to relax a little, but there was still obvious awe and fear in his eyes:

"Mr. Benjamin is the sheriff of the town. He is very powerful and approachable. He is... an honest and handsome good man."

When he said the last few words, a look of longing appeared on the little boy's face, and there seemed to be a flash of light in his eyes for a moment.

"He was my uncle, and it's nice to hear someone say that about him."

Wayne smiled, squatted down, and held out his hand to the little boy again, "My name is Wayne, and I'm the new sheriff of this town."

The little boy hesitated at first, then he rubbed his hands on his clothes twice and held it:

"Hello Mr. Wayne, my name is Will."

Then Will quickly raised his head carefully and asked, "Mr. Benjamin, has he... left Blackstone Town?"

"He's dead."

Wayne sighed and added:

"He unfortunately died while protecting the town half a month ago. In addition to him, six innocent townspeople were also killed or injured at the scene.

"But fortunately, the 27 gang members who wanted to rob the town were turned into corpses on the spot. No one escaped alive."

——Among the bodies at the scene, there was actually one that belonged to Wayne, but because he resurrected on the spot, it didn't count.

The hoe fell to the ground and was quickly picked up by Will.

Will hung his head in silence for a while, then raised his head again, "Mr. Benjamin must have been very brave at the time."

"Of course. He was once a legendary bounty hunter, Benjamin 'The Falcon'. He would not die without dignity. The bodies of those gang members are proof of that.

"After he died, the townspeople elected me to take over his position as sheriff."

Wayne put his arm around Will's shoulders and began to take advantage of the situation. "Will, what do you think of Mr. Stern, the owner of this plantation?"

Will looked at Wayne for a while before speaking:

"Serious, greedy, but also fair and open-minded. Not a bad person."

Wayne thought for a moment, then glanced at Will's ragged clothes and the small hoe in his hand:

"Do children of your age also need to work all the time on the plantation?"

In this day and age, the use of child labor - whether it is hiring free child labor or using slave child labor - is actually legal and does not violate people's moral standards in the New and Old Worlds.

Even in many big cities, the main front-line workers in jobs that are not low in risk, such as cleaning chimneys and flues, are almost all children who have not yet entered puberty.

They are obedient and easy to control, and they may not have a clear idea of ​​how much they should be paid. They can be said to be quite useful.

But as a Chinese who grew up in the new era, it is difficult for Wayne not to be prejudiced against employers who exploit child labor.

——Once something starts, it is easy for it to go downhill quickly.

We cannot say that there is not a single conscientious capitalist.

But more capitalists often choose to happily step on the accelerator during the slide.

Will shook his head. "Mr. Stern does not require slave children under the age of ten to participate in labor. But the more we can do, the less hardship our families will have. That's how it is. Mr. Stern is a fair man."

At this time, Will saw an overseer riding a horse coming from a distance, and he quickly added:

"Mr. Wayne, Mr. Benjamin has come to ask me about Mr. Stern a few times before, just like you did."

"When? What did he ask?"

"He mainly asked about things related to the plague that had spread on the plantation before. The last time he came was a month ago, when he asked me where those who died in the plague were buried."

The sound of the overseer's horse's hooves was getting closer and closer. Wayne asked, "How did you answer him at that time?"

Will looked towards a valley in the distance. "I overheard the overseers saying that in order to prevent further infection, those infected with the plague will be taken to a cave over there. As for burial, it seems to be nearby."

The overseer's whip made a cracking sound in the air. Wayne smiled and nodded to Will, saying thank you. Then he turned around, mounted his horse, and headed towards the overseer:

"Sir, you came at the right time. I was just about to ask where there are some natural landscapes nearby that are suitable for taking a beautiful lady to appreciate.

"That child doesn't understand anything. Only a 'man' would know about this kind of thing."

The overseer looked at Inissa who was riding a horse a little further away, smiled knowingly, and then told Wayne how to get to a sheltered hillside with lush green grass nearby.

Wayne said goodbye to the other person with a smile, and his expression turned cold as he turned around.

He and Inissa circled the wilderness, and then disappeared from each other's sight behind a small hill.

The two of them quietly ran towards the valley that Will mentioned.

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