New Gods of North America

Today, the process of the American Federation's expansion into the West is

First, roughly outline the boundaries of each "state" and "county" on the map horizontally and vertically.

Then, after the free people settled there, they gradually formed autonomous "towns" and "cities".

Finally, when the number of residents at the state level is sufficient, we will formally establish the state, hold a referendum, and legislate to truly join the federation.

In the same state,

The boundaries of each "county" were first determined directly on the map;

The boundaries of each "town" or "city" inside it were created from scratch and gradually expanded to the surrounding areas.

So during the pioneering period,

This problem is common in many counties across the West - the unincorporated area is too large and almost impossible to manage.

Specifically, there may be many areas like this:

On the map, they are located within the boundaries of a certain county, and each one may be quite large in area;

However, the "towns" or "cities" around them have not yet developed that big and are still some distance away from them, so they have not yet been included in the boundaries of the towns or cities.

Therefore, the sheriffs in small towns and the police in cities will not go beyond the scope of law enforcement to manage public security there.

The county government,

Although in theory it is necessary to maintain law and order there,

But in reality, the county's limited manpower is simply not enough to handle it.

So in a sense,

Such "unincorporated areas" that have not yet been truly brought under actual management have become veritable "lawless places."

At this time, the county's mounted police came to Black Rock Town to ask for help.

I encountered just such a problem.

——Several innocent freemen were killed in the unincorporated area.

Originally, something like this happened outside the town.

For the small town sheriff, he could simply shirk his responsibility by saying "It's none of my business" or "It's none of your business."

But unfortunately,

These victims happened to be official residents of Black Stone Town - they ran to the unincorporated area in search of gold mines.

So the county sheriff asked the captain of the mounted police in his office to come over and play rogue:

Now a resident of your town has died. Although the case did not occur within the boundaries of your town, we are short of manpower and need to ask for assistance. Just tell us whether you will help or not?

Of course.

In reality, it is not really said so bluntly, but judging from the results, the meaning is actually similar.

"Hello, I'm the captain of the county's mounted police, Harvey Dent. This is my deputy, Hannibal Lecter, and I'm glad you're willing to help."

In the mayor's office,

With the introduction of the mayor, Wayne met two county mounted police officers who came to ask for help.

The captain of the cavalry even took the initiative to introduce himself to Wayne.

Good fellow,

These two names are suddenly put together.

For a moment, Wayne couldn't even tell whether they came to ask for help or to send him off.

The mayor asked the two mounted policemen to rest in the office for a while, and then he took Wayne outside to talk quietly:

"Wayne, from a long-term perspective, it is necessary for our town to provide assistance in this matter. I hope you will not have any objection to my promise to provide assistance in advance.

"After all, the person who died this time was an official resident of our town. Although the incident did not happen within the boundaries of our town, from the emotional perspective of the townspeople, they will definitely hope that we can retaliate and avenge the townspeople. This is not only the responsibility of elected officials, but also a good opportunity for you and me to win votes.

"If you find that there is indeed danger during the investigation, you can move away or retreat in advance according to the specific situation. But I think you should still take responsibility for the townspeople first."

Wayne nodded silently in understanding.

Anyway, as for the bad guys, as long as Wayne feels he can defeat them, he doesn't mind making a trip and sending them off.

Seeing that Wayne agreed with him, the mayor briefly told Wayne about the two mounted policemen.

Among them, the captain of the mounted police, Harvey Dent, is handsome and sunny, and very popular among voters. He is a strong contender for the next county sheriff, and maybe he will have a chance to run for county mayor in the future.

The mayor also suggested that Wayne should try to get along well with him, as he might be useful in the future.

As for the mayor's own career plan, he has no idea about the position of "county mayor".

——As far as the current political circles in the United States are concerned, a "mayor" who built a small town from scratch and then developed it into a city has a local voice and vote appeal that is completely incomparable to a "county mayor" who can only manage other public areas in the county.

If the ultimate goal is to run for governor or become a member of Congress, then being the "county mayor" of a remote western county is not a stepping stone to further advancement.

It would be better to continue to develop the local area after upgrading the town into a "city", so that you can get more votes and prestige.

Moreover, the mayor, like Mr. Constantine back then, is a part-time "landlord" with ambitions in politics.

Therefore, after they bought the land and participated in the construction of the town, they did not choose to develop plantations, but chose key plots of land around the town. The better the town developed, the more room for appreciation of the land they had bought before. If they planned it appropriately at that time, it might become a core area or block in the city in the future.

It is deeply tied to the development of the town, which is risky, difficult and has slow returns.

But if things go well, the upper limit of the potential future gains could be very staggering.

After chatting privately,

The mayor took Wayne back to the office, and they began to discuss the details of the matter.

The RCMP captain named Harvey Dent first introduced the current basic situation to Wayne:

"Based on the clues provided by the survivors, this incident was probably done by a gang of criminals. The gang leader is nicknamed 'Pig-Headed Butcher', and the gang is estimated to have around ten members.

“The problem we are facing now is that this gang has been active in various small towns in the county for a long time, and their hideout is hidden in an unincorporated area. According to our speculation, the townspeople who were killed may have accidentally discovered their hideout while searching for gold mines, and were then chased and killed.

"So our goal is to arrest or kill the gang and destroy their hideout based on the clues we have so far."