To be honest, this wasn’t the first time Wang Bo had seen these thieves.

A few days ago, when he was receiving the Optimus Prime truck, he had seen a black Honda Accord parked outside a convenience store. Four Māori men had been in the car—members of this very theft gang.

These twelve people were from Cromwell and belonged to an organization called the Brutal Brotherhood, a group known for stealing cars, boats, and livestock. Because the penalties for such crimes were often light—usually just two years in prison—they remained very active and resilient.

Not long after they set their sights on Wang Bo’s ranch, they came to scout it out in the Accord. Originally, they had planned to devise a more thorough theft operation targeting his cattle and sheep. But when they heard that the ranch was preparing for a large-scale sale, they got worried they might be too late—so they rushed in tonight with a hasty plan.

As the big man explained this part, he still looked defiant. “If we had time to make a proper plan and prepare tranquilizer darts, there’s no way you would’ve caught us!”

Wang Bo gave a cold sneer. Robert opened his laptop, pulled up a file, and muttered, “That might actually be true. Wang, you’d better prepare some defenses. These Brutal Brotherhood bastards are skilled at stealing.”

The document described several of their past operations. Their usual tactic was to use tranquilizer darts—they would sedate each cow and sheep one by one, load them into trucks, and disappear without a trace.

Reading this made Wang Bo tense up. He nodded to show he understood. Robert continued the interrogation: “How did you target Sunset Town Ranch? Where did you get the information?”

The big man’s eyes rolled around before he replied casually, “Where else? We just heard that a place called Sunset Town had really great beef and lamb, so we came to check it out.”

Wang Bo felt frustrated. He hadn’t expected that his persistent effort in building a good reputation would backfire like this.

Robert said coldly, “Don’t give me that bullshit. You’ve got an informant in the area, don’t you? Who tipped you off?”

The man stayed silent, which made it clear he was hiding something. But since New Zealand law strictly prohibits coercive interrogation, Robert could only shrug—there was no way to press for more information.

Wang Bo put down his pen. “You won’t talk? Then you should know—if you cooperate, we can ask the judge for a lighter sentence. But if you stay quiet, someone else will talk eventually, and they’ll get the leniency—not you.”

Still defiant, the man spat on the ground. “That crap won’t work. Yellow cop, it won’t work! You don’t understand our Brotherhood. We’re tough guys…”

“My police dog bites,” Wang Bo interrupted him calmly. “But I’m not sure whether it has rabies or not.”

The man glanced nervously at the large, fierce-looking dog and swallowed hard. “I’ll sue you. You’re threatening me. That’s illegal.”

Wang Bo was about to keep intimidating him, but Robert stopped him. “It really is illegal. We can’t do this kind of questioning. If the disciplinary committee reviews the video, we’ll be in trouble.”

Wang Bo was dumbfounded. New Zealand police are this useless? Sure, banning torture is understandable, but even verbal threats aren’t allowed?

Fortunately, the thieves were still relatively straightforward and admitted to stealing the livestock. That was enough to send them to court and secure a conviction.

The interrogation continued until dawn. After re-locking up the thieves, Wang Bo returned to the castle with Robert for breakfast and rest.

On the way, they met up with Bowen. Wang Bo asked about the cowboys. Bowen said they were fine—just knocked out. A little oxygen at the hospital was all they needed; they’d be back today.

Wang Bo suggested they stay in the hospital and rest a bit longer, but Bowen shrugged it off.

“They’re really fine. Honestly, we didn’t need to take them to the hospital. Just leaving them out in the breeze for a bit would’ve revived them.”

As the saying goes, blessings come in disguise. The theft incident brought a piece of great news—after Wang Bo woke up, the old businessman Sharp came to him and said, “I accept your price, Wang. Let’s do business.”

The old businessman had always admired the meat quality of the ranch’s livestock. He had previously hesitated, just to try and drive the price down.

But after the theft attempt, he got nervous. If the animals were actually stolen, he wouldn’t be able to buy them at any price. It was better to seal the deal quickly and make money.

Wang Bo was thrilled. They signed a contract. Live sheep were priced at 15 NZD per pound, and whole cattle at 20 NZD per pound—a staggeringly high price, four to five times the market rate!

Sharp only bought Boer goats—he didn’t take any of the Romney sheep (a dual-purpose breed). He was interested in rare breeds like Yimeng Black Mountain goats, but Wang Bo refused to sell them—he was keeping those for himself.

This was the largest deal in the ranch’s history. Out of the 2,000 Boer goats Wang Bo had raised, Sharp bought 500—a full quarter.

He also purchased 50 Simmental cattle. Aside from Bull King and the breeding cows, Wang Bo let Sharp freely choose any bulls—after all, they were all quality animals.

Of course, the true treasures were Bull King and the breeding cows. These were the first cattle brought to the ranch and had been influenced by the “Heart of the Ranch” the longest—naturally, their meat quality was the best.

Wang Bo even tried to get Sharp to buy some of the chickens and ducks—there were too many on the ranch, and he worried they might eat the giant sand locusts. The sooner they were sold, the better.

But Sharp was only interested in cows and sheep for now. He promised to consider poultry in the next batch.

In private, Bartier told Wang Bo that these cows and goats were being put on the market as a test. With Sharp’s capabilities, he could buy out the ranch’s entire livestock stock. But without market proof, he didn’t dare take the plunge.

In other words, the overbearing CEO hoped that Wang Bo and Sharp would sign a long-term supply contract, since Sharp could handle the full output.

The 500 Boer goats weighed 84,000 pounds, which Wang Bo rounded down to 80,000 pounds as a discount—1.2 million NZD. The 50 Simmental cows weighed 82,080 pounds, also rounded down—1.6 million NZD.

These animals were on the lighter side. A male Boer goat could grow up to 300 pounds, while a Simmental bull could reach 2,500 pounds!

But New Zealanders preferred lamb and veal—that’s the most tender meat. Since Wang Bo was charging such a high price, he couldn’t give Sharp old animals. These adolescent livestock were just right.

Still, Wang Bo was very satisfied with their weight. After all, they were just calves and kids when he bought them—growing this much in a few months was remarkable.

This was the power of the Heart of the Ranch. It not only improved meat quality—it also accelerated growth.

With 2.8 million NZD in revenue, the ranch had recouped all its early investment. The initial livestock cost him 500,000, the second batch 1 million, and he had spent another 820,000 on vehicles and building apartments.

Now he had over half a million NZD in profit!