The man with glasses’ words, instead of gaining him the support he expected, had the opposite effect. Many of the homeowners in the living room were already rolling their eyes, and the women looked ready to curse him out.

Among the crowd, Maisie Lynch’s expression was the ugliest—she had just been in the secondary bedroom! In the same room as these robbers!

If the people from the Emergency Response Office hadn’t arrived in time, it was hard to imagine what she would have faced after those men were done violating Ivy Draper...

At this thought, Maisie was filled with a mix of anger and fear. She began to tremble uncontrollably and couldn’t stop herself from shouting at the man with glasses, "You bastard, you’re an animal! ’Distribute the women’? Why don’t you go home and distribute your own mother! Oh, right, you probably don’t have one!"

The man with glasses reacted as if she’d struck a nerve, yelling back at Maisie, "You bitch! Shut your mouth! Who do you think you are to speak? I’ll mess you up later!"

Maisie’s face flushed red with anger at his words. She shouted right back, "You bastard, if anyone’s going to die, it’ll be you first!"

After yelling, she turned to the surrounding homeowners and said, "Everyone, you see this? These people are capable of robbery and murder. If we let them form a new organization, will any of us have a peaceful day again?"

After she finished, Maisie turned to Frank York, who had just spoken up for the man with glasses, and said coldly, "And you, with your scrawny arms and legs. You didn’t even have the guts to join them when they were robbing people in the bedroom, and now you dare to make a deal with the devil? If these robbers really do form a new organization, you’ll be the first one they rob!"

Still not satisfied, she turned her head to Chloe Sharp and added, "And you’ll be the second one they treat as their shared wife!"

At her words, Chloe Sharp and Frank York’s faces turned pale in unison.

’They knew Maisie’s words were absolutely right.’

Frank York had only supported the man with glasses because he was afraid Melody Summers’ family would make things difficult for him. He wanted to take the opportunity to get rid of the Emergency Response Office so they couldn’t find a chance to give him trouble.

But he had never wanted to destroy the current order!

Frank knew that even though he was a man, he was definitely not the "strong and able-bodied" type the man with glasses was talking about. He was short and thin, and his combat ability was limited to running his mouth. If order truly collapsed, he would be at the very bottom, one of the oppressed!

He didn’t want to see that happen!

Just then, Melody Summers spoke up at the perfect moment. "Neighbors, the staff of the Emergency Response Office were also chosen from among the homeowners. For the past two years, we’ve all worked together in solidarity. We’ve never been on opposing sides!"

"On the contrary, it’s these robbers from the bedroom who have truly violated the interests of the homeowners! Don’t let them lead you by the nose!"

Hearing what Melody Summers and Maisie Lynch said, many of the homeowners began to agree:

"Yeah, the people at the Emergency Response Office have worked really hard these past two years. I’ve never heard about them being corrupt or anything."

"Our community hasn’t run out of food these last two years. Other communities haven’t been so lucky; they have to go hungry from time to time."

"If nothing else, my neighbor is with the Emergency Response Office. His family queues up for sand vine cakes every day just like the rest of us. I’ve never seen them living the high life. If you’re going to accuse someone of corruption, you need evidence, right?"

"If they really wanted to be corrupt, they could have just not told us about this place. Why go through all the trouble of setting up this shelter?"

"..."

Hearing the discussions from the living room, the man with glasses sensed the situation was about to spiral out of his control. He immediately yelled at Melody Summers, "You shut up! All of you women are worthless trash who don’t deserve a seat at the table! Brothers, don’t let these women lead you by the nose!"

"Brothers, we need to unite! Help me tie up these bitches and the people from the Emergency Response Office, and I guarantee you’ll all be founding members of the new organization! We’ll all eat and drink well!"

But at this point, his shouting was useless. The homeowners in the living room had seen his true intentions and began to mock and condemn him:

"I don’t think you’ve eaten too many ration biscuits, I think you’ve been drinking bootleg liquor. Why don’t you just fly to the moon while you’re at it?"

"You trying to pull some gangster crap? You want us to hand over the supplies we brought? Who the hell do you think you are? Why should we give anything to you?"

"You dumbass, did you even pass elementary school history? Even ancient rebels knew to use a slogan like ’One family under heaven, sharing peace and prosperity.’ You don’t even get that. You come right out of the gate demanding special treatment. With your level of intelligence, you expect us to become bandits with you?"

"You bastard, you’re a real psycho! Talking about ’distributing women’... if you dare touch my granddaughter, I’ll chop you into mince and feed you to the dogs!"

"..."

Seeing the homeowners all start to turn on him, the man with glasses’ face turned beet red, and panic seized his heart.

He started shouting again, trying to regain control. He promised the homeowners all sorts of benefits, but no one paid him any mind. The wave of curses only grew louder.

Knowing the situation was completely beyond saving, the man with glasses’ face grew redder and redder. Veins bulged on his forehead, and his breathing became rapid and heavy.

He decided to go all in. Knowing he was a dead man anyway, he simply raised the kitchen knife, let out a yell, and tried to bring it down on Ivy Draper beneath him.

’He’d never been with a woman in his life. Even if he had to die, he was going to take a pretty one with him!’

In a flash, a gunshot rang out with a loud BANG. A scorching bullet cut through the air like lightning, flying straight toward the man with glasses.

In an instant, a spray of crimson blood erupted from his chest, quickly staining the front of his shirt.

This sudden turn of events stunned everyone. The next second, all the shouting in the living room stopped. The man with glasses clutched his chest and collapsed to the ground in agony, blood pouring from the wound and spreading across the floor.

Winnie Summers was quick on the draw, and her aim was true. At such close range, the bullet had accurately struck the man with glasses’ heart. In just a few moments, he stopped breathing.

Winnie Summers took two steps forward, kicked the man’s body away, and removed the kitchen knife that had fallen on Ivy Draper. She helped Ivy up and asked with concern, "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Ivy Draper’s face was splattered with the blood that had spurted from the man. The rapid series of events had terrified her. She stared blankly for a moment, then burst into tears with a loud "WAAAH!"

"Don’t cry, it’s over now. You’re safe." While Winnie Summers comforted Ivy Draper, the others found some rope and tied up the man’s four remaining accomplices.

Harvey Jennings kicked the long-haired man, who was still struggling desperately, and roared, "Stay still! You want a taste of this bullet too, kid?"

The long-haired man had intended to keep struggling, but Harvey Jennings forced his head down to the floor, where he came face-to-face with the wide, unseeing eyes of the dead man with glasses. He immediately went still, not daring to move another inch.

Harvey Jennings turned and asked the others, "What should we do with these four?"

Shawn Lynch snorted coldly. He looked down at the man in the black puffer jacket pinned beneath him, his face filled with disgust. "Keeping them alive is a waste of food. We should just throw them outside to freeze to death. It would save us some supplies!"