go their separate ways

After a short rest, the heaviest woman said, "The car's wrecked, and with the dense fog, we can't continue. We'll have to stay here tonight."

"Let's find a place to stay first. It's freezing outside, and we need to get some food," said a tattooed woman with a neck tattoo.

"Let's go."

They went to the second floor and knocked on the door of 201, but no one answered. They moved on to 202.

"Who is it?" This time, someone responded immediately.

Inside, a bald man was peering out through the peephole, holding a kitchen knife.

The tattooed woman stepped forward and said with a smile, "Big brother, could you open the door? We're a few sisters looking for a place to stay—whatever you want to do with us, we'll play along!"

Inside, the bald man glanced out, confirmed it was just the nine women, and a sinister smile appeared on his face. He hid the knife behind his back and unlocked the door.

The nine women quickly squeezed in.

It was really cold outside.

Once all nine women were inside, the bald man shut the door and brandished his kitchen knife with a fierce look on his face, shouting, "Get inside and behave! Anyone who doesn't obey, I'll kill her!"

Inside, he had ropes ready to force the nine women to tie each other up. Then, he planned to kill the less attractive ones first and, as for the pretty ones, hehe, he'd have some fun with them.

However, he was shocked to see none of the women showed any fear.

This scene left him dumbfounded.

In the next moment, he waved the knife menacingly, "Do I need to kill a few of you to establish authority and make you behave?"

He took a step forward, the cold blade gleaming.

Terrifying.

Unexpectedly, three of the women stepped forward, locking eyes with him defiantly.

One was the overweight woman, another the tattooed woman, and the third had her hair covering half her face, but her beauty and determined eyes were evident, like a wounded lone wolf.

The bald man was initially stunned but then smirked.

These three women wanted to challenge him?

He decided to deal with the overweight woman first to scare the rest.

Just as he raised his knife, the three women simultaneously pulled out guns, aiming them at him!

Damn!

The bald man's grip loosened, and the knife clattered to the floor. He raised his hands, "Don't be rash! We were just fooling around, haha, hahaha!"

He laughed nervously.

"Heloise, tie him up," the overweight woman ordered.

"Alright." One woman approached, pulling out her bra from her clothes, using it as a makeshift rope to tie the man's hands.

The bald man initially thought it was just a bra and he could easily break free, but when the woman finished tying him, he struggled and found he couldn't escape, his face turning pale.

Now, he was completely at their mercy.

The tattooed woman picked up the fallen knife, then gestured with it around the bald man's neck.

The bald man was scared out of his wits, "Let's talk, please don't—"

"Shut up!" The tattooed woman interrupted, holding the knife to his throat, "We have questions, answer them honestly."

"Yes, yes." The bald man felt the cold blade against his skin, sweating profusely as he agreed.

These women were ruthless!

Who were they?

"What's the situation in this neighborhood?" the tattooed woman asked.

The bald man honestly recounted.

He mentioned the brutality in Building 4, being trapped on a floor by some group, and Eugene's wealth, offering rewards frequently. Eugene was also ruthless; at least 30 people died by his hands.

After hearing him out, the nine women exchanged surprised glances.

It had only been less than 20 days since the disaster began, and the outside world had already turned into this?

Who were these nine women?

Criminals!

The overweight woman, Una, was a human trafficker serving a 20-year sentence. Tracy, the tattooed woman, was a drug dealer with blood on her hands; originally sentenced to death, her execution was postponed due to pregnancy. Poppy, the woman with her hair covering her face, was convicted of excessive self-defense leading to murder and received a 9-year sentence.

These three were the leaders of the nine. After the disaster, a riot broke out in the prison. They seized guns and clashed with guards for several days. Taking advantage of the fog, they escaped in a prison transport vehicle.

However, due to the thick fog, they couldn't see clearly and crashed into the residential area.

"The outside world is in chaos."

"It's normal. There's been a riot in the prison for nearly ten days without any external reinforcements. It seems like social order has completely collapsed."

"So… we're all free now!"

The nine women were visibly excited. Escaping from prison was a serious crime; who wouldn't be afraid?

Before the might of the state, they were as insignificant as ants!

But now?

No army, no police, they didn't exist anymore!

Who would chase after them?

And in this power outage world, unless someone knew them before, who would even know their identities?

"That Eugene guy seems to have a lot of resources."

"He even has heating and electricity!"

"Should we take over his villa?"

Several women spoke excitedly.

They might be women, but their crimes were severe. Plus, with the world in such chaos, what did they have to fear?

The overweight woman, Una, pondered for a moment and said with a smile, "Eugene might have some fancy toy guns, but we have real ones. Which one shoots farther, a bullet or a water gun?"

The other women nodded in agreement. Una's analysis was spot on.

With Eugene relying on his villa and toy guns, he might be able to defend it. But they had real guns!

Once they arrived, Eugene's position as the local tyrant wouldn't last.

"This guy's biggest weakness is his lust. And we happen to be women. So, as long as we can deceive him to open the door, he'll be at our mercy," Tracy said, swinging her hand sharply.

Splurt!

Blood sprayed from the bald man's throat. He struggled violently, but with his hands tied, he flopped like a dehydrated fish on the ground. Within seconds, he stopped moving, lying motionless in a pool of blood.

His eyes still wide open, filled with fear and disbelief, seemed unable to accept that he died at the hands of a group of women.

"We go to the villa now," Tracy said, tossing the knife aside.

Una nodded. Though it was 10 degrees warmer inside than outside, it was getting colder with the night setting in. Even indoors, the temperature was below freezing and dropping.

So, a villa with heating was very appealing.

"I'm not going. I'll part ways with you here," Poppy suddenly said.

Huh?

Both Una and Tracy looked at her, eyes flashing with danger.

Poppy played with her gun, saying, "The world is in such chaos now, even if we split up, no one has to worry about snitching. Killing is trivial; who cares about our criminal identities?"

Before, the nine women stuck together. If one was caught, they'd easily give away others. But now, the situation had changed. Who would keep harping on past crimes?

Moreover, killing was rampant; an entire building was massacred in a night!

In the past, the army would have been deployed to suppress such things.

Now?

Who would care!