Avid debates continued until nightfall. The two men argued until they were red-faced and hoarse.

One man argued for the sole sake of his retinue, urging them to forget about everyone else, while the other simply emphasized how supporting him could benefit a lot more people in the long run.

After a few back-and-forths of logical statements, the discussion inevitably turned into heated arguments, due to conflicting opinions about the simple value of human life.

Even the difficult-to-anger Rose grew furious.

In the end, the women found that their words did nothing and they could not alter either men's perception of the helpless survivors. Just like they couldn’t affect the cold-blooded maverick that accompanied them since before the end times had started.

"Are you really not going to reconsider?" Guido sighed.

"Food is becoming even more of a scarce resource for everyone,” Jean stated in exhaustion. “By next week, we might have our first victims dying of hunger. We all thought the government and army were coming before, but you see how it is.” He almost pleaded if it were not for his pride. He had never met a group of people so stubborn despite the reality.

“Even then you refuse to come with me?” Guido tried once more. “I'll take a step back and donate our surplus of food once a month to the leeches, but no more than that. Well?"

Seeing the women now staying silent after distributing half of the remaining pile, expressing their stance, Jean scowled and was about to say something but eventually didn't.

Guido was more aware of current affairs and was also silent. He left his address before taking his leave. Soon after, Jean scowled at them and also left, muttering, “You'll regret this..”

This cemented the feelings of aversion the women had for the two men. Perhaps if they had not possessed any other superpowers apart from Lea's healing, they would have suffered greatly. Jean, in particular, had the makings of a threatening figure. If they didn't have superpowers, perhaps he would have forcefully taken Lea. Guido also didn't leave any good impressions on them, especially with his cunning smile.

"I don't understand why it has to be so difficult…" Rose sighed deeply.

Living in a peaceful society for so long, her equalitarian views had fully flourished and blossomed as she constantly tried to help people, succeeding in doing so on many occasions. Now, offering help was like a double-edged sword and it couldn't achieve the simple effect of everyone benefiting.

"I know one usually looks out for themselves in times of despair, but I've always seen the considerations for their family and the less fortunate,” Lea also sighed. “I guess it’s still the same, but they're more willing to stomp others away for their families." She had met many families with loved ones on their deathbed, some acted scummy and regretted it, while others were there until the end.

Jules whispered something to Rose, their eyes drifting over to O’Brien, but Rose knew what her niece was asking was nearly impossible.

Would the O'Brien they knew selflessly give away more food? He had made it clear that this was all they could get.

"Um, O'Brien, could you..." Jules started, but even her usual boldness was drawn out after such an exhausting day.

Rose felt the pressure of two other gazes and eventually stepped forward. Even then, she was not graced with a twitch or response as O'Brien was engrossed in observing his treasure trove. It was clear they were intentionally being ignored.

*

The women discussed how they could benefit all parties involved but found that was wishful thinking and too greedy of them.

It was like every solution they thought of was eventually revealed to lead to a blocked passage forcing them to start from square one. The supplies on hand couldn't possibly satisfy so many sick bodies and hungry mouths. If the city was whole, it would have been a much simpler task. They only resided in a fragment of the city that was tossed to who-knows-where.

"If only he would help us out, it would be much simpler"

"I wouldn't count on it."

"Why does he have to be so selfish?"

From one perspective, O'Brien was cut from the same cloth as the ones giving them headaches. He thought only of himself and no one else.

Lea sighed for the umpteenth time and Roya added, "Let's forget it. Trying to change him won’t amount to anything."

Roya supported O'Brien's stance quite a bit, however, she agreed with the others in that he could help if only a bit. He didn't need to give away all his supplies, just some of them, like the irreplaceable medicine. Many modern-day humans were on prescription drugs and would suffer from far worse conditions than withdrawal were they to be deprived of their prescriptions.

It was their job as the capable ones to help those who couldn't help themselves right?

Roya was beginning to feel these groups of survivors were not worth all this effort, but she refrained from making a statement. While Rose and Lea were both benevolent and motherly figures, they both could be very stubborn when it came to such matters.

‘I just have to wait until they tire themselves out,’ Roya thought to herself. She didn't see how they could satisfy such large groups by themselves without O'Brien's assistance.

As time passed, an unlikely voice of reason spoke up to their surprise.

"You can distribute the food and supplies tomorrow,” O'Brien's lethargic voice trailed over from his corner. “We'll stay here for the night. It's too dangerous to travel now."

The women felt this arrangement made sense as they were beyond exhausted and they had the basic common sense to avoid traveling through such dangerous city ruins at night.

‘Strange… Why did he suddenly get involved in being slightly considerate?’ Jules thought as she held the sleeping bag he passed to each of them. But her thoughts weighed heavy and so did her mind so she eventually nestled inside the bag without complaints.

Looking over to Roya who was surveying the area, O’Brien thought, ‘You might be a problem, so go to sleep early.’ He stealthily flicked his fingers and a subtle ghastly glow flashed before disappearing.

At the same time, Roya felt sleepy all of a sudden, her eyelids as heavy as lead. She knew her body quite well and had experienced much more difficult and grueling situations, so she found it very strange to suddenly feel this exhausted, but oddly enough she couldn't fight off the urge to sleep.

Roya practically collapsed to the ground, but O'Brien was nearby and caught her to tuck her into her sleeping bag. Lea saw this from the corner of her eye but didn't say anything at that moment, also feeling drained.

In less than ten minutes, everyone was sound asleep. Their tired bodies hungered for rest after such a long day.

O'Brien thought of his day’s harvest as he collapsed on his soft travel mattress and sheets, holding up the rear position.

A single white silver card was more than he ever expected.

He gave his wolf one final order before falling asleep.

*

A few more hours into the night, hushed voices approached the group's sleeping area. Weak flickering lights accompanied the voices casting irregular shadows.

"Are you sure it's ok? Did you see the size of that wolf?" Someone whispered.

"What are you scared of? It barely did anything. It might even be fake, you never know. That guy's powers are probably illusions or something. He only ever bluffed without fighting," another voice scoffed.

"What about those girls… Don’t they all have superpowers?" someone else worriedly asked.

"Don't be a wuss, just look how they struggled to handle the crowd earlier on,” the ring leader replied. “They won't hurt us. They're probably the type to freeze up when things get tough. I've met girls like them before. If things go downhill, grandma and her golden girls are here to hold them down," he added with a chuckle, looking back at the frail woman trailing behind them. He had thick hairy arms, a broad chest, rugged facial hair, and stood tall at over six feet.

Who could hit grandmas?

"Whatever,” the old lady huffed. “I hope you guys keep your promise. I want superpowers for my son, Gertrude wants some cans of food, and Jeanette wants superpowers for her husband."

The shadowy figures held up their lights from waning phones and battery-operated flashlights, slowly creeping up on the sleeping women.

"It's a fucking full-course buffet," the leading man muttered, but he wasn’t talking about the attractive pile of food and supplies. He towered over the women as he ran his tongue over his lips with a predatory gaze.

Lea's blonde hair was disheveled as she slept, and her complexion was slightly haggard and dirty from the day's journey and nighttime stress. Yet these couldn't hide her overwhelming beauty. Her parted pink lips complimented her pale skin, forming a seductive countenance as she breathed steadily while she slept.

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Mary Rose's blood-colored hair was vibrant even in the night, her luscious red lips a shade lighter on her smooth peachy skin. Her bountiful chest rose and fell as she lay in slumber. Roya was in a similar position but she was sprawled out and not fully zipped up in her sleeping bag, her mouth slightly open as she lightly snored.

Jules lay sprawled out in the open, lying atop her sleeping bag. Her toned skin was a different texture from Roya's who was used to the outdoors, a light tan, with lips colored lime green from eating sweets with the children during the day.

The men hailed from Gianni's survival camp and lived in this basement. They had been cooped up for days without going out and had a lot of pent-up stress and emotions.

Seeing the helpless women, they felt a fire light up within their groins.

Their breathing became uneven.

"Are we really going to —" one man gulped, feeling a bit excited.

"Of course, you fool,” The ringleader scoffed with a menacing grin, “just to teach them a lesson. Then they'll have to give us the food and supplies."

As he was about to to reach out to grab Rose who was closest to him, he saw the wolf lying down before O'Brien in the corner, asleep on duty.

"Let's move them away first." The man's libido died down as he observed the beast's long silver claws and canine teeth peeking out from the corners of its mouth.

They dragged the women away further into a distant corner, pleased that they seemed to be in deep sleep.

Soon after, sickening chuckles echoed from the distance.

"Hold her down, Grandma! You have one job!"

"I get it. Shut up already!"

"Damn, it's stuck."

"Woohoo, check it out. They're even bigger without clothes in the way!"

Rose was the first to come to, feeling a strong sweaty hand grasp her breast and squeezing through her bra. She felt another on her thighs. Another pair of hands were squeezing her elsewhere as well.

As her eyelids fluttered open, she took in the horrific scene. She lay down on the ground while several men surrounded her, touching her, their pants down and some with dangling objects already swinging in the open air.

"Woah, look how they bounce and jiggle. These aren't plastic, they're all natural! I was wondering why such vain bitches filled with implants were pretending to be saintly." The ringleader tsked in surprise.

Rose heard the wanton voices clearly in her half-asleep state.

She was in shock for a moment before completely shaking off her groggy state.

"W-what — who — why are you doing this?!" she shakily exclaimed. Her heart felt squeamish as the dirty hands touched her and the greedy eyes seemed to swallow her whole, bloodshot and tremoring in desire.

They seemed so beastly.

"Fuck, this one's awake. She has superpowers too, tie her up!" Shouts quickly ensued realizing she had woken up.

Rose looked around to see her friends in similar situations as her.

Slap!

A resounding blow struck her right cheek as the man directly in front of her cursed.

"Damn bitch, causing so much trouble eh? Well, now you will have to give us the food, but not before we take something else we want as interest first…"

The tall man with a hairy chest caressed her smooth skin while he deeply chuckled. Rose never knew she could feel such disgust from mere touches.

Another man tightly grasped her hair as the others tied her up, sniffing repeatedly. " Mhm... She smells nice."

"Can I go after you?"

"Sure, but I'll probably take until morning. I've never had any quite like these bitches. You can start with the others. The fit chick with the six-pack is still so sexy and bursting from the seams like this one, nothing like the gym machine units. The other one is a bit more fragile and dainty but still has an explosive body, but this one… She's more exotic and innocent; my type."

"Ha, like you've even met someone this exotic before!" another voice crookedly commented.

"Whatever, since you like that one, I'll take the youngest one, she's feisty. I like that."

Jules had also woken up at that moment, screaming, but she was gagged by one grandma as the other men tied her up, bundling her feet.

Her confusion was quickly replaced by anger as she felt the hands roaming about her figure. The hands touching her skin gave her a weird sensation. Having nauseous skin was the best way she could describe it.

The other grandmas did the same. By now, Lea had also woken up from the commotion and was also being groped wantonly.

Rose was shocked to see an elderly woman help these beasts defile her. Her struggle stopped for a while as she looked at her. The old woman averted her gaze in guilt but Rose just now remembered that she was one of the few who got food and supplies before they closed for the day!

Why would she...?

As the women felt despair creeping up on them, Roya finally awoke. She didn't even flinch a bit when she came to and instead grabbed the thing dangling near her face and squeezed and pulled hard with murderous intent.

"Ahrgha!" A pitiful wail scraped the air like a wounded dog.

Before the rest of the men touching her could stop admiring her, they bore the brunt of their subdued force.

She twisted one man's hand, flipped him over, and grabbed another by the neck.

Her movements were slow but strong and warming up.

All the surrounding assaulters swarmed her as she fought off the three men.

Roya felt her limbs heavy like lead as if she had been run over by a truck, before she could ponder why she was so slow, she was tackled to the floor.

All eight men plus the grandmas struggled as they tied her up tightly.

"Fuck—! This one is a riot, huh?" As the ringleader spat in her face, Roya showed no visible emotions, just a cold glare as if she were looking at a dead person.

"Huh? You dare fucking glare at me, bitch?!"

Slap!

Slap!

Even as he slapped her she didn't utter so much as a grunt and stared dead into his soul.

The man flinched uncomfortably.

"Fuck it, I changed my mind, you're first. We're doing you together!"

"Ah-ah, that's about enough. You showed them as much as I wanted them to see."

The men froze hearing a smooth and relaxed voice speak from the shadows.

A creeping chill traveled down their spines.

"No matter how much I see it, it never gets any less disgusting," O'Brien muttered, watching the half-naked men around the women, tear streaks on their pretty faces.

‘Is this enough? Do you see the faces of the 'helpless' survivors you wanted to help so much?’

Seeing their miserable appearances, he even wondered if he had gone too far, causing them to sleep so deep that they woke up later than normal.

Well, it was an unavoidable obstacle, especially for the three who were not Blessed Ones, as they would have spent months powerless before awakening. They would have likely crossed paths with Blessed Ones by then. Quite a few would be drunk on power, even if not, their subordinates having them as their backing would be.

Perhaps such a thing did happen in the days of the future past, he didn't know them back then, so he had no way of knowing.

He turned to the group of men looking like they were mice who had seen a cat.

The low growl of the wolf menacingly prowled in the dark.

The men all began to slowly edge back, feeling the air subtly change.

If O'Brien had screamed at them in anger or immediately beat down them, perhaps they would have felt better.

But he was too calm.

Far too calm.

His wolf was now behind him and not at the front.

"I guess I should thank you a lot, not for bearing your ugly faces but for giving me the answer to a question that has troubled me for quite a while..."

Tap.

Tap.

As his steady steps approached them, a primal fear was born in the hearts of all the assaulters. They felt like they were facing the monster they had seen from afar, the green worm that swallowed dozens of goblins and survivors, grinding them into meat paste with its rows of revolving teeth. Its large, twisting, monstrous visage and bloody maw, the electricity that had run through them at that moment they first saw the creature, here it was again.

The uneasiness the newcomer brought was that unsettling. Cold sweat dripped from their bodies previously hot with desire, like they were doused in cold water.

Their survival instincts were screaming at them.

Run.

"Fuck this, I'm out of here!"

One man attempted to run, but no sooner had he dashed than a sudden force blasted him to the ground. As one foot pressed down on his back, the other stepped on his fingers.

An ear-grating scream echoed as the man felt his bones crushed.

"Yes, to kill or not to kill,” O'Brien casually said. “Leaving your enemies alive is a sin in and of itself.”

His eyes glazed over the men. “Of course, you're not worthy of such a grand title. That wasn't what troubled me either; it's natural to kill enemies. It's the rest that was giving me a headache. You know…those on the border, not a threat, but easily killed."

O'Brien swiftly grabbed some others who attempted to escape, snatching them up like they were small misbehaving pets.

"The unpleasant fellows, the ones that you say, 'Oh, kill someone just because they insulted you or looked at you funny'. I would be the same as the tyrant dictators… It's so tedious, such thoughts couldn't help but weigh on me."

He roughly tossed them into a corner where he could block their escape. The men groaned feeling their bodies treated like rag dolls, their swaying third legs swang heavily about and some even hit the wall causing them to scream out.

"The category of people to kill… Such a delicate subject, after all, human life is so precious," O'Brien mocked with a smirk, watching the ringleader wriggle like a worm as he was held up by the neck.

"Yes, I've finally decided." O'Brien smiled. "Given the chance to keep my hands clean, to feel good about myself for being clean of 'sin'... Who doesn't want to think themselves pure, think themselves righteous? But I see clearer now. Being good is such a chore, filled with too many choices and restraints… It's not free at all. Imagine if I couldn't kill you lot and had to stop at crippling you."

"Ah, that would leave a bad taste in my mouth…" O'Brien exaggeratedly grimaced. "So being evil is a lot less tedious." He nodded to himself like he was the only one present and was having an epiphany.

"Kill all those who annoy me and those I feel like killing, whatever the reason... Ah, such a luxurious notion. Perhaps that's why the answer escaped me..." His smile turned into a toothy grin that sent chills down the spine.

A clean slate… Sometimes it was overrated. Forcing himself not to kill just because he could afford to was an uncomfortable notion the more he thought of it.

Now he had rid himself of such a notion.

He looked up at the half-naked red-faced man struggling to breathe and begging for mercy as he was held by the throat.

"Now then, shall you be number one?"