Chapter 89: Chapter 89: River Larkin Reappears

"Instead of setting your sights on Stella Sterling, you should find another powerful man to depend on!"

As he spoke, his gaze roamed incessantly over the woman’s full figure.

Admittedly, her complexion was terrible, she had a certain smell about her, and it was clear her hair hadn’t been looked after in a long time.

But you could tell she had good facial features—a real stunner.

And her figure was fantastic.

The woman with long, wavy hair was disgusted by his leering gaze. She shot him a glare, then scoffed, "The powerful man you mentioned... you don’t mean yourself, do you?"

"Tch, a guy like you is probably weaker than me. You want me to rely on you? What are you going to protect me with then? By letting me watch you kneel and beg for mercy?"

The woman’s tone was filled with undisguised mockery.

The man’s face turned ashen. His breathing grew ragged. After a long moment, he continued, "Of course I wasn’t talking about myself. I’m self-aware enough to know what I’m worth!"

"If you look down on me, you can just pick someone else!"

The man’s eyes glinted, a calculating look flashing within them. "How about... the two of us cooperate?"

"Who’d want to cooperate with you? You don’t look like a good person at all!"

The wavy-haired woman spat in his direction and hurried downstairs.

The man awkwardly touched his nose, then could only head home in resignation.

On the 25th floor, at the residence of the three Bell brothers.

The apartment, originally meant for just the three of them, was now crowded with a dozen or so people. They were gathered around Mr. Bell, who clearly seemed to be their leader.

"What happened with those people from before?"

Mr. Bell asked. He was referring to the people who had been begging for food at Stella Sterling’s door the day before.

Hearing his question, a short, dark-skinned man stepped forward and answered Mr. Bell respectfully.

"That Stella Sterling is just as crazy as the rumors say—maybe even crazier. Those people were just begging for food, not doing anything else, but when Stella Sterling came out, she started hacking at them without a second thought!"

"I heard she killed one, injured four, and another one is missing. Their situation probably isn’t looking good, either!"

At his words, everyone else in the room fell silent.

Over the past several days, although they had committed all sorts of evil, robbed many households, and gathered a group of followers...

...even they wouldn’t dare to just start hacking people up at the slightest disagreement.

That Stella Sterling... she really was on another level of wild.

The most important thing was that she had the power to back up her wildness. With that big machete in her hand, she was incredibly difficult to deal with.

Other families might have a kitchen knife or a fruit knife at most. Who would keep a huge machete like that on hand?

’Could she have been a psycho from the very beginning?’

The three Bell brothers were silent. Mr. Bell said to the others, "This Stella Sterling is not easy to deal with. Let’s put her aside for now. We’ll focus on collecting food from the other households first. That will be enough for us to eat for a while, so there’s no rush to go after her!"

"But Boss, Stella Sterling’s place is supposedly loaded. Are we just going to let her go like this?"

At that moment, someone spoke up from the side. It was none other than River Larkin, the man who had fallen from upstairs before.

He hadn’t died. And, forgetting their old grudges, he had joined the camp of Bell and his brothers.

Now, in their group of a dozen or so people, he could be described as something of a military strategist.

He was the one who had guided the three Bell brothers, supporting them from behind the scenes as they went after the other residents in the building.

They started as a group of four, and he had been instrumental in expanding their small faction to over a dozen people.

Those who were willing to follow, they accepted. Those who were unwilling had their homes looted.

As for those who resisted fiercely, they had already crippled three people over the past month.

’He felt it was time he could finally get his revenge on Stella Sterling.’

He had never forgotten what happened that day, always thinking about getting payback.

When he first joined Bell and the others, he had to endure a lot of hardship and listen to a lot of harsh words.

’But it was all worth it.’

Say what you will about the three Bell brothers, but their fighting ability was respectable. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to subdue so many people in such a short time.

And now that their power had grown, he thought he could convince Bell and the others to go after Stella Sterling.

’Setting aside his personal grudge with Stella Sterling, he was certain her apartment was full of supplies. If they could just subdue her and rob her place, they wouldn’t have to worry about food for a long time.’

’And while Stella was terrifying, they had so many people. A lone fighter can’t beat a group. She would be no match for them. Once she fell into his hands, he could do whatever he wanted with her.’

He just hadn’t expected the three Bell brothers to be such cowards. They weren’t afraid of dealing with anyone else, but the moment they heard the name Stella Sterling, they would start hesitating.

He had almost convinced them yesterday, but they had a last-minute change of heart. It just so happened that a few people were going to cause trouble at Stella Sterling’s door, so they decided to wait and see what would happen before making a move.

And now that they heard how ferocious Stella Sterling was, he didn’t even need to think about it—they were definitely backing down again.

River Larkin felt a surge of indignation.

Bell shot him a look, a hint of displeasure in his eyes, and was about to start arguing. But before he could speak, his older brother pulled him back and said to River Larkin, "Brother Larkin, it’s not that we won’t make a move on Stella Sterling. With all the supplies she has, there’s no way in hell I’d let her off the hook!"

"But she’s not an easy target. We don’t have any powerful weapons, while she has that big machete. If she blocks the door, we won’t be able to break in at all!"

"So when it comes to dealing with Stella Sterling, we have to plan for the long term. We don’t have that many people right now. The way I see it, we should keep going after the others in the building first, expand our own crew. Once we’re strong enough, then we can make a move on Stella Sterling. How about it?"

River Larkin was clearly displeased, but he knew there was some truth to what the man said. Besides, Mr. Bell was still the leader of their faction.

’He couldn’t afford to make things too tense between them.’

So, he nodded with great reluctance.

Only then did Mr. Bell smile, satisfied with River Larkin’s obedience.

’His own brother had a history with the man. If it weren’t for the fact that River Larkin had a sharp mind, he would never have let him stick around.’

’The man was still useful to them now, so he needed to be placated.’

But as for Stella Sterling, it was just as he’d said: they needed a long-term plan to deal with her.

They couldn’t afford a single mistake.

’With all that food she had, how could he possibly let it go?’

Besides, having someone that damn strange in the building was a danger to them as well.