18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 33

Stella managed to crack into the maintenance supply warehouse, and finally found diesel in one room.

She found a good 30 barrels. There was 160 liters per barrel, equating to around 4 tons.

Given that there was an international fair in town, along with a once-in-a-century storm on the horizon, Stella knew that the preparation for a potential power cut couldn't just rely on this small amount of diesel. So, she cracked into every possible place, and indeed discovered two more rooms stocked with diesel, adding up to a total of 12 tons.

Her inflatable boat and RV could run on diesel, which would last her quite some time. She was excited, and hoarded it all into Arcadia.

Arcadia had an array of solar battery boxes, but who would choose when they could take it all?

Taking her tools, she completely disassembled the generator, bundled up the tools and parts from the maintenance department and took them all.

The seventh floor and below was filled with various styles of modern furniture, which Stella continued to gather as she moved along. She had a preference for modern furniture, as the designers took into account the needs of those living in small spaces, with many items having foldable feature.

With an extra 1200 cubic feet of space, Stella collected anything she could get her hands on, the epitome of indulgence.

Beds, latex mattresses, sofas, wardrobes, TV cabinets, bedside cabinets, tables, chairs, and rocking chairs...

Exhausted, she sat down for a rest, periodically checking in with Arcadia.

She noticed that only a portion of the wooden furniture she'd collected later had disappeared. It seemed that the vendors were craftier than she'd thought. They sold bad quality wood under the guise of valuable wood. Arcadia turned out to be a fantastic machine for detecting forgeries.

Moving up the spiral staircase, she found an extra living room, but no other changes were apparent.

She continued her collection spree until the fifth floor, only picking durable items. In this post- apocalyptic world, there was no room for frills, as they would only raise suspicion when traded later.

She had spent too much time at the exhibition center. She checked her phone and found it was already three in the afternoon. As she was driving her inflatable boat back, she noticed two buildings under construction on her way back.

Remembering the sight of houses collapsing during the earthquake, leaving ruins everywhere, she hesitated for a moment before steering her boat towards them.

The buildings were already completed and were in the decorating phase, with many materials already moved up to the floors.

Stella uncovered the waterproof cloth, revealing sand, cement, lime powder, glass doors and windows, ceramic tiles, waterproof coating, and more. The decorating progress varied from floor to floor, and so did the materials piled up.

Sand was easy to come by, so there was no need to waste Arcadia's space on it. The rest would be difficult to reproduce; even if the government were to rebuild it, not everything could be produced.

As Stella moved upwards, she collected into Arcadia, piling everything up in her black soil garden. She noticed that ever since the second floor of Arcadia had been completed, the height of the garden had changed and was now level with the second floor. This change meant the usable area of the garden had doubled from 900 cubic meters to 1800 cubic meters.

Thankfully, building materials didn't take up much space, so she gathered everything she found.

The garden didn't have any preservation capabilities, so Stella took the waterproof and light- blocking cloth to cover the cement, lime powder, and waterproof coating.

After gathering everything, she suddenly remembered the safes she'd left in Arcadia. So, she took them all out and started cracking them open.

The alarm was piercing, so she stuffed her ears with earplugs and gradually pried open the safes. The four safes from the jewelry store were all empty. It seemed Arcadia had swallowed everything.

Next, she cracked open the private collection safe of that big boss, and a gun actually fell out.

Was this something she could collect? It seemed all big bosses liked to challenge the criminal law.

Apart from the handgun, there were also two boxes of bullets, a total of 200 rounds. Even in a post- apocalyptic world, it was near impossible for ordinary people to possess such items.

This was a pleasant surprise. Stella had never handled a real gun, but her school had a shooting club where they practiced with rubber bullets, so she had some accuracy.

With this item, she could sleep more peacefully, and once again thanked him for his contribution.

Now, she was left with the last safe, which she had found in the big boss' office. This one couldn't also have contained any contraband, right?

As soon as she cracked it open, it was full of paper. No, to be more precise, it was full of money. Bundles of ten thousand dollars, and there was a total of 100 bundles.

One million dollars, all in brand new bills.

This was something Stella hadn't expected. If she had received this money before the disaster... well, she might have already been in jail by now.

Although the paper money hadn't been declared invalid, it had severely depreciated. It was better than nothing though.

She put the money into her backpack and threw all the safes into the floodwaters.

The residents 18th floor arguably ventured out as a team, so it wasn't easy for her to venture out alone. Stella took out her phone to check the offline map, hoping to see if there were any other places worth visiting nearby.

There was a commercial science and technology museum, but it was in the neighboring city, Swan Hill.

The commercial science and technology museum was built in the suburbs, just 20 kilometers away from Rockdale.

Apart from continuing to expand Arcadia, she now lacked nothing specific. Acquiring things like ships or planes was out of the question. She could only wander around and see if she could find anything useful.

Once the route was determined, she headed for the Swan Hill commercial science and technology museum.

The entire area was flooded. Unfamiliar with the route, it took her almost an hour to arrive. Only two floors of the technology museum were still above water.

Swan Hill was densely populated, and the technology museum had been searched countless times. Almost all goods useful for survival that could be moved had been moved.

After a round of searching, she was just about to leave when her flashlight accidentally swept over an orange sphere.

It was round like a ping-pong ball, the color was strikingly bright, and it was about 3 meters in diameter.

Was this... a lifeboat?

Stella had unintentionally brushed through a video about earthquake and tsunami lifeboats. All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

She picked up a promotional brochure from the ground, and she found that she was right. The lifeboat was made of three layers of aerospace-grade tested metal shell material. It could withstand external impact from sharp objects, high temperatures, and high pressure environments, and remain un-deformed with excellent protection capabilities.

The lifeboat's inner cabin was equally sturdy, and with high-energy welding technology and the design of safety belts and shock-absorbing seats, people felt extremely safe inside.

The latest upgrade on display had a GPS positioning system, oxygen, lighting, drinking water, and food. The drinking water storage and the quantity of food depended on the internal capacity of the lifeboat. A single-person lifeboat could store 5 days worth of supplies, while one for 5-10 people could store half a month's worth.

The single-person model had a diameter of 0.8 meters, while the one in front of her, which was about 3 meters high, could’ve been the largest model.

Stella opened the cabin door and indeed found six shock-absorbing seats.

The space inside was pretty roomy, with enough room to stretch. It was equipped with a mini toilet processor. The bottom had a water bubble, which would float when it fell into the water. There were

many sealed compartments around, presumably for storing life supplies, and it also had a medical first aid box.

When an earthquake or tsunami occurred, one could hide inside to avoid external disasters. After the disaster stopped, the distress signal device could be triggered to wait for rescue personnel to arrive.

Judging by the setup, there should have been single-occupancy life pods, but they were already taken.

The one in front of her was far too heavy, even for multiple people to lift. Stella tried to push it, confirmed the impossibility, and decisively stowed it away in her Arcadia for safekeeping. Who knew? It could be useful if an earthquake were to hit one day.

Today's haul was indeed a treasure.

It was getting late, so Stella promptly decided to leave. Upon returning to Sunrise Sanctuary, the sky was already dark and overcast.

Just as she was about to enter her neighborhood, she noticed a rowdy group not far off, accompanied by the aggressive barking of dogs.