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.

sight of houses collapsing during the earthquake, leaving ruins everywhere,

were already completed and were in the decorating phase, with many materials already moved up to the

and windows, ceramic tiles, waterproof coating, and more. The decorating progress varied from floor to floor, and

space on it. The rest would

second floor of Arcadia had been completed, the height of the garden had changed and was now level with the second floor. This

didn't take up much space, so

Stella took the waterproof and light-blocking cloth to cover the cement, lime

suddenly remembered the safes she'd left in Arcadia. So, she took

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

private collection safe of that big boss, and a gun

something she could collect? It seemed all big bosses liked to challenge the criminal

of 200 rounds.

had never handled a real gun, but her school had a shooting club where they practiced with rubber bullets, so she

sleep more peacefully, and once

safe, which she had found in the big boss' office. This

precise, it was full of money. Bundles of ten thousand dollars, and

dollars, all in brand

Stella hadn't expected. If she had received this money before the disaster... well, she might have already been in

been declared invalid, it had severely depreciated. It was

backpack and

out her phone to check the offline map, hoping to see if there were any other places worth visiting nearby. There was a commercial

was built in the suburbs, just 20

she now lacked nothing specific. Acquiring things like ships or planes was out of the question. She could only wander

for the Swan Hill commercial

it took her almost an hour to arrive. Only two floors of the technology museum were

had been searched countless times.