18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 235

With lightning reflexes, Stella accelerated her mule, swiftly evading the threat.

Jasper, without hesitation, raised his crossbow and fired, the shriek from the debris pile echoed in the air. They didn't stop but kept moving.

As they approached the city center, the crowd thickened, the town hall was bursting at the seams.

The hall was packed with survivors, all drawn by the promise of a new city plan. Even amidst an apocalypse, the deep-rooted mindset prevailed, a home was not a home without a house.

Those wealthy enough hoped to seize an opportunity to secure a house. The less fortunate aimed to accumulate points to exchange for supplies.

The bulletin board was plastered with dozens of pages, all lists of various materials that could be exchanged for points. The hall also boasted a precious electronic display screen, scrolling through the same information. After half an hour, Stella and Jasper finished reading. Afterward, they exchanged a glance, and both felt uneasy.

Indeed, reinforced steel was expensive, but the price of a completed house was even higher. A two-bedroom house required 5000 points, a villa demanded 50000 points. Well, it was not exactly a villa. It was just a two-story detached house, and the two bedrooms were just that, without a living room or bathroom, only about 15 square meters. What did this imply? It wasn't that the government was being greedy, but resources were simply too scarce. Only by raising the threshold could some survivors be satisfied.

The absence of a living room was understandable, but no bathroom? Stella tugged at Jasper, hoping he could elaborate.

Jasper lowered his voice, "In the post-apocalyptic world, building materials are scarce. Without waterproof paint, you can build bathrooms. Any leakage could damage the quality of the house." Reinforced steel, after being exposed to extreme cold, had its quality affected to some extent. Building too many floors would be risky, five or six was already pushing it.

In the future, public bathhouses and toilets would be established to cater to nature's call.

Stella was shocked, so they would have to venture out to use the toilet in the middle of the night? Or keep a chamber pot at home?

After remembering the key details, Jasper led her away from the crowd to a quiet place, "A villa requires 50000 points and 2000 pounds of grain, but it comes with a yard and a bathroom."

He made some calculations. If they used all the steel and bricks they had accumulated, plus 2500 pounds of grain, they could afford a villa and a two-bedroom house.

"Why do they need so many points?" Stella frowned. "Were houses this expensive in your past life?"

Of course not, the price should at least be reduced by tenfold.

even scarcer, and the struggle for survival is even fiercer." "You mean the government deliberately

many survivors, most of whom couldn't afford a house, the government had no choice but to increase the price of houses, taking a

was

in Arcadia and shook her head, "We can't donate all our materials. We still need to

being neighbors with the rich was great, but during harsh conditions, the villa area was also unsafe. For instance, during the polar night, the cost of committing a crime was low.

if they had an extra two-bedroom house, with Rosie and Cooper, and the need to raise rabbits, they wouldn't be able to manage. Therefore, not

case, the building materials they had

as for

"We can accumulate other building materials that can be exchanged for more points, to try

highest demand." Stella nodded, "Near Eastwood Eden is the Griffith River, as

wood, they could venture

the challenge was how to solve the transportation problem. But Stella had Arcadia

time. Stella didn't want to go back and

friends in

survived the extreme cold, but had they managed to endure the

wasn't too far, so they rode the

institute's residential building collapsed. The building where Katie lived,

a while

"Mikey's family."

before pointing

together. Only one building of the research institute was left standing, but the research work had to continue, so

was in the same group as Mikey's dad. A while ago I heard him mention that his mom got injured in the earthquake, and she's

thanking the woman, the pair headed

about safety, Stella smeared some dust on her face

the shantytown was polluted, trash and waste were everywhere, the survivors were disheveled, and discarded materials from scavenging were piled next to the tents

shabby tent. Amber was crouching in front of the tent, boiling some herbal medicine on a clay stove, "The medicine will

"Stop wasting food

think like that. If Mikey hears you, he'll worry. You're not seriously ill,