18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 385

When Stella and Jasper strolled into the workshop, the staff member's face lit up. "The test results are in, and I was just about to notify you guys."

To their delight, everything had passed inspection.

Working around the clock, racing against natural disasters, they produced more boats, life pods, and submarines, all in a desperate effort to save as many survivors as possible.

After making sure all the delivery paperwork was sorted, Stella signed off with a flourish and stamped her approval.

With documents in hand, she headed to the points redemption center. The clerk's eyes practically popped out as he double-checked the figures before inputting the nine-digit score into the system. Impressive. Stella was now the wealthiest scavenger in history.

Actually, except for the top brass at the base, she was the richest person around.

The clerk, with a cautious smile, reminded her, "You've got a ton of points on your card; you might want to spend some of them soon."

Feeling flush with wealth, Stella strutted through the streets with the confident swagger of someone who owed nothing to anyone, making her way straight to the official marketplace.

Her luck must have been out the door, for upon entering, she was greeted by Julia's sour face.

Julia's heart nearly leapt out of her chest at the sight of Stella.

This time, Stella was far from disheveled; her face was clean and pale, looking like she had spent a fortune on skincare. Even though Julia was over a year younger, the harshness of the disasters seemed to have left Stella largely unscathed. Next to Stella, Julia, who usually prided herself on her superiority among colleagues, instantly looked like a haggard housewife.

And just her luck, the chatty coworker couldn't help but gossip, "Julia, is this your sister? She's so young and pretty, and she looks just like you."

"I don't know her," Julia managed to say, frustration coloring her tone. "My mom only had me. Don't spread rumors."

"Oh my gosh, you two look so alike, though," the coworker blurted out, oblivious. "But you know, she resembles Aunt Sonya even more."

day before to bring Julia some sweets, sharing with all the colleagues, so her image was fresh in

sweets' was just a euphemism for cleaning up Julia's messes. Julia had managed to offend

tell something was amiss between Julia and

one drama; whether it's the end of the world or just daily life, grievances and grudges are

her toes more than once. Lola wasn't about to let such an opportunity slide by. With exaggerated surprise, she exclaimed, "Oh my, I would have thought you two were

fuming, gritted her teeth, "I told you, I

away, shot a look sharp enough to cut, "What

her feet, Lola warmly approached Stella, "Welcome! How may I

to the chase, "I want

was taken aback, momentarily

advertisement on the screen says

Lola recovered, "But, you know, a submarine

much as a blink, Stella affirmed, "I

of the customer caught Lola off guard,

"We do indeed sell submarines, but we'll need to verify your points card

wanted to buy planes and submarines, only to find

digits required

her sleek black card. Indeed, seven-digit points meant a silver card, eight digits a gold card, and nine, a black card.

quickly, leading Stella with warmth and thoroughness,

entire staff was in shock; they had never seen a black card in all their years at

first black card

conversation, while Julia

black card? Why did Stella have

confirm the points, asking, "Stella, as a strategic weapon, purchasing a submarine requires an application. Are

"Please wait a moment."

the back office to contact the strategic

smile, "Stella, the