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."

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

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

marketplace staff could tell something was amiss between Julia and Stella, suspecting there was

the world or just daily life, grievances and grudges

when push came to shove, especially since Julia had stepped on her toes more than once. Lola wasn't about to

you, I don't know her. What

not too far away, shot a look sharp enough to cut, "What are you all gaping at? Didn't you see we

Stella, "Welcome! How may I assist you

chase, "I want

taken aback, momentarily at

on the screen says otherwise. Are you

course," Lola recovered, "But, you know, a submarine

a blink, Stella affirmed, "I can

the customer caught Lola off guard, and she quickly

politely stating, "We do indeed sell submarines,

those who came in claiming they wanted to buy planes and

any purchase over seven digits required a

card, eight digits a gold card, and nine, a black card. The pristine black

she recovered quickly, leading Stella with warmth and thoroughness, "Right this

they had never seen

The first black card at the base has really

with conversation, while Julia nearly

black card? Why did

strategic weapon, purchasing a submarine requires an application. Are you certain you need one?" Stella was there specifically for

"Please wait a moment."

office to contact the strategic department via

with a smile, "Stella, the submarine is cleared for sale.