18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 419

Jasper wasn't just blowing smoke when he mentioned that the blue whale was covered in parasites-barnacles, to be exact. Thanks to an ancient virus, these barnacles had grown huge and were causing the poor whale more harm than ever. A good scratch is hard to come by, and the itchy blue whale wasn't about to let this opportunity slip. It went berserk, rubbing up against the submarine to try and scrape off the annoying barnacles.

So there it was, the whale scratching away and the submarine retreating. But the creature was relentless-a real thorn in their side.

After being jostled for over half an hour, Stella was feeling seasick. She closed the observation window and tucked the submarine safely back into the Arcadia.

Time was precious, so they didn't linger in the Arcadia for long. After about ten minutes, assuming the blue whale had moved on, they went back into the sea.

But less than five minutes later, the submarine started shaking again. That damned familiar feeling it couldn't be that the whale had fallen for her sub, could it?

get away, but the whale's affection was deep; it just wouldn't give up. If you can't beat them, join them, she thought, deciding to lie

Weird, it was dark outside. Checking the time in her room, it was only three in

couldn't see your hand in front of your face. The

second observation window, but it was still dark. Stella remembered there was a third observation window at the tail of the submarine and hurried to check it. No problem there the light filtered down from the surface, and fish swam leisurely outside. So, the trio and

would have to be a massive marine creature. Stella planned to wait for Rosie to fall asleep that night, then retract the submarine back into the Arcadia to see if this mysterious entity could survive out

before nightfall, the mysterious creature stirred. Slowly peeling away, light began to filter in. Golden, flowing... hair strands? Long and abundant. Stella was baffled and quickly took out her phone to record. It bloomed like yellow carnations, layer upon layer, with countless hair-like tentacles. As it drifted

uninformed, it might seem like it was promoting a shampoo brand-so elegant. After the glowing jellyfish departed, Stella went to her room to look up information. She had downloaded a lot of data before the catastrophe, and sure enough, she found it a lion's mane jellyfish. Its tendrils could reach over 30 meters. Despite its flowing beauty, it

passed with more excitement than danger. But Stella never expected that the blue whale would return the next day for another scratch. This time, it wasn't its backside; it rubbed its head against the sub. The whale's temperament, influenced by the ancient virus, was far from gentle; it seemed like it wanted to tear off its own skin while scratching. Another couple of hours of this, and Stella couldn't stand it. She was afraid the sub might one day be rubbed raw. So, once it left, she decisively moved their location. Hmph, if hiding didn't work, was she supposed to just give up? Not a chance! However, Stella soon realized who really ruled the sea. The whale found them again with pinpoint accuracy and started rubbing without hesitation. Stella was speechless and frustrated, "...This is a curse!" Rosie, on the other hand, was delighted and even gave it a nickname, Blue Blue. Stella consoled herself, thinking Rosie was just lonely. Thankfully,

underwater had its perks, like watching various sea creatures through the observation window: spider crabs, sunfish, and so on. Especially the sunfish-it was a real con artist. Despite bumping into them itself, it would flip over in

ocean's predators, getting caught in fishing nets, or just floating on the surface. That's the story behind its name." Rosie had an aha

put up with its antics, the sharks certainly did not. They came at it with bared teeth, ready to attack. The sunfish struggled but couldn't get up. The water quickly turned red with blood, and the sunfish knocked