18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 425

Stella felt a pang of regret for rushing off so quickly that day. If only she had taken a moment to check things out first.

Jasper chuckled at her thoughts, "You know, you can actually train to hold your breath underwater."

Most people can manage a minute or two underwater, but world record holders can last up to 22 minutes. It's amazing what humans can do when pushed to their limits.

You can also train for speed while free-diving, with the best reaching speeds of a hundred meters per minute. So, Iran's ability to stay underwater for long periods wasn't all that surprising. Stella couldn't help but marvel at the world's wonders. The sea stretched endlessly, and the sky was painted with the fiery hues of a sunset.

Tired of being cooped up in the submarine, the trio and their dog decided to enjoy a meal in the open air. They had been living on bland box lunches, so they opted for a spicy hot pot instead.

They set up a folding table and chairs, placed a portable gas stove on top, and laid out plates of thinly sliced beef, lamb, meatballs, mushrooms, seaweed, winter melon, tofu skin, and an assortment of greens. The broth bubbled fiercely, its spicy aroma carried away by the sea breeze.

Jasper popped open a bottle of red wine, and the glasses clinked in the golden light. Rosie laughed, "To my favorite brother and sister-in-law, cheers!"

Cooper, who couldn't handle the spice or the wine, barked pitifully, pawing at the ground and turning away from his bowl of chicken breast and bones. He glanced longingly at the ocean, drool betraying his discontent.

him some freeze-dried treats. After the fiery meal, they felt refreshed, the gloom

couldn't fix. Full and content, they submerged the submarine to wash

weather. After Blue Blue finished scratching an itch and seeing

dashed up and down the decks

for any rapid changes in the weather, which could be as quick as flipping

it wasn't severe. The pair went down for a nap, and Stella told Jasper to

she indulged in a luxurious face mask, lounging in

a foul stench hit her. She sniffed, thinking it smelled like rotten fish. Could it be that they hadn't properly cleaned up after the flying fish last time? Impossible, Jasper was meticulous about cleanliness. She grabbed her binoculars and scanned the area with heightened alertness. There was a boat! Upwind, a small vessel appeared,

- wasn't that a Thai fishing boat? Damn it, a ghost ship? They were more than a hundred nautical miles away, and yet it had drifted

corpses on the fishing boat and the ongoing stench nearly made her hurl. With the wind

scent, and he barked twice before rushing

Stella standing firmly, her gaze locked on the distant object.

be a mass of dark, heaving things gathering around it. A dark current? No, the winds weren't strong enough to spread such a thing so quickly. It was moving too fast, catching up with the fishing boat, swarming

who had no fear of insects, shudder. Lowering the binoculars, he wanted to tell Stella they needed to flee, but Rosie's scream cut through the air, "Ah, bugs, there

side. They were swarming up the yacht at an alarming pace, so many that their movement created a rustling sound. With their uniformly black shells and eerie green eyes, their sheer numbers were enough to invoke terror. The creatures seemed to

were these monsters? Stella wasn't sure, but their eagerness for the fishing boat meant they were carnivorous. Leaving the luxurious yacht would be like amputating a limb