18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 426

Nope, she didn't stock up, but Jasper had a few cans stashed away.

He had a random collection of stuff he got for free. When Stella sorted through it and stored everything in Arcadia, she just piled it all in a corner. Since it wasn't her own stash, she didn't remember much about it, and after nine years, Stella had long since forgotten. She immediately pulled out pepper spray from Arcadia, two cans in each hand, and sprayed furiously at the swarm of black bugs. If the pepper spray didn't work, they would be at the mercy of fate.

As the white cloud of spray spread, the swarm began to retreat. Seizing the moment, Jasper grabbed Stella and they bolted for the lifeboat. Just as she clambered in and turned to shut the door, the black bugs surged forward again. Stella slapped the yacht, and it disappeared into Arcadia. As long as she wasn't in Arcadia, living things couldn't stay there. In the instant the yacht vanished, thousands upon thousands of black bugs were kicked out by Arcadia and fell into the ocean...

With the yacht gone, the lifeboat began to sink. Stella, quick as a flash, slammed the cabin door shut. Without seatbelts, they were all jolted as the lifeboat hit the water, stars exploding in their vision from the impact. Thrown into disarray, a disheveled Stella was just getting up when Rosie suddenly lunged at her, "Watch out, sis!" A black bug was crawling up Stella's arm, trying to burrow into her clothes. Rosie's quick reflexes snatched the bug and squished it dead.

Damn, she hadn't realized those critters were so fast. They all hurried to check themselves, not sparing any nook or cranny, but found no more signs of the black bugs. The ocean was terrifying, claiming lives in a heartbeat.

"Are you hurt?" Stella's heart skipped a beat as she grabbed Rosie's hand to inspect it, only to find the bug had bitten her while she squashed it. The creature was the size of a beetle, but its mouth was razor-sharp, piercing

to force out any contaminated blood. Stella cleaned the wound, disinfected it, and then bandaged it. Rosie's face turned pale, and she instinctively held her brother's

you feel off at all, you have to tell me," she insisted. Rosie managed a

Stella picked up the

bugs. They could unfold their wings and swim at high speeds. Despite their small size, when they moved in swarms, they could shred a great white shark in no time. Hans and his crew had seen them from afar, too distant to make out clearly, only knowing they were vast in number and moved like a tide, hence the name tide bugs. Stella never imagined she would be so unlucky to encounter them. They were probably attracted by the stench of decaying bodies on the Thai fishing boat. One bite was enough to rip flesh from bone. Tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands moving in unison, could turn a living person into a skeleton

tide bugs swarm outside the lifeboat, Stella's scalp tingled. The world was becoming increasingly eerie. Could

the view cleared. The lifeboat wasn't far from the fishing boat, and as the tide bugs swarmed

another fifteen minutes to ensure there were no more tide bugs before opening the hatch. In just a short time, the stench of decay had almost dissipated in the sea breeze. Considering the numerous bodies on the fishing boat, they must have been devoured incredibly fast. Stella's stomach churned. With the fishing boat so

the fishing boat. False alarm, the fishing boat showed no harmful radioactive elements. Curious about the boat, they decided to board and investigate further. The three of them and their dog put on protective gear and managed to climb aboard. The deck was clear of bodies, leaving only tiny bone fragments. How sharp must their teeth be to have gnawed even the bones? Suppressing their nausea, they swept the detector all over the inside and outside of the boat, still no radiation. But Stella's worries didn't subside. She swept the bone fragments into a pile. Damn, now it showed up. Iran

we clean it up and keep it?" They couldn't pilot a cruise ship, and they only had one yacht. What if it broke down? Jasper knew how to operate a fishing boat. In an ever-worsening survival environment, having extra tools for survival was

her bag and injected Rosie. Better safe than sorry; boost the immune system first. Stella felt guilty, "Rosie, don't be reckless next time. Remember to hide if there's danger." She was Jasper's sister; if anything happened to her, he would be devastated. Rosie tried to ease Stella's worry, "Don't be nervous, sis. It's just a scratch. I'll be okay." Rosie was the eternal optimist,