18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 449

Jasper pulled Stella into his arms, "Don't let your thoughts run wild; it's not certain that something bad has happened to him."

Stella had this one flaw - a brutal upbringing and surviving two apocalypses had made her expect the worst.

"He's the leader of the Kindle Society, so he knows the nation's rebuilding. It's been months since the continental collision, and survivors from bases all over the country have been coming here. If he were okay, why hasn't he shown up?" "The ocean currents are tricky and often beyond our control. If he hasn't arrived yet, maybe he's just been carried off course, but he'll get here eventually."

Wanting to keep her from feeling guilty, Jasper comforted her, "Stella, even if you had decided to take him with you back then, he wouldn't have left."

Stella fell silent. Yeah, Daniel wouldn't have left.

From the moment he took on his duty to the country, his fate was sealed. His life belonged to the nation and the people. If Stella had forcibly taken him away, he probably would have lived the rest of his life in unrest. Stella understood, and yet she didn't.

"Having saved so many people before, do you regret it now that it's all come to this?" she asked.

Jasper thought back calmly, "No regrets."

The thing was, fate had given him a chance to choose again. He chose to live differently. Yet he had to admit, every time he saw soldiers and officers sacrificing for their country, it left a bitter taste in his mouth. After all, he had become a deserter.

So, Jasper understood Daniel's choice. Even if Stella had told him everything about Arcadia, his decision would have remained the same.

"If you'd forced him to leave, it would have only soured your relationship."

Stella knew in her heart that even if given another chance, she probably still wouldn't have spoken up because Daniel's answer would have been the same. But every time she used Arcadia, she felt as though she owed Daniel. She had never acknowledged his identity, yet she was benefiting from his sacrifices. This conflict left Stella restless.

said, taking her cold hands. "Stella, if you get

day, Stella wasn't clear whether her feelings for Daniel stemmed from guilt over Arcadia, from the scant blood relation they shared, or from respect for his sacrifice as a soldier

confused for a while; time will give you

made sense and leaned on his shoulder

Stella and Jasper took 370, with the living room space in between. The place was tight, and as they lay side by side, there wasn't much room to move around in their Arcadia. But returning to the world of humans, it still felt

military discipline, waking up for the day's tasks. The steel walls did

their teeth and wash up in Arcadia, and then came out for breakfast. They had plain soup with noodles. Without any plans to settle just yet, Stella wasn't in a hurry to plant potatoes. Instead, they planned to explore Ocean Point Naval Station. They packed Cooper into a backpack, and the trio left with

sea was quite calm, apart from the two to three-meter-high waves during the tide, making it an ideal place for human habitation. Reportedly, the site was chosen using the ancient divination tool of the Bagua compass, along with modern scientific detection methods - a truly auspicious piece

and they leisurely circled the construction platforms at sea. Aside from Area B, which was already complete, the other platforms bustled with activity, with survivors being

maritime construction equipment, Stella asked in surprise, "The base doesn't

the platforms, "The large equipment probably runs on nuclear power,

that made sense, especially since the large machines had no exhaust pipes. The scale was immense, like ants viewing an elephant - this was the

construction easier. Before the disasters, ships like the Titan Whale and Titan

Stella was an outsider to these matters,

on site. Whether enlisted military or ordinary survivors, everyone had to follow orders without question. Times had changed since before the disasters; with oil dwindling daily, conservation was a must, and wherever human labor could replace machinery, it

the six platforms under construction spanning nearly thirty kilometers. Once all

Stella curiously approached, "Are those

to haul the net aboard, "No, we wouldn't dare eat these now. They're for scientific experiments to see if we can remove

years, survivors had grown weak. Relying solely on vegetables or grains, their strength couldn't be restored, so finding a way

seized the opportunity to ask, "What if someone wants to eat meat? What

at the beautiful woman's question,

that crawl through waste?