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.

you get to see him again, I hope you'll follow your heart and

heart's decision? To this 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

leaned on his shoulder to calm

Cooper took room 372, while Stella and Jasper took 370, with the living room space in between. The place was tight, and as

discipline, waking up for the day's tasks. The steel walls did little for soundproofing, and the noise lasted for over half an hour

to do, the trio and the dog stayed in bed till almost 8 AM before getting up to brush their teeth and wash up in Arcadia, and then came out for breakfast. They had plain soup with noodles.

for the 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 -

the other platforms bustled with activity, with survivors being moved in during construction. It was

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

power, to keep going without stopping.

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

Before the disasters, ships like the Titan

to these matters, and the experts surely

enlisted military or ordinary survivors, everyone had to follow orders without question. Times had changed since before the disasters; with oil dwindling daily,

construction spanning nearly thirty kilometers. Once all twenty were completed, it would

sea creatures, Stella curiously approached, "Are those safe to

in protective gear, worked together to haul the net aboard, "No, we wouldn't dare eat these now. They're for scientific experiments to see if we

had almost lost its source of meat. Over the years, survivors had grown weak. Relying solely on vegetables or grains, their strength couldn't be restored, so finding a way to access meat was vital. The science department had been researching for years and seemed

and willing to chat, Stella seized the opportunity to ask,

men chuckled at the beautiful woman's question, "That's easy, you

crawl through waste? Stella's