18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 491

Stella and Jasper arrived at the spot where Snowflake had been nabbed, only to find a chunk of pork dropped on the ground.

"Not again," Stella muttered. "Snowflake's been hoarding food again!"

After being scolded by Stella a few times, Snowflake had started hiding its stash even farther away, but never imagined it would lead to being trapped.

"Who still rides snowmobiles these days?" Jasper wondered aloud. "And who else could it be?"

Unable to get what they wanted openly, the culprits had resorted to kidnapping.

"Ha, typical of the shady Union Base," Stella scoffed.

With a hundred thousand worries racing through her mind, Stella didn't rush out blindly. First off, she couldn't catch up; second, there were others back home to consider; and third, it was likely a trap. Staring in the direction where the two had vanished, her heart ached so fiercely she could scarcely breathe, her hands clenching into fists.

"I'm going to make them pay," she vowed.

Jasper took Stella's icy hand in his. "They took Snowflake to get to us. Snowflake should be safe for now. Let's head back and plan our next move."

Rosie was guarding the home front, keeping a wary eye out for any diversionary attacks.

When she saw her brother and sister-in-law return, she blurted out anxiously, "Where's Snowflake?"

Not only was Snowflake missing, but Cooper was nowhere to be seen.

She opened her mouth to ask more, but the grim expressions on their faces silenced her.

Stella sat on the couch, her face set in a grim line of silence.

She remembered Ivans saying the main base of Union Base was an underwater station, primarily manned by military forces from Western nations. Their fleet of battleships, aircraft carriers, and transport vessels... The base housed over three thousand people and was much easier to defend than to attack.

"To put it bluntly, three people taking on a base with unlimited firepower was like throwing eggs against a rock," Stella thought.

Their previous victories had been a combination of the element of surprise and assistance from Arcadia.

Now that they had Snowflake as leverage, they were practically inviting her to walk into a deathtrap. "Waa... waa... waa..."

The triplets were searching for their grandma, hungry and fussing for attention.

Stella had a headache. With Snowflake captured, and possibly Cooper too...

She looked at Jasper and Rosie, turning away as she clenched her fists even tighter.

Snowflake's life mattered, but whose didn't?

Stella retreated to her room and quietly shut the door behind her.

Cooper returned, whining anxiously.

his teeth latched onto his pant leg,

into Stella's

him, her eyes stinging

came in and shooed the frantic

"If you want

expression serious. "This isn't a joke. I'm afraid we might go there

Snowflake, next time it could be Cooper, or Rosie after that. It could even be

had all

was new, and animal instincts don't just

Union Base wasn't after Snowflake specifically. One group could annihilate another on a whim, often without needing a

"I destroy you, and

and Jasper wouldn't stand by and watch his sister fall into danger. So the choice was clear: either don't fight at all, or take

They were family, inseparable.

to regret inaction," Stella resolved herself, her voice cold with determination. "I want

that, they

the fight ahead was fraught with danger, and there would

hold down the fort. Should Stella and Jasper encounter danger, she could keep Cooper and the

battle plan, they would need to adapt to the situation and

Cooper, unable to

just complicate things. We'll come back safe,"

fell into their hands would be a bargaining chip against Stella and

"Brother, sister-in-law, rest

her there,

extremely careful,"

couldn't shake

the house, leaving behind a dozen submachine guns and grenades, and brought out

bulletproof, she instructed, "Rosie, if danger

submachine guns and stepped into the

for over an hour, they reached another

surveyed their home through binoculars. There was no

Base lay 20

such harsh conditions,

take the

of a day to reach it on foot-and that's if they could maintain their

about being followed, the two didn't rest during

in the snow, crawled in to hide,

Union Base, they could make out its outline

the entrance to the underwater base, but they did spot several ships and transport vessels frozen in the glacier. There were many,

they were inviting them into a trap, leaving no opportunity for a surprise

of the red-eyed crocodiles. "What if we could lure them here, throw off the enemy's coordination?" After all, they

Union Base's military

formidable. Relying solely on