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.

teeth latched onto his pant leg,

barged into

looked at him, her eyes stinging

and shooed the

calmly, "If you want to

a joke. I'm afraid we might go there and never

peace, evil lurks. This time it's Snowflake, next time it could be Cooper, or Rosie after that. It could

where humanity had all

and animal instincts

specifically. One group could annihilate another on a whim, often without needing

you, and it has nothing to do with

wouldn't stand by and watch his sister fall

They were family, inseparable.

Stella resolved herself, her voice cold with determination. "I want them

that, they began to

with danger, and there would be

Should Stella and Jasper encounter danger, she could keep Cooper and

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

and Cooper, unable to

things. We'll come back

be a bargaining

anxious but agreed, "Brother, sister-in-law, rest

there, home would

extremely careful,"

couldn't shake her

leaving behind a dozen submachine guns and

from aerospace materials and highly bulletproof, she instructed, "Rosie, if danger comes, don't try to be

and stepped into the snow, moving

an

and surveyed their home through

Base lay 20 kilometers

such harsh conditions,

take the

reach it on foot-and

followed, the two didn't rest

the snow, crawled in

kilometers away from Union Base, they could make out

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

were all steel behemoths, and it was as if they were inviting them into a trap, leaving no opportunity

could lure them here, throw off the enemy's coordination?" After all, they had once relied on a giant squid to wipe out Iran's

Base's military might

formidable. Relying solely on