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,

barged into

him, her eyes stinging with

in and shooed the frantic Cooper

beside her, saying calmly, "If you want to

serious. "This isn't a joke. I'm afraid we

evil lurks. This time it's Snowflake, next time it

humanity had all but vanished, this

animal

Union Base wasn't after Snowflake specifically. One group could annihilate

you, and it

stand by and watch his sister fall into danger. So the choice was clear: either don't fight at all, or take the initiative before it's too

They were family, inseparable.

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

they began to

the fight ahead was fraught with danger, and there would be

was grown up enough to hold down the fort. Should Stella

would need to adapt to the situation and scout

and Cooper, unable to contribute

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

into their hands would be a bargaining

"Brother, sister-in-law, rest assured, I'll keep our home

there,

extremely careful," they

couldn't

submachine guns

bulletproof, she instructed, "Rosie, if danger comes, don't try to be a hero."

their submachine guns and stepped into the

an hour, they reached another

and surveyed their home through binoculars. There was no

lay 20 kilometers

such harsh conditions,

take the

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

being followed, the two

in the snow, crawled in to hide, warm up,

six kilometers away from Union Base, they could make out its outline through high-powered

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

was as if they were inviting them into a trap, leaving no opportunity for a surprise attack. Hunkered down

them here, throw off the enemy's

Union Base's military

formidable. Relying solely on