18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 497

The gasoline fire spread like wildfire, turning the base into a blazing furnace. Flames hungrily consumed the circuits and surveillance systems.

In some control room, over half of the large monitors flickered and then went dark.

The boss was about to blow a gasket, cursing up a storm. "Get me that damn wolf!"

Explosions, flames, scorching heat, thick smoke, suffocation...

Base members flooded in non-stop. They navigated through the inferno-some aiming to attack Stella and Jasper, others choking on the smoke, and a few making a break for the outside.

Unity had never been their thing; they were a ragtag bunch held together by selfish motives. None had expected to miss out on the spoils while taking all the hits.

No one in their right mind would put anything above their own life.

And now, with the boss's legs chopped off, who was left to cling to?

Not to mention, this wasn't even the real boss, just one of his many stand-ins-a sub-leader who'd gotten separated from the main fleet during a massive storm at sea.

Separated? Who knew the real story?

After all, this fleet was under the command of the China National Defense Department, specifically tasked with transporting critical tech assets.

Despite the boss's formidable military might, internal strife within the faction was intense. The two parties would have gladly seen each other dead, while the sea, air, and land branches wracked their brains to swindle budgets from the congressional bigwigs. How else could you explain the exorbitant price tags on coffee cups and toilets?

Each department was its own little kingdom, with heads so powerful they wouldn't even listen to the head of state.

So it was very possible that this stand-in boss had intentionally gone AWOL with valuable assets in tow.

After all, why let someone else play king when you can sit comfortably on the throne yourself?

As the saying goes, once one starts running, others follow.

In the chaos, Stella and Jasper switched outfits, making sure to don gas masks.

The base was a melting pot of ethnicities, with plenty of Eastern faces, so in the confusion, those with slower wits failed to recognize the two.

Those who did recognize them, were swiftly dealt with.

They nabbed a high-ranking guy, trembling like a leaf. "Please, don't kill me, they're on sublevel three."

a life-or-death moment, he spilled

the grunts, the second for mid-ranking members and holding cells, and the third was the plush digs of

man coughed incessantly from the smoke. "You need an iris scan to access the third floor, and I

and

you don't believe me, I can take

to escape at one point, only to

to get to

then the iris

even know the password; he was just looking for a chance to

her gun to send him to meet his

man pleaded, his voice barely a whisper. "There are many people there; you might find

had mentioned

she demanded icily.

not play any tricks and obediently led

prison was massive and divided into

and gender, while the outer section had individual cells. Union Base members would randomly pick prisoners for their cruel amusement when

after being taken out for

burst into the base, she found some members still indulging in

of

in a corner, clutching himself silently. Despite the chaos outside and the

had been forever

same skin hue, a familiar face,

rose sharply, and she sent the man to his

God, right? What God would condone such

continued deeper into the prison, guided by the

found the room and flung

lay on the bed, her clothes torn and body stained with blood. Her emaciated

was painfully clear what had transpired before

Monsters!

the newcomers masked, the woman's initial fear turned to

thin frame made her belly appear all the more prominent, blue veins

Stella's numb expression flickered with

expected to encounter Julia in the

emaciated, her eyes sunken, scars marring her

how Julia had made it from the Goldbridge base to the Arctic, only to end up imprisoned and tortured at

for a moment, then