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."

moment,

the plush digs of the

the smoke. "You need an iris scan to

buy it and

believe me, I can take you there,"

them through a maze of corridors, trying to escape at one point, only to be shot in the thigh by Jasper.

several checkpoints to get to the

password, another for fingerprints, then the iris scan, and finally a

didn't even know the password; he was just looking

raised her gun

I can take you to the holding cells," the man pleaded, his voice barely a whisper. "There are many people there; you might

what Ivans had mentioned and the Belarus

she demanded icily. "Take us

play any tricks and obediently led them

prison was massive

had individual cells. Union Base members would randomly pick prisoners for their cruel amusement when they were bored. Their games were diverse, involving physical, psychological, and verbal cruelty, all in the pursuit

prisoners never returned after being taken out

base, she found some members still indulging in their

opened one of

corner, clutching himself silently. Despite the chaos outside and the unlocked door, he showed no

spirit had been

same skin hue, a familiar face, yet lifeless like

fury rose sharply, and she sent the man to his God with a swift stroke of

claimed to believe in God, right? What God would condone

continued deeper into the prison, guided by the sounds of pained

and

bed, her clothes torn and body stained with blood. Her emaciated arms struggled

was painfully clear what

Monsters!

masked, the woman's initial fear

appear all the more prominent, blue veins visible across

Stella's numb expression flickered with complexity, obscured by

karma; she never expected to encounter Julia in the

emaciated, her eyes sunken, scars

it from the Goldbridge base to the Arctic, only to end up imprisoned and tortured at Union Base. Stella felt no

Julia's face for a moment, then turned