18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 500

"Why even ask why?" Little Joe ditched his usual dopey strongman act, his eyes

now ice-cold and menacing. "A Little Joe who doesn't want to be the Big Man ain't a good Little Joe at all."

Mikey had been leaning on Big Bro for decades, even relying on him to defend their turf. Without Big Bro's connections, where would he get any military might?

The chance to strike had been elusive, but as fate would have it, a formidable foe barged in, and Big Bro had already taken out the fourth and fifth in line.

If he didn't make his move now, he'd be the next to bite the dust.

Special abilities? He wasn't dumb enough to expose his mind.

What good were special abilities if you could just crush them? Then the Arctic would be his for the taking.

Mikey hit the floor, his dying gaze fixed on Little Joe. So, he had been using him all along!

Little Joe didn't care for that look in his eyes. He squatted down with a smirk and said, "You got nothing, so what makes you think you could be the Big Man?"

The allies he had secretly bought were all his own plants.

Little Joe wasn't much for talking; a bullet sent Mikey to the great beyond.

Blood splattered across his face, and as he wiped it off and tasted it, a gruesome smile crept over his lips. Then his eyes turned to Stella, lying there, badly injured and unconscious.

Kill her, and it would all be over.

Sure, a lot of people had died at the base, but none of them were his people. Their deaths only made things easier for him.

With weapons in hand, starting over would be a breeze.

He stood up slowly, ready to finish Stella off.

But out of nowhere, Snowflake, lying in a pool of blood, sprang to life.

Not only was its movement swift, but it also bit into Little Joe's throat with the precision and ferocity of a lightning bolt.

"Ahh..."

Armed soldiers rushed over, but no one dared to shoot recklessly. What if they hit the Big Man?

The incident was so sudden that everyone's attention had been elsewhere, never expecting the seemingly dying Snowflake to be faking it.

The wolf is the craftiest of them all.

"Bang!"

A gunshot sounded, hitting Little Joe square in the head.

soldiers swung their guns around, only to see Jasper, who was

instantly burying them. Then came several cargo containers, smashing down on top

speak, fighting through the pain as she ran to Jasper, pulling

two, covered in pig's blood, clung to each

"Are you okay?"

"Are you okay?"

spoke at the same time, hearts pounding

them their lives. Winning was partly luck, and the mere thought of it

both a danger and an

a part of human nature, especially for the rulers of a post-apocalyptic world. They were all too aware of their own ambitions and the

Stella used Arcadia to keep luring them

regrettable side effects of using Arcadia,

them against each

Faced with such temptation

dared to

ordeal was chilling to

held each other tightly, unable to

wanted to go through

embrace, Snowflake, lying on the ground, let out

back to reality and crouched down to

causing a lot

the situation too complex, Stella quickly tended to the wolf, stopping the bleeding, stitching the wound, and

stripped off their

swellings all

but thankfully,

quickly changed into fresh gear

the situation outside

didn't linger in Arcadia. Fully equipped, they emerged from

eerily quiet. Stella collected the snow, the cargo containers, and the buried soldiers

on top, there were

the bodies of Big Man, Mikey, and

the shadows, and Russian

at any moment.

instead

along, keeping close and

long to find the

two bodies lay there, their

equipment but instead packed it

could be destroyed

but even the power

control room, the commotion above grew

likely breached the perimeter.

now would likely lead to a

and Jasper, along with Snowflake, were not in a condition