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.

swung their guns around, only to see Jasper, who was thought to be dead, leap

above, instantly burying them. Then came several cargo containers, smashing down on top of the snowy grave. Stella cut herself free and

as she ran

Arcadia, the two, covered in pig's blood, clung to each other,

"Are you okay?"

"Are you okay?"

the same time, hearts

misstep could have cost them their lives. Winning was partly luck, and the mere thought of it sent shivers down their spines! Stella knew that surveillance was

was both a danger

a part of human nature, especially for the rulers of a post-apocalyptic world. They were

Stella used Arcadia to keep

the regrettable side effects of using Arcadia, making them think they had an opportunity

set them

complex, especially in the Union Base, where all sorts of characters could be found. Faced with

why Stella dared to take

was

tightly, unable to

wanted to go through such an experience

embrace, Snowflake, lying on the ground, let out

to reality and crouched down to check the

bullet had hit Snowflake's thigh, causing a lot of

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

and Jasper stripped off their bloodstained

swellings all

thankfully, no

quickly changed into fresh gear

the situation outside

linger in Arcadia. Fully equipped, they emerged from

outside the base, but the third sub-level was eerily quiet.

containers on top, there were no

Man, Mikey, and Little Joe

be lurking in the shadows, and Russian

at any moment.

didn't stay long, instead

limped along, keeping close

didn't take long to find the

there, their attire

Stella didn't destroy the equipment but instead packed it all

footage could be

equipment, but even the power

room, the commotion above grew louder; the Russians

likely breached the perimeter.

likely lead to

were not in a