18 Floors Above the Apocalypse
Chapter 151

Stella called out to Angela, "We've got some drought-resistant sweet potatoes sprouting, are you still interested in planting?"

Sweet potatoes took four to five months to grow, and the water level would go down in just one or two months. Planting them seemed pointless.

Nothing could deter Angela from leaving, "Stella, you go ahead and plant them."

Once everyone had left, Stella suggested, "How about planting them in Arcadia?"

Planting outside required constant care, with worries about sun exposure and daily watering. It was simply too much trouble.

Jasper pondered, "Why not plant half in each place?"

The soil in Arcadia was rich. If the sweet potatoes grown there turned out differently from those grown outside, it could cause unnecessary trouble during trades. Planting half in each place also allowed for a comparison. Stella had no objections. So the two divided the task. Jasper took care of the ones outside, while Stella handled those planted in Arcadia.

After dinner, Jasper sent Rosie and Cooper next door, and he began discussing with Stella, "The water level has dropped to the fourth floor. Soon, survivors will start going out to search for supplies. Should we make a trip tomorrow?" People from 1803 didn't have any diving suits, so there was no point in involving them. Plus, they had already decided to leave and wouldn't be interested in searching for non-essential supplies.

Stella agreed, taking out a paper map and an offline map on her phone.

The flood had softened the foundations of the houses, the extreme cold had made the building materials brittle, and the intense heat had caused the houses to swell.

After the ice melted, houses with shallow or old and dilapidated foundations had collapsed, not to mention that an earthquake could leave the entire city in ruins. The most important element in rebuilding was steel. Griffith did not produce steel, but it was home to Steel World- a one-stop service for processing, procurement, and trade. It was the largest professional steel market in the country, serving the entire coastal city. After some discussing, the two went to bed early, not forgetting to inform room 1803 that they would be going out for a stroll.

Rosie was left in Cooper's care, and the two would stay at home all day. Not only Rosie, but even Cooper had learned to operate the walkie-talkie. If anything happened, they only needed to call out into the walkie-talkie. The days were long in the intense heat, and it was already light before five in the morning. In order to avoid attracting attention, the two got up at three in the morning and quietly left.

Steel World was located on the outskirts of the city, about forty kilometers away.

Dressed in their thermal suits and protective gear, they rowed their inflatable boat out of the residential area, and started the motor towards the outskirts.

The water surface in the outskirts was littered with rubbish, and there were unknown dangers lurking beneath the water. They didn't dare to go too fast, and it took them two hours to arrive.

There were no residential buildings or commercial houses nearby. As the water level dropped, the sign of "Steel World" was faintly visible on the water surface. In the dim morning light, it looked run-down.

The huge rusty iron frame was covered with scaffolding, a far cry from its former glory.

Now, it was not yet fully light, and the visibility was not very clear. Using the large billboard as a cover, Stella took out a diving suit and an oxygen tank from Arcadia.

The diving suit was fully enclosed, and carrying an oxygen tank made it a bit heavy. Fortunately, they had been physically trained regularly, otherwise, it would have been too much.

Once they were underwater, Stella stored the inflatable boat in Arcadia.

Turning on the headlamp on her forehead, they dived down into the water.

Steel World was vast, covering an area of five to six thousand acres. The types of steel were diverse, including wear-resistant, drop-resistant, climate-resistant, bendable, H-section steel, channel steel, angle steel, I-beam, composite steel, and hundreds of other varieties. The shops were all large, starting from several hundred square meters, with the larger ones even reaching a few thousand square meters. The annual processing capacity could reach 20 million tons.

There was so much steel that it was dazzling. They couldn't possibly take all of it, and they could only stock up on the types of steel needed for building construction, such as shaped steel, steel pipes, and steel bars.

When they found a shop selling steel bars, Stella carefully swam upwards, grabbing the steel bar on top and tried to store it in Arcadia.

Steel bars were heavy; a roll of coiled steel bars could weigh between 1-2 tons. Stella was worried that she might not be able to store it, but to her surprise, it was a success.

Jasper was by her side, not only watching out for her safety but also keeping an eye out for any danger around them.

They managed to sweep several shops for round steel bars, stacking them neatly and tightly in The Garden.

The water pressure was high, Stella didn't feel it at first, but the goods were large and heavy. After half an hour, she began to feel tired, and her energy was rapidly depleting. For safety reasons, she had to rest in Arcadia. Jasper handed her a power bar and some chocolate to quickly replenish her energy, and helped her relax her hands and feet, "Rest for a while."

Knowing the time limit in Arcadia, he didn't rest at all. The living room was empty, so he moved a bed from the garden into it.

Well, he sure knew how to pick, he moved a 2-meter king-sized bed. From the tag, it was a luxurious bed worth six figures. His taste in choosing a mattress was even better than choosing a girlfriend, also opting for a latex mattress worth six figures.

After Jasper made up the bed, he considerately said to Stella, "Go and have some sleep."

He was unwilling to take a break and went to help with the work in the field instead. Tthe watermelons she had planted were ripe, so he picked over a dozen of them and brought them back.

After they had eaten and rested, they dived back into the water to continue their scavenging. Now they looked for shaped steel, steel pipes, and thin steel bars for binding.

This collection took several hours, and the sunlight was dazzling on the water surface, constantly shining into the water.

They needed to stock up on supplies, but they also needed to rest.

At noon, they ate braised fish, boiled beef, some vegetables, and freshly picked watermelons.

In one corner of the garden, countless steel materials were stacked up. The exact quantity was unknown, but it was roughly estimated to be around eight to nine hundred tons.

Based on a 420-square-meter floor area, each floor required about 12 tons of steel bars. The supplies they had collected could build several buildings.

Jasper spoke up, "That should be enough."

Only then did Stella stop her frenzied collection. She lay on the luxurious bed, hugging a pillow, and peacefully took a nap.

Jasper was like a machine. Not only did he collect the watermelons, but he also weeded the crops. The more he did, the more Stella could rest. If Stella hadn't woken up from her nap intending to leave, he could have kept going for another three days and nights. There were other supplies to collect, and the two, looking at the countless steel materials, felt no attachment. They put on their diving suits and swam upstream.

Suddenly, a shadow rapidly approached. Jasper was the first to notice, pulling Stella to swiftly avoid it.

The water was rather murky, and the visibility was not very clear. Judging from the shadow, it was quite large. Good heavens, could it be a shark?

Stella was instantly on high alert, considering whether to grab a weapon or hide in Arcadia. However, the shadow didn't attack them but leisurely swam by.

Once it was a little closer, they realized it was a white shadow. It's a white dolphin!

This kind of endangered creatures would occasionally wander from Swan Hill into the harbor, swimming along the river to Griffith. Then, it would take a massive effort from the Animal Protection Association to guide them back, escorting them all the way back to the river mouth.

But this time, there were no staff members to escort them.

With water levels dropping incessantly, if they didn't return in time, they'd eventually be stranded and become a delectable treat on someone's platter. Stella wasn't interested in dolphin meat, but she still hoped these adorable critters could survive. Their survival meant more hope for humans, didn't it?

After bidding farewell to the dolphin, the two swam behind a large billboard, ensuring there were no onlookers before emerging from the water.

The afternoon sunlight was scorching. Fresh out of the water, they immediately went under the dazzling sun. It was humid and hot, making them sticky all over.

As they were changing clothes, hot sweat kept pouring out incessantly.

The two quickly slipped into thermal clothing, then donned their protective suits, not forgetting to add ice packs to help cool down. Then, they hopped into their inflatable boat, heading towards their next destination.