18 Floors Above the Apocalypse
Chapter 166

For the sake of a pack of cigarettes, Rob had one last piece of advice for the couple. "Don't buy your supplies from the local bazaars. A lot of the sea salt they sell is mixed with sand, and the seafood isn't fresh." There were a few business people living in the villa district. Many of them had been taken for a ride when they first moved in, but they had since learned their lesson.

After a bit of chit-chat, and with no objections from Jasper, Stella decided to rent the villa. They chose the one on top of the hill, far away from the other residents. The isolation would make their activities less noticeable.

Upon learning that they planned to live on top of the hill, Rob was surprised, but he didn't comment. "Alright, just follow us down to handle the paperwork."

While Jasper was checking Rosie's forehead wound, Stella unloaded several bags of potatoes from her truck. When Rosie got into the car, she looked a little surprised at the sight of the potatoes, but she didn't ask any questions.

Back at the security booth, they not only had to register their IDs but also have their photos taken. This was so all the security personnel could recognize them, preventing any unwanted disturbances from strangers. They were also given badges, which was surprisingly professional.

Being accustomed to the wealthy residents, the security officers were not surprised by Stella's bags of normal potatoes. They weighed them out to be around 450 pounds.

Rob was very helpful, informing them where they could buy furniture, and offering to have the security officers assist if needed.

Once all the procedures were finished, Stella drove back up to the villa.

The first thing she did was not to clean the rooms, but to turn on the air conditioning. It was unbearably hot. To her dismay, the air conditioning was broken.

Damn!

She didn't want the furniture in the villa, so Stella closed the room door and began to unload things from Arcadia. She might not have much, but she had plenty of furniture and appliances.

Due to safety considerations and wanting a better view, they chose to live on the second floor and planned to clean up three rooms.

Finally, they could use the solar power generator openly.

Air conditioning, refrigerator, humidifier, washing machine, dishwasher, bed, sofa, table, clothes, quilts... Living near the wealthy was great. Everyone had everything, and there was no need to hide anything. They filled a whole room, then started to move things out.

The air conditioning needed to be reinstalled, so Stella used some ice and a fan to cool down.

Rosie wasn't idle either. After putting ice on her forehead, she started to sweep and mop the floor.

The little girl was having a blast. Cooper wanted to help too, but Stella thought he was in the way. "Cooper, your job is to guard the house. You can't let any bad people in. If bad people get in, that means you're not doing your job, and we'll have to deduct your dog food." Cooper understood his mission and immediately went to the balcony to keep watch.

Jasper was the main worker, with Stella assisting. It took them two hours to install three air conditioners.

As for the old ones, they were all thrown into another room for now.

They used the power storage box for now, and the new air conditioner blew out cool air, finally saving them from the heat.

They had lunch under the cool air conditioning and continued to work. It took another two hours to set up the three rooms, clean the living room, kitchen, and bathroom.

In the evening, Stella took out the electric net they had gotten from Monkey and, with Jasper's help, surrounded the villa.

Although the security measures were already good, in an apocalyptic world, they could not afford to be careless.

They surrounded the villa with the electric net and reminded Rosie and Cooper not to touch it if they didn't want to be barbecued.

In order to teach Cooper and Rosie a lesson, Stella threw a cockroach she caught during cleaning onto the net. Soon, a burnt smell filled the air. "Want some barbecue?"

Both Rosie and Cooper were so scared they backed away.

As the sun was setting, the survivors began to emerge. The beach was full of people, all of them tanned like charcoal. After being roasted in the heat all day, they jumped into the sea like pasta being dropped into boiling water.

Standing on the rooftop, Stella used a telescope to observe the people on the beach and in the fishing village. There were people everywhere, densely packed. It was a terrifying sight.

Stella suggested, "Let's go take a walk."

Now that they were here, they could not forget their main purpose. They needed to check out the market first.

So the three of them and Cooper got into the car and drove off. Before they left, they turned up the electric current in the net and left a warning: High voltage, do not touch,. You are responsible for your own life!

The drive was quick, and in just over ten minutes they arrived at the seafood market in the fishing village.

In the past, the market was bustling, but now it was eerily quiet. Everywhere they looked, there were dried seafood products - shrimp, fish, squid, clams, and even silverfish.

Their eyes were dazzled by the variety of goods. However, there was no fresh seafood. There was no choice. Fresh seafood, if not processed immediately after being caught, would start to smell bad after a few hours in the hot weather.

As they were close to the sea, the wholesale market's dried goods were not expensive. Two kilos of grains could be exchanged for one kilo of dried goods. Sea salt was even cheaper, with a one-to-one exchange rate.

Salt and dried goods were the only thing they could produce in this area. They wanted to eat rice, pasta, or vegetables. But the weather was too hot, the seawater could not be purified, and rice could not be grown. As for vegetables, they were plucked as soon as they sprouted.

Unlike other cities, this area by the sea did not have a severe water shortage. They could get water by digging wells a few dozen meters deep. However, due to the depletion of surface water, seawater had invaded and seeped in. Even after being filtered through the soil, it still had a salty taste.

Drinking it made them thirstier, but not drinking it was even worse. So, even freshwater trading had appeared. One kilo of salt could be exchanged for ten liters of freshwater; or one kilo of dried goods could be exchanged for twenty liters of freshwater. Stella, with her life experience, shopped around, and when she found a reasonable price at a large shop, she would trade potatoes or sweet potatoes.

She didn't buy much, just one or two kilos.

The seafood market in the fishing village was a mix of good and bad. Jasper stayed in the car with Rosie and Cooper, while Stella was in charge of checking things out.

From the seafood market, they went to the government-led seafood trading center. That was right, in order to gain survival resources, the municipal government and the military jointly established departments with professional fishing boats and salt fields. The seafood they caught could be sold, but there were strict quotas.

Private individuals could buy ten pounds of fresh seafood and five pounds of dried seafood within seven days with their badges.

One pound of fresh seafood could be exchanged for one pound of grains, while dried seafood required two pounds of grains. They could get half a pound of coarse sea salt for free.

After seven days, each person was limited to one pound per day, and the price would double.

Jasper explained, "The main purpose of establishing the Seafood Department was to supply resources to the municipal government and the base, while also providing limited relief to ordinary survivors who came to the seaside."

They didn't restrict private groups from fishing or making salt, to leave a way out for the people and allow them to have more ways to get survival resources.

Stella queued up and bought a pound of dried squid with her frost-resistant potatoes.

There was no fresh seafood. If they wanted some, they had to queue before eight in the morning, because the fishing boats would dock at around two or three in the morning. Any later than eight, and the seafood would no longer be fresh.

Having collected her supplies, Stella retreated back to her car to make comparisons. It was undeniable; you get what you pay for. The seafood provided by the government was not only larger in size but also superior in terms of its luster and aroma. The sea salt was different as well, looking clean and free from impurities.

Ideally, buying from the government was the best option, but their prices were steep and they imposed purchasing restrictions. Not only were there limits set for individual purchases, but groups were similarly restricted.