18 Floors Above the Apocalypse
Chapter 169

Cooper perked up his ears and listened for a moment but heard no sound. He shrugged and returned to his shell.

Stella glanced at Jasper, who was lounging next to her, wanting to speak but uncertain of what to say. Finally, she turned to him and asked, "Are we still planning to sell water?" If not, they would have to trade their food or alcohol for it.

"Getting fresh water isn't easy these days, and purifying seawater costs too much. Let's wait a few days and see what Austin decides," Jasper suggested.

Stella agreed, and feeling reassured, she settled down for her afternoon nap.

Jasper didn't leave. Instead, he gently wrapped his arm around her. Stella felt a bit nervous. Was he going to do something to her? If he did, should she scratch him?

Fortunately, he proved to be a gentleman and made no untoward moves. Eventually, she fell asleep.

Which man didn't like sex? But Jasper felt Stella wasn't ready for that yet. Some things couldn't be rushed.

After making up their minds, they didn't go out anymore.

Staying in the villa all day was rather dull, so Stella thought for a moment, then pulled out a pig from the Arcadia and smiled at Jasper, "This is your mission."

With a butcher's knife and boning knife, the task was straightforward.

The pig had been thrown into the Arcadia just after it died and was still warm. Stella quickly found a large basin and didn't even waste the pig's blood.

Both of them squatted in the restroom, busy with their tasks. Jasper was the main labor force. After more than two hours of hard work, he successfully slaughtered the pig and cut it into small pieces. Just as he was about to relax, Stella pulled out another pig. Seeing his stunned expression, Stella laughed, "Just teasing you. We'll deal with this one tomorrow."

With that, she put the pig back into the Arcadia.

Jasper, who had been duped, suddenly approached Stella, reaching out to hold her.

Stella dodged him, "Stay away from me. You stink."

Actually, it wasn't that bad. The pig had starved for so many days that its intestines were relatively clean. But Jasper was meticulous in his work, and he handled the large and small intestines beautifully.

In the evening, they didn't slaughter pigs but they weren't idle either.

The villa was in an excellent location, so whatever they did wouldn't be noticed, unlike the Sunrise Sanctuary where even chopping bones would cause a noisy racket that could be heard upstairs and downstairs.

Stella took out a machine that imitated the process of hand-beating meatballs. She selected some pork with a good balance of fat and lean meat, cut it into pieces, and put it into the machine, setting it to meatball mode.

After beating the pork into a pulp, she added water, salt, and potato starch and mixed them evenly. Then she shaped the mixture into balls, put them into a pot, added water, and simmered them until they were cooked. As soon as the meatballs floated to the surface, they were ready.

The process was simple, and Rosie also came to help.

By the end of the night, they had made over 220 pounds of meatballs. After they had cooled, they were all stored in the Arcadia. The delicious broth left over from cooking the meatballs was also saved for future use in soups or noodles.

The next day, Jasper and Stella worked together to slaughter three pigs. Rosie worked alone, making meatballs until her back ached, but she never complained.

After slaughtering 10 pigs, Stella decided to move Jasper to butchering fish.

Jasper, who had just been promoted to senior pig-slaughtering engineer, was speechless. Rosie also switched modes, setting her sights on becoming a fishball expert. Cooper, with nothing else to do, blinked his doggy eyes at Stella and begged for a job.

"Guard the house. Guard the house. Guard the house," Stella repeated three times.

Just as she finished speaking, Cooper immediately became alert, his fur standing on end as he growled softly and looked out of the villa. Stella became alert as well. After a few minutes, a car pulled up to the villa, "Stella."

Monkey had arrived with Austin.

Only then did Stella realize that Monkey had long since expanded their business to the villa area. They were here to deliver goods and also pay a visit.

"Wow, isn't this the electrical grid I got for you?" Monkey had sharp eyes, "Wow, you even installed solar panels. You're really something!"

Rosie quickly turned on the exhaust fan to clear the kitchen of the lingering smell and carefully hid anything that should be hidden. Jasper, the master fish butcher, washed his hands and changed his clothes to get rid of the fishy smell. Austin came bearing gifts, all of which were high-quality seafood products from Odeberg International.

He was here to discuss cooperation, and his target was clear: he wanted water.

Stella had been waiting for him to make the first move. She appeared hesitant, "We do have water, but it's getting harder to obtain now with all the strict checks. At most, we can give you a truckload a day."

There were many wealthy people in the area, and one truckload of water was far from enough. But Austin knew that high-quality fresh water was hard to come by, "That's fine."

When it came to what they would get in return, Stella, who had gotten a taste, insisted on top-quality gemstones first, followed by seafood and salt.

After some haggling, they agreed that a truckload of water, 20 tons, would be exchanged for 500 pounds of dried seafood. Fresh seafood would be 1200 pounds, and coarse sea salt would be 2000 pounds. Stella could choose freely, but she had to notify them in advance.

At night, Jasper drove the water truck into the villa area. At around 2 a.m., they set out on their journey, with Stella following in an old car.

They took a detour outside to avoid people, then found a place to rest. At 5 a.m., they arrived at the designated location to deliver the goods and loaded 500 pounds of dried goods onto their truck to take back to the villa.

To avoid arousing suspicion, Jasper occasionally drove out to make it appear as if he was trading seafood.

After getting enough sleep during the day, they continued to stock up on food.

In half a month, they had accumulated over 2200 pounds of fishballs and meatballs, various steamed, braised, garlic, and spicy pork ribs and fish, etc.

Seafood was no exception, with stir-fried squid with celery, various shrimp and crab, and kelp salad, among others.

They tried to stock as much as possible, as they might not have such an opportunity to cook in the future.

One night, Stella craved barbecue, "Mr. Jasper, you've been working hard these past few days. How about we have a barbecue tonight as a treat?"

Jasper saw through her ruse but agreed regardless, "Sure."

Neither Cooper nor Rosie objected. They were both food lovers.

Oysters, squid, pork ribs, pork neck, chicken wings, and so on. They had everything they could possibly want, rivaling any barbecue stand.

Stella marinated the meat, while Jasper set up a charcoal grill on the rooftop. Rosie was very diligent, helping to skewer the meat, while Cooper drooled in anticipation.

The red charcoal fire rose, and the scent of spice spread into the night.

It was still hot at night, but the three of them and the dog were all wearing temperature-regulating clothes. The seaside cooled down quickly, with temperatures dropping below 45 degrees. Wrapped in a thermal jacket, it was really top-notch. Stella sure knew her way around the grill, and her barbecuing speed with Jasper was quite swift.

The freshly barbecued meat was mouth-watering.

Whenever Rosie wasn't looking, Stella sneakily threw a piece to Arcadia. Nothing like hot barbecue, it lost its charm once it cooled down.

Poor Rosie had to wait for over an hour, and her brother's homemade chicken drumstick still wasn't done.

Finally, when it was all grilled to perfection, it was served. The three of them, along with Cooper, sat on the rooftop. Jasper sipped his beer, Stella enjoyed her pineapple cider, while Cooper and Rosie stuck to soda.

They basked in the gentle sea breeze, with a star-studded sky in the distance.

Stella, who used to be caught up with making ends meet, couldn't remember the last time she enjoyed a seaside night view. The darkness of the night concealed the harsh reality of the disaster. The brilliant starry sky was like picture, as if when the sun rose tomorrow, it would still be a thriving scene.

Feeling a sudden wave of complexity, Stella took Jasper's beer bottle and chugged a couple of sips, "Imagine how great it would be if the disaster never happened."

But alas, there were no 'what ifs' in this world.

Jasper took Stella's hand, "As long as you and Rosie are with me, I'm not afraid anymore."

Suddenly, out of the darkness, a dog's head popped up, staring at him intently. Holding back a laugh, Jasper petted his head, "And of course, Cooper, our most important family member." Cooper, asserting his dominance, squeezed himself into the center.

In the darkness, two hands reached around Cooper's back, holding each other tightly. Stella titled her head and looked at him, "With you guys, I'm not that scared either."

After they had eaten to their heart's content, Jasper was thinking about hoarding some more, when suddenly, Cooper's expression shifted to one of alertness, letting out a low warning growl. Then after a while, headlights illuminated the darkness.