18 Floors Above the Apocalypse
Chapter 239

Plant mutation?

Exposed to all sorts of severe weather, mutating to adapt to new environments indeed accorded with the theory of evolution.

Whatever. She decided to plant it in the Arcadia for now.

Hoping to replace a few more, the three of them conducted a thorough search, but unfortunately, they found no more.

They continued to chop wood, replaceing herbs when they grew tired.

Having spent five to six days in the thick woods, they'd cleared several hills of trees, enough to keep five to six truckloads of lumber for themselves and donate ten more.

They didn't rush to leave but instead, sought herbs in the dense forest. Over the next few days, they found about fifty to sixty different herbs, the most valuable among them were a young ginseng plant, several wild yam plants, and some goji berries. Stella's eyes were about to pop out looking for them. It was an extreme eye strain; she was exhausted and needed to rest.

And so, their wood-chopping trip ended. With their dog and rabbits in tow, they planned to return to the city.

"Ah...!"

A horrific scream suddenly echoed throughout the dense forest. The chilling sound caused goosebumps to rise. Cooper's fur stood on end, his face fierce.

Jasper perked up his ears, "It sounds like it's coming from another part of the forest."

This scream, even after three years, Stella was overly familiar with it - it was filled with despair. It wasn't a simple distress call.

Over the past three years, whether it was Lukas' group or Jasper, and even Cooper and Rosie, had slowly been healing her. But when the scream echoed again, Stella felt her blood rush to her head, and she instantly drew her gun and loaded it. Jasper noticed her emotional fluctuation, "Don't panic. Let's see what's going on first."

Stella nodded, taking a deep breath to calm herself down.

The dog took the lead, taking a shortcut to the other hill.

"Rosie, don't worry. Watch your step and keep quiet."

Rosie wasn't nervous. In fact, she was even more alert than the dog, but her brother's concern made her particularly obedient, "Okay."

Cooper was on full alert, leading the humans and the rabbits on a criminal hunting expedition.

Over the hill, a winding mountain road appeared. Jasper was adept at tracking. The path in front of him could hardly be called a path; it was more like a trail from frequent use.

He observed the traces left on the road, "There seem to be more than ten people."

Following the inconspicuous path, the three of them hastened their pace and quickly climbed another hill, only to see four men holding knives, and six others tied up with ropes.

Stella took out her binoculars. Two were skinny girls, and the rest four were children around ten years old. One child was so hungry he couldn't stand, stumbling and falling onto the ground. Tied to the same rope, when one fell, they all fell. The men were irritated, rushing over to kick and punch the child, "Useless! Damn, I'm going to slaughter you first when we get back."

The girl threw herself over, shielding one of the boys with her body, "Don't hit my brother."

The punches and kicks fell like rain, and the horrific screams echoed again.

Cooper snarled, an intent to kill clear on its face. Jasper remained calm, "They must have a hideout, and..."

He didn't finish, but Stella knew what he meant.

Jasper reached out, brushing a piece of grass off her hair, "Stella, do you want to continue?"

Such incidents were not rare in places where the official forces couldn't reach; in fact, they had even become the norm later on.

Stella stood silently, lost in her thoughts. She couldn't calm down, her blood boiling. This was a nightmare. Even if it happened again, she was still trapped in it.

Stella took a deep breath and started walking towards where they'd disappeared. If she turned and left now, it might take her a long time to regain inner peace.

Jasper looked at her retreating figure, the corners of his mouth lifted in a slight smile.

Rosie was a bit confused, and she looked up at her brother. He patted her head, "Rosie, no matter whether we are around in the future, you have to be able to protect yourself. Don't end up like them."

Rosie nodded. She understood, but not really, "Okay."

They followed silently; after crossing two hills, a bamboo house and a cave appeared at the foot of the mountain.

Hearing the noise outside, several men came out of the house. Stella counted, adding the four who had returned, there were ten men in total. These people... no, they could no longer be called people. They were devils. They gathered around, touching the two girls, disgust evident on their faces, "Not even two pounds of meat on them."

"I say, can't you replace some more appealing ones?"

"I'd love to replace some more appealing ones, but there are starving people everywhere outside, and the rich have bodyguards, it's not that easy."

"As long as they can satisfy us, it doesn't matter. Anyway, they're going to end up in the pot sooner or later."

Two men came up, roughly grabbed the girls' hair, ignoring their pleas and cries, and dragged them towards the creek behind the bamboo forest, intending to clean them up first.

It was almost dusk, the men left a bruised and battered boy behind, while the rest were driven into the cave on the right.

Stella watched all this through her binoculars.

There were more people in the cave. The left side was women, and the right side was men. The inside was pitch dark and damp. They ate, drank, and relieved themselves all in there. The conditions were worse than a pigsty. These men were clever, they knew that official forces had dispatched troops to patrol the city, so it wasn't safe. They moved to the deep woods.

They were living far away from the city; Stella believed more devils were hiding in the mountains.

Her heart ached.

They had already started heating water in front of the bamboo forest. Jasper didn't want Stella to see this scene. He attached a silencer to his gun, "You take care of the two behind the bamboo forest, I'll handle the ones in front. They probably don't have guns, but be careful."

Stella nodded, though just to be safe, she put on her bulletproof vest.

Rosie and the dog also had roles. The two of them took the rabbits to replace a safe place to hide. They had always been kept in a cage. When the rabbits found out that they were not wearing bulletproof vests, they seemed to silently protest.

Stella had just left when the dog followed; he had to protect his owner.

Rosie, who had been abandoned many times, wanted to contribute too!

Stella quietly went around to the back of the bamboo forest. She saw two men continuously dunking the girls in the deep pool, their faces twisted in cruel smiles, their mouths full of dirty words.

Perhaps they hadn't considered that there could be danger in the deep woods, they didn't even notice Stella standing above them on the bank.

The setting sun cast a splendid glow, stretching the shadows on the shore. Seeing the reflection in the water, the men initially didn't pay it any mind. But they soon realized something was off. The shadow was slender; it looked like a woman. He instinctively stood up and turned around, but the next moment his chest was soaked in red. Dealing with such scum was simply a waste of bullets, so Stella decided to use a crossbow.

His eyes widened in disbelief, staring at the masked woman on the shore, her gaze as cold as ice.

Looking down, he saw the arrow lodged in his chest. He plummeted into the water with a splash.

The other man hadn't realized what had happened. He was still pushing the young girl's head under the water.