18 Floors Above the Apocalypse
Chapter 241

After a three-day break, Stella was back on her grind.

She had spent over a month collecting wood, stone, sand, steel, and bricks, steadily accumulating 60,000 points in the process.

As she browsed the list of items she could exchange for her points, she was disappointed to replace it mostly consisted of food, clothes, and alcohol - items she had no use for. This made her reconsider her plan of accumulating more points.

With the materials she had handed over, a significant amount of space was freed up in Arcadia, allowing for more cultivation.

Jasper, concerned about Stella's workload, suggested, "Why don't we replace Monkey? Maybe we can trade for a planting and harvesting machine?"

"Fine," Stella agreed, "I have nothing better to do while we wait for Newtown to be completed."

But to her surprise, Monkey was nowhere to be found.

After several fruitless days of searching in the trading street, Stella remembered that Rob lived near Eastwood Eden. With Rob's help, they finally tracked down Monkey.

"How can I help you?" Monkey asked, dust caked on his face and a sense of urgency in his voice. "I'm in the middle of scavenging."

He explained that his wife was nagging him about moving to Newtown, and despite his best efforts, he couldn't accumulate enough points. So, he had no choice but to risk his life scavenging.

Stella frowned, "How did you end up in this situation?"

Monkey sighed heavily, explaining that the sea had been contaminated by a prehistoric virus, cutting off his main source of income.

With the extreme heat over, the weather was becoming cooler each day, reducing the water scarcity.

A massive earthquake had buried nearly everything under rubble, leaving only the survivors. With the construction of Newtown, the government was fleecing the rich, persuading them to donate as much as they could. This frightened them into living frugally-even the rich were running out of supplies.

The lower class couldn't afford the goods, and the rich dared not consume them. This hit the middlemen like Monkey hard.

In response to Stella's concern, Monkey reassured her, "Austin has suffered even greater losses. Many of our supplies were destroyed in the earthquake."

Despite his struggles, Monkey was still loyal to his boss, "He's trying to buy a villa, but he can't feed all of us. We have to fend for ourselves, and the boss makes up for any shortfall."

Stella then asked, "How much can you make in a day scavenging?"

"Just a few tens of points, I guess." Monkey replied, explaining that things had become more difficult recently.

Stella made a proposition, "If you can get the planting and harvesting machine, I'll give you half a truckload of steel."

Monkey's jaw dropped, "Are you serious?"

"Absolutely," Stella confirmed, amused by his stunned expression.

Half a truckload of steel was around two tons, which made Monkey's heart race. "I'll get it for you in three days."

"Three days?" Stella questioned, "Isn't that a bit rushed? I'm not in a hurry."

"Two days and a half," Monkey hastily replied, worried that someone else might take the job.

"Alright," Stella agreed somewhat hesitantly, "just remember to keep this a secret."

Three days passed in a flash, and true to his word, Monkey delivered the machines. Although they were smaller than expected, they were in perfect working condition.

Satisfied with the delivery, Stella gave Monkey an extra two rolls of steel, bringing the total to three tons.

Jasper quickly learned how to operate the machine and asked, "What should we plant?"

Stella considered the cooling weather and suggested, "Potatoes should be fine."

And so, they planted potatoes in the freed-up space, keeping it low-key to avoid attracting any unwanted attention.

With hundreds of pounds of seeds left over, Stella suggested, "Why don't we give them to Mark and his group at Eastwood Eden?"

They agreed to lend the seeds to Mark and his group. In return, they would get back the seeds and an additional 20% of the yield.

The next day, they traded the potatoes for a solar generator from Eastwood Eden.

With the generator gone, life would become a bit inconvenient, but Mark reassured his group, "We can harvest the potatoes in three months. Besides, we might not even be able to use the generator in Newtown. Let's think of this as early adaptation." Their optimism didn't wane, and they quickly got to work. Jasper reminded them, "Mark, be careful when planting. Make sure no one steals the potatoes."

And so, they took turns guarding their crops.

...

After dinner, while washing the dishes, Rosie glanced outside, "Stella, why isn't it dark yet?" During the height of summer, it usually got dark around 7:30 PM, but now it was already 8 PM. Stella stared outside for a long while, then pulled out a thermometer, 28 degrees Celsius. The extreme heat came to an end, and the polar day arrived.