18 Floors Above the Apocalypse
Chapter 96

With caution etched in their every move, Jasper and Stella quietly approached the outskirts of Unity Village.

Rather than directly approaching, Jasper opted to circle the perimeter at a safe distance before leading Stella into a nearby office building. From there, he pulled out a pair of binoculars to survey the scene.

His focus wasn't on the main gate, but on the towering buildings within the village, "There are lookouts for counter-surveillance."

Stella was taken aback. No wonder so many people died in her past life and paid a hefty price just to eradicate The Chaos. It turned out that the leaders weren't just ordinary villains.

When it came to surveillance, Jasper was undoubtedly a professional.

He identified a few suspicious lookout points, skillfully avoiding them while keeping an eye on the main entrance. When Jasper remained silent and unmoving for a while, Stella's curiosity got the better of her, "What are you looking at?" "Observing their conversations."

"You can read lips?"

"A bit."

Stella covered her mouth, relieved that she hadn't spoken ill of him before.

But the more she thought about it, the more she felt a chill running down her spine.

All special forces operatives were invariably trained for special operations and required to master a variety of skills. Lip reading was just the tip of the iceberg; many were even experts in micro-expression analysis.

Otherwise, how could they make an accurate judgment of whether to shoot to save a hostage when facing ruthless criminals?

At this moment, Stella felt a shiver run down her spine, a chill that went straight to her head.

Could she keep any secrets from him?

Noticing her stiffness, Jasper lowered his binoculars, "What's wrong?"

"You..." Stella's mind was a bit sluggish, "What did they say?"

"Entry requires a pass and a secret code."

"What secret code?"

"I'm not quite sure about that. I'll have to analyze it later."

Stella didn't believe him for a second; he was obviously holding back.

"The people entering have their backs to us, and their mouth movements aren't clear. But based on the frequency of their speech, I can estimate how many words they said. It will take time to decode." They stayed until evening, and the weather seemed to get colder.

On the way back, Jasper suddenly said, "The Chaos seems to have something big planned for the next few days."

Stella looked surprised, "What's going on?"

She could only be grateful that he was not her enemy; such a person would be truly terrifying.

Over the next few days, everything was calm. Stella didn't go out, but Jasper did from time to time.

Late at night, the door to the stairwell was knocked.

Mikey had returned, and he had something to discuss with the residents of the 18th floor.

After hearing about the events of the past few days, he had been so anxious that he couldn't sleep. He had intentionally taken the day off to come back.

He had brought back a storage battery box and had built an inverter that could be mounted on a bicycle to generate electricity through mechanical rotation.

The storage battery box could store up to 20 degrees of electricity, but Mikey's concern wasn't about charging phones or lighting, "Relying only on the stainless-steel door, the 17th and 18th floors are still not secure enough. I want to electrify the three doors on the 17th floor. If they dare to break in, they'll be knocked down by the electric shock."

The residents of the 18th floor were taken aback.

This kid had some skills!

By electrifying the stainless-steel door, anyone who dared to break in would be shocked into submission, and might even end up like a fried mouse.

Cody expressed his doubts, "Can it really generate electricity?"

"Yes, it will just require some strenuous pedaling." Mikey honestly admitted, "My grandma is old, and my mom has to work during the day, so the task of pedaling the bicycle for electricity will have to fall on you guys."

He calculated that if each person on the 18th floor pedaled for an hour each day, the electricity generated would be enough to last for 24 hours.

Charging for 5 hours could provide 24 hours of use, and if they were more diligent, they could even charge their phones and flashlights.

Although they had solar chargers, the extreme cold meant there was no sunlight, and the sky was always cloudy. Sometimes, even after charging for two or three days, it wouldn't work.

And using a phone in the extreme cold was not only slow but also particularly power-consuming.

Mikey's suggestion was equivalent to the Moore family providing the equipment, and the 18th floor maintaining its operation. Together they would ensure the safety of the 17th and 18th floors. Lukas was a bit worried, "Won't we get shocked by the electrified door?"

"No, I'll install switches on both floors. When the electricity is on, there will be an indicator light. You just need to operate it according to the instructions when you enter and exit." Mikey's return wasn't easy, so they decided to proceed immediately. Cody and Lukas helped as assistants.

They worked into the late night, but finally, the task was accomplished.

The handrails on both sides of the stairs were cut off, the wires were connected to the 18th floor, and the switches and operation indicator lights were installed. Cody and Lukas secretly threw a small piece of meat onto the door, and sure enough, they smelled something burning.

Hmm, it really worked.

Out of humanitarian concerns, they didn't forget to post a warning sign next to it: Electric shock risk. Do not touch. Not responsible for any injuries!

Back upstairs, Lukas, eager to prove his strength, was the first to volunteer to pedal the high-powered bicycle to generate electricity.

He was fine for the first ten minutes.

Twenty minutes in, he started to feel the strain.

After thirty minutes, he was yearning for a break.

By the hour mark, he collapsed, panting heavily, "Cody, I can't do it anymore."

Indeed, the weak would always be weak, no matter how hard they trained.

Cody reminded him, "Lukas, you are a stronf man."

"You're right. You go ahead."

An hour later, Cody collapsed too, "Lukas, I really can't do it."

Mikey, that bastard, he had said that pedaling the bicycle would be incredibly easy. It was a total sham.

Seeing the exhausted boys, Angela hopped on and pedaled for an hour without breaking a sweat, "I can't beliebe you guys!"

The boys were speechless. Could it be the bicycle was a sexist?

When it was Stella's turn, she simply moved the bicycle back into her room.

After calculating the electricity generated by the three of them, she plugged the battery box into Arcadia and charged it for about twenty minutes, accidentally overcharging it.

It took two hours for the charge to decrease before she could bring the bicycle back out.

Cody was shocked when he saw the charge, "Stella, how long did you pedal for?"

Stella leaned weakly against the door frame, pretending to be exhausted, "I accidentally pedaled for two hours. I was beat. This is two days' worth of electricity, so don't come looking for me tomorrow."

Feeling somewhat downhearted, the boys secretly drank in their room that night, "Cody, why is it that Angela doesn't sweat after an hour, Stella can go for two hours straight, and Jasper can go for three hours without blinking an eye? Why are we always at the bottom?" Cody was disheartened and took a big gulp of his drink, "Why is it that no matter how hard we try, we're always being overshadowed?"

Was it true that once you were weak, you were weak for life?

No, they must rise!

"But how?" Lukas had really tried his best, "I don't feel this weak in front of others, but once I'm on the 18th floor, I can't even lift my head."

He used to be fine, and his wife liked him just the way he was. But now, it felt like she was increasingly disdainful of him

even though his biceps were growing.

Now the doors were electrified and they had a dog at home, but the people on the 18th floor showed no signs of letting their guard down.

Jasper sketched out a battle strategy, "No doubt the door's electrified, but have you guys considered that they might climb up the drainage pipes from the windows or stairs?"

Cody and Lukas got goosebumps, "Do you mean that they can drill their way up?"

Jasper, ever the serious one, responded, "It's a possibility."

Exhausted, Cody and Lukas quipped, "Bring on the apocalypse, and make it quick."