18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 32

With a sudden acceleration and a swift drift around the bend, Stella barreled forward. A violent jolt nearly sent her flying out of the car. Thankfully, she managed to maintain her balance and, after a long detour, finally arrived at the convention center.

Although the convention center only had 12 floors, the expansive halls gave it an imposing presence. Stella circled around the center but couldn't detect any signs of life or any broken windows.

According to the industrial layout of the city, Rockdale was a hub for furniture manufacturing, with factories scattered around. The residential and commercial districts lay on the other side of the river and were hardly visible under the downpour.

All around, floodwaters prevailed, with only the convention center standing tall amid the chaos. The glass was thick and sturdy, resistant to a hammer's blow.

Stella used a window breaker and managed to shatter it after several attempts.

The convention center was a popular tourist destination and it was vast. Unfortunately, the grand lobby was submerged under the floodwater. Still, the magnificent structure was visible when Stella looked upwards.

The darkness swallowed the glitz and glamour of the center. Now, the only light came from Stella's flashlight, illuminating the rows of stylish furniture.

The intricate waterways around the center had protected it well. Perhaps the center didn't contain any survival supplies, as it remained untouched before Stella's arrival.

The center was filled with furniture of unimaginable designs and styles. Stella didn't rush to gather the furniture. Instead, she headed straight to the furniture museum on the top floor.

Without electricity, the center was pitch black, echoing only her footsteps. Exhausted from the long climb to the top floor, Stella rested her aching feet as she looked around.

The whole floor was filled with historical exhibits, including photographs, various types of wood, and ancient furniture - some intact, some dilapidated.

After about half an hour of exploring with her flashlight, Stella reached her target - a four-meter-long piece of irregularly shaped, dark brown wood.

This was ebony.

Aged and weathered underground for thousands or even tens of thousands of years, it had become something akin to a plant mummy - resembling wood but not quite, stone but not exactly.

It was considered a fossil amongst woods. There was even a saying that a bit of ebony was worth its weight in gold. Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

Stella couldn't estimate its value. After all, no matter how precious, it couldn't fill a starving belly. To a survivor, it was worthless.

The ebony was encased in transparent, explosion-proof glass, making it difficult to retrieve. Stella put on a mask and took out an electric saw from her backpack. After some effort, she managed to cut open the glass, releasing a sweet, aromatic scent. The scent of the ebony was truly pleasant.

Without wasting any time, she quickly stowed the precious wood into her Arcadia.

With the electric saw, she continued to collect various types of wood, all encased in glass or cordoned off with caution tape to prevent tourists from touching.

Stella couldn't tell which types of wood were infused with spiritual energy. She decided to throw them all into Arcadia.

After a while, she came across a bed made of rosewood, intricately carved, stunningly beautiful, and flawless. In the darkness, it looked somewhat eerie.

The bed was too large to fit in the living room of Arcadia, so she rolled up her sleeves and started to disassemble it. After disassembling and storing the bed, she also took the matching table, chairs, benches, and dressing table.

Even though she was wearing several layers of a face cover, Stella was sweating bullets while breaking the display cases. In a normal world, she would have been arrested for such actions.

After a long day of hard work, Stella was drenched in sweat and felt dizzy. She found a spot to rest, munching on a Snickers bar for energy, and washing it down with a can of Red Bull.

Once she felt a bit better, she switched off her flashlight and entered Arcadia.

Arcadia was cluttered with old furniture, but most of it had disappeared. Stella was taken aback by the sight. The living room had expanded by about 30 square meters, and there was now a spiral staircase leading to a second floor.

The bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom had all grown in size. There was now an additional bedroom and a study.

After counting everything, Stella now had four bedrooms, two living rooms, three bathrooms, and a study. The spiral staircase stopped at the ceiling, indicating that there was potential for further expansion.

What surprised her even more was the garden. It had grown from 20 square meters to... 300 square meters.

Stella had made the right bet. The ancient, spiritual wood had worked! She thanked the ebony, the rosewood, and all the other woods that had contributed to her expansion.

As for the ones that didn’t make any changes to Arcadia, she planned to use as firewood during the harsh winter.

Her trip had been more than worthwhile. She estimated that she had gained an extra 400 square meters in Arcadia.

After exiting Arcadia, Stella moved on to the next floor.

Two floors were filled with furniture. There was too much to take, so she picked the most valuable- looking pieces to throw into Arcadia.

All the furniture was stacked in the garden. If Arcadia could accept them, great. If not, she could exchange them later.

With the sudden addition of 1,200 cubic feet, Stella felt much more confident. She would hoard as much as she could without overloading Arcadia.

The eighth floor housed service halls and viewing rooms, as well as a dozen restaurants, cafes, bakeries, and convenience stores. It seemed to be a rest area for visitors and attendees of exhibitions.

The meat and vegetables had all spoiled, but the restaurants had stocked up for the convention. There were thousands of pounds of rice, flour, and other grains, over 300 barrels of oil, a variety of spices, coffee, wine, and other beverages.

She even found 20 unopened bottles of top-grade caviar and 30 bottles of Lafite wine in a high-end restaurant. All were still within their shelf life.

The refrigerators storing the valuable food items had their own energy storage boxes. Three large refrigerators were filled with steaks, lamb chops, foie gras, blue lobsters, Parmesan cheese, and more.

The unexpected bounty was overwhelming. Stella took everything, including the refrigerators. She took all the goods from the convenience store and bakery, except for those that were moldy and expired. She also took all the coffee beans, sugar, milk, and even the coffee machine from the coffee shop.

After sweeping through everything, she had gathered over 100 cubic meters of supplies.

Stella had been all around the eighth floor, and she stumbled upon a massive maintenance supply room. Inside were two hefty power generators that lay idle. In such a large convention center, there was always a risk of a power outage. And that was where these generators would come in handy – to keep things running in case of an emergency.

But to get these generators up and running, you'd need diesel fuel. Stella scoured the room, but there was no sign of any diesel.