18 Floors Above the Apocalypse



Under the cover of night, Stella and Jasper, equipped with night-vision goggles, swiftly swam toward another fishing vessel, using the same tactics to take control of it.

In a flash, a dozen Iranians were kicked out into the sea by the crew of the Arcadia. Curses filled the air, but in the darkness, it was impossible to see who was who. The Iranians, caught off guard, grabbed the person flailing next to them and, without hesitation, plunged their knives in. The knives went in white and came out red, stabbing over and over without pause.

It wasn't until the victim's screams filled the air, cursing a blue streak, that the assailant realized he had stabbed one of his own. Oh God, he had stabbed one of his own. Before he could recover from the shock and guilt, his shoulder was seized again. Without any hesitation, the stabbing continued. Who cared who it was? It was better to kill than to be killed. And he wasn't the only one with that thought. Blood began to bloom in the water in several places.

The screams at sea alerted the Iranians on the transport ship. They rushed out with lights and saw that two fishing boats were missing. "Darn it!" As they stood shocked, trying to figure out how to save their comrades, the survivors from the transport ship sprang into action. Someone took the lead, lunging forward and tossing the Iranians on the rail into the sea. Where there was one, there were others. Fueled by desperate courage, they fought. If death was inevitable, they might as well go down fighting. Their forefathers had shed blood and sacrificed to drive out invaders, and they could do the same. In the darkness, the resistance began with the sound of gunfire...

The Iranians in the sea tried to climb back onto the ship, but the transport was too high, and they couldn't get back up. Suddenly, screams pierced the black sea, growing in number. Sharks! The scent of blood had attracted the sharks. Dozens of them appeared, swarming over the Iranians with their gaping jaws. Stella hadn't expected such a smooth operation, not having wasted a single bullet. The arrival of the sharks turned the sea into a deadly trap.

Just as Stella was about to pull Jasper into the safety of the Arcadia, a whirlpool suddenly appeared, swallowing them both. Darn it, they'd been swallowed by a shark! How big must a shark be to gulp down two people in one bite? Wait, where were the sharp teeth? Stella realized too late that she and Jasper had been swallowed by Blue Blue. Well, talk about true love. The sharks frenziedly tore at the Iranians in the water, but they respected the queen of the ocean, not daring to challenge the status of the blue whale, and none dared to attack.This is from NôvelDrama.Org.

Blue Blue returned to the submarine and spat out Stella and Jasper, emitting a high-pitched call. Stella's eardrums buzzed. She could brag for a lifetime about the time she and Jasper were almost eaten by a blue whale. Thankfully, they were wearing diving suits, or they'd be drenched in Blue Blue's saliva. Jasper looked at Stella, speechless-her tastes were truly unique; not afraid to be swallowed whole by Blue Blue.

With the Arcadia in hand, Jasper smirked, "If Blue Blue dares to swallow me, I'll just take out the yacht from the Arcadia, and if it bursts its belly, it's not my fault."

Blue Blue, not understanding human language, "....." Thank you very much!

They climbed onto the submarine and observed through binoculars that the survivors on the transport ship seemed to have regained control, mercilessly throwing their captors into the sea. The sharks waited with open mouths, ready for their next meal. Jasper stared at the transport ship for a long time, then explained to Stella, "They're survivors from the official base in the province of Rook. They managed to avoid the plate collision on land before heading out to sea."

There were eight official transport ships at the beginning, traveling together until they were scattered by a storm. Facing an uncertain future and to conserve fuel, the surviving ships drifted at sea. It was a difficult journey, but they were lucky. They had encountered several storms but had survived each time, as if watched over by a higher power.

"There are officials and soldiers from the base on the ship. The living conditions are harsh, but they've managed to stay united, or they wouldn't have been able to retaliate against the Iranians so quickly." Disasters show no mercy, and even with unity, they were on the brink of the end. This time it was the Iranians, next time, who knows what they would encounter? It felt like they couldn't go on.

The survivors sat numbly on the deck, the last spark in their eyes nearly extinguished. Before encountering the Iranians, under the leadership and encouragement of their officials, the survivors hadn't completely lost hope. But seeing the barbaric Iranians, that last thread inside them snapped. One of them couldn't hold back his tears, "Just kill me, I don't want to live."

He didn't want to become someone who ate his kind or be eaten by them, eventually mutating into a monster like the Iranians. A battered official stood up, wiping the blood from his mouth, "Comrades, we've endured for nine years, survived the plate collision, and countless other disasters. We've come 99% of the way; maybe just 1% more and we'll see the light and hope. Do you remember the promises you made to your loved ones? That no matter how hard it was, you would survive. We live not only for ourselves but for our friends and family, for humanity. Believe in the country, believe in the power of the people; they will not give up on us, we will find a new foothold, hope is still there."

With that, he draped an old flag over his shoulders and began to sing a song of his homeland, tears streaming down his face as others joined in, their combined voices carrying far across the sea. Stella turned away, silently standing in the darkness.

After calming the survivors, Devin, in pain, returned to the rest area. The taste of salt and iron surged up his throat, and he vomited blood. His secretary hurried to help him to bed, anxious, "I'll go find the medic."

Devin stopped him, "It's no use, we've run out of medicine a long time ago."

"If you don't get treatment, you might..." the secretary began.

Devin gave a wry smile, "Xiao He, if I'm not around one day, you have to lead them on. The Kindle Society doesn't lie; if they say Hope Point will be built, it will be. We just haven't found it yet. Don't give up, or we'll truly have no hope left."

The secretary's breathing was bitter, "But we've been searching for so long, without any news. We've run out of supplies, we might not last three days."

"We'll last as long as we can. As long as there's one person on this ship, we cannot give up hope."