18 Floors Above the Apocalypse novel Chapter 235

With lightning reflexes, Stella accelerated her mule, swiftly evading the threat.

Jasper, without hesitation, raised his crossbow and fired, the shriek from the debris pile echoed in the air. They didn't stop but kept moving.

As they approached the city center, the crowd thickened, the town hall was bursting at the seams.

The hall was packed with survivors, all drawn by the promise of a new city plan. Even amidst an apocalypse, the deep-rooted mindset prevailed, a home was not a home without a house.

Those wealthy enough hoped to seize an opportunity to secure a house. The less fortunate aimed to accumulate points to exchange for supplies.

The bulletin board was plastered with dozens of pages, all lists of various materials that could be exchanged for points. The hall also boasted a precious electronic display screen, scrolling through the same information.

After half an hour, Stella and Jasper finished reading. Afterward, they exchanged a glance, and both felt uneasy.

Indeed, reinforced steel was expensive, but the price of a completed house was even higher. A two-bedroom house required 5000 points, a villa demanded 50000 points.

Well, it was not exactly a villa. It was just a two-story detached house, and the two bedrooms were just that, without a living room or bathroom, only about 15 square meters.

What did this imply? It wasn't that the government was being greedy, but resources were simply too scarce. Only by raising the threshold could some survivors be satisfied.

The absence of a living room was understandable, but no bathroom? Stella tugged at Jasper, hoping he could elaborate.

Jasper lowered his voice, "In the post-apocalyptic world, building materials are scarce. Without waterproof paint, you can build bathrooms. Any leakage could damage the quality of the house."

Reinforced steel, after being exposed to extreme cold, had its quality affected to some extent. Building too many floors would be risky, five or six was already pushing it.

In the future, public bathhouses and toilets would be established to cater to nature's call.

Stella was shocked, so they would have to venture out to use the toilet in the middle of the night? Or keep a chamber pot at home?

After remembering the key details, Jasper led her away from the crowd to a quiet place, "A villa requires 50000 points and 2000 pounds of grain, but it comes with a yard and a bathroom."

He made some calculations. If they used all the steel and bricks they had accumulated, plus 2500 pounds of grain, they could afford a villa and a two-bedroom house.

"Why do they need so many points?" Stella frowned. "Were houses this expensive in your past life?"

Of course not, the price should at least be reduced by tenfold.

At first, Jasper didn't understand either, but soon he realized, "The people who survived the earthquake were few, but this time, with the government's early warning, most people survived. This means resources are even scarcer, and the struggle for survival is even fiercer."

"You mean the government deliberately raised the points required for a house to exchange for more resources so that the lower class survivors can live?"

With so many survivors, most of whom couldn't afford a house, the government had no choice but to increase the price of houses, taking a cut from the middle and upper classes.

To put it simply, it was robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Stella counted the building materials they had in Arcadia and shook her head, "We can't donate all our materials. We still need to decorate the villa."

Moreover, being neighbors with the rich was great, but during harsh conditions, the villa area was also unsafe. For instance, during the polar night, the cost of committing a crime was low. What if the villa was invaded? Where would they retreat to then?

Even if they had an extra two-bedroom house, with Rosie and Cooper, and the need to raise rabbits, they wouldn't be able to manage. Therefore, not only did they need the villa, but they also needed at least two two-bedroom houses.

But if that was the case, the building materials they had accumulated wouldn't be enough.

The expensive materials weren't necessary. The steel was valuable. The bricks wouldn’t earn many points, and as for the glass, it had to be saved for decorating the villa, to protect against acid rain.

Stella had a new idea, "We can accumulate other building materials that can be exchanged for more points, to try and get another two-bedroom house."

"Sand and wood?"

"Those two are in the highest demand." Stella nodded, "Near Eastwood Eden is the Griffith River, as long as we're willing to dig, we will get lots of sand."

As for wood, they could venture into the deep forest.

For others, these two weren't difficult to obtain, the challenge was how to solve the transportation problem. But Stella had Arcadia to cheat, if they needed wood, they just had to go into the forest.

Leaving the city center, they still had some time. Stella didn't want to go back and do nothing, "Shall we take a walk?"