18 Floors Above the Apocalypse novel Chapter 169

Cooper perked up his ears and listened for a moment but heard no sound. He shrugged and returned to his shell.

Stella glanced at Jasper, who was lounging next to her, wanting to speak but uncertain of what to say. Finally, she turned to him and asked, "Are we still planning to sell water?"

If not, they would have to trade their food or alcohol for it.

"Getting fresh water isn't easy these days, and purifying seawater costs too much. Let's wait a few days and see what Austin decides," Jasper suggested.

Stella agreed, and feeling reassured, she settled down for her afternoon nap.

Jasper didn't leave. Instead, he gently wrapped his arm around her. Stella felt a bit nervous. Was he going to do something to her? If he did, should she scratch him?

Fortunately, he proved to be a gentleman and made no untoward moves. Eventually, she fell asleep.

Which man didn't like sex? But Jasper felt Stella wasn't ready for that yet. Some things couldn't be rushed.

After making up their minds, they didn't go out anymore.

Staying in the villa all day was rather dull, so Stella thought for a moment, then pulled out a pig from the Arcadia and smiled at Jasper, "This is your mission."

With a butcher's knife and boning knife, the task was straightforward.

The pig had been thrown into the Arcadia just after it died and was still warm. Stella quickly found a large basin and didn't even waste the pig's blood.

Both of them squatted in the restroom, busy with their tasks. Jasper was the main labor force. After more than two hours of hard work, he successfully slaughtered the pig and cut it into small pieces. Just as he was about to relax, Stella pulled out another pig.

Seeing his stunned expression, Stella laughed, "Just teasing you. We'll deal with this one tomorrow."

With that, she put the pig back into the Arcadia.

Jasper, who had been duped, suddenly approached Stella, reaching out to hold her.

Stella dodged him, "Stay away from me. You stink."

Actually, it wasn't that bad. The pig had starved for so many days that its intestines were relatively clean. But Jasper was meticulous in his work, and he handled the large and small intestines beautifully.

In the evening, they didn't slaughter pigs but they weren't idle either.

The villa was in an excellent location, so whatever they did wouldn't be noticed, unlike the Sunrise Sanctuary where even chopping bones would cause a noisy racket that could be heard upstairs and downstairs.

Stella took out a machine that imitated the process of hand-beating meatballs. She selected some pork with a good balance of fat and lean meat, cut it into pieces, and put it into the machine, setting it to meatball mode.

After beating the pork into a pulp, she added water, salt, and potato starch and mixed them evenly. Then she shaped the mixture into balls, put them into a pot, added water, and simmered them until they were cooked. As soon as the meatballs floated to the surface, they were ready.

The process was simple, and Rosie also came to help.

By the end of the night, they had made over 220 pounds of meatballs. After they had cooled, they were all stored in the Arcadia. The delicious broth left over from cooking the meatballs was also saved for future use in soups or noodles.

The next day, Jasper and Stella worked together to slaughter three pigs. Rosie worked alone, making meatballs until her back ached, but she never complained.

After slaughtering 10 pigs, Stella decided to move Jasper to butchering fish.

Jasper, who had just been promoted to senior pig-slaughtering engineer, was speechless. Rosie also switched modes, setting her sights on becoming a fishball expert.

Cooper, with nothing else to do, blinked his doggy eyes at Stella and begged for a job.

"Guard the house. Guard the house. Guard the house," Stella repeated three times.

Just as she finished speaking, Cooper immediately became alert, his fur standing on end as he growled softly and looked out of the villa. Stella became alert as well.

After a few minutes, a car pulled up to the villa, "Stella."

Monkey had arrived with Austin.

Only then did Stella realize that Monkey had long since expanded their business to the villa area. They were here to deliver goods and also pay a visit.

"Wow, isn't this the electrical grid I got for you?" Monkey had sharp eyes, "Wow, you even installed solar panels. You're really something!"

Rosie quickly turned on the exhaust fan to clear the kitchen of the lingering smell and carefully hid anything that should be hidden. Jasper, the master fish butcher, washed his hands and changed his clothes to get rid of the fishy smell.