Chapter 17
If Arcadia were to grow by a hundredfold, Ste would not waste a single second scouring the
expanse of this city. This was better than helplessly watching precious survival resources go under,
and people resorting to brutal fights over a moldy loaf of bread.
The reality was harsh, and Ste had to look out for herself.
She gathered her thoughts and continued her race against the flooding waters.
Milk, yogurt, powdered milk, goat milk, soy milk powder, cereal, sugar in all its forms...
The water had reached her thighs, and she didn''t have time to readbels or be picky. Her hands
swiftly swept the shelves, grabbing whatever she could. Even if it wasn''t her favorite, it was better
than letting it go to waste.
Canned goods, dried fruits, choctes, energy bars, biscuits, cheese, chicken legs, wings, beef
jerky,mb bites... Arcadia filled up at an rming pace.
After grabbing a heap of pasta, Ste headed to the instant food section. Instant noodles,
condensed soup, instant mashed potatoes, oatmeal, instant pudding - you name it, they had it. But
due to the storm, the stock had dwindled.
In her past life, she had to gnaw on tree bark and consume y to survive. Towards the end, she
even had to use a stick to dig a pit for a makeshift toilet.
Arriving at the condiments section, she immediately hoarded the essentials, oilive oil, corn oil,
can oil, and tea oil. She took the bigger bottles that took less space when it came to mayonnaise,
ketchup, yellow mustard, and vinegar. There were dozens of brands lined up on the shelves. She
had swept them all clean.
Whenever she came across something she liked, she even scooped it up from the water. She would
not waste anything.
In the end, she didn''t even bother to read thebels as she swept them into her cart. The water had
risen to her waist, and despite wearing a waterproof suit, she felt the chill seeping in, making it
difficult to move. But this was herst chance to hoard goods. The more she could gather now, the
less chance she would have to fight people for foodter. It was a pity that the ground floor was
flooded, otherwise, she could have collected more precious resources.
When the water reached her chest, she felt herself starting to float, and most of the goods were
either sinking or floating on the surface. Collecting supplies had be more difficult, but luckily,
Arcadia was already filled to the brim, even the toilet was almost stuffed full.
Just as she was about to scoop up some snacks floating on the surface, a beam of light swept
across the nearby area. Ste was shocked. Was there another scavenger around?
N?velDrama.Org owns this.
The shlight was on, and she quickly hid behind a shelf, on high alert. She had no idea how many
people were there, and it would be difficult to fight in the water. Plus, she had already cleared the
second floor of its valuable goods. If Arcadia was discovered...
Ste couldn''t take that risk. She took out a portable diving mask from Arcadia, put it on, and quietly
swam towards the fire exit. The floodwater seeped into her waterproof suit, making her body feel
extremely heavy. She held her breath as she swam and stripped, only surfacing when she couldn''t
hold her breath any longer to catch a gulp of air through the mask.
Judging by the sounds, it seemed like there was only one person. Ste let out a sigh of relief,
exerted a great deal of effort to push open the fire exit door, and headed towards the rooftop via the
stairs.
She didn''t turn on her shlight. Panting, she took a break and ate some chocte to replenish her
energy. Only when the feeling of dizziness subsided did she continue her barefoot journey to the
rooftop.
The rooftop was empty, and the second floor was already half flooded. As she was leaving, Ste
took onest look at the Hummer she had her eye on in the parking lot. It was the same model as
the one from room 1801. Not only was it high and powerful, but it also had a domineering
appearance that could easily knock over a regr SUV. It was a true post-apocalyptic battle vehicle.
Unfortunately, Arcadia was already full. When faced with a choice, she chose the morefortable
and versatile RV instead. She patted the hood of the car, feeling as if she was parting with a piece
of her own flesh.
Before long, these cars would all be submerged and then swept away by the flood. Such a pity.
The water level was rising rapidly, and the currents were getting strong. Her rubber raft could easily
be swept away. Ste had no choice but to take out her intable raft. There were many obstacles
underwater, and she was afraid of puncturing the raft, so she dared not go too fast.
The entire city was plunged into darkness, and the visibility range of her waterproofmp was
limited. She could only move slowly through the water. The intable raft was easy to operate, but
the noise from the motor could easily alert others. Luckily, the storm had just subsided, and the
government was actively carrying out rescue operations. Even if people nearby heard the noise,
they would probably think it was the fire brigade.
Ste didn''t return to her apartment. Instead, she raced against time to another location.
The next location was a three-kilometer distance away, and due to the darkness, it took her half an
hour on the intable raft. She reached a six-story electronicsmercial building, three floors of
which had already been flooded.
Ste used a window breaker to smash the fourth-floor window and climbed in, heading straight for
a sr technologypany''s retail store.
Thankfully, she had received a promotional flyer before the storm. Thetest model of a type of
sr generator had caught her attention. It had high-efficiency sr panels, off-grid power
generation, flexible frequency inverters... you could either use it for efficient, concentrated power
generation or use city electricity for fast charging. Most importantly, it had a storage battery box with
a capacity of up to 100 degrees. A whopping 100 degrees, enough to power several air conditioners
or heaters at the same time!
Of course, the price was also stunning – 680,000!
Ste couldn’t afford it, but she remembered where the retail store was. Compared to it, other
generators were mere trash. After making sure there was no one in the mall, she took out a crowbar
and started prying at the roller shutter door. The store wasn’t big, so she headed straight for the
new generator disyed in the center after prying open the door.
The disy only had the storage battery and inverter. She pried open the back door of the store’s
warehouse to find the essories, and found another generator of the same model, which she
didn’t hesitate to take. The sr panels and brackets took up a lot of space, and the rest of Arcadia
was already full, so they could only be ced on the balcony. In case the essories got damaged,
she took all the remaining ones as well.
When she realized that there was still space on the balcony, she also took several portable storage
batteries. Although their storage capacity was much lower, they could be directly charged, which
was quite good.
The mall had many other expensive appliances, but Arcadia had no more space.
It was already past five in the morning, and she had to get back before dawn. The current was
getting stronger, and Ste braved the storm in her intable raft, going against the wind.
Approaching Sunrise Sanctuary, she turned off the motor and paddled to the calm water under the
building, and in the dark, she swapped the intable raft for the rubber one.
The day was breaking, and she could vaguely make out objects. Just as she paddled to the window
of her apartment, she noticed another raft. No, it was an intable raft.
There was a man on the raft, putting things into the window. Judging from his silhouette, it was a
man, and he turned around and saw Ste.
There was no time to hide; Ste immediately became alert...