Chapter 104
Having sessfully evaded the soldier, Jasper provided Ste with a moment to catch her breath.
Running in the biting cold, it felt like their lungs would burst.
After leaving Unity Vige behind, they used the cover of night to return to Sunrise Sanctuary.
The night was as dark as ink, and danger lurked everywhere. They encountered several groups of
robbers along the way. Ste, too tired to even speak, simply brandished her samurai sword.
"Sorry for bothering you guys." Recognizing the pair as formidable opponents, the robbers wisely
stepped aside.
Just as they reached the entrance of their apartmentplex, a figure rushed forward. "Ste?"
It was Ang''s voice, apanied by a visibly anxious Lukas. "Why are you guys just getting
back?"
Relieved to see them both in one piece, Lukas sighed in relief. "We were waiting for you at Unity
Vige, but the military has it under lockdown. They have detained hundreds of people, and they
couldn''t fit them all in a dozen vans."
It was not safe to talk outside, so they decided to continue the conversation indoors.
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Back at their 18th-floor apartment, Ste, sipping hot water, exined, "We sneaked in, but we ran
into militaryw enforcement. We had to find a ce to hide to avoid being mistaken for looters. We
didn''t manage to slip away until nightfall."
They both remained silent about the bikini party. That was one memory they''d rather forget.
Cody pondered, "So, we lucked out this time, stumbling upon a joint operation by three departments
to round up The Chaos?"
Ste nodded. "Yes, we sure had a lucky escape."
Lukas was overjoyed. "That''s great. Those guys are finally out of the picture."
With The Chaos out of the way, the 18th floor of Sunrise Sanctuary was now invincible. It was
unlikely anyone would dare to challenge their authority any time soon.
The day''s events had been nerve-wracking. They each retreated to their rooms for some well-
deserved rest.
As they left 1803, Ste whispered, "Should I give you the stuff now?"
"No rush, leave it with you for now."
Ste was taken aback. "Are you sure?"
This was a life-saving weapon, worth more than any amount of supplies. Was he out of his mind?
"It isn''t safe with me." Jasper was nonchnt. "You keep it for me."
She stared at him in disbelief. Wasn''t he afraid she''d keep it for herself?
His hawk-like eyes seemed to see right through her. Jasper, who was always so stern, suddenly
chuckled. "Would you?"
Blinded by his smile, Ste replied, "No." She didn''t have a death wish.
"There you go." Jasper breezily opened the door.
Ste was a little annoyed. "I''m charging a storage fee."
"Sure."
As she entered her apartment, Ste felt a sudden sense of disorientation. Jasper was bing
more and more inscrutable.
Cooper rushed forward, whimpering and pawing at her.
"Hey, did someone upset my little darling?" Cooper was not to be trifled with. Ste quickly
apologized and offered him a piece of crispy fried fish. "Cooper is the best. Not only do you earn
your keep, but you also protect the house."
After pacifying Cooper, she turned on the heater and took a rxing hot bath.
With the weapon in their possession, they could finally rest easy. Ste was determined toy low
and fatten up for winter.
But despite the sense of security, Ste found herself unable to sleep. She dreamed of Jasper, d
only in swim trunks, his muscr chest and abs, and long legs on full disy.
In the dream, he smiled at her, then suddenly thrust a knife towards her, "Your Arcadia is mine now."
Startled awake by the nightmare, Ste was panting heavily. Cooper nuzzled his head against her,
‘Woof, what happened?’
She quickly checked on Arcadia to calm herself down. Not only was Arcadia still there, but so were
his weapon and two bunches of red grapes.
She took a mtonin tablet and finally managed to fall back asleep without any more dreams.
When she woke up around noon, the hallway outside was bustling. Ang was practicing boxing,
Cody was practicing archery, and Lukas was pedaling the bike to generate electricity.
The people from 1803 all agreed that they should be in charge of electricity generation. Considering
their contributions to the team, both in terms of defending against the protection fee collectors and
in finding supplies, Ste and Jasper had done more. So the people from 1803 decided to take on
additional responsibilities in daily life.
Ste didn''t object. After all, in a team, the strong couldn''t always wait for the weak. Just because
she didn''t have a problem with it didn''t mean others didn''t.
If everyone in 1803 could be understanding, they would be able to avoid conflicts with others, no
matter where they went.
After their workout, they prepared a feast. It had been a while since the residents of the 18th floor
had a gathering, and everyone was eager to eat good food.
Cooking in the extreme cold was a challenge. With temperatures below negative 40 degrees, food
would freeze into blocks as soon as it was removed from the stove.
Ste suggested, "How about a stew? I still have some ingredients."
Everyone agreed. Jasper provided ribs, and the people from 1803 provided lean meat, and dried
mushrooms.
Worried there wouldn''t be enough food, Ste added, "I still have a fish from ourst trip to the
reservoir. I''ll contribute a big grass carp." Might as well make the meal asvish as possible.
Cody was surprised. "Ste, you still have fish?"
"I got tired of eating fish during that time. The leftovers are in the car''s refrigeratedpartment."
Alright, everyone got to work preparing thevish meal.
Ste went back to her apartment and picked a six pound grass carp from Arcadia. She gutted and
sliced it, then marinated the slices in cornstarch and soy sauce.
The fish guts were a hassle to clean, so she gave them to Cooper to eat. But to her surprise, Smoky
suddenly ran over topete with Cooper.
A rabbit eating fish guts? Ste was stunned.
Since when did Smoky have the guts to challenge the top dog, Cooper? But what shocked Ste
even more was that Snowy also ran over to help her husband fight against Cooper.
The rabbits were revolting!
Cooper instantly became aggressive, pressing the couple to the ground and growling at them
fiercely: ‘I say, are you two tired of living? You dare to stir up trouble under my watch. Speak up!’
The two rabbits were beaten badly and quickly submitted. Ste chased the two off and picked up
Cooper to check his paw. There were actual bite marks.
Ste was instantly furious. "Cooper, if they dare to bite you again, don''t hold back."
She was raising these rabbits for meat, but now they were turning violent against their owner. If it
wasn''t for their bond, Cooper would have bitten them to death with his fierce temper.
Cooper bared his teeth, willing to give them one more chance to reform.
She took out a tape measure, measured Cooper''s size and weight. Even if the daily changes were
not noticeable, the data over a longer period was quite impressive.
After registering his data, Ste put on rubber gloves to check and weigh Smoky and Snowy.
Fortunately, the two rabbits still recognized Ste as their provider and didn''t dare to bite her.
Otherwise, the dinner table might have had two additional dishes - braised rabbit and fried rabbit.
She pried open their jaws, snapped a few photos of their teeth, andpared them to the previous
ones. They seemed to have gotten sharper.
Out of the twelve pups, only six had survived. They seemed to have gotten over the worst part and
were much more lively than before.