18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Jasper wasn't just blowing smoke when he mentioned that the blue whale was covered in parasites-barnacles, to be exact. Thanks to an ancient virus, these barnacles had grown huge and were causing the poor whale more harm than ever. A good scratch is hard to come by, and the itchy blue whale wasn't about to let this opportunity slip. It went berserk, rubbing up against the submarine to try and scrape off the annoying barnacles.

So there it was, the whale scratching away and the submarine retreating. But the creature was relentless-a real thorn in their side.

After being jostled for over half an hour, Stella was feeling seasick. She closed the observation window and tucked the submarine safely back into the Arcadia.

Time was precious, so they didn't linger in the Arcadia for long. After about ten minutes, assuming the blue whale had moved on, they went back into the sea.

But less than five minutes later, the submarine started shaking again. That damned familiar feeling it couldn't be that the whale had fallen for her sub, could it?

Stella tried several times to get away, but the whale's affection was deep; it just wouldn't give up. If you can't beat them, join them, she thought, deciding to lie back and enjoy the ride.

After two more hours of being rubbed, the world finally settled down. Waking from a nap, Rosie opened the observation window. Weird, it was dark outside. Checking the time in her room, it was only three in the afternoon. Something was definitely off. She quickly knocked on her brother and sister-in-law's door.

With no peace day after day, Stella and Jasper got up without hesitation to investigate. It was pitch-black outside, and you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. The observation window was made of several layers of sturdy special glass; it couldn't be a quality issue, or water would have flooded in already.

Rosie climbed up to the second observation window, but it was still dark. Stella remembered there was a third observation window at the tail of the submarine and hurried to check it. No problem there the light filtered down from the surface, and fish swam leisurely outside. So, the trio and their dog stared out of the window, even enjoying an afternoon tea.

For two solid hours, there was still no movement outside. Jasper speculated, "Maybe something's latched onto the front of the sub." Considering the size of a mid-sized sub, that would have to be a massive marine creature. Stella planned to wait for Rosie to fall asleep that night, then retract the submarine back into the Arcadia to see if this mysterious entity could survive out of water. She was really curious about what divine being was grappling with their sub.

Unfortunately, before nightfall, the mysterious creature stirred. Slowly peeling away, light began to filter in. Golden, flowing... hair strands? Long and abundant. Stella was baffled and quickly took out her phone to record. It bloomed like yellow carnations, layer upon layer, with countless hair-like tentacles. As it drifted further away, the tentacles that had entwined the sub floated freely, stretching dozens of meters. The top looked like a hemisphere, with glowing bulbs inside. It turned out to be a bioluminescent jellyfish.

Upon closer inspection, it was indeed beautiful, gracefully moving, its tendrils dancing in the water. To the uninformed, it might seem like it was promoting a shampoo brand-so elegant. After the glowing jellyfish departed, Stella went to her room to look up information. She had downloaded a lot of data before the catastrophe, and sure enough, she found it a lion's mane jellyfish. Its tendrils could reach over 30 meters. Despite its flowing beauty, it was full of deadly poison; one wrong touch could be fatal.

The first day at sea passed with more excitement than danger. But Stella never expected that the blue whale would return the next day for another scratch. This time, it wasn't its backside; it rubbed its head against the sub. The whale's temperament, influenced by the ancient virus, was far from gentle; it seemed like it wanted to tear off its own skin while scratching. Another couple of hours of this, and Stella couldn't stand it. She was afraid the sub might one day be rubbed raw. So, once it left, she decisively moved their location. Hmph, if hiding didn't work, was she supposed to just give up? Not a chance! However, Stella soon realized who really ruled the sea. The whale found them again with pinpoint accuracy and started rubbing without hesitation. Stella was speechless and frustrated, "...This is a curse!" Rosie, on the other hand, was delighted and even gave it a nickname, Blue Blue. Stella consoled herself, thinking Rosie was just lonely. Thankfully, Blue Blue just wanted to scratch an itch.

Living underwater had its perks, like watching various sea creatures through the observation window: spider crabs, sunfish, and so on. Especially the sunfish-it was a real con artist. Despite bumping into them itself, it would flip over in the water and refuse to get up, as if to say, "I'm not moving unless you're paying up big time!"

Rosie was puzzled, "Brother, why won't it get up?" Jasper explained, "Don't let its size fool you. It's clumsy and a poor swimmer, often falling prey to the ocean's predators, getting caught in fishing nets, or just floating on the surface. That's the story behind its name." Rosie had an aha moment and patted its head through the glass, "I think it's kind of cute." Indeed, it was cute in an ugly sort of way.

However, while Stella put up with its antics, the sharks certainly did not. They came at it with bared teeth, ready to attack. The sunfish struggled but couldn't get up. The water quickly turned red with blood, and the sunfish knocked against the sub in its struggle. They had to look away, unable to watch the bloody scene.

Seeing the sadness in his sister's eyes, Jasper quickly closed the observation window. "The ocean is another world for humans, with the same law of the survival of the fittest. To protect yourself, you need to become stronger. You feel sorry for the sunfish, but big fish eat little fish, and little fish eat shrimp. It wouldn't have survived to this day if it didn't eat other creatures, right?" Rosie thought about it and couldn't argue. "You need to remember this lesson. If you see someone in need, don't rush to help. Think it through. Even if you decide to help, consider your own capabilities, ensuring you don't endanger others."

Jasper didn't want to raise his sister to be heartless, but in a dark, apocalyptic world, it was hard to gauge the right amount of kindness. She needed to have a clear and independent mindset. Rosie nodded, understanding that her brother and sister-in-law were protecting her. She needed time to think and didn't open the observation window for two days.

Stella and Jasper, however, would occasionally sit by the window, sipping coffee or flipping through magazines to pass the time. Then, out of the blue, they spotted a gray figure in the distance. Stella used the binoculars and saw it was a submarine, the same model as their 2688.