Apocalypse Queen: My Space, My Rules Chapter 105: Feast of Alligators

"Mm. Leave the goods to me. You go take care of Serena," Mariella said. Then she added, "I remember Serena likes pumpkin pie and fried pumpkin sticks. Go make some for her."

Matthew gave her a long, deep look, his voice very soft. "Thank you for always thinking of Serena."

She had gone out once and come back with so much good food, and most of it was Serena's favorites.

"Why are you being so polite with me?"

After Matthew left, Mariella immediately stored the five leather suitcases filled with gold into her storage space.

The remaining room in the storage space had already been taken up by a yacht.

To make room for the yacht, Mariella had moved every large item she could into the four-story villa inside the storage space, packing it to the brim.

It was not just all kinds of furniture she had gotten for free from the furniture expo. She had also stuffed a lot of heavy supplies into the villa.

The 1,450-square-foot garden had not gone unused either. Several large trucks were stacked there. Even so, she had still left space for the wheat, corn, and sweet potatoes she had not harvested yet, along with ten square feet of black soil reserved for planting fruits and vegetables.

Blueberries were perennial woody plants. Once they took root, they could be harvested again and again.

Malabar spinach could also be harvested repeatedly, but pumpkins had to be replanted. She also planned to try growing some other varieties of fruits and vegetables.

This new delivery of 340 pounds of gold was swallowed up by the storage space once again. Mariella checked it with her mind.

The frozen storage area had increased by 310 cubic feet, bringing the total to 3,010 cubic feet. The villa had expanded by 500 square feet, bringing the total to 5,600 square feet. The garden had increased by 160 square feet, bringing the total to 1,600 square feet.

The storage space, which had become cramped after storing the yacht, had finally expanded again, allowing her to continue stockpiling happily.

Mariella looked at the supplies crammed inside the storage space, including two helicopters, one yacht, two hundred inflatable boats, several hundred kayaks, snowmobiles, large trucks, cars...

She had nearly every kind of transportation covered now.

She and Chandler had gained a lot from this trip, and their supply of meat was abundant as well.

The only regret was that she had not known at the beginning that the storage space could level up, so she had missed the best chance to stockpile grain. Her grain reserves were not especially sufficient.

Fortunately, the garden inside the storage space kept upgrading too. It could grow grains, vegetables, melons, and fruit, providing an endless harvest.

As long as she got the chance in the future, she would keep stockpiling. As long as she lived, she would never stop hoarding supplies.

Thinking of that, her blood stirred with excitement, and she felt full of hope and confidence for the future.

...

That night, her team grilled alligator meat and specifically invited Mariella to taste their cooking.

It was Mariella's first time eating alligator meat, and it tasted pretty good. The meat was tender yet chewy. Grilled until crisp outside and juicy inside, sprinkled with barbecue seasoning, it filled her mouth with delicious juices.

"Not bad at all!" she said, instantly interested. "We should kill more alligators whenever we get the chance!"

Number One proudly announced, "The guys caught more than 30 big alligators these past few days. After splitting some with others, we still brought back more than 20. Good thing we stocked enough freezers, or there wouldn't have been room for all of them."

The alligators brought back to the villa were skinned first. The hides were handed to Number Six to tan into leather. Then they butchered the alligators, packed the meat into large plastic bags, and stored it in the freezers.

Over the past few days, they had all become highly skilled at skinning alligators.

Number Six's eyes shone with excitement. "Before the apocalypse, this many alligator hides would have been worth a fortune."

Alligator leather was a luxury material, far more valuable than ordinary leather.

He had already tanned more than 20 complete alligator hides. Once everything was finished, they would definitely trade for a lot of supplies.

Number Nine seized the chance to flatter her boss. "Good thing Ms. Townsend was so wise and stocked enough chainsaws. We use chainsaws to kill alligators, and we never miss. The bodyguards from other households are jealous as hell."

"Exactly. The bodyguards from other households were so jealous that they went back and demanded their employers get chainsaws too. I heard chainsaw prices have been skyrocketing lately. It takes half a pound of gold to trade for one now," Number Eight quickly chimed in.

Being able to work for a boss like Mariella made them the luckiest bodyguards in the world.

Mariella listened with a smile, slowly enjoying the charcoal-grilled alligator meat and taking a sip of ice-cold beer now and then. She felt completely at ease.

Even though the brutal apocalypse had begun long ago, and the outside world had already been turned upside down,

No. 98 still blazed with lights and rang with laughter, completely untouched by the harshness and inconvenience of the apocalypse.

In fact, the entire Celestine Ridge residential neighborhood still remained brightly lit and had not been affected by the power outages.

That was because Mariella had Kieran sell 80 diesel generators and one hundred sets of soundproofing equipment on her behalf.

She had gained a huge amount of gold to keep expanding her storage space, while the homeowners had gotten diesel generators and no longer had to worry about electricity.

However, Mariella understood clearly that Celestine Ridge's prosperity would sooner or later attract the greed of refugees.