Apocalypse Queen: My Space, My Rules Chapter 182: A Very Awkward Discovery

She swept rows of medicine into her storage space. When she reached the last shelf, something caught her eye. The packaging looked odd. She picked up a bottle and took a closer look.

The whole shelf was full of sexual performance-boosting products—things like enhancement pills, herbal oils, and other similar stuff. All clearly made for men.

Mariella didn't care whether they actually worked. In an apocalypse, medicine couldn't be replaced. If she stored it, it would be useful someday.

She was just about to grab more when she noticed Chandler glancing her way.

For some reason, her brain short-circuited. She held up a bottle and said, "You can keep this... for yourself."

The moment the words left her mouth, she froze.

Oh no. What did I just say?

She didn't mean anything odd. She just wanted to show goodwill.

After all, he was a man. Sooner or later, he might need something like this.

But now that she'd said it out loud, it sounded very wrong.

Chandler glanced at the bottle in her hand. His lips twitched. Then he turned his head away, a bit stiff. "Thanks. I don't need it."

Mariella forced a laugh. "I mean... maybe not now. But later you might. Like when you're older—"

She stopped. That made it worse.

She hoped he understood she was just being thoughtful. In her mind, she was simply a considerate boss planning for his future happiness.

"Let's just store it. We can trade it later," Chandler said at last, clearly trying to save her from embarrassment.

Mariella wiped at her forehead, even though there was no sweat, and quickly stuffed the entire shelf of products into her storage space.

As the apocalypse dragged on, people were under more and more stress. Even powerful leaders weren't immune. Over time, that kind of pressure took a toll.

In her previous life, by the third year after the disaster, some base leaders were paying huge prices for these kinds of products. One small bottle could be traded for a large amount of supplies.

By taking all this, she had basically secured half a base's worth of resources.

Then she found over a dozen boxes of different sizes of condoms.

Her eyes lit up, and she blurted out, "Nice! I was just thinking we didn't have enough of these. Now we can restock!"

The moment she said it, she paused again. That didn't sound right either. She quickly added, "These can be used for trading later too."

"Yeah. The more the better," Chandler replied calmly, as if they were discussing storing extra food.

Mariella cleared her throat and packed all the boxes into her storage space.

After collecting all the medical supplies, she got a little carried away.

"We've got more than a dozen guys on the team. Let's not trade these. We can hand them out as benefits later."

She felt like the most generous boss in the world.

She was always fair to her people, whether they were employees or teammates.

But she forgot one thing. Some topics weren't great to talk about so openly. It could easily sound like she was hinting at something.

Chandler turned his head away, clearly refusing to continue the conversation.

Mariella felt awkward. She wanted to explain, but anything she said would probably make it worse. So she just stayed quiet.

If she kept talking, he might mistake it as sexual harassment.

After the medicines and supplements, the next section held nutrition products—protein powder, health tonics, beauty drinks, and other items meant to improve health and appearance.

Mariella's eyes lit up again. These were exactly the kind of things powerful men's wives loved. She stored them all.

In the future, the real power players would be the base leaders, many of them from military backgrounds.

They were different from groups like Black Bear or Tigre. Most of them had strong relationships with their wives. And those wives often came from influential families, with status, connections, and power of their own.

Some of them had grown up with privilege. Even after the disaster, they still lived well and expected a certain quality of life.

Chandler opened a hidden door at the back. What was inside was even more valuable.

There were stacks of premium liquor—whiskey, wine, and champagne—as well as expensive cigarettes and cigars. They filled nearly half the room.

Mariella slowly understood. "So this wasn't just taken from the homeowners here. They must have looted these from other places too."

This estate had basically been Black Bear's warehouse. Everything they stole ended up here.