Apocalypse Queen: My Space, My Rules Chapter 46: Keep Expanding

They all followed the captain's orders, turning on their fog lights and locking onto the faint glow of the car ahead to avoid falling behind.

Each vehicle had a radio, and every few minutes, they reported their position to make sure no one had been separated.

What should have been a 15-minute drive took more than 40 minutes before they finally made it back to Celestine Ridge.

Even though Celestine Ridge was on high ground, the rain kept intensifying, and water rushed across the ground like flowing streams.

Fortunately, the pickup and Chevrolet vans had high clearance and weren't flooded.

They passed a few low-sitting sedans in the villa district that had already stalled out on the road.

If even Celestine Ridge looked like this, it was easy to imagine how bad things were elsewhere.

It was as if the sky had split open. Rain poured down like a torrent, ready to swallow the entire world.

Mariella saw Matthew calling and picked up immediately. "We're back. Open the gate!"

"Got it." Matthew let out a breath of relief and quickly opened the iron gate.

The ten-foot-wide gate slowly slid open, and the pickup led the convoy into the courtyard.

Once all four vehicles were inside, Matthew used the remote to close the heavy gate behind them.

As Mariella stepped out, Lucky rushed over first.

Animals had a sharp instinct for disasters. Seeing his owner safe, he wagged his tail wildly in excitement.

Mariella patted his head to reassure him, then looked at Matthew. "Did you take in the emeralds Denton delivered?"

"They're in Storage Room No. 3 on the first floor," Matthew replied. He handled things carefully, keeping valuable items inside rather than in the outdoor warehouse.

The bodyguards got out of the vehicles one after another, talking about the sudden storm.

As they discussed the dangers they had encountered on the road, they couldn't help but admire their captain's decisiveness.

"Good thing Captain Zimmer told us to cross the lines and ignore traffic lights, or we'd still be stuck out there!"

Facing their admiration and gratitude, Chandler corrected them calmly, "That was Ms. Townsend's call."

Everyone turned to look at Mariella, their eyes filled with pure respect. Our boss is something else.

She didn't even hesitate about risking the vehicles. That's some rich-people confidence.

Then again, it made sense. With her kind of money, a few vans and a pickup were nothing.

Mariella waved them off to rest and headed into the villa herself.

Serena stood guard in front of Storage Room No. 3, holding a small surgical scalpel.

The moment she saw Mariella, the wariness in her eyes melted into joy.

"Mariella, you're back!" She dropped the scalpel and ran over happily.

Mariella's lips twitched. "Your dad really left you to guard this place?"

That was one tiny little guard.

"Lucky was standing watch with me, but he ran off when he heard you," Serena said, taking the chance to complain about him.

"Woof!" Lucky trotted over, tail wagging even harder, looking a little guilty.

Mariella couldn't help laughing. She patted Serena's head and instructed, "You and Lucky keep guarding the door. Don't let anyone in."

With that, she opened the door to Storage Room No. 3 and walked inside.

After closing the door and turning on the lights, she checked the newly delivered gemstones.

Since she didn't understand much about them anyway, she simply stored everything in her storage space and let it do the evaluation.

The storage space absorbed all the raw gemstones cleanly.

Mariella felt even more satisfied with Denton. His quality control was solid. He hadn't mixed in a single fake.

After feeding it 35 million worth of gemstone rough, along with another million in gold bars she had bought from the bank, the storage space was upgraded again.

First, the emerald bracelet on her wrist became even clearer and more translucent. It almost looked like a transparent glass now, nearly invisible.

Inside the storage space, the large three-bedroom unit transformed into a two-story villa, totaling 2,300 square feet, with an upgraded luxurious interior. The second-floor bathroom now had a large bathtub, and the first-floor kitchen gained an extra storage room.

In addition to two large living rooms and two dining areas, there was now a dedicated reception room. Each floor had a ceiling height of about 10 feet, and the simple ceiling lights had been replaced with luxurious crystal chandeliers.

The house had nearly tripled in size, and its height had increased by a third. The supplies she had stored before now looked almost insignificant, barely filling the space.

The garden expanded to 430 square feet, and the soil had changed from ordinary yellow dirt to rich red earth. The vegetable and fruit seedlings she had planted were growing rapidly, already sprouting vines, leaves, and even flowers.

Even more astonishing, a small pond had appeared at the front of the garden.

The water was crystal clear, with lush green aquatic plants swaying inside, full of life.

With the pond, there was no longer a need to fetch water from inside the villa to irrigate the garden.

The static storage space volume had expanded to 25,000 cubic feet, enough to hold about 30 large trucks' worth of goods.