"It's not just about the size," Cassian said. He pulled the car to a stop beside the villa and pointed at the floor-to-ceiling window on the first floor. "Look." Natalie followed his finger. The window had been smashed to pieces. Snow had blown inside, piling up thick across the floor. So much for solid construction. The windows at the hillside villas were tough enough to resist explosives. These? Not even close. The two of them, plus the three animals, climbed in through the broken window. The inside of the villa was a wreck. Furniture and decorations were scattered everywhere, tossed aside like trash. The worst area was the open kitchen. Empty cereal boxes and milk cartons were thrown all over the floor. Dirty dishes were stacked carelessly in the sink and on the counter. Someone had clearly lived here during the apocalypse. But no one was here now. The thick layer of dust said enough. And with the window broken like that, no one could survive the cold inside. Cassian didn't care that the house had been trashed. There was nothing valuable here anyway. He had no plans to ever live in this place again. They walked through the front hall and went straight to the garage. The garage was fairly large. Parking five or six cars wouldn't be a problem. But right now, there was only one vehicle inside. A black Mercedes G-Class sat quietly in the middle of the space. "That's a nice ride," Natalie said. She didn't mind the dust at all and reached out to run her hand across the hood. "This one's yours, right?" Cassian nodded. "I used it to get around when I stayed here." Natalie didn't hesitate. She stored the SUV into her storage space and added with a grin, "Why are all your cars black?" Cassian's lips curved slightly. He said nothing. Natalie kept talking. "I'm kind of surprised this thing wasn't stolen." "It uses too much gas," Cassian replied. Natalie nodded. That made sense. Most survivors in the apocalypse couldn't afford to drive at all. Even people with fuel usually picked gas-saving vehicles. Vans like a Ford Transit were popular. If they broke, no big deal. And they could carry everything you owned. Luxury gas guzzlers like this? No one wanted them. But Natalie didn't have that problem. She had plenty of fuel. If she was driving, she wanted the best. Cassian walked over to the wall on the side of the garage. He moved a cabinet filled with model cars out of the way. Then he felt around the wall for a moment. A tiny hidden door appeared, no bigger than two inches by two inches. He pushed it open. A keyhole was revealed. Cassian inserted the key and turned it once. Rumble—rumble—rumble. The sound of machinery filled the space. Natalie's eyes widened as she felt the floor beneath her feet begin to sink slowly. The three little ones jumped in fright. Lucky was the worst. She had been terrified by the plane crash just a few hours ago. The moment the floor started moving, she scrambled straight to Natalie's feet. The platform sank for only a short while before stopping. Then the space ahead opened up. Cassian's final warehouse appeared before them. As Natalie walked inside, she couldn't help sighing. "I told you. Wherever you go, you build hidden mechanisms."Then she added with a grin, "This one is much simpler, though. Nothing like the first two warehouses. Those were layered again and again, rivaling the tomb of a king." Cassian chuckled and took her hand, leading her farther in. "The entrance to this one is inside my own property," he said. "That's why it doesn't need so many layers." As he finished speaking, he turned on the built-in fuel generator. The dark warehouse lit up instantly. Natalie gave the place a quick look. It was pretty similar to the other two warehouses. Mostly food and daily supplies. But the quantity was much smaller. Not even half of what the other warehouses held. She rolled her wrists and got straight to work, pulling row after row of supplies into her storage space. Only when she was almost done did she notice something strange. The last two rows of shelves were filled with jewelry. High-grade gemstones. Gold. Enough to make anyone dizzy. But that wasn't the most important part. The important part was this—there were a lot of emeralds. A lot. Natalie turned around in delight and looked at Cassian. "You little sneak. You had all this good stuff and didn't say a word?" Cassian lifted the corner of his mouth. "It was meant to be a surprise." Natalie blinked at him. "Mission accomplished. I'm very surprised." Then she started humming as she happily swept the treasures into her storage space. Emerald charm, collected.Pegasus statue, collected. Emerald sculpture, collected. Emerald pendant, collected. It never ended. There was no way she could finish collecting them all. Grinning from ear to ear, Natalie kept sending items into her storage space while asking, "Why are there so many emeralds here? Even the northern warehouse didn't have this many." Cassian smiled as he explained, "What each warehouse stores depends on what's common nearby. The northern warehouse has more antiques. The northwest one has building materials. This place is close to an emerald trading hub, so of course there are more emerald collections here." Then he teased her, "If I'd known my future wife liked emeralds this much, I would've bought even more back then."