Chapter 174: Chapter 174: Understanding the Situation, Planning for the Future

"Hello, are you Ms. Sterling?"

A woman in her forties with a neat, short haircut approached. She was wearing what looked like a uniform with the words "Meridia Base" written on it.

"Yes."

Stella Sterling nodded and stood up. ’This must be the person Harry mentioned, the one who would take me to my room.’

"Alright, Ms. Sterling. I’ll take you to your quarters now. Please follow me!"

Ms. Ward nodded, her attitude respectful.

Someone had specifically instructed her just moments ago to be particularly polite to this Miss Sterling.

Besides, the fact that she was getting a private room alone was enough to show that her status was anything but ordinary.

’Unlike the other people the base takes in, she probably has some special skill that makes the base leadership value her.’

’Maybe she’s some kind of technical expert. People like that are highly valued at the base.’

’I can’t afford to offend her. I just have to be careful and serve her well.’

"Thank you for your trouble."

Stella Sterling smiled and followed behind her.

Ms. Ward led her past rows of buildings before stopping in front of a large one.

"This is the residential area of our base. Most of the people who join the base live here,"

Ms. Ward explained as she led Stella Sterling upstairs.

Meridia Base was large, but it also took in many people, even ordinary civilians. This led to a severe housing shortage.

Usually, a dozen or so people lived in a single room. It was incredibly inconvenient with everyone crammed together, but many were still happy to have it.

This building was only six stories high, not particularly tall, yet it housed a great number of people.

"Ms. Sterling, your room is on the sixth floor. The sixth floor is different from the other five; it’s made up of individual small rooms."

"The people living here are all special talents, like yourself."

There was a hint of envy in Ms. Ward’s voice. Although she was a base staff member, she wasn’t like the armed personnel; she was just an employee.

Like everyone else, she was squeezed into a room with a dozen other people. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

While it was possible to use points to exchange for more comfortable housing, very few people did so.

Points were hard to come by. Everyone wanted to make every point count, spending them on survival necessities rather than wasting them on housing.

They could only make do and squeeze in with the others.

So, when she mentioned that Stella Sterling would be living in a room by herself, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of envy, even though she held no ill will.

"We’re here, Miss Sterling. This is your room. The private rooms have a hot water supply, but you need to spend points to use it. You just have to swipe this tag!"

Stella Sterling was led into a small room. It was tiny, only a few square meters, but it was fully equipped with basic necessities.

There was also a small bathroom, and Ms. Ward stood to the side, explaining how to use everything.

"Thank you for your trouble, Ms. Ward. This is your tag, right?"

Stella Sterling looked at the tag hanging around the woman’s neck and transferred ten points to her directly.

On the way over, she had already figured out how these tags worked.

"Ms. Sterling?"

Ms. Ward exclaimed, not expecting her to do that.

She was taken aback for a moment.

But before Ms. Ward could refuse, Stella Sterling spoke. "I’m new to the base and unfamiliar with many things. I might have to trouble you with a lot in the future. Please, it’s just a small token of my appreciation."

"You’re too kind, Ms. Sterling! If you need anything in the future, just give me a call. I work in that building right over there."

Ms. Ward was beaming. Compared to her previous professional demeanor, her tone was now much more cheerful.

’I already guessed her status was special. I’d be happy to do things for her.’

’A talent like her is sure to be highly valued by the base after joining.’

’Building a good relationship with someone like that can only be beneficial for me.’

’And now that she’s so generous, I’m even happier.’

’Ten points! That can be exchanged for quite a few things.’

For the price of ten points, Stella Sterling had made the other woman happy, which made her happy as well.

She wasn’t planning on staying at Meridia Base for long, and she had her own food and supplies.

Honestly, she would have very few occasions to spend points at Meridia Base, so she didn’t value them much.

After seeing the woman off, Stella Sterling closed the door.

To be honest, the room’s furnishings were very simple. Besides a bed, there was only a hot water kettle and a table.

Then, in the corner, there was a bathroom with a water heater installed.

There was nothing else.

But even a room like this was an incredible rarity.

Most importantly, the water heater could actually provide hot water.

’And there isn’t just one of these little rooms. It goes to show how deep Meridia Base’s resources run.’

’Every kilowatt of electricity used now requires burning fuel.’

Putting her backpack down, Stella Sterling lay on the bed and sighed comfortably.

After all these days on that ship, she had been on the verge of getting sick. The feeling of solid ground beneath her feet was so much better.

’I’ve finally arrived at the base. I can finally get a good night’s rest tonight.’

’Tomorrow, I’ll take a good look around the base and see how it operates.’

Since she had her own ideas about developing her own power, it was only natural to learn how others ran their operations.

She would borrow any good ideas she found.

She’d stay here for a few days, and then she would leave.

Lost in her thoughts, she slowly drifted off to sleep.

If not for a knock on the door waking her, she might have slept straight through to the next day.

As a result, when she opened the door, her expression was thunderous.

Louis Grant, who had come to the door in high spirits, shrank back when he saw her expression and asked cautiously, "Did I... wake you?"

"What do you think?"

Stella Sterling stared at him, her tone laced with danger.

Louis Grant took two steps back, but his mouth kept running. "It’s still so early! How was I supposed to know you were sleeping? Anyone else at this time would be out exploring, planning for the future, seeing if there’s any suitable work for them."

He had seen the other newcomers who joined today; every single one of them was excited, running around looking for base veterans to ask about the situation and figure out their next steps.

After all, the base only provided three days of free food. After that, you had to spend points to eat.

They had to find a way to earn points within those three days.

Who could possibly sleep under these circumstances?

"I’m not staying at this base for long. Why should I worry so much about all that? When I’m tired, I rest."

Stella Sterling shot him a look and raised her hand to close the door.

"Wait—"

Louis Grant quickly reached out to stop her, hastily explaining why he’d come. "You’ve already had a nap, you can’t possibly fall back asleep now, right? Why don’t you come out for a walk with me? I just got a huge pile of points, I’ll take you shopping!"