After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World novel Chapter 379

Althea stared blankly, absorbing, and Garan waited patiently for her to do so. When it occurred to her, her eyes widened. "What?"

He laughed and repeated, "Happy anniversary."

He kissed her cheek as he took out a beautiful wooden box, obviously bespoke from Baron’s specialty craftsmen.

Althea was startled, she had completely forgotten!

She didn’t open the gift immediately, feeling guilty.

Although it was always Garan who celebrated it more back when they started dating, she had at least never forgotten about their anniversary.

And this was only the second year after marriage!

"I’m sorry, I—"

Some tears lined up her eyes, feeling heavy, and Garan kissed her eyes to stop it. He truly didn’t mind.

"It’s fine, my love. Besides, the dates here are different," He said. Garan had calculated this date according to the Terran years, and they would celebrate their next ones according to the local calendar, which would be in about a couple of weeks.

He shifted to sit behind her, placing his protective arms around her and holding her arms, encouraging her to see her gift. "Open your gift."

Althea tried to push down the guilt and sadness, knowing it was rude to the gift-giver to show a frown when opening the gift. She sniffed, slowly opening the box to see its contents.

Her eyes dilated at the unique gemstones the size of her thumb. It was amazingly beautiful, shimmering and endless.

It was like a universe was inside.

Immediately, she used her ability to see what it was.

[Space Stone (Lv3): A stone that naturally contains compressed space. Gives 50 cubic meters unmerged and 25 cubic meters if merged with existing space]

"!!"

Her eyes widened into saucers and she whipped her head to look at her husband, who had been watching her reaction with an amused smile.

Space stone!! She had heard of these treasures! She thought only Eagle got lucky!

And it was just as she needed, too! After all, the warehouse was only accessible within territory grounds. She often had to go outside!

She looked at her husband with so much wonder and admiration that Garan’s body had a reaction.

It had to be said: Receiving admiring gazes from the woman they love is very, very, useful to men’s ego.

Althea gave her husband a sweet peck on the cheeks and a loving hug, before parting with him and looking down at her hands, returning her attention to the stone.

[Would you like to merge Space Stone (Lv3) to your current space?]

Yes.

As she selected the option, the dusty screen exploded and expanded around her. Soon, a faint image of a bigger box overlayed over her existing space.

She saw the arrows indicating the axis of expansion. She naturally chose to merge with her integral space.

She mused what items she’d be placing to maximize the space and what axis she needed to prioritize more.

For instance, there would be times when she’d need to uproot trees and shrubs and it would be lovely to get them in the space.

Of course, she knew she couldn’t keep them there for too long before they died. Terran trees could more or less last without light, water, or carbon dioxide for a couple of weeks at most, so she reckoned a day or two in the space would be fine for the local vegetation.

In the end, she settled for a floor dimension of 2.5 meters by 5 meters, with a height of over 2.5 meters—which was just about enough height for young trees.

With this, she could fit in 3 or 4 small trees, and even more smaller plants.

As for why she chose the exact dimensions, it was because she wanted to be a nerd and wanted to apply the golden ratio. Anyway, it seemed to be just about what she’d needed anyway.

Without further ado, she absorbed the stone and felt a slight force surround her, immediately compressing towards her.

Her emerald eyes watched as her small 1 cubic meter space slowly expanded to a 25-cubic-meter one, and it was fascinating.

She excitedly looked at a random large item—the chaise lounge—in the room and placed it in the corner of the new space to test. _{frёeweɓηovel.coɱ}

Her eyes widened in amazement when it settled without any problems and her naked self jumped into her husband’s arms.

"My husband is amazing!!!" She yelled, giving him continuous pecks on the lips, which he enjoyed very much.

"That’s not all," he said, struggling not to jump at her. He dare not disrupt his own gift-giving.

"There’s more in the box," he said with a smile.