Path to the Summit: Apocalypse Coming?!

Chapter 1 Astra Residential Community

East District, JH Provincial Capital

Coming from outside, two high-rise residential buildings could easily be seen from afar.

Built at some distance from each other, it has a modern unique structure. Each apartment unit had a ceiling-to-floor glass wall for its living room, allowing its residents to appreciate the magnificent view of the city. With wide balconies on each side and an exquisite design structure, the building gives off an elegant and sophisticated feel.

The Astra Two Towers.

Each of the two towers has a towering 25-story high, along with a story underground basement parking space. The top floor of the building reached as high as 350 feet from the ground. That's more than 106 meters above ground.

A banquet grand hall as well as several meeting rooms and reception rooms were allocated on the ground floor. The six stories on the top floor of the building were made into 21 units of duplex suite apartments. On every other floor of the building, each story can accommodate seven to eight units of three-room apartments, allowing a total number of 156 residential units to occupy each of the towers.

Between the two, nearby, there's a small hill that was carefully remodeled by the developer. The land was divided into lots of varying area sizes and sold to the rich and influential people. These parcels of land were allocated for building luxury mansions. Each owner of the lot could build their dream mansion according to their taste and wishes.

The hill was lush with green trees and there was a small flower garden that was carefully nurtured by the developer. The mansions built there were carefully constructed in such a manner that minimized damage to the natural environment. Living there gave out a pleasant mood that blends with nature.

With the two towering residential buildings on the side and the hill located at the tips, the central area of the community took a semicircular shape forming a large green park for the community. The green park which was planted with numerous massive trees, various flowers, and plants, had allowed its visitors to enjoy the cool breeze and refreshing air. The artificial lake in the middle and a small stream of river flowing through the area formed a tranquil and relaxing atmosphere.

At the base position of the semicircular central area, three magnificent buildings have positioned themselves as the landmark of the community. These three buildings along with the large green park lake garden formed the Astra Recreational Center.

The first building was the shopping complex. As the only shopping complex within the so-called comprehensive community, it attracted a large number of consumers. Each day the turnover reached at least a million-dollar mark. Yes. Dollars. The consistently high turnover profit is an indicator of a successful business model.

Not any shops or stalls could be opened here in the shopping complex. The most important evaluation standard was the quality of products and services. Consumers may rate the products and services sold at any time as part of the shopping complex real-time quality inspection.

For example, snack stalls, not only need to ensure they pass the hygienic and quality inspection among others, but also need to ensure their snacks are delicious enough to satisfy the consumers. Because of this, the shopping complex has become one of the favorite hotspots for foodies.

Initially, as soon as it was open to the public, it welcomed various local businesses and international brands to lease the shops there. Ranging from restaurants, department stores, grocery stores, clothing stores, pharmacies, and pet and toy stores, to even entertainment and indoor sports activities.

By focusing on delivering qualified products and services, it has become a popular destination for shopping and entertainment in the community.

The other two buildings were the Sports Hall and the Greenhouse Park.

The Sports Hall had a stadium soccer field in the middle with an attached indoor sports hall on the left and an indoor swimming pool on the right, surrounding it.

The Greenhouse Park is a large greenhouse building built covering 15 acres of land. Within, not only there's a flower garden and artificial forest park, but various vegetables and fruit trees were also planted. Visitors may enjoy the experience of picking up and eating fresh fruits and vegetables at a small ticket fee.

Thus, the three buildings occupying the central area of the community had evolved to become the community's busiest location. Every evening and every weekend, the Recreational Centre welcomed a large crowd, coming to relax and enjoy themselves. It is a great place to mingle and socialize among friends and neighbors. It is the best place for young men, women, and children to play around.

Outside the central area, rows of residential buildings were built surrounding the area. The buildings were divided into several regions with various types of houses, townhouses, semi-detached houses, and bungalows. Moreover, there's dozens of apartment buildings were built, scattered around the community. The developer of the community had an ambitious target of building 10,000 residential units to cater to the growing demand for accommodation in the Provincial capital city.

Varying types of residential were built, ranging from terrace houses, and townhouses, to bungalows. There's a wide range of architectural designs one could choose from, including modern Western designs, futuristic designs, as well as local traditional courtyard designs.

The community itself is surrounded by tall wall fences. Having reliable security personnel frequently patrolling around the community, the atmosphere here assures the residents' safety and gives them peace of mind.

Known as one of the few first-class residential communities in the region, it features a comprehensive and inclusive development philosophy. After 9 years of continuous development, the developer slowly builds each phase of residential buildings until it has now become a comprehensive residential community.

The idea pitched to the people in the city at that time was: "Wouldn't it be great if the community had everything it needs to be independent?"

At that time the jokes among youngsters were, "Sure, maybe if someday zombie comes attacking, we can run away to the Astra RC!" or "In that's the case if the pandemic ever strikes us, we can cuddle together living in there" or "maybe we can start our own country" and so on so forth.

Because of this publicity, from the very first development phase that the community was opened to the public for sale, all residential units were fully booked long before the completion date. It has become an example and a benchmark for the industry's current trend.

This is the Astra Residential Community.

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On this day, as usual, many people are patronizing the Astra Recreational Centre. It is now the end of July and will soon enter the late summer season. This Saturday evening, the weather outside is clear and fresh, it is a good time for everyone to come out and relax.

In this central area, on the top floor of a 4-story shopping complex, an open-air green park garden was built to cater to the crowd's needs for a place to relax and spend their time leisurely. Visitors here may enjoy the fresh breeze surrounded by nature. There's a small playground on the left side of the garden while a shallow pool on the right towards the east direction.

In a corner, a pair of mother and daughter had just stepped into the garden.