As long as Helena was with Charlie wade, she felt completely safe and was not worried about any security issues.
Most of the route passed through sparsely populated areas, so the return journey was very smooth. A few hours later, they were already approaching Osu City.
Osu City’s international airport is in the northeast of the city. Charlie wade and the others were driving south from the north towards Osu City, which happened to take them past the airport area.
Charlie wade had originally planned to first take Helena back to the palace, then bring Lin Wan’er and the other three to the airport. Unexpectedly, as they neared the airport, Helena, sitting in the back, said to Charlie wade, “Mr Wade, the royal staff have already brought the documents prepared for Miss Grace and Miss Song and are waiting at the airport. The aircraft is also ready for takeoff. I’ve arranged for daily necessities that Miss Lin needs to be purchased and packed onto the plane. Once we arrive, you can take off directly.”
Charlie wade asked her, “Don’t you need to be taken back to the palace first?”
“No need to trouble yourselves,” Helena said. “We can’t waste the time of four people just because of me alone. It works out perfectly that I can go to the airport to see you off. After you leave, I’ll just return with the royal staff.”
Charlie wade nodded lightly. This was indeed more reasonable; otherwise he would have to enter Osu City first, go around once, then come back to the airport.
So he said, “Then thank you, Helena.”
Helena smiled and said, “Mr Wade, there’s no need for such politeness between us. When you reach Antarctica, if there is anything you need, contact me straight away. I’ll find a way to coordinate and resolve it.”
Charlie wade nodded, stopped standing on ceremony with Helena, and drove directly onto the ramp leading to the airport.
As the airport drew nearer, the originally clear road suddenly became heavily congested and the speed kept dropping.
Charlie wade found that the road ahead was completely blocked. His own car could only slow down gradually until it stopped on the highway. He could not help muttering to himself, “Why is it blocked so badly? Has there been some traffic accident?”
Helena leant over to look. The jam stretched for at least several hundred metres, and from here the cause was completely invisible. She said to Charlie wade, “Mr Wade, just a moment. I’ll ask what the exact situation is.”
With that, she took out her phone and sent a message. A few moments later her expression turned ugly as she said, “Mr Wade, there are environmental activists protesting ahead. They’ve completely blocked all roads into the airport and are demanding that no one drives through. Some passengers in a hurry to catch flights have already got out and started walking.”
Charlie wade said in surprise, “Your country has these extreme environmentalists too?”
Helena smiled bitterly and said, “The most famous one, that environmental girl, is a speciality of our neighbour Sweden. In recent years, under her influence, Northern Europe has produced quite a few young extreme environmentalists. What’s most troublesome is that many extreme environmentalists from around the world have been inspired by them and travel thousands of miles to join them in protests. This isn’t the first time they’ve blocked roads for protests. Just a few days ago they did it in Osu City and blocked the main city-centre artery for a full 24 hours. Afterwards the police arrested more than a hundred extreme environmentalists, of whom more than sixty were foreigners, nearly half.”
Charlie wade asked in astonishment, “This time won’t be another 24 hours, will it?”
Helena said, “In situations like this, the police can’t arrest people straight away. They have to wait until the behaviour has caused enough negative impact before making arrests, so the pressure from public opinion will be less. Even if it doesn’t take 24 hours, it will probably still be several hours or even a dozen hours.”
At this point she sighed helplessly, “The situation in Northern Europe is rather awkward. A lot of people have very strong left-wing thinking. Take global warming for example. The simplest solution they can think of is to protest in the city centre, block the roads so cars can’t pass, and force people to walk. I reckon this protest has the same theme.”
“There really are all kinds of weirdos,” Charlie wade sighed helplessly. Then he glanced at the navigation. It showed nearly five kilometres still to the terminal building. He said, “Five kilometres isn’t a big problem for us to walk, but you’re the Queen of Northern Europe. If you walk with us, won’t you be recognised?”
Helena immediately gathered her long hair into a bun, put on a dark-blue bucket hat that completely covered the bun, then took out a mask and sunglasses. Smiling, she said, “Look, people ahead are getting out one after another. With so many walking, no one should notice me. And once they start, they can’t finish quickly. We can leave the car here. I’ll arrange for someone to come and take care of it.”
Charlie wade nodded and said, “If that’s the case, then let’s get out and walk!”
