The overwhelming media coverage and the flood of public praise across the internet left both Helena and the entire Northern European government pleasantly stunned. No one had expected that seizing this opportunity would generate such colossal influence.
Online, besides fervently praising Helena’s decisiveness and courage this time, many people began compiling a detailed timeline of everything she had done since ascending the throne. Looking back at her journey, the public realised that this young, beautiful empress had advanced step by steady step, extraordinarily solid and reliable.
Beautiful, composed, capable, righteous: Helena seemed to possess every virtue a royal family could wish for. Her prestige naturally soared ever higher.
And the mastermind behind all of this, Charlie wade, had by now quietly landed in Ushuaia, the southernmost port city of Argentina, known as the end of the world.
When Charlie wade and the three beauties touched down at Ushuaia airport, the four of them cleared customs smoothly using Northern European passports.
Staff from the Northern European research vessel were already waiting outside the terminal.
The information they had received was that several Northern European meteorologists needed to hitch a temporary ride on their ship to the Antarctic continent in order to install a batch of climate-monitoring equipment, then return with the vessel.
This cover story had been carefully chosen because the Northern European station itself was only a summer station. If they had announced from the start that people intended to overwinter there, the scientific crew would almost certainly regard it as suicidal. The news would spark heated discussion long before Charlie wade arrived, and even psychological suggestion might not calm things down in time.
Charlie wade’s Northern European identity was Jimmy Lewis. As soon as he and the three women emerged from customs, they spotted a middle-aged man at the exit holding a sign with “Jimmy Lewis” written in English. Charlie wade walked straight over and said, “Hello, I’m Jimmy Lewis.”
The man was momentarily taken aback to see that the meteorologist was Asian, and that all four of them were Asian. He stammered, “You’re Mr Lewis? Then… these three ladies must be the other experts travelling with you?”
Northern Europe is not an immigrant country, so Asian tourists are common enough, but Asian immigrants are far rarer. Meteorology is also not a field like power engineering where Asians dominate. Four Asian meteorologists arriving together was, frankly, rather unbelievable to the driver.
Charlie wade smiled and replied, “Yes, the four of us are the ones hitching a ride. When does our ship depart?”
The man recovered and explained, “Mr Lewis, our research vessel is currently in Ushuaia port taking on fuel and supplies. The scheduled departure is 7 a.m. three days from now, but the Drake Passage has been very rough lately, so we may have to wait another two days until the weather improves.”
He quickly added, “By the way, Mr Lewis, the four of you can come with me to the dock straight away and board the ship. We’ve prepared four cabins for you. The vessel is large with good facilities, and since this trip is mainly to pick people up, there aren’t many personnel aboard. It’s relatively quiet and comfortable.”
Because the journey to Antarctica passes through the dreaded Southern Ocean westerlies, where waves are among the worst in the world, every nation’s Antarctic research ships are built with massive tonnage to withstand extreme conditions. Displacement is usually over 10,000 tons. Ships of this size have abundant interior space. Apart from huge quantities of fuel, supplies, and scientific equipment, they can carry at least a hundred people. This time the crew was small, so cabins were more than ample.
Charlie wade had originally thought of booking a comfortable hotel in Ushuaia for a few days and boarding only when the ship was ready to sail.
On second thoughts, however, Wu Feiyan’s plane had never visited Ushuaia; it only shuttled between Buenos Aires and other parts of the world.
Still, this place was not far from Buenos Aires and was already uncomfortably close to the territory of the Purity Society.
