69 A LOT OF PROBLEMS (1/2)

The captive life in the mysterious lab was not unbearable for Hu Lei. She had a comfortable room which provided her with a private place for daily rest. She received regular meals. Though they were pre-packaged rations, they contained all essential nutrients. Moreover, she kept boredom to a minimum by working out in the gym and spending time in the considerably well-stocked library.

However, even a golden cage was still a prison. And Hu Lei was not willing to spend the rest of her life on a dead continent. She also wanted to be free from this place which reminded her of all ill in her life, including her father's betrayal.

Unfortunately, it was like Helen Brown had said. The place was impossible to leave, and it was the only safe harbour on the land of ice. If she attempted to leave, she would become a human shaped icicle in an hour. Still, how could she give up on the life she hoped to have, the life she had begun to build?

As days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months, Hu Lei did not abandon the possibility of leaving the hellhole. She spent a lot of time evaluating her environment and considering her situation in an effort to come up with a plan for escape.

Regrettably, there were no multiple possibilities for leaving the land. In fact, there was only one single way off the continent, and it was not even a good one. This minute possibility was in the periodic delivery of supplies and resources from outside.

From Hu Lei's tentative calculation, these deliveries were made every three months. So far, she had been in the lab for more than eight months. She could not make an accurate evaluation because of the lack of sunlight in the underground structure. Moreover, she did not trust the calendar information provided to her in the lab where nothing was in her control. But she had been keeping her own records of the days.

During the supplies delivery, she did not know what was brought in because she had never actually left the building. However, she knew that the people who came with supplies always switched out the old guards and brought in new ones, perhaps to ensure that the level of security always remained strong, without complacency. Or the private military management did not want to leave their people on the ice rock for too long.

The reason did not matter. All she cared about was the opportunity that this process provided for her.

The nine-month delivery would be happening in a couple of days according to her calculations. Hu Lei had been watching out for signs to indicate the actual day for the deliveries. She intended to see if she could take advantage of the replacement of guards to leave the lab. With the right planning, she did not believe that she could not get out of the godforsaken place.

However, she would need a few things if she wanted a chance of exit and survival. Her plan needed a convenient place to take out two guards so that she could take their identity and leave with the rest. She also needed knockout gas to keep the people leaving under control. Additionally, a suitable weapon was required to encourage the cooperation of the person driving the vehicle or other means of transportation.

Obviously, the plan was not perfect, but she was still working on the kinks. It was also essential for her to speak to her father and convince him to leave with her. Though he had failed her, she could not leave him at the mercy of a continent that was not suited for human survival.

Under ideal circumstances, she would have planned for her departure on the upcoming day of the deliveries, marking about nine months of her stay on Antarctica. The sooner she could leave the lab, the better. However, she could not afford to be hasty. If she failed on her first try, she would not have an opportunity to try again.

The security around her would be tightened, and it would be several folds more difficult to get out. So, she planned to observe the situation closely during this period. With the right information, she could solidify her plans for escape. The three months would also be critical for convincing her father to abandon whatever project he was working on.