23 Exploration

After hearing the guard outside the double doors shuffle his feet, followed by the sound of multiple locks being bolted, Wuxing wasted no time and quickly wore the set of clothes they brought him.

'I guess this is a chance for me to sniff around a bit and find myself an escape route,' he thought with a smirk.

Earlier, he had long noticed that the guards actually gave him a set of their uniform, an exact replica of what they were wearing themselves—military pants and a simple white shirt. Of course, there was also a difference. They had kevlar vests, while he didn't receive one.

This situation made him reschedule his reconnaissance mission to commence immediately. Even if his main escape plan worked out later, without doing a reconnaissance first, he wouldn't know where to head next. He had to check out the whole prison first to determine the quickest way to the dock. Therefore, he needed information on the location and ranges of the cameras, the guard spots and any other obstacles that could hinder his escape.

Dongmei made a mistake when she left one of her guards to protect him as that only allowed him to make a decoy and sneak away.

Wuxing looked at his image reflected in the mirror and wished in his mind to change his appearance into that of the guard outside. His skin started shifting right away.

His muscles multiplied, making him bulkier, and his skin colour darkened. His facial arrangement completely changed, making him look just like the guard's twin brother. His hair shortened and its colour became brown. The whole process didn't hurt at all, as if his pain receptors didn't react to his quickly changing body.

'Not bad,' Wuxing commented in his mind as he moved about his new body. It definitely felt different than his own, and he would have to train for some time to gain familiarity with this body and adjust all his skills. Fortunately, he didn't plan to fight anyone right now.

Wuxing also noticed that both of his wounds were now healed and he couldn't help but sigh. He wanted to stall the healing for a few days, but at the same time, he couldn't give up such an occasion.

"Ugh!"

Just as he finished checking his condition, he suddenly felt pain all over his body, making him cough before collapsing on the ground. His muscles started to tremble and his skin felt hot. Beads of sweat started forming on his forehead.

"Fuck, it hurts…"

Wuxing cursed until the pain finally ceased. Right after the pain, other problems resurfaced. He felt an extreme pang of hunger that made his brain go crazy.

He struggled walking towards the fridge and started pulling out food one by one as soon as he reached it. There were different hams and sausages which Wuxing devoured with big bites. Pulling out ready-made dishes which were packed and prepared for Dongmei's daily meals, he ate everything with gusto.

While he was busy demolishing the edibles in the fridge, he realised that his hunger wasn't going away. It didn't decrease at all. He still felt as if he hadn't eaten for ages.

His appetite was satisfied only after he finished a whole week's worth of food.

'Damn, I should have guessed that such a transformation couldn't just happen without any cost,' Wuxing thought as he drank some water from the tap. 'Probably, each change requires energy and it comes from my body. Because of my wounds earlier, I lost a lot of energy, which forced my body to consume a lot of food to compensate for it.'

Luckily, he learnt about it when he was in a safe position, within close proximity to food, or else his situation would be dire.

'I have to be careful next time…' Wuxing noted this incident in his mind and entered the balcony to breathe a few fresh mouthfuls of air.

He felt much better a few minutes later. Realising he was feeling completely all right now, he moved forward with his plan. The balcony of Dongmei's room was on the topmost floor of the hospital which made it impossible for him to jump down, but he could always climb onto the roof, and from there, use the emergency stairs to leave the hospital.

There was also an option to drop down from window to window until he reached the ground, but with that option, he ran the risk of someone discovering him. It was always better to be safe than sorry.

The glass balcony wasn't enclosed with anything, so it was easy for him to climb up to the roof. After he left the hospital, he only had to avoid Dongmei's sight and he should be safe to walk around the whole prison without any problems.

The doors on the roof which led to the emergency stairs were locked with a modern padlock, but that didn't stop him. Within Badu Island, with the salt from the ocean in the air, all the locks exposed outside had a high chance of corrosion.

Wuxing decided to put his new invention to good use by putting a finger inside the hole of the padlock and started surrounding it with bone cells, making it bigger and bigger. It didn't take long for it to finally pop, breaking in one place which allowed him to take it off.

No one was using the emergency stairs as there were elevators installed, which allowed Wuxing to sneakily walk down to the base floor. The only challenge now was leaving the building without anyone suspecting a thing.

Wuxing opened the doors and left only when he didn't hear any footsteps. He walked out normally. Fortunately, on the base floor, there was only a receptionist by the desk and no one else.

"Good afternoon," a middle-aged woman called out with a smile, to which Wuxing only nodded before leaving through the main doors. The lady found that a little strange as she was rarely greeted by Miss Guan's men, but it didn't raise any suspicions. Everyone would sometimes get in a good mood and maybe the guard had such a nice day.

Recalling the route he took when he was led to the mines in the morning, Wuxing walked casually with his hands in his pockets and headed towards the prison buildings. Every guard he met on his way greeted him politely, but he just replied with a nod which they were seemingly satisfied with.

'Gosh, too many cameras. I will have to destroy the surveillance systems memory cards, else they might realise how I escaped after they investigate. So troublesome.' Wuxing sighed, noticing how many cameras there were on his way towards the prison gate. When he was brought here, his head was covered with a bag which prevented him from analyzing the situation.

After walking around aimlessly, Wuxing finally found the staff building where all the high standing wardens and guards had offices. Noticing that one had to have an electric card to enter, Wuxing asked the young guard on the other side of the metal bar doors, "Can you let me in? I forgot the card."

The young guard strengthened his back as he noticed who he was talking to and said weakly, "Sir, I'm sorry but this is against the rules."

"Cut the crap and open the doors. I don't have time to go back for my card. I am on a mission from Miss Guan. Do you want me to bring her here so she can tell you herself?" Wuxing glared at the young guard and threatened him right away without wasting time.

The young guard's body trembled. "Y-yes… Please don't call Miss Guan…" He opened the doors and pleaded with fear in his eyes.

'Wow, she really has a good reputation here,' Wuxing thought in surprise, patting the young guard's shoulder as he entered.