Chapter 1726:

An hour later, Corrine pulled up at East Harbor Pier.

In the distance, she spotted Jonathan waiting at the water’s edge.

He seemed to feel her eyes on him. He looked up, studying her closely. When his gaze landed on the swelling at her forehead, a frown tugged at his brow. “What are you standing around for? Let’s go.”

“We’re going by boat?” Corrine asked.

“What else? You think I’ve got some teleportation device?” he shot back.

Corrine blinked, caught off guard.

He looked refined, almost striking enough that she momentarily forgot—despite his polished appearance, he never passed up a chance to argue with her.

Once aboard the massive cargo ship, Corrine settled onto a sofa, her attention focused on the screen of her phone.

The screen displayed the last messages exchanged with Nate the night before. After that, her attempts to reach him seemed to vanish into a void, unanswered.

This silence left her deeply concerned about what he might be facing now. Worry creased her brow.

“He’s not going to die,” Jonathan abruptly declared.

She glanced up, catching sight of him absentmindedly turning a ring around his finger. He spoke with such certainty that it almost sounded rehearsed. “If he were that easy to eliminate, Ralph wouldn’t have chosen him to be the family leader in the first place.”

“You seem quite familiar with the Independent Continent,” Corrine remarked, her eyes intensely studying him, searching his subdued expression for any hint.

At her words, Jonathan lifted his gaze. His lips curved slightly, a flicker of mischief tugging at the corner of his mouth. “If you understand your opponent as well as yourself, then victory isn’t hard to come by. That’s something I assume you already know.”

𝗢𝗻𝗅𝘆 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝘁 𝗀𝖺𝗅𝖓𝗈𝗏𝗲𝗅𝗌⍿ⅽ𝗈𝗆

Could it honestly be that straightforward?

Corrine pressed her lips together thoughtfully but chose to keep her thoughts to herself. She glanced at her phone again, hoping for a message from Lone Ranger.

Before she had boarded, she had reached out to him, hoping to use the Red Flame’s sophisticated tracking technology to locate Nate. Yet, there was still no word.

Red Flame was renowned for its cutting-edge tracking capabilities. Even if pinpointing an exact location was not possible, it should at least be able to identify the signal’s origin. But there had been no updates from Lone Ranger.

Could this silence indicate that Nate was in serious danger?

A heavy weight seemed to anchor itself to Corrine’s heart, dragging it downward ceaselessly, constricting her breath.

“You had the courage to board my ship,” Jonathan’s voice sliced through the fog in her mind. “Aren’t you worried I might turn on you? You do realize Nate and I aren’t exactly on friendly terms.”

Corrine smoothly redirected her focus. After a brief silence, she responded with composed assurance, “Do I have any other option?”

Gaining access to the Independent Continent was not a feat just anyone could achieve. Had she more time, perhaps other avenues might have been available. But at this moment, her priority was to be by Nate’s side, regardless of the risks involved.

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