The Prison-Made Queen novel Chapter 846

Leilani's brows remained tightly knitted, her gaze locked on Payton with uncompromising resolve.

"I'm not joking around. You've been there before; you know exactly how complex and hostile that environment is. Your condition has only just stabilized, and the toxins are still in your system. You absolutely cannot handle the physical toll of a long-distance trek, let alone react to the sudden emergencies that happen in the jungle."

Not to mention, Payton was confined to a wheelchair. While able-bodied people would have to climb, crawl, and hack their way through the dense undergrowth, how was he supposed to manage?

She didn't voice that last part out loud, but Payton understood her meaning perfectly.

Sitting quietly in the weathered bamboo chair, Payton didn't take offense at her harsh truths. His expression remained calm, yet his unseeing eyes held a stubbornness that perfectly mirrored Leilani's own fierce determination.

"Even if you disagree, I have to go."

Payton leaned forward slightly, his voice low but cuttingly clear. "I am the only person here with actual, firsthand experience of that area. Your understanding of it is entirely theoretical."

The dangers lurking in that forest far exceeded whatever Leilani and Callahan had calculated.

"Without me guiding you, you won't even scratch the outer perimeter of the core zone, let alone reach your destination."

They would likely just end up hopelessly lost.

"We aren't going in recklessly!" Her voice pitched up, laced with deep anxiety. She couldn't fathom why he was being so painfully stubborn. "We've prepared extensively. We have elite gear, a professional team, and a meticulously detailed plan! But you are a different story!"

"Payton, you know your own body! Have you forgotten how close you came to dying the last time the toxins flared up? I know you survived this place once, but that was when you were young and healthy! Decades have passed. How can you be certain the jungle hasn't mutated into something completely different since then?"

She absolutely refused to gamble with his life on a 'maybe.' She just wanted him safe at base camp, waiting for them to bring back good news.

It was a brutally isolated stretch of wilderness. If Payton suffered from extreme exhaustion or was bitten by something venomous, triggering a relapse, they wouldn't even have the basic medical facilities to save him. The consequences would be catastrophic.