"Huh?" Dean, the pilot, turned around to stare at Seth in surprise.
He wasn't sure if the man was joking or being absolutely serious, so he asked, "Are we really flying back?"
Lewis sat on the seat without saying anything. The cabin was dim, so no one was able to spot the exhaustion in his eyes.
Conrad quickly answered anxiously, "No way! We've already traveled such a long distance from the island! Are you planning to use up the entire fuel supply?"
It was clear that Lewis enjoyed his time on the island. The assistant was worried that his boss would return to the island for real if he were given that option.
Meanwhile, Dean shot a glance in Seth's direction. The latter had already closed his eyes, having decided to ignore Lewis.
The pilot thought momentarily before deciding not to turn the helicopter around. Obviously, Seth didn't mean the things he said. He was merely mad at Lewis. Dean would be a complete idiot if he were to do as he was told.
The helicopter had been flying for a very long time, so if Dean were to turn back, the vehicle wouldn't have enough fuel to fly back to Hardington.
Hence, Dean propelled the helicopter above the clouds and headed in Hardington's direction.
The sky had completely darkened by now. The journey ahead spanned over 620 miles and would last for more than an hour. Resting against Lewis, Josephine soon drifted into a dreamless sleep.
In the meantime, Conrad reported a summary of what happened in the outside world over the past half a month.
On the second day of Lewis' disappearance, Conrad arrived in Hardington with the purpose of joining Seth and the rest of the group in the search for the missing people.
Kiran returned to Elysium on the fifth day after the cruise ship's incident. He was rumored to have sustained severe injuries. The man didn't do anything for now, but at the same time, Conrad didn't know how he was doing right now.
The incident had rapidly spread across the Internet, becoming viral, as the forces related to the cruise's organizers failed to keep the news from traveling. The cruise belonged to a joint venture named Veda Group. An official statement had been issued, asserting that the cruise rammed into an iceberg.
One could only wonder if Veda Group intended to conceal the truth on purpose or if another reason was involved.
Most guests on the cruise ship were either wealthy or influential people. The compensation issue was just one problem; someone had to take responsibility for this incident. Naturally, that person had to become the scapegoat as well. In the end, Veda Group forced a random manager to take responsibility for everything.
Faust and the others all speculated that Kiran was the one behind the incident, but since the wreckage of the cruise ship was nowhere to be found, the group couldn't scout it for evidence. For now, they had no idea what their next course of action would be.
Conrad's report was actually a brief summary of the events. After all, he had spent many days looking for Lewis, so he didn't have time to learn about the details.
When the helicopter flew over the waters where the cruise ship had gotten demolished, Lewis and the others could vaguely see light dots on the dark surface. The authorities and the divers appeared to be still fishing the corpses from the sea.
Lewis was still wearing his poker face while listening to Conrad's report. Suddenly, he asked, "Did you just say Kiran has yet to do anything?"
"Yes. When he returned to Elysium, I had some men keep an eye on him. Their latest update is that Kiran hasn't planned or done anything yet. Maybe he's still hospitalized."
The man just raised an eyebrow without saying anything.
Then, he closed his eyes and rested.
The helicopter landed on an empty field in a rural area right outside Hardington an hour later. Gerald and his men were already waiting for Lewis and the others.
Josephine was still asleep, so Lewis scooped her into his arms before getting off the helicopter.
Gerald let out a sigh of relief after seeing the group leaving the helicopter. He approached Lewis with a wide grin pasted on his face and greeted, "Chairman Alvarez!"
Then, he noticed Josephine, who was fast asleep in Lewis' arms. He quickly lowered his voice as he said, "Hurry up and get in the car. I've been waiting for you the whole time."
Lewis placed Josephine into the car before getting in as well.
The car sped toward the hotel, where Sierra could be seen waiting at the entrance. She kept looking around anxiously as well.
She ran toward Lewis when she spotted him. "Lewis—"
The woman's expression stiffened up immediately the moment she saw Josephine being cradled in Lewis' arms. However, Sierra quickly recalled what the man had told her in the past, so she suppressed the multitude of emotions while squeezing out a smile.
"I'm so happy to see you doing alright."
Lewis shot Sierra a look instead. "Why are you here?"
The latter trailed behind Lewis as she continued in an aggrieved tone, "When I heard about your incident, I was worried that I could barely eat or sleep. I've been thinking about you every day. At one point, I thought that you were—"
Sierra quickly stopped speaking when she realized she was about to say something ominous.
Then again, she was really worried that Lewis might end up dying for real.
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