Female Novel
Chapter 616
Chapter 616 The Eight Respectable Families
Given the current state of matters, war could break out between Asura’s Office and the respectablefamilies at any time. As a result, if Jonathan could recruit one of the families as his ally, they would beof tremendous help to him.
Even if the Blackwood family wasn’t willing to help, Jonathan still wanted to know the reason for thedecision. Since Lauryn had chosen to side with him, he wanted to know the Blackwood family’s trueintentions before deciding what kind of attitude to adopt toward them.
Face with Jonathan’s candor, Lauryn hesitated momentarily. Nevertheless, thinking back to the eventsthat happened in Summerbank Abyss elicited a helpless wry smile from her.
“Jonathan, if it wasn’t for your mind-blowing performance in Summerbank Abyss, you wouldn’t havecaught my eye, let alone that of my family.”
After downing the coffee in a single gulp, Lauryn added, “The Blackwood family’s position is simple—they will never submit to Asura’s Office. When I returned home, I tried my best to convince my father tonot participate in the actions against you. Unfortunately, he locked me up and wanted to force me tomarry Jay. Why can’t he see that I’ve trained so hard just to show him that I’m not weaker than anyoneelse? I do not need this so-called marriage alliance to prove my worth. However, why does he notrecognize all the effort that I’ve put in—”
“You’re digressing!”
Jonathan quickly stopped her when he noticed her veering off-topic.
Upon being interrupted, Lauryn gently shook her head.
“I’m sorry. My emotions got the better of me.”
“It’s fine. I understand.” Jonathan poured Lauryn another cup of coffee. “By the way, who are yousupposed to wed for the marriage alliance again?”
Despite Jonathan’s casual tone, Lauryn felt a faint sense of murderous intent from him.
“Jonathan…”
“I’m asking you who it is!” Jonathan repeated his question, his voice icier than before.
“Jay Osborne!” Lauryn replied with a slight hesitation.
At that moment, behind Jonathan’s indifferent expression, an uncontrollable amount of spiritual energybegan to swell within him.
Subsequently, waves of spiritual energy burst out into the open. Lauryn—who was sitting opposite him—felt as if she was a directionless ship thrown about in a thunderstorm and was at risk of beingswallowed by his raging energy.
“Release!”
Upon Lauryn’s barely audible command, a Grandmaster Realm force field cocooned her and blockedJonathan’s spiritual energy on the outside.novelbin
Sensing the fear within Lauryn, Jonathan—with gritted teeth—finally calmed himself down.
Utilizing the Ancient Sacred Dragon Technique at full force, his spiritual energy was tamed within a fewbreaths.
“It wasn’t aimed at you. It was Jay. Anyway, please continue,” Jonathan remarked in a deep voicealthough the murderous intent in his eyes had yet to recede.
Jay was one of those on Jonathan’s kill list, for he was the main reason why Sophia was lying in theoperating room then.
After dispelling her force field, the traumatized Lauryn stared at Jonathan.
Working with someone like Jonathan is extremely dangerous. The slightest mistake might end upcosting us our lives.
“Jonathan, even though I’ve failed to persuade my father, I’ll still support you with everything I’ve got.However, can I ask this of you? Please don’t harm the Blackwood family if they have not laid a fingeron you.”
“Lauryn, ever since we worked together, you have never provided me with any useful information.Hence, you’re in no position to negotiate,” Jonathan rejected her with furrowed brows.
“Don’t you know the location of the Osborne family? Tell me.”
Jonathan’s words caused Lauryn to subconsciously lower her head.
“I’m sorry… Actually, I have no idea where they are.”
“What?”
Amidst the crisp crack of his coffee cup, Jonathan locked his hostile gaze on Lauryn.
“Back at Summerbank Abyss, you told me that you knew where the Osbornes were. And now, youclaim ignorance? Are you taking me for a fool?”
“Of course not.”
Lauryn frantically explained, “Jonathan, I only know that they are somewhere in Drieso.”
“Drieso?” A frosty expression descended on Jonathan’s face. “Drieso is almost two hundred and fiftythousand square kilometers. Are you asking me to comb the entire place?”
In response to Jonathan’s reaction, Lauryn quickly clarified, “A respectable family’s ancestral home istheir biggest secret. Even their core members who are not even eighteen don’t know where it is, letalone an outsider. There are eight respectable families in Chanaea in total. Other than the Blackwoodand Osborne families, the other six are the Henderson, Leeson, Mallory, Gray, Welsh, and Salladayfamilies. All of them are hiding in their respective hideouts. All these while, the respectable familieshave always fought against each other for a larger piece of Chanaea. Hence, whenever one of themshows themselves, the rest will hunt them down like predators. That’s how the respectable familieshave survived all these years.”
“All these while, the respectable families have always fought against each other for a larger piece ofChanaea. Hence, whenever one of them shows themselves, the rest will hunt them down likepredators. That’s how the respectable families have survived all these years.”
Lauryn’s rapid answer finally placated Jonathan’s anger.
At the same time, he was further intrigued by them.
“When you mentioned that the core members do not know the location of their respective families untilthey’re eighteen, what do you mean?”
Jonathan’s question elicited a long sigh from Lauryn.
Compared to the Jonathan in Summerbank Abyss, the one she was facing now had grown significantlymore dangerous.
Although she had no idea what had happened, it was clear to her that Jonathan’s state of mind wasnow different from the time he was at Summerbank Abyss.
After gathering her thoughts, she continued, “Before any of the core members of the respectablefamilies are eighteen, they are not told of the location of their ancestral home—a form of securitymechanism that works both ways. Not only is the ancestral home of a respectable family protected, butit also sends out the message that it’s useless to take advantage of the children. In other words, thechildren are inadvertently protected by the arrangement too.”
Upon hearing Lauryn’s explanation, Jonathan knitted his brows. “Are you saying you don’t return toyour ancestral home until you’re eighteen?”
“What do you mean by return? We grew up there, for that’s the best place to raise us.”
Cognizant that Jonathan had misunderstood, Lauryn quickly clarified, “We grow up on our ancestralland and leave to see the outside world too. It’s just that during the journey back, we will be blindfoldedand have someone to guide us. That way, the children will never know their exact location.”
Lauryn’s words caused Jonathan to be briefly stunned.
This method… where have I heard of it before?
When Jonathan turned to look at No. 8 Villa, his mind began to delve into the matter.
Previously, Yasmin and I talked about Paradise Island before. As the true mastermind who controlsXiara—ninth on the Heaven List, Paradise Island wields significant power.
Also, to prevent their location from being discovered, they too adopted the same method as therespectable families. Is this just a coincidence? It’s certainly too much to be one!