In reality, it wasn't just Bonnie who doubted Howard's ability to ensure Jeremy's safety.
Even Claire and Emma had lost faith in Howard.
Having accompanied Howard on the helicopter, they too witnessed the disastrous consequences of his order to launch the missiles.
The entrance of the instance was already halfway covered, and it was highly likely that the boss within the instance would be enraged by the explosions caused by the missile attacks.
Jeremy, now inside the instance, was undoubtedly in even greater peril.
Howard paid no heed to Bonnie's words.
"If you don't trust me, what course of action do you intend to take? If you wish to enter the instance, I can permit you to accompany me.
After all, you are the daughter of an old friend of mine, and I must ensure your safety during the operation. I certainly don't want to be blamed by your father should you encounter any danger."
In truth, Howard had never fully trusted Bonnie.
Howard always felt that everything Bonnie had accomplished in the past was only possible with Jeremy's assistance.
Upon hearing his words, Bonnie responded calmly.
"I will enter the instance to provide aid to Jeremy. However, I will not be accompanying you. You and your subordinates would only serve to hinder me."
With that, Bonnie resolutely stepped into the instance.
In reality, Bonnie wouldn't encounter any danger whatsoever, as all the threats within the instance were far from the entrance at this moment.
When Kean first entered the instance, he immediately confronted a colossal monster right at the entrance.
This gigantic creature was one of the two bosses of the instance.
Following the missile attacks, one of the monsters within the instance charged toward the entrance, while the other rushed deeper into the instance.
This meant that Kean had to defeat the instance's monsters with the assistance of the White Tower if he wanted to delve deeper into the instance and find Jeremy
During the battle, Kean fought with utmost seriousness, but he suddenly realized he couldn't easily defeat the instance boss.
"What on earth is going on? Why is an instance boss of this level so difficult to defeat? Can you provide me with some assistance?! If I end up failing, it will be a mutual failure for both of us! You absolutely cannot stand idly by now!"
Kean hoped that the White Tower could provide him with some assistance.
Under normal circumstances, the White Tower was indeed willing to aid Kean. After all, its objective was to eliminate Jeremy, and to achieve that, cooperation with Kean was essential.
However, during Kean's battle with the instance boss, the White Tower suddenly sensed that something was amiss within the instance.
The White Tower had an unsettling feeling that this instance had been tampered with. Furthermore, the tampering seemed to involve the power of an apocalypse game designer.
The White Tower wanted to quickly ascertain which apocalypse game designer's power was present within the instance. However, due to its own power being weakened in the real world, it couldn't make a swift determination.
Although the instance boss was defeated, no rewards were given. This was because the instance was, after all, a dual-boss instance. Only by vanquishing both bosses would the corresponding rewards be bestowed.
"It seems your support arrived just in the nick of time. Where are the others now? They haven't encountered any danger, have they?"
Jeremy inquired calmly, turning towards Ritchie.
Ritchie shook his head. "I don't actually know if the other two have encountered any danger. After you and Kean left, I hurriedly followed in your direction."
"However, I believe they should be safe. Before I set out, I specifically gave General Howard a call."
"If my judgment is correct, General Howard and Bonnie should have already arrived."
Upon hearing Ritchie's words, Jeremy's expression finally relaxed a bit.
"This time, our mission should be successful. However, I still have no confidence that we can completely eliminate Kean. At best, we can only severely wound him."
Ritchie showed a momentary look of confusion upon hearing this.
"I really don't understand. Why can't we finish him off? Kean has already lost to you several times before. Can't you take this opportunity to defeat him once and for all?"
Facing Ritchie's inquiry, Jeremy responded softly, "Now is not the right moment to eliminate Kean. I have a feeling that Kean will only be defeated by me at a very pivotal moment."
"If I eliminate him prematurely, we might not reap as many benefits. We must wait for the most opportune moment to strike."
Jeremy's words left Ritchie even more puzzled.
However, one of Ritchie's strengths was that when he encountered something he couldn't understand, his strategy was simply to stop thinking about it.
"What you're saying has really confused me. But honestly, I don't care whether we can completely eliminate Kean this time or not. Since you believe we can't, I'll trust your judgment."
"My only question now is, what should our next move be? Since we've already taken down one instance boss, should we go after the other instance boss next?"
"Or should we head directly to the instance entrance to confront Kean?"
Ritchie proposed two different courses of action. However, Jeremy knew that these two options were essentially the same.
"We just need to wait here a bit longer. Although Kean isn't as strong as I am, I doubt that a mere instance boss could hold him back. Moreover, he now has even more powerful assistance."
Just as Jeremy finished speaking, the sound of footsteps echoed from not far away.
"Impressive as always, Jeremy! Your assessment of the situation is quite accurate. However, this time, there is no way you can escape my grasp."
Kean's voice emerged from the shadows.
As the footsteps grew louder, Kean's detestable face gradually came into view.
Ritchie could only see Kean alone, but from Jeremy's perspective, he could discern another figure faintly floating behind Kean.
That figure behind Kean was the true formidable adversary Jeremy needed to confront, [the White Tower].