The Devil’s Cage

A bloody stench spread in the air, and the altered voice echoed in the hall.

A group of cold-looking male servants came from the door on the other side of the hall, cleaning up the blood and body pieces on the floor like lifeless robots.

Similarly, the masked man looked at the scene with a cold face, while Jorge, on the other hand, cried like anyone else would have.

Kieran raised a puzzled brow for a moment before returning to normal.

“This is really some punishment. I hope the same punishment will happen to you as well,” Kieran said with a bland tone.

“I hope you can see it as well. Well then, shall we begin the second stage?”

The altered voice from the phone laughed. Then, three boxes each a meter square feet were pushed in front of Kieran.

“You see, I am a person who reminiscence about the past. So, I’ll follow the process that you had once been through on the TV station. Three boxes, one with a person inside and the other two… Punishments!”

The voice emphasized his intonation, causing Jorge, who was already crying, to fall on the floor. However, when the masked man looked at Jorge with stern eyes, Jorge quickly covered his mouth, silencing his cries, but he couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down his cheeks.

“Now, what will be your choice…”

“The right one,” Kieran answered right away.

Pak, Pak Pak.

“Marvelous, marvelous! Every time you do this, it’s like a living miracle!”

Slow claps sounded from the other end of the phone. The cold-looking servants came out again, opened the box on the right and took out the ‘person’ inside.

This ‘person’ had his eyes dug out, his tongue cut, and all four of his limbs severed. He could only wiggle around with his head on the floor, moving like a worm.

“He is a bad person. A person who lies as much as he breathes and commits every possible atrocity. As your reward, I’ll leave him to you, so do whatever you would like with him.”

The voice from the phone was obviously digitally altered, but at that moment, everyone who heard the voice could tell how gleeful it was.

“Damn it! Hurry up and find him!”

Lin An slammed the table fiercely.

“We have tried our best but still couldn’t locate him. His network seems to be independent from our surveillance system,” one of the technicians replied to the angry officer with a forehead covered in sweat.

“Independent from our surveillance system? How is that possible?”

Lin An was stunned. He wanted more details of this claim but was soon interrupted by Eckart.

“Let’s not focus on that first. That bastard is pushing 2567.” Eckart’s eyes were glued to the monitor.

The mastermind’s voice was broadcasted through every single screen in the city, thus spreading all over Rain City, and with the inclusion of the internet, the whole Neo Union was made an audience of this horrible act.

“In order to give you more motivation, I’ll let you understand what kind of situation Mei Huasheng is currently in.”

As the voice continued, the chains binding Mei Huasheng’s limbs started to retract. With the pilar she was tied to in the middle, Mei Huasheng’s limbs stretched out in all four directions, straining her body limits.

The chains were retracting by the second, and the pain woke her up right away.

The moment she opened her eyes, she saw Kieran through the screen in front of her.

“Look, Officer Mei Huasheng, I’ve brought 2567 here just like I said I would. I even gave him a multiple choice question, which is basically free points for him. Now, what do you want to say to him?”

The voice sounded in two places at once, thus causing echoes in the rooms.

“Forget me, leave,” Mei Huasheng said coldly.

“I’m afraid that that is hard for 2567. When he heard that you were my ‘guest’ here, he agreed to come without a second thought. You missed out on how Mr. Shaman looked when he heard you were here. The anxiety, the nervousness.”

The voice was teasing his prey with ill intention.

Mei Huasheng’s face changed when she heard that. She didn’t believe what the voice said; the Kieran she knew wasn’t that kind of sympathetic person.

However… it was also a fact that Kieran had indeed appeared ‘in front’ of her.

Slight confusion and complication flashed across Mei Huasheng’s eyes, but a moment later, they were replaced by a firm and steadfast look.

“Forget about me,” Mei Huasheng said again.

Her words were sent through the entire Neo Union through the broadcast signal.

The audience looked at the female officer with respect and worry. Likewise, some couldn’t look straight at the ‘person’ on the floor, wiggling like a worm, either.

“The voice said it, this ‘person’ is a bad person!”

“What’s wrong with exchanging his life with Mei Huasheng’s?”

“But… What if the voice lied?”

“What if this ‘person’ is a good man?”

…

Heated debates soared through the sky.

Everyone glued their eyes to their screen, staring straight at Kieran.

They were waiting for Kieran to make a move.

As a matter of fact, Kieran wasn’t that conflicted or hesitant. He took the handgun from the masked man and walked towards the ‘person’.

Bang!

The gun was fired at the ‘person’, blowing his head off. His brain splattered, and the wriggling movements stopped.

The audience who stared at their screens skipped a breath.

“Why…Why is he so rash?!”

“Shouldn’t he find out more before firing the gun?”

“I know right!”

“At least find out who the ‘person’ is!”

…

The debates instantly turned into a one-sided criticism.

The dead triumphed all.

The audience were standing on the perspective of death, blaming Kieran for his actions.

Even the voice who controlled everything was a little shocked.

“I didn’t know 2567 was such a straightforward guy. Seems like Mei Huasheng is quite important to you. To the point that you can disregard everything and bear the consequences. Marvelous.”

Kieran didn’t care about the insincere compliments.

His eyes were still staring at the dead ‘person’ and didn’t move for some time.

“Feeling uncomfortable after your first kill? Shall I tell you some news so that you can…”

“Shut up!” Mei Huasheng shouted.

She didn’t want Kieran to know about the news, because it could easily crush a kind person.

“Tsk, seems like 2567’s appearance made you forget where you are, who you are. Do you still remember what kind of situation you are in?”

The chains around Mei Huasheng’s limbs tightened again. She clenched her teeth and endured the pain, but her hurried breath because of the stretched limbs was unconcealable.

The voice laughed out loud when he heard the hurried breath.

“See, this is what you get for disobeying me! I call the shots here! Including life and death! If I want you alive, you will stay alive! If I want you dead, you will…”

Before the voice finished his threats, he was stopped abruptly because the ‘person’, who Kieran shot in the head, moved!

Or rather… it came back to life!

Heavy growls came from its throat despite its tongue being cut.

Small greenish-blue fire burned in the eye sockets where its eyeballs had been dug out.

Everyone saw the scene.

Everyone was stunned beyond logic.

They were staring blankly at the body coming back to life.

They were astonished when the body stood up straight even without legs.

And they were shocked when Kieran stomped on the body’s broken head, crushing it to bits.

Pak!

The dead body, which had just came alive, ‘died’ again, all its eerie movements forced to a stop.

A mere moment later, the concept of resurrection exploded in everyone’s mind. Reverse energy popped up in Kieran’s vision faster than before; it was like an erupting volcano as it spammed his vision.

One time!

Five times!

10 times!

20 times!

…

The accumulation of the reverse energy doubled by the second, and within a breath’s time, it reached almost a hundred times.

And that still wasn’t the end. The speed of the popping notifications didn’t slow down at all; instead, they doubled!

However, Kieran, who was looking at the scene, didn’t feel happy at all.

Because…

He had been…

Lied to.