The Devil’s Cage

J.Pearlman.

The man just invited Kieran to join his Freedom Alliance, a group consisting of only high-rankers not so long ago; he seemed like a kind man.

Rachel even had quite the commentary on him.

After some thought, Kieran allowed J.Pearlman to enter.

“Good day, Mr. 2567, Mr. Lawless, Mr. Starbeck.”

J.Pearlman walked in with his casual outdoor clothes, a fisherman’s hat, and a box on his shoulder before greeting everyone.

It wasn’t weird for him to know Lawless and Starbeck though.

Lawless himself was the type of guy who mixed around with almost everyone and knew almost everyone in the game.

Although Starbeck lived in seclusion and rarely came out, his exceptional financial power made him a spotlight in some player’s eyes, especially those belonged to an organization.

After all, Starbeck wouldn’t buy all his equipment from just Broker, he must have other sellers as well. The high-ranker organization, Freedom Alliance was the first choice.

At the very next moment, J.Pearlman verified Kieran’s thoughts.

“I never thought I would meet you here, Mr. Starbeck, it’s an honor!”

J.Pearlman said with a surprised but not enthusiastic tone.

“2567 and I are friends,” Starbeck briefly explained.

Somehow, Starbeck sounded different when he was speaking with J.Pearlman. Unlike Kieran and Lawless who knew what he was capable off, Starbeck’s tone was slightly deranged and arrogant when he spoke to the Fisherman; it felt like the first time Kieran met him.

However, Kieran and Lawless didn’t expose Starbeck.

They allowed Starbeck and J.Pearlman to chat for a while before Kieran asked, “So, Mr. J.Pearlman, are you here for?”

The Fisherman instantly became stern.

“Mr. 2567, there are some rumors about you lately that intrigued me. So, since we met before, I was chosen to come forth for some inquiries. Of course, it’s just simple inquiries, not to make sure of anything. We don’t mean to sound pushy either, you can choose to answer my questions or not,” J.Pearlman said sincerely.

He somehow even lowered his own status which caused Kieran to be intrigued.

Starbeck and Lawless looked at the man.

“What rumors?” Kieran asked.

“Rumor has it that you have acquired a part of the Witch’s Legacy. So I represent my group to find out whether is it true?” J.Pearlman said.

The words from the Fisherman made Kieran frowned. He automatically turned to Lawless and Starbeck and coincidentally, they were looking at him as well.

The three of them knew what each other was thinking through simple gazes.

Broker!

It was Broker’s handy work again!

J.Pearlman saw Kieran, Lawless and Starbeck’s reaction; he didn’t rush them but waited patiently for Kieran’s answer.

“Mr. J.Pearlman, do you know the conflict between me and Broker?” Kieran didn’t reply directly but with his own question instead.

“I’ve heard about it. Frankly speaking, Broker is not likable even among us. He is too cunning and schemed a lot, who knows when he would turn around and bite us from behind?”

“Oh, I did mention before you can just call me J or Pearlman, or even Fisherman is fine.” J.Pearlman lifted his fisherman’s hat with a smile.

“Very well, Pearlman. The conflict between me and Broker has escalated to the point where only one of us will walk away alive. Lawless brought men to trample his properties before and of course, he would release fake rumors to cause me more headaches.”

Kieran addressed J.Pearlman the way he asked and also briefly explained the situation.

Of course, some other secretive crucial points were taken away from the explanation.

As for the title dungeon?

It wasn’t a secret anymore that Kieran had the [Blade of the Daybreaker (Sub Scroll)] but he still chose to avoid discussing the matter.

“I see,” J.Pearlman nodded.

Then, both of them talked for a while more before the Fisherman parted ways with the three of them politely.

“J is not an idiot. It’s for him to figure out if you can contend with Broker in [Blade of the Daybreaker],” Lawless said after J.Pearlman left.

“It’s already an obvious fact laid bare on the table. If people still don’t know why Broker’s forces shrunk at first, as time goes by someone will definitely notice something. I am certain that many of the players are smart, just like how I am certain that Broker is targeting something else by releasing the fake rumors,” Kieran said slowly with squinted eyes.

“Targeting something else? What does that bastard want to do now?” Lawless frowned.

He couldn’t figure out what good it would do by releasing fake Rumours; neither could Kieran.

The reason why Broker did what he did was to pull more attention to Kieran, causing more trouble for him, and that was it.

But the attention and trouble was almost nothing for Kieran. Without solid proof, only those petty goons would fall for the fake rumors; Kieran could easily dispatch them single-handedly.

Worst came to worst, even if Broker created some fake evidence to frame Kieran, it still will not affect him directly since he and Starbeck were about to enter the title dungeon, [Blade of the Daybreaker].

Unless…

The other three sub scrolls of the title dungeon weren’t with Broker!

There were other people who possessed the sub scroll and these few people had the ability to threaten Broker!

But that didn’t make sense either.

According to Kieran’s understanding of Broker, since Broker dared to accelerate the cooldown of [Blade of the Daybreaker], he must have absolute confidence in taking out both him and Starbeck.

Which means, the remaining 3 sub scrolls became a key factor. Broker would only feel absolute confidence by possessing the other 3 sub scrolls.

Moreover, when Broker first used one of the sub scrolls to lure Kieran into this big mess, it meant he wasn’t lacking sub scrolls to give out.

Just when Kieran was in deep thought, his PM tab pinged him.

……

Rachel: I got news. Extremus got [Blade of the Daybreaker (Sub Scroll)] from Broker!

Rachel: and one of the Supernovas, the extremely powerful Darde the Titan was given one as well!

…

Kieran breathed heavily when he saw the messages from Rachel.

“As expected!”

Extremus was the leader of the player killers and from how Rachel described him, he was extremely terrifying. Not only in the underground game but in real life as well.

Kieran carved Extremus’ name into his heart when they first discussed him since he knew what Rachel and Lawless’ occupation was in real life.

On the other hand, the Titan, Darde, was heard off multiple times as well since Kieran wasn’t a newbie anymore.

Darde had the lineage of the Titan, possessed superhuman strength and was almost impenetrable. He once slaughtered an entire city in a high difficulty dungeon.

The two of them were people that Kieran had to be extremely careful of but…

The one deserved the most attention was Broker!

“You generously gave out two sub scrolls to others just like this? If the snipe and the clam are locked in a fight, it is only to the advantage of the fisherman, which is you, Broker. It’s so obvious that it doesn’t seem like you at all… Where are the rest of your men hiding?”

Kieran squinted his eyes as they glimmered.

He wouldn’t believe Broker had only one reliable man to bring into the fray.

That bastard must be plotting something.

What will it be?

Almost out of instinct, Kieran thought of the Witch’s Legacy.