The Devil's Cage

Tssss!

As the tires rubbed across the road surface, the smell of burnt rubber filled the air. Chief Officer Pudder, with a bandage around his head, got out of his assistant's cruiser.

Pudder looked serious and his eyes showed rage.

He hated boring days but exchanging it for peaceful days was always welcomed. He would at most rant a word or two about the boredom, similar to those people who lay down on a sofa comfortably and ranted about nothing to do.

But now?

4 explosions happened in one morning—one of them happened in the mall, a crowded place.

"What the hell do those bastards want! Is he trying to provoke us?" the assistant said fiercely as he shuttled through the crowd.

The young assistant kept looking around, as though he wanted to search for the culprit behind the explosions in the bustling crowd.

There were many examples in the books that stated the culprit would return to the scene of crime to admire his work.

"Provoke? You think too highly of us, it isn't us that the culprit wanted to provoke. And… the knowledge from the books should be applied in practical use. Other than watching the people, you also need to get to the scene as fast as possible and ask other officers about the situation, they are the ones who might have grasped unexpected leads."

Despite being angry, Pudder did not forget to teach his assistant.

Pudder wasn't stingy about teaching some useful tricks to his young and just assistant.

"Roger that, chief," his assistant nodded.

Pudder shook his head as he watched his assistant run off, not yet finished with his teachings.

"Still too young," exclaimed Pudder, looking up to the shattered window at the fourth floor before he ran up.

The officers on guard duty outside the room bowed and greeted Pudder after he arrived. The officer also briefed him on what happened at the scene.

"Chief, this should be the first crime scene. Based on the traces collected here, there should be two people in this room; one of them was thrown out and exploded, the other one vanished, and based on the splash of blood on the ground, it's hard for anyone to survive the attack."

"Could they be the same person? The attacker and the exploded?" Pudder asked.

He glanced over the blood on the floor before he looked at the room settings.

"Judging from the blood, it's the same person but there is something weird…"

"The attacker should be a third person but there are no traces pointing to his existence."

Pudder continued before the officer finished voicing his question.

"I see," the officer nodded with a rather curious look.

"Go back to your duties,"

Pudder didn't explain much, waving away the officer. After he left, he grunted, "Damn it, it's those bunch of bastards again."

The disgust and hatred in between the lines was obvious, but the search and investigation had to carry on despite the fact that he knew the chances of finding any useful clues would be slim when those bunch of bastards were involved.

"Chief! Chief!"

While Pudder was searching the crime scene carefully, the young assistant came over."

"What's wrong?" Pudder turned to his assistant.

"Take a look for yourself."

The young assistant looked weird as he passed Pudder the footages that he copied from the surveillance camera.

The footage wasn't long—less than a second to be exact—showing an animal carrying a load of food on its back as it dash over the street.

Pudder slowed and enlarged the footage a few times before he could make out the animal.

"A husky?" Pudder was stunned.

Shouldn't huskies tear houses apart? Since when did they learn how to pack food?

Were huskies this smart to begin with? This made no sense at all!

The shock in his heart made him replay the footage over a dozen times and yet he was still in disbelief.

Clueless, Pudder turned to his assistant.

"What else did you find?" Pudder had to suppress the emotions in his heart for the question.

"And this," the assistant took out the gemstone, which was already packed in the evidence bag.

"This?" Pudder raised a brow.

"This should be the meal money! It was left on the table without the table cloth—the table cloth was used to pack all the food by the dog."

"Since when do animals know how to pay for their food?"

The assistant pointed at the huge load on the dog's back in the screen and smiled bitterly.

"Animals of course don't know how but after they became someone's pet, it won't be too surprising," Pudder said in a heavy tone.

"You are saying?" the assistant looked at Pudder.

"This dog may very well be related to the case, find it at once! Use all the surveillance in the area! We can't find the bomber but can we find us a husky?" said Pudder.

"Roger that."

The assistant and the officers on duty quickly moved out.

…

Randletine Street 17th.

When Goran woke up, he was already inside the house.

He wasn't a stranger to the place though. Despite not having been here before, he had the most detailed investigation on the location before he arrived in Alkender City. He'd even spent a fortune buying the blueprints and renovation prints for the place.

Therefore, a single glance allowed Goran to know where he was.

As for the man in black sitting on the sofa?

Goran also knew who he was without even asking.

"Glutton Emperor 2567!"

Kieran was sitting in front of the sunlight, the brightness shadowing his face and his black figure making him look like he was one with the feather mantle.

He was dark and deep. There wasn't any terrifying aura around him, all Kieran did was look at Goran peacefully but the more he looked at Goran, the more Goren felt afraid.

It wasn't just Goran's experience that told him how scary the Glutton Emperor was, it was also because of his own ability!

Control over electronic devices allowed Goran's senses to be exceptionally sharp.

He clearly felt something was brewing inside the Glutton Emperor, his nose even picking up a faint scent of sulphur; his ears could hear the low growls of the midnight devil!

Kill!

No mercy!

Despair!

Goran had already gotten up from the carpet after he woke up but when the sulphur scent entered his nose, it weakened his knee and made him fall back on the carpet.

This time, Goran had difficulty climbing up, and after a few futile attempts, he gave in and crawled in front of Kieran's shoes.

The super villain from another city then spoke in a very respectful tone.

"Greeting Lord 2567, I am Goran and I pledge my loyalty to you. Please forgive me for what I have done. I was forced and my hands were tied."

Goran moved closer and kissed Kieran's boots.

Emma Eddie, who was beside Kieran, saw the scene. She pouted out of disdain before she lost interest. She turned around and walked out.

She expected the culprit to be a domineering person who would not give up that easily. Who would've thought the culprit was a weakling?

No! Not a weakling, but a bastard who bullied the weak and was afraid of the strong!

Emma Eddie closed the door as she commented on Goran in her heart.

The noise from the shut door didn't seem to affect the scene in the room.

Bloodman and Freezer were blank as always. In their eyes, Goran's reaction was the correct one to show in front of Kieran.

On the other hand, Goran was waiting for Kieran's answer in fear.

As for Kieran?

[Mesly Ring] on his left middle finger—which he hid in his sleeve—shone with an unusual light.

The ability to control electronic devices was exceptionally convenient in a modern city like Alkender. In fact, after Kieran had a hunch about Goran's ability, his fate was already sealed, otherwise Kieran wouldn't have ordered Bloody Mary to bring him back.

Goran went blank for a second and when he regained his focus, he adjusted his crawling posture to a more proper single-knee kneel, he also placed his right fist in front of his chest.

"My lord."

Under [Mesly Ring]'s influence, each subordinate showed their loyalty differently because they themselves would use the methods they thought best to serve Kieran and they'd serve with their best efforts, like a fanatical believer.

"My lord, I've picked up a signal through my remaining surveillance camera, someone tracking down Frost Wolf and Fire Raven. Should I deal with it? Tracking Frost Wolf and Fire Raven? Deal with the traces."

Kieran was stunned, not knowing what happened to the two companions but it didn't stop him from giving the right order.

"Yes, my lord."

Goran bowed as he received his order, then walked to one of the walls in the room, lifting his hand and sticking it inside the plug. Little blue electric currents sparked around his hand.

Kieran then used the power of the contract to contact Frost Wolf and Fire Raven.

And then…

He was shocked by what he saw, his hands on the sofa trembling.

Through the shared visions, he clearly saw Frost Wolf gobbling down a roast chicken with the bones and Fire Raven aggressively attacking a bowl of fruit salad.

Beside the two of them were scattered food packages and remains.

'What happened?

Why does this scene feel so familiar?

And…

Did you guys rob the canteen?'

Kieran's emotions were clearly felt by the Frost Wolf and Fire Raven through the power of the contract. As they chewed the food, the two of them suddenly stopped when they realized what had happened.

"We've been discovered! What now!?"

Frost Wolf and Fire Raven exchanged gaze before Fire Raven stepped up bravely.

"We bought the food, not taking it without permission and… we've brought some for you!"

Fire Raven waved its wing and Frost Wolf immediately ran aside, dragged a big and packed cake out.

Kieran saw the three-layer cake through the shared vision, feeling conflicted about the scene.

He took a deep breath.

"Come back as soon as you are done," said Kieran.

He switched off the shared vision, leaned back on the sofa and looked even more complicated than ever.

He knew Frost Wolf and Fire Raven were affected by his own behaviour subconsciously, he just didn't know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.

However, one thing was for sure: he had to talk to the two of them when they got back.

Before that, he had something else to attend to.

Kieran looked at Goran, who came back from the wall and stood beside Bloodman.

"What's with that Hark guy?" Kieran asked.

"Hark is my previous collaborator. He found me about a week ago and said he wanted to share a fortune with me—the empty Alkender City. Without Mr. Ghost, Grudge Dragon, and Death Knell, Alkender City is like a defenseless treasure vault in his eyes. He wanted to cause a scene here, but of course that was just the surface. The truth was he got orders from some higher power to test Alkender City. He was tasked to find out whether you, my lord, the First of Justice, and the Wine Barrel are hurt or not," Goran spilled the beans.

"Do you know anything about the person behind him?" Kieran asked.

"I don't know much but one thing is for sure: he is from Printon City," said Goran.

"Printon City?" Kieran squinted his eyes and looked very interested.

Kieran wasn't a stranger to the city. According to Drexton, the city went through a destruction period and it was heaven for criminals, with no law and order, no mercy and kindness. All it housed was deceit, slaughter, and hate.

Kieran, of course, was most concerned about the similarity between the two cities. Both had superheroes and supervillains, but one day, all the heroes in Priton vanished without a sign, and until now, any Extraordinaries who leaned towards the side of justice there would suffer a great degree of power weakening. On the contrary, those who sided with evil acquired a huge boost.

It was because of that point that the city left an impression in Kieran's mind.

"This is what Hark revealed while he was drunk. I don't know anymore than that. He may be reckless but he was quite vigilant at all times, especially when Printon was involved," Kieran nodded at Goran's explanation.

"Printon City eh? Still not time," Kieran shook his head after some thought.

Despite his curiosity for the city growing by the day, he did not forget his main mission, which was to fend off those supervillains who had their eyes on Alkender City.

No matter how big of a secret Printon City held or how big of a potential gain, if Kieran failed his main mission, everything would go down the drain.

No large amount of gains could compensate for that failure and Kieran would never risk the greater for the less.

Huu!

Kieran heaved a heavy breath.

Giving up a potential huge gain was not a good feeling for his stingy soul.

Fortunately, he did acquire something while sitting in the house.

Kieran took out the look Bloody Mary brought back.

[Name: Explosion Stone]

[Type: Wonder Item]

[Rarity: Rare]

[Attack: Strong]

[Defense: Powerful]

[Attribute: 1. Bomb; 2. Bomber Control]

[Effect: None]

[Prerequisite: None]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: Yes]

[Remark: A special bloodline power created this special energy crystal.]

…

[Bomb: Hold the stone in one hand and once your other hand touches a target, a bomb is installed in the target's body. A Constitution authentication not lower than D- is required, installed targets cannot exceed 20 at a time.]

[Bomber Control: Targets who are installed with the bomb will listen to the one who holds the stone]

…

A brown, egg-sized stone was held in Kieran's hand.

"Better than nothing," Kieran commented on the attributes.

A low authentication rank and number had decided [Explosion Stone] could not be used as regular means, but Kieran wouldn't simply throw it away.

However, after he bagged the stone, the ground suddenly shook.

Kakrrooooom!

The whole house was shaking left and right!