The Devil’s Cage

The Major!

There was only one person who held such a title and who had connections with the Vulture. It must be the secret personnel from the rebellion.

Kieran looked at the cell phone screen, squinting his eyes to adjust to its brightness.

He wanted to reject the call. He did not want to get involved with the rebels and the city turf war.

He knew very well that by killing the Vulture, he had basically just signed on to eventually stand up against the rebellion. If anything went wrong, they would end up in a fight.

Kieran would not let his guard down just because he had taken the Vulture out so easily.

He had been able to achieve his goal because of his enemy’s contempt for him besides his strong game skills.

Right from the beginning, the Vulture had not seen him as a threat.

Kieran had used this to his advantage and he had taken the man’s life.

Things would be different, though, once the army got involved.

An army would have strict discipline and would not make the same mistakes as low-level thugs.

He did not want to face an entire army with advanced equipment and an overwhelming number of men. Besides, he only had Colleen on his side. The situation was already hopeless as it was.

He was about to reject the call, but his thumb stopped before he could do it.

He remembered the reason that he had entered the game, which was to gather enough money to get treatment for his illness.

He had only a year left to achieve it before he died. It was not a long period of time, even when it came to game time. He needed to grab every opportunity that would lead him closer to his goal. He had to get stronger as well so that he could make more progress in the game.

An opportunity had presented itself to Kieran. It was the person waiting on the other end of that phone call: the Rebellion Major.

Killing a thug leader and a rebellion leader were two different things, and the rating at the end would be totally different.

Even though it was his first time in a dungeon-based game, he knew that once he was able to kill off the leader of the rebels, his rating would improve greatly.

He puckered, hesitating.

The rewards might be great, but the process might cost him his life.

If he died inside the game, he would die in real life as well.

His logic told him to give up and be cautious, but deep down he did not feel like throwing such an opportunity away.

He asked himself, “If I pass it up this time, who knows when the next opportunity will present itself?”

There would eventually be a second opportunity.

But cowardice might make him turn that down too.

He could not afford to back off. There was not much time to waste. His time was limited to a year.

“I will still die if I don’t gather enough money in a year….. So why not now? Go big or go home!”

He clenched his teeth and answered the call.

“I hope this was worth the wait! Give me some good news!”

A deep mechanical voice could be heard from the other side of the phone.

He imagined a cold military man talking.

“You know what will happen if you do not deliver, right?” the voice went on before Kieran could say anything.

The tone was mechanical but there was a sense of invasion to it, like a lion closing in on a jackal.

If this was the man’s attitude every time they communicated, then obviously they did not share the same rank. It sounded more like the Vulture was his subordinate.

Maybe the Vulture’s position before the war had defined their relationship. It made more sense that way.

If the Major and the thug leader had communicated on the same level, then something would definitely have been off.

But if the Vulture had been a mere subordinate, then he had to have provided the rebels with more than just women.

“Worth the wait? Seems like it’s not just the women they’re after. There must be something else!” Kieran thought.

He looked at the girl tied down on the bed with her mouth gagged. She was definitely not the goods they were talking about.

He frowned a little, still guessing at the man’s intentions.

Suddenly a light bulb lit up inside his head.

He remembered the game introduction:

“The war came suddenly, and no one had been prepared for it!”

If the war had started in a flash, how many people could have taken their fortune with them?

The answer was none.

They would have been extremely lucky to even survive through the war, let alone save their fortune too.

One could not ask for more than survival during such desperate times.

But in front of Kieran, there lied an exception.

The Major had used his position, his power and his subordinates, and it had been more than enough for him to earn what others had not even dared think of.

Kieran only saw a part of the big picture, but he boldly put into action the plan that was forming inside his mind.

“Are you looking for the Vulture?” he asked the Major. “Oh, excuse me. I guess you’ll have to look somewhere else. I’m the one in charge now. Everything from now on falls under me!” Kieran spoke in a hyped voice, acting like he was a thug that had just been “promoted” and taken over the Vulture’s place.

The man went quiet.

After three seconds, he replied, “I do not care who you are. If you value your life at all, you’d better deliver what the Vulture has promised me.”

His voice was still as stiff as a robot’s. The fact that he knew that he was now speaking to a different person did not make him change his tone at all.

“Are you threatening me?” Kieran replied in the same tone as before.

“Don’t forget that the food you eat and the water you drink all comes from me,” the man replied.

Kieran pretended to be quiet and did not answer right away.

He wanted to appear like a newly-promoted boss that held pride in his new position, but the man’s words did not allow him to protect his newly-earned status.

Without the supplies that the Major provided, no one could calm the thugs down and make them follow orders.

Kieran could not determine whether his performance was perfect, but it was the only way he knew to defuse the situation.

He needed to make the man believe that he was still in control, so he would channel everything the Vulture formerly had to Kieran.

He did not want the rebel army storming the base under his orders.

“So, do you understand your position now?” the Major asked in slight mockery.

“Okay, okay. You’re the boss. I’ll deliver what the Vulture promised you. It was just a bunch of women, I have one in my room right now!” Kieran answered in an attempt to suck up to the man.

“Women?” the Major scoffed before he went on, “What I want is the jewellery and the paintings…. Since you are in the Vulture’s room, you should be able to see them. I will send my men over to collect them tomorrow morning and bring you more supplies.”

When he finished, he hang up the phone.

“Just as I thought!” Kieran said while he looked at the phone.

It had never been about the women. What they traded was actually the treasures the Vulture had raided from the city.

Kieran looked at the room again. On the other side of the bed there were two large cupboards. They were the only place in the room where supplies could be stored.

As for that steel cage on the other side of the room?

Kieran understood perfectly well what that was for.

He turned to the tied-up girl again.

“I mean you no harm. I’ll remove the cloth from your mouth, but you need to promise me that you won’t scream or make any noise. Although the Vulture is dead, there are still a couple more men outside. If you understand, please nod your head.”

Once he had finished speaking, the girl nodded.

“Very well.”