The Devil’s Cage

After about 10 seconds, the inn’s door was pushed open.

”Good day, everyone!”

Registrar Zorl had entered.

Zorl greeted every veteran present politely. Despite the system blur on his face, his voice and manner of speech alone were enough for others to feel his smile.

Compared to the bazaar auction, where Zorl had been much more intimidating, now he seemed friendlier.

”It’s a pleasure to visit your inn, Madam Rachel! And it’s an even bigger pleasure to meet you two here, Sir Lawless and Mr. 2567!” Zorl said with extreme politeness. The way he had addressed Rachel and Lawless was shocking.

Sir? Madam? That kind of speech was common only among natives. It was rare among players.

Sometimes players needed to blend in properly in a dungeon in order to accomplish their mission, but when they left the dungeon, their manner of speech returned to normal.

Kieran was concerned about the way Zorl had addressed him, Rachel and Lawless.

Calling someone Sir was no doubt a term of respect, and calling them Mr. was basic manners.

Kieran was not jealous of that title, but he felt that it was related to something else.

”Strength?” he guessed.

Zorl was Broker’s right-hand man, so other than strength, Kieran could not come up with any other reason that could cause Zorl to address Lawless and Rachel with such respect.

”Can we have a word over there?”

Zorl looked at Kieran and Lawless and pointed at a table in the corner.

Kieran turned his eyes to Lawless and saw him nod.

When Rachel had informed them of Zorl’s arrival, the two of them had gone over the matter.

Lawless would take the lead. Kieran knew how important he was.

If Kieran agreed to a trade under unclear circumstances, he would definitely be on the losing side, so why not let him take over?

Even the most stupid person in the room knew that Zorl was there because Broker would not reveal Coll’s location for free. He must have sent his man over for a reason.

Broker was a businessman, every veteran knew that. He was known for being an unscrupulous merchant after all.

”Spill it!” Lawless said as soon as he sat down.

”I’m here because Mr. 2567 has acquired two Rare pieces of equipment. My boss is interested in them. He wants them to be the main attraction of the next auction.”

Zorl did not try to hide the objective of his visit, but Kieran and Lawless were still surprised.

They were not surprised that Broker had heard about the two Rare pieces of equipment, but because, as Zorl was speaking, the two of them received a PM from Broker himself.

...

Monien: I’m so sorry for contacting you this way.

Lawless: What the hell are u up to?

Monien: What am I up to? I’m just being careful.

Monien: Those men who have appeared recently are too strange. You can’t guarantee that they don’t have a spy at the Harvest Inn, same as I could not guarantee that one of my men would not be there either.

Lawless: Did they attack you?”

Monien: What do you think? If they hadn’t, why would we be having such an odd meeting?

...

”The killers have targeted Broker as well? How is this possible?”

Kieran shivered when he read the message.

From his perspective, the killers could target anyone in the game, but definitely not Broker!

Broker had a very high reputation among the veterans, both a bad and a good one. No matter what they thought of him though, no one could deny that Broker was a formidable force.

The secret bazaar was a good example.

Every time it opened, the Points and Skill Points trade was astronomical, and when the secret bazaar started its trading, Broker posted a fearsome squad of armed forces at its doors.

Kieran still remembered the three-meter tall fierceful robot called Jason, which had been equipped with a six-barrel heavy machine gun and a mobile cannon.

Kieran did not have even 30% confidence that he could fight Jason, and this was just a speculation based on what Jason had shown.

Who knew what else he might be hiding under that tin head of his?

No one knew how many lethal weapons Jason carried with him.

More importantly, Kieran had also seen a smaller version of Jason inside the auction hall.

Maybe Broker had an army of robots like Jason under his command.

The answer was obvious by the way Broker contracted players to work for him. There had to be lots of powerful players among them.

Considering the robots and the players in his arsenal, it was easy to imagine how powerful his forces were.

Kieran did not believe that the killers would go after Broker, but Broker had no reason to lie either.

”They betrayed him even under the bindings of a contract?”

Kieran could only imagine how dangerous the ambush Broker had mentioned must have been.

He must have escaped narrowly with his life. No one could predict whether their teammates would backstab them.

The penalty for betrayal under a contract was death.

”Those killers are willing to throw their lives away?” Kieran drew in a cold breath.

It seemed like he had underestimated their resolution.

They would be scary enough for everyone if they did not fear death.

Once Kieran realized that he’d have to face such enemies, he frowned hard. He did not panic though.

Panicking would not help solve the problem. Kieran forced himself to calm down and try to come up with a plan.

He looked at the PMs again.

...

Lawless: Why are you really looking for us?

Monien: I want a collaboration!

Monien: According to my sources, one of their leaders is very interested in you and 2567!

Lawless: U want to use us as bait?

(Kieran, who was beside Lawless, could feel his anger. As soon as Broker typed the words, Lawless clenched his fists hard and tensed up. Broker, on the other side, kept typing casually.)

Monien: No, no, no, it’s a collaboration!

Monien: A collaboration with rewards!

Monien: I will pay you and 2567 generously. You can choose anything from my collection. Skill Books, items, equipment...

Monien: Don’t worry, I only keep the best in my collection.

(Lawless did not reply immediately. He turned his eyes to Kieran, who was mumbling to himself. Of course he believed that Broker would only keep the best items for himself, but at the same time he understood how dangerous that collaboration would be. If he acted as bait, the slightest misstep could cost him his life.)

2567: What is ur plan?

...

Kieran replied for the first time in the chat.

Translator’s Thoughts

Dess Dess

Wish one day we can see Monien’s truth strength