The Devil’s Cage

A minute after Senile left and Kieran took his honey lemon, the middle-aged man and Garcia, the quiet young man, came in side by side.

Both of them sat opposite Kieran.

“Matters are dealt with, no troubles will befall you now. And my name is Darwend,” the middle-aged man said with a smile.

“What did I do?” Kieran asked back with a smile too.

“Right! You didn’t do anything! Hahaha… Well then, can we begin?” Darwend was stunned before he nodded repeatedly.

“Permission to access the third floor of the library and a Proper Meal class food.” Kieran went straight into the point and stated his request.

Though his requested seemed to have surpassed the two men’s expectations.

“Sir 2567, I think it’s a little bit too high,” Darwend said with surprise while Garcia frowned slightly.

Kieran coldly laughed at both of them.

“High? If it weren’t for a certain promise, you think I’d spill anything about the Index of Eat? It’s a Grand Meal class we are talking about!”

Kieran showed unwillingness on his face, as if the request he stated was hurting his benefits painfully.

“We, of course, knew this, which is why we are discussing this with you here, but…”

Darwend was interrupted by Kieran the moment he spoke.

“Let me remind you guys, the little incident that sparked because of me back there wasn’t properly covered up. That guy isn’t an idiot, and he might have noticed something. I can’t guarantee things won’t go south if you drag on any longer.”

“Then you also should also understand that we should be quick in this. Your request is just too high for us to achieve.” Darwend tried to persuade Kieran again.

“If I don’t get a satisfying result, I would rather not say anything,” Kieran said firmly.

“You are not being a qualified negotiator here. What we seek is to maximize our benefits, not throw a tantrum in a stubborn way, you…”

“I accept.”

Darwend was interrupted by Garcia this time.

“Garcia, you…”

“The payment will be provided by both of our organizations at once, is that okay?”

Garcia didn’t even care about Darwend and stated his conditions to Kieran directly.

“Of course. I don’t care how many organizations are involved, I just want to get what I am due,” Kieran said.

“Then let us sign an agreement, but you do know the consequences of lying, right?” Garcia took out his school badge.

“What if it is you guys who screw up? You can’t blame me for your mistakes, right?” Kieran asked back as he took out his badge.

“Of course not.”

The agreement was signed in three copies, one for each party. Darwend also used his teacher badge to complete the signing.

After the signings were completed and each party got their own copy without mistake, Kieran then spilled, “Derton Lab, Lude.”

With the answer they sought given, Darwend and Garcia stood up and left faster than they arrived.

Kieran lifted his honey lemon into a toast behind the backs of the duo, as if he was sending his blessings to them.

…

Derton Lab.

Bloody Mary, covering its face in the changing room, almost cried.

‘Why me again!?

‘Am I this bulliable?”

‘Why am I always getting these kinds of assignments?

‘I can feel pain too, you know!’

Bloody Mary could very well imagine what would befall it soon but what boosted its despair was that this definitely would not be the last time.

“With great power comes great responsibility! I’ve leveled up from High to Superior, so of course, I have more responsibility now! The fact that I am always assigned at such critical moments proves how high Boss looks upon me! I must be very different in Boss’s heart!”

Bloody Mary walked out of the changing room as it self-hypnotised itself.

“Morning, Lude.”

“Hey, morning.”

Bloody Mary, in Lude’s skin, smiled and greeted everyone it saw along the way.

Bloody Mary had been using Lude’s face in the lab for the past 2 days, and it already had total insights of the lab from top to bottom such as where the guards were, where the surveillance camera was, where the blind spots were, etc.

It knew everything about the lab, hence it moved in a more casual and skilled manner.

Bloody Mary used the central air-con to spread the potion that it cooked up using the lab ingredients. Along with its all-new, unrivalled illusions, no one in the lab would escape its palm.

Had Professor Derton been in the lab, he might have noticed something unusual, but unfortunately, the professor was on leave today.

As a matter of fact, Kieran purposely picked today because the professor was on leave.

The lab personnel fainted one after another.

Bloody Mary ventured deep into the lab and saw the fried golden drumstick. The drumstick still emanated a slight steam. Bloody Mary used the plastic wrap that it had prepared beforehand to envelop the drumstick layer by layer before it stuffed it into its backpack, which was also prepared earlier.

Bloody Mary then walked out of the lab with the backpack on its back.

The guards who fell into its illusory realm were useless.

The shut-off surveillance camera couldn’t capture Bloody Mary’s movements either.

Without any hindrance along the way, Bloody Mary reached the selected sewer entrance, lifted the lid and threw the backpack inside.

There wasn’t a splash because an agile figure caught it with its mouth as it fell mid-air.

Despite the inside of the sewer being dark, the brown and blue odd-colored eyes glowed faintly, especially the three white marks on its forehead, which looked like three ghastly flames.

Its body was only as big as the backpack, but it possessed extraordinary strength. When the Frost Wolf jumped into the air, it snatched up the backpack with its mouth and put both its front leg through the straps nimbly before landing firmly on the other side of the sewer.

Frost Wolf turned back to the sewer entrance and whimpered at Bloody Mary to say goodbye before swiftly vanishing into the dark.

Bloody Mary carefully closed the lid as Frost Wolf left its sight. After making sure it didn’t leave any traces behind, it turned back to Lude’s secret warehouse.

Along the way, Bloody Mary cleaned up its traces and left behind a trail of subtle hints.

It wasn’t an easy task, but Bloody Mary completed it perfectly.

When it almost reached Lude’s secret warehouse, it sensed that someone was following with the hints it left behind.

Bloody Mary hastened its steps and sprinted into the warehouse before anyone could catch up.

Soon, the men who followed Bloody Mary appeared and surrounded the warehouse.

Darwend and Garcia walked out of the crowd side by side.

Darwend saw that Garcia was keeping quiet. He then shouted loudly, “Lude, hand over the Index of Eat…”

KABOOM!