The Devil’s Cage

The day in the North Sector was rather peaceful, the streets at night lit up brightly.

The lights weren’t from street lamps but neon signs.

Rows and rows of little houses had colorful neon signs installed at the front. It wasn’t to shed light over the road but it acted as a ‘sign’ for the locals of the North Sector.

The red and yellow stripes represented gambling spot.

The red and blue stripes represented tobacco stores.

The red and pink represented brothels.

The purely red represented the ‘cleaners’, cleaning the things, or people, that shouldn’t be around.

Each color represented a different meaning. It may seem weird for outsiders but it was obvious for the Northerners.

A few patrol cruisers parked at the entrance of North Sector punctually, the patrolling officers glancing over everything in the North Sector with disgust and helplessness but keeping quiet.

The authorities had tried to clean up the North Sector before but the results had been less than ideal.

Things would clean up during raids and spot checks, but it would last for two to three days before everything returned to the way it was before. The city council of Ai City had tried many times in the past, but after losing a councilman, a station director, two superior officers and more than 30 officers, they gave up. They changed their policy of ‘clean up’ to ‘watch—an outpost was set outside and the whole North Sector was isolated, anyone who wished to in or out would have to go through serious checkings.

As for what happened inside?

It was all up to the local Northerners, they were responsible for themselves.

Given what had happened in the past, as time flew by, the situation with the North Sector grew more complicated. The messy streets, the short houses in rows, gangs that reproduced like cockroaches, it had slowly become a lawless land.

A lot of wanted criminals deemed it heaven; most of the common civilians viewed it as hell on earth, all except Danis.

Danis was a typical born and bred Northerner. He had no idea who his father was, his mother was a prostitute, and the closest person to him was a pimp.

After his prostitute mother died of illness, he ended up as a low level gang member.

He ate the cheapest food everyday, indulged in the worse quality of drugs and weeds and slept in the worst brothel.

Whenever his boss needed him, he’d go out; whenever he was free, he’d spend time in the gambling joints.

Today was a normal day, like any other. Danis had spent his whole afternoon and half a night at Old Harry’s gambling joint.

The only thing different from usual was his luck. Danis had always sucked in gambling but this evening, he was winning non-stop.

In front of him were a few thick stacks of money.

From the biggest notes to the smallest change, it was attracting jealousy from the crowd.

Danis, however, wasn’t a Mr. Good Guy either. He knew the rules very well as he was born here. He backhanded a bastard who tried to fish in the muddy waters, ands when the bastard fell on the ground, Danis stabbed the man in the stomach and then pulled it out right away.

Splash!

The blood sprayed Danis’ face and the stack of money beside him.

He gazed at the crowd like a bloody, hungry wolf.

Everyone who saw his bloody face stepped away.

After he was left alone, he collected his money, stuffed it in his pocket, and wobbled to the next door.

Northerners had no habit of keeping money. They’d spend whenever they got a penny, and that was what made them Northerners.

Danis went into the tobacco shop, tossed half of what he won from next door on the table and yelled at the owner, “Give me the best you have.”

The owner didn’t even hesitate, he counted the money and didn’t even care about the blood on it, a box of weed brought out.

Unlike the common, low quality weed, the weed in this box was carefully selected and been through processing, at least 10% purer than others.

Danis took a heavy puff, his vision becoming blurry as he leaned back spitting clouds of smoke.

Almost 20 minutes later, Danis came back to his senses.

He shook his heavy head, feeling like shit, as if he had fallen down from the clouds.

He wanted another round, but he remembered the promised time to meet that person. Danis clenched his teeth and kept his weed before he wobbled away.

He didn’t even have to recognize the way, he followed the neons signs and soon reached the rather secluded place, even for Northerners.

There was no gambling joint, no tobacco store, no brothels, nothing except for a big area of broken down buildings. Maybe this place was once the base for some gang, maybe another gang would come occupy this place in the future, but for now, it was empty.

It was considered secluded whenever a place had no people, so the Northerners thought and so did Danis.

If it wasn’t for the trade, he would not come to this worn down place.

According to the person’s orders, Danis walked around the two most front buildings, had to spend some time in recognizing the place in front of the third building before he finally located the underground entrance behind a pile of garbage.

Danis walked in without knocking, no one in the North knocks.

Danis had never knocked on a door his entire life. After he managed to sneak into an empty house, his habit stayed until now.

He assumed his no-knocking was his source of good luck.

The basement was darker and colder than expected.

There was only an oil lamp in the corner and with that weak light source, Danis saw the person he was looking for: a man with a broken windcoat and a fedora.

The fedora covered most of the man’s face, only exposing his bearded chin.

“Hey mate, how did you do it? My luck today is off the charts!” Danis walked closer.

“Some little tricks,” the man said in a heavy voice.

“Can you teach me?” Danis asked on behalf of his greed.

“It’s hard, you won’t be able to learn it all,” the man shook his head.

Danis smiled, he smiled like a jackal curled up its lips, baring its sharp teeth.

That little knife tainted with blood appeared in his hand.

“What about now?”

Danis twisted his wrist in a circle, the bloody knife drawing a perfect circle in the air with the light from the oil lamp, showing of his skills in handling a knife.

“Now?”

The man in the fedora laughed like he had expected this and strode towards Danis.

“Stop! STOP, you f*cker! I told you to stop! Do you think I’m joking!?”

Danis shouted at the man, and when he realized the man had no intention of stopping, he thrust his knife at the man.

The life in the North told Danis it was important to strike first, so it was natural that he didn’t hold back.

His knife managed to stab the man’s body, so he looked at the man with a menacing look, but the menace was replaced by horror.

He realized he couldn’t pull his knife out and the man’s body was sucking the dagger, the suction force also dragging Danis closer to the man’s body.

Danis wanted to let go but his hand was somehow glued to the hilt. He couldn’t let go.

What was worse was that even his throat was glued together, he couldn’t even make a sound.

All he could do was watch as his sight turned black and his body got sucked into the man’s body.

Until death, Danis had no idea what happened.

“What a nice appetizer.”

The man in the fedora spat out Danis’ shirt and shoes before he commented.

The man was looking forward to his main course.

…

Sitting on his comfortable sofa while crossing his legs without any shoes on, Hollun was cutting his nails.

Behind him were two bodyguards on both sides, like a door guardian protecting him.

Beneath his feet was Rope, crawling in shivers, like every single gambler who was brought to Hollun.

“Rope, you sold your wife for 1,500, your son for 1,000 and despite all that, you still owe me another 17K, what are you going to do about the money?” Hollun said in a leisurely manner.

“I…I…”

Rope wanted to explain but he had lost everything he had, there wasn’t even a dime in his pocket now.

His life?

The most worthless thing in the North Sector was a human life.

“Look, I’m a reasonable guy, I’ll give you a chance. I am going to bring you to a place and as long as you can get rid of the person there, I’ll wipe away your debt, what’d you say?” Hollun asked.

“OKAY!” Rope answered very quickly as he had no other options left.

If he said no, he would die.

If he said yes, at least he would live longer.

As for the person that Hollun wanted Rope to kill?

Consider himself a bad luck.

Hollun smiled and waved his hand, the woman beside Hollun helping him put on his shoes and then Hollun himself stood up, walking outside.

Rope followed tightly behind.

They boarded a car and drove all the way to a deserted building area.

Hollun looked at the deserted area with a passionate gaze.

Compared to his current place, this deserted area was much more suitable for development. All he needed to do was occupy this place, furnish it up, and he could rope himself bigger earnings in the North Sector.

Of course, before his plans could work, he had to satisfy the local rascal.

“Inside,” Hollun pointed at the door behind the pile of garbage.

Rope got a knife from the bodyguard and walked towards his destination.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you, your wife and kids are inside also, and if you are quick enough, maybe you can see them, alive.”

Hollun told Rope when he was about to push the door open.

When Rope turned around and glared at Hollun with a grudgeful gaze, Hollun couldn’t hold back his sneers and evil smile.

Rope then disappeared beyond the door and the sneers and the laughter got heavier.

“A gambler still wants to become a good husband and father? What a lousy joke!

Hollun said and started to calculate the time.

Minutes later, he strode to the door with the bodyguards behind him.

Hollun never believed in the so-called promise, he only believed in himself.

After he saw the man with the broken wind coat and fedora inside the room, Hollun gave the signal and told his men to seize advantage position against the man.

“Like what we agreed upon, this place is mine,” Hollun didn’t ask where Rope went.

Like all the ‘garbage’ he threw before Rope, he never asked and never cared. He only cared about his own gains and benefits.

“Yes, it’s yours then.”

The man in wind coat then walked to the corner and wanted to pick the oil lamp up but one of Hollun’s men blocked him.

The man turned to Hollun.

“I said this place is mine, including that oil lamp and also… You!” Hollun said seriously.

“Like what we agreed upon, you can already get what you seek.” the man in the fedora said.

“Yes, I am acting on the agreement, everything here is mine!” Hollun asked.

“You are really a villain from the bones! But it’s the kind that I am waiting for, I am eager to taste you!” the man said.

“Is that so? Me too,” Hollun said.

The bodyguard that had been hiding behind him jumped out and pulled out a flamethrower, pointing it at the man.

Fuaaaaa!

A fiery breath engulfed the man instantly.

“Since I said I want this place, I came prepared, otherwise…”

“Then did you think I came unprepared to deal with a villain like you?”

Hollun looked at the man in fire, laughing coldly, but it ceased shortly after as a familiar yet strange voice sounded behind him.

The familiar feeling was because the person behind him was his best man, that’s why Hollun assigned his man to protect his back and deliver the fatal blow.

The strange thing was, his best man suddenly spoke in a weird way and without a second though, Hollun jumped forward, but it was too late!

Fuaaa!

The fire from the flamethrower engulfed Hollun whole and together with the men he brought, everyone was lit up into a human torch.

After burning all the others, Hollun’s best man turned off the flamethrower and rammed into the wall like a mad bison.

Splat!

The man’s head burst after a loud thump.

“It’s not original but I don’t mind having a roasted meal. I thought you were smarter than the others, but too bad… I guess I have to find myself my next collaborator.”

The man in the broken wind coat and fedora walked out from the shadow, sighing heavily.

Despite the sigh, he did not spare the burning bodies and consumed all of them.

The man picked up the oil lamp and the flames in the room, including those burning the bodies of Hollun and his men, were all absorbed into the oil lamp. The charred bodies all fell to the ground after the flames were absorbed.

Every single one of them were then sucked into the man’s mouth, even the bodyguard with the flamethrower.

The man pulled his fedora down a bit, sighing in satisfaction, and then held the oil lamp in his hand as he walked out with a good moon.

Pak!

The moment the man opened the door, a sharp glare flashed.

A blade perforated his throat.