The Devil's Cage

Kieran's words silenced the group.

No one would deny it, and no one would argue with him because it was the truth!

Broker! A prick that everyone hated!

Though, no one would deny how strong he was; whether it was in terms of brains or brawn, Broker did, after all, once pressure the lone wolves into a desperate situation.

Back then, when the secret bazaar was announced by Broker, a lot of complaints and disagreements had been voiced, but in the end?

When the secret bazaar opened its door, players swarmed inside and filled every stall.

Everyone at the table had been through that time, and even now, they couldn't forget it.

After all, Broker was just hiding in his room, not dead.

"What is that bastard trying to do?" the rugged Rhino grunted in a muffled voice.

Lemour shook her head; she had no idea what Broker was trying to do.

Blacksmith, Hanses, and Coll shared the same expression.

Raven the Loner was habitually silent with his cat while Ramont was paying attention to the noisy auction further away. These two were obviously the smartest, they knew someone else would figure out this hard question, all they had to do was carry out the plans.

Why waste their brain cells on this, right?

As for the newly joined Blair and Garwen?

Both of the new members didn't have much contact with Broker, they didn't know the pressure from that cunning merchant, but they had their own way of dealing with things.

"Need us to find out where the rumor started?" Blaire asked Kieran.

"If it's not too much of a trouble," Kieran replied.

"Leave it to us." Blaire and Garwen said in tandem with a smile.

The two of them then quickly took action.

The function of privately messaging other players in the big city was, no doubt, a convenient function.

However, Kieran didn't give Rhino a precise answer. He lifted his cup, took a sip from the sour yet refreshing lemon water, and turned his attention to the auction.

Kieran did have some guesses in his heart, but… he wouldn't say give groundless theories.

While the two newly joined members were busy gathering with their contacts, the others at the table gradually paid their attention to Lawless, who was in the midst of the auction.

After all, the items that Barkel owned wouldn't be low in quality.

"Our auction deals in Points and Skill Points, as per usual."

"But of course, bartering with other items is possible, especially some unique items, or repair items. I assure you that 2567 will give you a good price!" Lawless was being blunt with his introduction.

Kieran wasn't overly concerned about the methods though, it wasn't a secret that he sought after repair items, a lot of people knew that.

As for the unique items?

It was purely trying out his luck.

What if he really got some useful items?

Despite Kieran being rational and logical, he would still fantasize about something at times.

Or rather, everyone was like that, they tended to fantasize about the impossible.

The only difference was that Kieran knew that getting his hands on something like that was considered lucky; it wasn't something that he would risk his life over, so he didn't really care much, but others were different.

They always tended to hope for the best, trying to be lucky time after time despite facing the harshest reality.

Back in the dark room, the men gathered around the table once again.

Although the guild master of Iron Chariot, Saikory, was missing, the atmosphere in the room didn't change much. The group sat down in their respective seats; Saikory's chair was taken away.

"We demand an explanation."

As the leader of this little union, the slow and relaxed voice spoke first.

"You guys wanted Saikory out, I got it done," the man who was almost one with the shadow replied.

"Hmph! We wanted you to do it, not borrow the hands of 2567!"

The man across from the leader grunted heavily, expressing his dissatisfaction.

"That's right! And with you guys messing around like that, there is a high chance that you people will expose us with your moves," the man in the corner sounded calm, but the rage in his eyes was palpable.

"So, you guys are blaming me right now?" The one in the shadow laughed coldly.

"No, it's not blaming, it's just questioning." The leader still sounded slow and relaxed, there was no dissatisfaction or anger. It was like he was speaking to his friend during tea time.

A little pause later, the leader spoke again. "Though, these two here are a little anxious, so they might sound a little emotional."

"I hope you don't mind their tone. Of course, we will give you the payment for this mission, including the compensation for your loss, we will pay for everything with equal value."

"Rank I and II are decent, but what about… rank III?" The leader slightly adjusted his sitting posture as he stared at the one in the shadows.

"I'll take care of it," said the one in the shadows before he left the room.

The rest of them gazed at the door quietly. A moment later, the man in the corner spoke. "Are we going to give him the rest of the payment?"

"Of course, this is a fair trade. Besides, compared to what we will be getting, this kind of payment is nothing," the leader said in a confident tone.

"Saikory was really useless garbage! I thought he could hold on for a little longer, who would've thought that he would last such a short amount of time!"

"What a useless piece of garbage!"

The man opposite the leader voiced his disdain and unhappiness regarding the matter.

"It's not Saikory's fault. He had to face that 2567."

"2567's power has greatly exceeded our expectations."

"Did you guys hear about the rumors involving our dear Flaming Devil?" asked the leader after a glance at the two collaborators.

"Barkel the Robber?" the man in the corner asked.

"Yes, Barkel, what do you guys want to say?" the leader asked his collaborator.

"I suggest we put the plan on hold."

"2567's power isn't part of the plan, it has far exceeded the level that we can deal with," the man in the corner said.

"Yeah, but I think we should wait a little more. After all, we just made a sizable payment, why not stay to find out the result?"

The man opposite the leader didn't object; instead, he suggested another way.

The other two didn't object to the last suggestion either because they were sharing the same thoughts.

Getting what they paid for, what was wrong with that?

...

"Wrong! Of course, it's wrong!"

"I don't think we should be walking in the big city now!"

"The room back there, it's good enough!"

"It's safe! I think we should go back!"

Rorl, the member of Iron Chariots who was now under Bloody Mary's watch, was voicing his opinion loudly, but his advice was obviously ignored.

"Shut up."

Before Rorl could speak again, Bloody Mary yelled at him out of impatience.

If Bloody Mary had a choice, she would've chosen the room rather than running around in the city. It knew the room was the safest place to be, but so what?

Once it thought about the newly assigned mission from its contractor, the High Demon couldn't help but scream in her heart.

"WHY ME AGAIN?!"