The Devil’s Cage

“Are you out of you mind?” Colleen grunted at Kieran.

“No,” he replied.

Colleen’s eyes widened as if she thought he was crazy.

“I know what am I saying and I know what I want. I know that the Vulture’s base will be tightly guarded, I know it’s dangerous, but I have to do this. It’s a great opportunity!” Kieran said in a serious tone.

“The Vulture sent his men after us. Obviously he doesn’t want us alive and after this failed attempt, he will send even more men. Like you said, he won’t rest until he kills us. That assh*le will do anything to protect his pride and ego. It’s better to show him our fangs rather than run away like rats!” Kieran said.

He had gotten pretty worked up so he took a deep breath before continuing.

“When the Vulture sends his next team, it won’t be like the one we just killed. They will be more vigilant after what we did, so it will be harder for us to strike! And don’t even think about ambushing them. They will definitely be wearing better gear and carrying bigger guns. Don’t tell me that before the war broke out the police used just those handguns to maintain peace!” Kieran said while looking at the loot they had just acquired.

“But… But …,” Colleen frowned.

She seemed to want to speak, but she did not.

She knew Kieran was telling the truth.

Although she despised the Vulture, she could not deny the fact that he was powerful.

“We need to strike first before they can react and take them all out. Every last one of them!” Kieran said in a strong tone.

“Fine! I get what you’re saying, but you need to know that this would not be an easy task!”

Colleen threw her hands up, giving in to Kieran’s plan. However, her words still carried a sense of persuasion.

Colleen needed a long- term partner that she could rely on. Kieran’s words might make sense, but she still hoped that his plan would work without a glitch.

They were a step ahead of the Vulture now.

Colleen even hoped to trade some of the loot they had acquired to satisfy some basic needs, so she could survive a little longer in this goddamned war. She wanted to survive, even if it meant spending her life hiding.

After all, she had survived for four months that way.

Kieran, however, was a different case.

He was a player, a desperate player that needed game items to trade them for cash so he could get treatment for his illness.

To achieve that, he needed to become even stronger, take out as many NPCs as possible and get more in-game equipment to earn enough money to pay for his medical fees.

The Vulture sounded like an NPC Boss to Kieran, so he did not want to waste this opportunity.

As for spending the rest of his life in hiding?

If he was a normal player, he would have considered it, but he wasn’t one.

“I know it’s not easy, that’s why we need to make sure that our plan works and that it’s executed smoothly. Can you help me by keeping a lookout on our surroundings ? Oh, and I need to borrow your kitchen knife as well!” Kieran told Colleen while he pointed at the hostage.

“Sure,” Colleen replied.

She sighed before walking to the other side of the ruins.

The ruins were a strategic spot. They offered a good vantage point, wide enough to spot incoming enemies while also covering the whole the area. Before she went to keep guard, Colleen left behind the kitchen knife that Kieran had requested.

It had originally been his.

It was only a countermeasure for tonight’s plan.

Colleen would not object if he wanted it back.

What did he want it for, anyway?

She knew why, but she still supported Kieran.

After the war, Colleen had changed a lot. She was not as stubborn as she used to be in her opinions of what was right and wrong. The only thing she cared about was surviving.

Surviving was what everyone wished for during the war, and so did she.

When Kieran saw Colleen take her lookout position, he turned towards the captive.

He did not know what Colleen was thinking and he didn’t need to. All he needed to know was that they were on the same page and that she could be trusted.

Kieran kicked the captive to wake him up.

“Please, please, please let me go!” the thug begged once more as he woke up.

“I will, after you tell me what I want to know,” Kieran told him in a calm tone.

However, the calm tone seemed to scare the captive even more as he couldn’t tell what Kieran’s intentions were, or whether he was telling the truth or not.

He did not have a choice.

Kieran was the one in control of his life.

“What do you want to know?” he asked softly.

“Everything you know about the Vulture. The exact location of his base and how many men he has in there!” Kieran said.

“I don’t know much about the Vulture, but the base is at Sixth Broadway, in an underground storage area under the mall. We have twenty men……. AAAAAAH!”

Before he could finish, he screamed in agony.

Kieran had cut one of his fingers off using the knife.

“Shut the hell up! Don’t tell me the bullsh*t that everybody knows. Tell me something I don’t know! You have two more chances!” Kieran said, holding the knife in his hand and staring at him.

“I really don’t know a lot about him. He was no one before the war, but he became infamous when the war started. The base is really in the underground storage area, but I think there might be thirty men there. The boss recruited some more men a few days back!”

Pain and fear made the thug spill out more information.

Thirty men?

Kieran squinted his eyes.

Thirty men was a totally different story. Ten more men made a huge difference.

If it was only twenty men, Kieran would only need to face eleven more, counting out the ones he had just killed and the two he had faced the previous day.

But now he would have to face twenty-one more men.

His stress level skyrocketed.

Then he frowned.

“How can you feed more than thirty men in a situation like this, unless you have an endless food and water supply? Even if your base is in the mall, it’s still not in a supermarket! Don’t tell me the Vulture brings in supplies from the police station! You’re lying to me!”

When he finished talking, he raised his knife again.

These were not peaceful times. The war had been going on for quite some time now.

After four months, supplies should have been running low around the warzone.

Kieran already felt the importance of food and water, even though he had only been there for two days.

The thug, however, was not exhibiting any signs of hunger or thirst. Quite the opposite, he appeared to be strong and lively.

If it was just one guy, perhaps it would have been possible, but every single one of the men that Kieran had killed had appeared healthy.

It seemed that the thugs had a sufficient supply of food and water. Maybe even more than what they needed in order to survive. The war could last for quite a while, and finding supplies for at least thirty full-grown men could not be that simple.

The Vulture would need to plan at least two or three weeks ahead if he wanted to keep his forces strong.

It would be hard to do that considering the numbers and weapons that the Vulture owned.

They couldn’t have raided a hypermarket, because they all would have been emptied when the war had broken out. Civilians would have already raided every hypermarket there was.

That’s how Kieran knew that the thug was lying.

“No, I’m not! No! The Vulture uses his connections to get supplies!”

The thug shrinked as he watched Kieran raise the knife again.

“What connections?” Kieran asked.

The thug hesitated, but Kieran did not.

As he brought the knife down, he cut off another finger.

“Aaaaah!” the thug screamed once more.

“Seems like you are not being clear enough. Do I need to ask you again?” he said before lifting the knife once again.

“It’s the rebels! It’s the rebels!” the thug rushed to explain.

“The rebels?”

Kieran was confused.

He had never thought that the Vulture would have any connection with the rebels. According to what he knew, the Vulture had been a nobody before the war. How could he have formed such strong connections with the rebels?

“The Vulture holds women captive and he trades them for supplies!” the thug added quickly to stop Kieran cutting another finger off.

This piece of information infuriated Kieran. He tightened his grip on the knife as he realized what the deal between the Vulture and the head of the rebellion was.

His rage turned into an urge to kill.

However, he faced the thug calmly.

“Very nice. It seems like you have understood our speaking method. Now I would like you to tell me the structure of your base and the positions of the guards. Everything. Now!” Kieran said.

“Yes...Yes!”

The captive nodded before spilling the beans.

The thug did not noticed Kieran eyes had turned ice cold.