The Devil’s Cage

Zarukhar’s passionate speech had spread through the loudspeakers around the whole base. It had even been heard outside it.

Kieran, who was hiding outside the base in the shadows of the ruins, had heard everything.

“Choosing the easy way and manipulating the facts!” That was Kieran’s opinion of the Major.

He had anticipated Zarukhar’s performance on the stage that had been set up for him.

As for General Zennings?

Kieran had seen a couple of soldiers leave the base quietly.

Their identity had been quite obvious.

Apparently, General Zennings had planted more than one mole in Zarukhar’s base.

Now he would be facing Zarukhar’s rebellion against him.

It was exactly what Kieran had wanted.

He wanted the two of them fighting against each other, so he’d have the chance to take out both of them at the same time.

The sound of the tank engines inside the base was like thunder. Several soldiers boarded the military convoy trucks, their footsteps sounding like battle drums getting ready for war.

Zarukhar’s soldiers had began their march.

Tanks and convoys passed one after another.

Soon there were only three squads of soldiers left guarding the base.

Kieran looked at the almost deserted base with a pitiful look.

Were it not for the important tasks at hand, he wouldn’t have passed up the opportunity to raid the camp.

After all, the base would definitely have stocks of supplies. Not just daily supplies, but also military supplies, tons of military weapons and protective gear. Kieran felt tempted just thinking about it.

However, he wasn’t the kind of person to miss the forest for the trees, even though he might regret it down the road.

It was like when he’d had to ditch the machine gun back in the ruins.

The machine gun plus the box of ammunition had been too heavy for him.

Even though his [Strength] and [Stamina] had both been increased by one level, he still could not carry the additional weapon plus the sniper rifle and the items on his own inventory.

Not unless he wanted to give up running and dashing.

But that was out of the question.

He took a deep breath and started running in the ruins’ shadows.

The rebel forces had almost disappeared from sight.

It would be difficult to chase them now.

Luckily, Kieran knew where they were headed.

Thanks to Colleen’s directions, Kieran already knew the location of every rebellion base.

Other than the base Major Zarukhar was stationed at and the base that his forces were heading toward, there were two more bases in the city, occupied by the other high-ranking rebellion officers. They were stationed on the South and West side of the city respectively.

Zarukhar’s forces were heading towards the base in the heart of the city.

It was General Zenning’s camp: Times Square.

The two bases were not that far away from each other and they were even closer if one used shortcuts to get there.

By lurking and dashing through the ruins, Kieran had managed to reach Times Square before Zarukhar’s forces. He arrived early and started to look for a high vantage point.

When he found the right spot, he saw that it was already occupied by someone else.

A mysterious man was crawling in the shadows holding a sniper rifle, aiming at the road while he looked down at the entire Times Square.

Kieran suddenly broke into a sweat.

If he hadn’t used the shortcuts in the mysterious sniper’s blind spots, he would have definitely appeared under his scope.

Although the man’s target had to be Zarukhar, he couldn’t be sure that he would not take out anybody else who crossed his path.

If this vantage point was taken by the sniper, then what about the others?

When the thought popped up in Kieran’s head, he quickly shrank back into the shadows and took a good look at his surroundings.

He spotted at least four more snipers on standby.

Discovering this, he suddenly felt glad that he had entered the [Undercover] mode before heading to Times Square. If he hadn’t, he would have been shot into a griddle by now.

“Times Square? More like Sniper Square!” Kieran thought.

He looked at the snipers, not making any rush moves.

Although he was confident that he could take out the sniper in front of him, he couldn’t be sure that he wouldn’t be targeted by the rest. Only when the other snipers were fully distracted, only then could he make a move.

He would not have to wait very long for that chance.

Kieran knew very well who they were waiting for. Major Zarukhar.

It was obvious that General Zennings had received word of Zarukhar’s uprising and had set up a trap for him.

In the distance, the engine sounds of the vehicles were getting louder.

The convoy had already appeared.

The sniper quickly adjusted himself for the assassination. Before he could get into position though, a strong palm covered his mouth and dragged him backwards. There was suddenly the feeling of sharp pain on his neck.

Kieran let go of the body and checked the dead man’s sniper rifle. It was the same [Viper-M1] as his, but it lacked the two extra attributes. He was not keen on keeping it.

He pulled out his own and aimed downwards, maintaining a sense of vigilance about his own surroundings.

He could not be sure whether Major Zarukhar would send his men to occupy the high ground or not, but Kieran did not want to follow into the footsteps of the previous tenant of that spot.

…..

“Your Excellency, Zarukhar is here!”

The staff officer, who had been looking outside, had spotted the convoy arriving at Times Square. He turned around and reported it to the second person in the room.

His reverent and respectful attitude towards the man spoke volumes about who he was.

The stars on the man’s shoulders revealed his prestigious ranking.

He was one of the Rebellion Generals, General Zennings.

The General looked younger than one would expect. His hair was pitch black with just a couple of strands of grey hair, all neatly combed backwards.

His face was slightly chubby with reddish cheeks and an aura of brilliance, and he had a pair of sharp brown eyes that looked terrifying.

So did the centipede-like scars on his forehead.

Others would have instinctively turned their gaze away upon seeing his face.

Zennings was particularly terrifying when he was angry.

“So he just can’t wait, huh?” Zennings laughed coldly.

His prestigious aura in combination with his sharp gaze made the staff officer freeze.

After Zennings had received the word from his mole, he had immediately thought that Zarukhar was planning to keep the bag of jewelry for himself and then blame him for stealing it.

Although Zennings had no intention of splitting the jewelry with Zarukhar, that did not mean that he would forgive Zarukhar’s rebellious actions.

“How’re the preparations going?” Zennings turned and looked at his staff officer.

“Everything is ready, Zarukhar will be defeated!” the staff officer replied.

Zennings seemed satisfied with the answer. He took out a delicate box slowly and took a piece of cigar out of it.

The staff officer immediately came over with the cigar cutter. He cut the tip and lit the cigar, passing it to Zennings.

“I like this Rump No.3 cigar. The cinnamon and leather scent remind me of the burnt smell of corpses annihilated by bombs.”

Zennings held the cigar in his mouth and sucked in a deep breath, letting out the thick smoke.

The smoke covered his sharp eyes and kind of twisted his intimidating face.

“You know why?” Zennings turned his eyes on his staff officer once again.

The man shivered. He didn’t know how to reply.

The thing was, Zennings was not expecting an answer.

He sucked on his cigar again and said, “Because standing in front of other people’s corpses reminds me that I am the WINNER!”

Zennings stood up.

As he grew older, his strong, bulky body became stout but his powerful aura became even stronger. As he walked forward, he looked like a lion looking over his territory.

Zarukhar, on the other hand, looked weaker than ever.

When the convoy reached Times Square though, he did not fret or turn around.

He lifted his head up and marched forward.

Zennings raised his hand, signalling for the soldiers below him to prepare to fire and the snipers to get ready.

When he was about five steps away, Zarukhar halted and shouted to Zennings,“General Zennings! We are here to serve justice!”

“Justice?”

Zennings removed the cigar from his mouth, looking down at Zarukhar and the troops behind him with his sharp eyes.

Zarukhar thought it would be a smart move to march his troops there and threaten him?

If the troops thought that they could change his decision just because of their numbers, they were too naive.

Zennings laughed coldly out of the bottom of his heart.

He wanted Zarukhar and his troops to see the situation clearly.

“You think-”

Bang!

A gunshot was fired, interrupting Zennings’ words and blowing his head off..

Brain matter and blood splashed on Zarukhar.

What had just happened?

Zarukhar had not given orders to fire.

He was shocked and puzzled as he looked around.

Bang!

Another shot was fired just mere seconds after the first.

Zarukhar’s fate was the same as Zennings’.

His headless body fell to the ground.

The troops on both sides were stunned, the whole Times Square was filled with an awkward silence.

The silence lasted for about two seconds.

“REVENGE FOR THE MAJOR!”

“REVENGE FOR THE GENERAL!”

Both sides assumed that it was the other side who had taken out their leader, and they shouted at each other at the same time.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang !

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The next moment, gunshot and bombing sounds broke the silence of the night.

The fire of war devoured the whole Times Square in an instant.