The Devil’s Cage

Hologest Port.

A cargo ship that shouldn’t appear had slowly docking itself at the port.

Different from the iron ship that had started to gain popularity among the people, the cargo ship was like an antique from the last century. Not only was it made out of wood, it has masts and sails to help it move around.

When the ship docked, a squad of people came down and astonished the workers at the port with their arrival.

That kind of scarlet red outfit was very eye-catching under the sunset, it looked like real blood flowing around.

More importantly, the common workers could feel a gloomy and uncomfortable presence from the squad of men but as for those who had more experience, they knew what such presence represented.

Killer aura!

The kind of terrifying manner that accumulated over several real massacres, meaning that they were not some common John Doe.

At least the patrol officers at the port didn’t think they were anonymous. The patrol officer signaled his man after seeing the weirdly dressed bunch with overflowing killer aura.

Right away, the man ran out to the port’s entrance with light steps and the patrol officers brought two other men with him and went up front.

”Where did you people sail from? Please register yourself here.”

Even though it was just a simple questioning, the patrol officer had his eyes locked on the bunch of men, his hand was even holding tight to his weapon.

Obviously, the patrol officer was ready for the situation, any fishy moves from the men and he would fire his gun without hesitation.

The squad of men didn’t act abnormal, instead, they didn’t act or move at all, as if they had been petrified, nor did they reply to the patrol officer.

Truth be told, if it wasn’t that the officer saw the men come down from the ship, he would think that he saw dead bodies.

Correct, dead bodies! The officer felt the killer aura when he had some distance with them but when he went up close to them, he could see their faces were all pale and almost turning green, similar to a dead person.

A moment later, the patrol officer felt his throat was getting dry, he couldn’t help but gulp. He glanced over the men’s exposed neck and saw unusual spots marking around their neck, it seemed like…

Livor mortis!

”Damn it!” The patrol officer cursed in his heart as he knew he was in big trouble.

Since Hologest Port was not that far from West Coast City before the patrol officer was transferred to Hologest Port he was in charge of West Coast City as well, surely he has heard about the infamous special operation group.

He also knew a thing or two as what the special operation group was formed to deal with and the things that were unfolding before him were definitely out of his league.

Slowly, the patrol officer stepped back, even though he tried to move slow, keeping as quiet as possible, but his movement still startled the bunch of weird men.

The zombie-like men quivered a little as if they woke up from slumber, their turbid eyes were turned towards the patrol officer and two of his men.

The squad then marched out to the three men in a moderate speed, as if their weight was heavy, obstructing their movements. Some of them even staggered a little as they marched but this frightened the patrol officer even more.

”Freeze! Don’t move! Another step forward and I’ll fire!”

The patrol officer drew his gun and pointed at the zombie-like squad and…

Bang Bang Bang!

Shots were fired repeatedly.

The patrol officers didn’t aim for the weak points but their legs and other parts of their body but after seeing his bullets only slightly paused their movement before marching forward again, the patrol officers decided to go all out.

Bang! Bang!

Two shots were fired at the chest and head of one of the men.

The shot that aimed at the man’s chest plunged in deep, nothing obvious occurred but the shot that was aimed at its head, the bullet was embedded on its forehead upon contact.

Everyone at the port witness the freaky scene.

Witnessing the scene beyond his understanding, the patrol officer’s face turned pale, he instinctively turned around and wanted to run for it, so did his other two men.

Though, the moment three of them turned around, the zombie-like men who were still marching slowly a moment before turned into the best kind of hunter.

They threw themselves precisely at the escaping trio, pounding them on the ground and bit off their necks.

Shaaou!

Blood splattered out, the bloody stench filled the air in a second and as if the weird zombie-like men were agitated by the blood, they all let out terrifying roars one after another.

Then, they started to crawl on the ground, continuously chewing and ripping the patrol officer’s body apart. They ripped off each chunk of flesh with their teeth and swallowed it down their stomach making it looked like a bunch of vultures devouring their prey.

Panic and fear spread across the port as fast as the plague. Countless men ran outside the port with terrified faces and after a while, the merry, flourishing port was turned into a place of dead silence.

All that was left was the noise of chewing flesh and sucking blood.

While further out at the sea, more ships of similar appearance could be seen, the same wooden make, installed with masts and sails.

Before the sky turned completely dark, they approached the port like ghost ships.

...

”What?”

Simones who had been busy for the whole day received a phone call from Sphenlly.

”Living dead! The living dead! A huge amount of living dead, zombies have invaded Hologest!”

The inn owner, Sphenlly said loudly through the phone. Sphenlly who was also one of the mystical members had lost his usual calmness, his voice was filled with anxiety and disturbance.

”I need reinforcements Simones! We might be able to at least whole till first light...God damned it you bastard! Taste my power!! Get out of my inn!... If you haven’t arrived before then, you can prepare an extra body bag with you!” Sphenlly yelled loudly.

The phone call was cut off abruptly after that and Simones did hear the roaring from the living dead. He knew Sphenlly was in great trouble, otherwise, he wouldn’t make the phone call but he knew even better, it was just the beginning of troubles.

Simones smelled conspiracy!

The living dead was not some powerful monsters among the mystical realm but it didn’t mean the living dead infestation could be this many, in fact from a certain aspect, the conditions for one to manifest were quite harsh as well.

Time, environment and the dead body itself had a very strict requirement and after the calculations for all aspects, it was even harder than the ghoul which had stronger fighting capabilities.

The simplest theory was, in a cemetery that has over a hundred graves that weren’t properly taken care off, it would be normal if one ghoul manifested out of the place but a living dead would be an accident, let alone in mass.

Unless they originated from… the battlefield!

Once this thought came to his mind, Simones could no longer remain calm, he quickly headed upstairs to gather the crew.

After a while, Charles, Elli, Raul and her husband Cidney plus Louver who was still in a special state of mind appeared in the study room.

”We have a big trouble!”

Simones briefly updated the crew and other than Louver, all of their face expression turned heavy.

”A diversion! Enticing us to leave our vantage ground!” Charles said in an affirmative tone.

The atmosphere turned even heavier right away.

Even they knew it was a diversion, they had to go over to assist Hologest Port because they couldn’t sit back and watch Hologest Port get turned into a dead city!

One needed to know that the strongest, most terrifying point of the living dead was not their power but the plague that followed!