The Devil’s Cage

The driver who stuck his head out the window was kicked back into his car, but the seat belt pulled him back to the window and then the same foot with a sandal landed on his face a second time.

Bang!

A loud thud again.

Two consecutive heavy blows with the peak strength of a regular human landed on the rather big and buff driver, knocking him out cold.

However, Kieran added a third kick when he opened the door just to be safe.

Since his strength was greatly weakened, Kieran in his weakened state tended to be more careful than usual, plus the gaze of the driver at Starbeck was disgusting.

The driver was then dragged out of the car, Kieran also removed the driver’s belt to tie him up before going on to check the car.

The car was rather modern but it had picked up some years, the steering wheel and gearbox bearing the mark of time.

What concerned Kieran was the bloody smell he picked up on.

Although the driver tried his best in cleaning and allowing the interior to properly ventilate, the interior still reeked of blood and Kieran had picked up on the smell when the window was rolled down.

The stench got heavier when Kieran got in.

After a round of checking the interior, other than a wallet, there were no valuable results.

Kieran opened the wallet, finding a driver’s licence and some currency notes.

The license belonged to the unconscious driver, and his name was written on it: John Dickson.

The license seemed legitimate, but it may be forged.

Before knowing this dungeon world, Kieran reserved his opinion for everything he encountered.

He threw the wallet to Starbeck and headed to the trunk.

The trunk of a car was the best place to hide things.

After the trunk was opened, a shovel covered in dirt and a little bit of blood was revealed to Kieran.

The distribution of blood on the shovel was unusually even. Although wiped, the general position was made clear to Kieran and based on the knowledge he had, he already pictured a body of a human being pressed down in his mind when he saw the blood.

The picture of the body in his mind was very clear. After the body was wrapped, the blood was still seeping through, hence the fatal wound should be very deep. The murder weapon shouldn’t be a normal dagger, more like a screwdriver or something similar.

“He, he…?” Starbeck wasn’t an idiot, never was. He already knew what was happening after Kieran suddenly knocked out the driver and saw the shovel with blood in the trunk.

“Should be some road killer. He must have finished burying a body,” said Kieran as he dragged the driver to the front of the car and placed his face under the strong light.

Kieran then took a bottle of water from the passenger seat and poured it over the driver’s face.

The water slowly woke the driver up.

The driver woke up in a daze, a blinding light blocking his sight but spots of darkness came in to his sight in a rhythmic manner. He should have woken up from his unconscious state, but somehow when the spots of darkness appeared, he felt tired and lost the urge to do anything. He fell into a trance.

“Who are you?” a cold voice entered his ears.

“John Dickson,” The driver answered in a daze.

“What is your occupation?”

“A hotel owner.”

“Do you have any family?”

“Yes, my wife wanted to divorce me, but I didn’t want her to leave me, so I ‘made’ her stay with me forever.”

“What’s your hobby?”

“Hunting. I always hunt on this road.”

“How many times have you hunted?”

“This is the third time!”

“Where is your prey?”

“Killed and buried.”

“Where is your hotel?”

“Syndihart Avenue 11-404.”

The voice continued asking, and the driver in a trance answered every question.

For a person who had lost the ability to resist, Kieran used the light from the car and some tools to create the black spots and his knowledge in [Mystical Knowledge] to get the answers he was looking for. It was very easy, even though the man, John Dickson, was a killer which everyone feared.

After getting the answers he seeked, Kieran rewarded John Dickson with another kick.

Kieran landed his kick on John Dickson’s artery around the neck with minimal strength. Without the car door behind him, he fell to the ground and swiftly passed out as oxygen was blocked out from his brain.

Kieran had lost his skills more than once, so he had purposely trained in offensive and defensive techniques without relying on the skills from the system.

Although it was hard for him to achieve a lot of the techniques, basic ones were not a problem.

Kieran tied up the driver, hurled him into the car, and went into deep thoughts. He then waved at Starbeck, telling him to get in the car.

“His identity is trouble. He might think he is clean, but there’s a high chance that he would be watched, so we must hurry if we don’t want to expose ourselves under people’s radar,” Kieran said to Starbeck while starting the car.

“Hurry?” Starbeck turned over to Kieran as thoughts came into his mind.

“Yeap, just like what you think,” Kieran said with a smile.

The car drove off and accelerated through the night in the outskirts. The night became quieter after they were gone and it lasted till dawn.

Things started to get lively at first light, followed by clamours.

The wanted road killer was caught while escaping.

To the public’s surprise, the road killer didn’t just kill innocents on the road, he was also the killer of his wife.

Even though the police tried their best to keep the road killer’s case wrapped up, some smart people with sharp senses picked up something easily.

Therefore, Dickson Hotel, where the signage had been taken down, was knocked on by a crowd early in the morning.

“I’m sorry, we don’t accept interviews here,” Kieran coldly rejected the reporters at the door.

This wasn’t the first batch, and neither would they be the last.

Before this incident was truly forgotten by the public, Kieran had to deal with the reporters and masses, so he decided to go with the most direct and effective way.

Bang!

The door was shut.

Kieran then walked towards the room which Starbeck had cleaned up without turning back to the relentless knocks.

Since he hadn’t slept for the night and had to perform his hypnotising tricks repeatedly, he was exhausted and had to take a good sleep.

The sleep wasn’t just necessary for him to replenish his exhausted energy, it was also for him to get used to his weakened body.

Starbeck also hadn’t slept for the night, yet he forced himself to be awake in the kitchen, busy preparing food.

A pot of chicken stew was cooking on the gas stove.

He found the chicken in the refrigerator, likewise the other spices, and it was enough for him to prepare a lunch for Kieran.

It may not be delicious, but it was edible.

Seconds turned into minutes, Starbeck sprinkling cold water on his face to keep himself awake so that he could keep an eye on the pot. When the aroma of the stew finally came out, a satisfied smile hung over his face.

Starbeck put on a pair of mittens and took the pot to the dining area.

The hotel wasn’t big by all means, there were only two floors, top and bottom.

The first floor was the main hall, connected to the kitchen, with three long tables and benches, a parlour, a dining area, and corridors to other spots.

The second floor had three rooms, one master room, and two rooms for rent.

However, the two rooms for rent were covered in dust. It seemed like the last visitor came a very long time ago.

In fact, other than the kitchen, the whole hotel was dusty. Zfter the owner killed his wife, the hotel was half-abandoned.

Knock Knock Knock!

Knocks on the entrance sounded again.

Starbeck didn’t care. Kieran told him to care less about those irrelevant people, but the knocks continued and an introduction followed.

Knock Knock Knock.

“Hello, I’m Chief Officer Teddy.”

The title scared Starbeck a little, instinctively getting nervous and while he almost had a breakdown, a powerful palm tapped his shoulder, giving him warmth to expel the nervousness.

“Leave it to me,” Kieran said after he came down from the room.

“Mm,” Starbeck nodded and walked into the kitchen.

Kieran then walked to the door.

“If you don’t open up, I’ll break in.”

Kieran did open up the door, seeing a curly, brown haired man in casual wear, rather short and skinny.

“If you do, you’ll have to pay up,” Kieran stood there after opening the door without the slightest intentions of moving.

“If I really did, I’ll pay, but if it’s not me, I won’t pay a dime,” said the man.

His words meant more than they sounded, but he quickly covered it up with a smile.

“I’m sorry, we can’t seem to locate you and your little brother’s lost wallet and IDs, so I took the liberty of making some new ones,” the man then took out two new identity card.

“Thanks,” Kieran took them and thanked the man with a cold tone.

“Hey mate, can’t you be more passionate about it? I’ve done you quite the favour! If you don’t have IDs with you here in Ai City, you can’t even walk out the door!” the man said loudly in surprise.

“I also did you guys a big favour! That serial killer, I remember he has a bounty on his head, right? More so, this is your duty to begin with.” Kieran replied calmly.

“We will pay you the bounty, don’t you worry about that. Are all businessmen this calculative?”

The chief officer replied helplessly.

“More calculative than you imagine. Please find our lost wallets,” Kieran wanted to close the door.

“Hey, not going to invite me in for a meal? I smelled something cooking. I have to say, after the smell, I believe you brothers are trying to open a restaurant, this kind of cooking isn’t common around here…”

Slam!

The chief officer was relentless but it failed to stop Kieran from slamming the door on him.

The door almost touched the chief officer’s nose.

Teddy took a step back, rubbing his nose and looking at the taken down sign. He went into deep thoughts.

The serial killer that Teddy has been chasing for so long crashed his car into a fire hydrant while running away, the trunk full of evidence of his killing, hence leading to his apprehension.

Coincidence much?

Teddy turned around and looked at the closed door.

“Chief, what’s wrong?” an officer came over.

“Nothing. Everything is fine, those second generation immigrants should be just pure unlucky running into that bastard. Damn, this smells good!”

Teddy sniffed strongly and swallowed his saliva.

“Yeah, it smells really good! If they have this kind of cooking skills, how could they be related to that bastard? Any restaurant they open will earn them buck loads of money!” the officer exclaimed.

“Don’t worry, since they’ve bought this hotel and renovated it into a restaurant, we will drop by sometime in the future. Now, we have an overdue interrogation with that bastard!” Teddy turned around and walked to the police cruisers.

Although Teddy looked forward to Starbeck’s cooking, the interrogation had to go on. Even if the bastard tried to act dumb and deny everything, Teddy would pry open his teeth for the truth.

Through the window, Kieran at the dining table saw the police cruiser go off. His furrowed brows loosened up slightly.

The chief officer named Teddy was no doubt a troublesome person.

He had seen a lot of chief officers throughout his adventure, so if it was possible, he wouldn’t want to be tangled up with Teddy in any way.

Fortunately, Teddy was currently busy with John Dickson and would not be knocking on his doors in the foreseeable future. After all, John Dickson was carefully taken ‘care’ of by Kieran.

Kieran sat there in deep thoughts.

Starbeck served a bowl of soup with chicken meat on the table.

The soup was creamy. It was white with a layer of oil on the surface. Chopped scallions were used as garnish on top, adding extra freshness to the soup. It was something else, especially when the drumstick was eaten with the scallions!

The chicken meat wasn’t dry and the oiliness in between the skin perfectly compensated the bite, plus the fresh scallions, Kieran’s appetite was further lifted.

Kieran finished the drumstick in a few bites, and drained every single drop of the soup in one.

The unique flavour and the perfect amount of oiliness warmed Kieran’s stomach, lifting his dispirited state even!

Starbeck smiled, taking the bowl over and refilling some soup and chicken for Kieran. Even his own dispirited state was lifted.

“2… Brother, we still need some cooking utensils, spices, and ingredients,” Starbeck said after Kieran finished the whole pot of stew.

Starbeck wasn’t used to the disguise. When the word ‘brother’ escaped his mouth, he was shy and a little bit excited, unknowingly.

“There’s a supermarket around the corner. You go have some rest, I’ll go with you after you wake up,” Kieran picked up the pot and walked to the kitchen.

Since Starbeck prepared lunch, it was Kieran’s turn to wash the plates.

In fact, not only washing the plates, he’d have to clean the whole kitchen and repair the broken table and chairs.

Kieran was busy with the trivial work from morning until afternoon but the hotel itself was already old. What Kieran did wasn’t enough to consider a makeover, at most a cleaner place.

After Starbeck woke up, he energetically followed Kieran to get groceries before returning to the hotel with smiles.

Kieran sat back into the main hall, and watched Starbeck prepare the ingredients.

Starbeck was inside the kitchen until 11 at night, only then did he walk out with a satisfied look.

Kieran then picked up the blackboard and walked outside the main hall.

The original signage that was taken down was thrown into the garbage can and it was taken away by the garbage disposal during evening.

Kieran stood in front of the entrance with the blackboard in his hand.

With the streetlamp shedding like over it, the written words were clear and strong.

Leaf Dining.

Today’s special: Potato Roast Beef, Fried Rice, Chicken Soup.

(No alcohol.)

…

The last line was specially emphasized, Kieran did that on purpose.

He didn’t want to get involved with those who lost their sanity to alcohol, unless they were his enemies.

Midnight, the aroma of food flew in the air, but no one was around.

It was late. Other than some special places, there wasn’t a soul on the street and Leaf Dining was quite far away.

Kieran wasn’t in a hurry though. He opened the restaurant for a cover, not to settle down and become an owner for real.

No customer was the scene that he hoped for.

The food Starbeck cooked would be his alone, and he could quietly figure out the dungeon world and seize the window to adapt to his weakened state.

Kill three birds with one stone.

However, just as he picked up the newspaper, the streetlamp outside suddenly went off.