The Devil’s Cage

When he saw J. Pearlman’s message, Kieran instantly gave a reply due to his curiosity.

…

2567: Address?

J. Pearlman: How about Harvest Inn? Or wherever you prefer.

2567: Harvest Inn then.

J. Pearlman: I’ll be right there.

…

Kieran had a limited understanding of the big city, so compared to choosing an unfamiliar place, he decided that he might as well meet at the usual Harvest Inn.

The train was traveling as fast as usual, and there weren’t the slightest bumps throughout the journey either.

When Kieran alighted from the train and entered Harvest Inn, he saw that J. Pearlman was already there in the corner, waving at him.

“Here,” said J. Pearlman.

“Sorry that I’m late,” Kieran said politely while scanning the inn.

He didn’t see anyone else with J. Pearlman though, not even someone that looked like a smither or swordsmith in this place.

There were all sorts of players with different kinds of outfits in the big city, and most of the time, their outfits would display their speciality: players equipped with firearms must have chosen mastery of firearms or some similar path while players with swords and leather armour must have chosen the path of sharp weapons.

Of course, because of the variety, not all were able to be categorized into a single group.

Mixing and matching was also common among players. There were even some who intentionally dressed the opposite to disguise themselves but players such as those wouldn’t be in the ranks of blacksmiths.

So, after a glance, Kieran frowned.

He wasn’t afraid of J. Pearlman lying to him. If it was just a hoax, J. Pearlman had no reason to expend so much effort.

Therefore, Kieran didn’t spill the question directly. Instead, he looked at the man.

“No, no, I was just around here when I contacted you, thus the early arrival. Here, I have something to show you. This is one of the main items on trade in the Freedom Alliance’s deals.”

J. Pearlman waved his hands at Kieran before sending a screenshot of an item to him.

[Name: Reliable Repair Scroll]

[Type: ETC]

[Rarity: I]

[Attack/ Defense: None]

[Attribute: Repair]

[Effect: None]

[Able to bring out of the dungeon: Yes]

[Remark: This is a miraculous scroll. Its ability isn’t about how powerful it is but its reliability! No matter if its success or failure, the repairing process will not damage the item.]

…

[Repair: 100% chance of repairing items of rank I or below; 50% chance of repairing items of rank II; 10% chance of repairing items of rank III or higher.]

…

When he saw the remarks stating that regardless of success or failure, it wouldn’t damage the item, Kieran already had the intention of buying the scroll, but he wasn’t in a hurry to make an offer.

He knew why J. Pearlman would go through such extensive lengths on his matters.

It was none other than trying to persuade him to join the Freedom Alliance.

However, Kieran had no interest in joining any kind of organization. He didn’t mind a small gathering like Rachel’s, but definitely not the Freedom Alliance, despite it being named “Freedom”.

An organization would always be an organization; once it was formed, there would be authorities and duties that had to be followed.

After pausing for a while, Kieran asked, “What do I need to pay you, given that I don’t have to join the Freedom Alliance?”

“You really don’t want to consider joining the Freedom Alliance? Our organization is very casual, a lot more freedom than you imagine,” J. Pearlman said with a bitter smile.

“Thank you for your invitation but no thanks. I am really not interested in joining a group or organization. It’s not just because of the bindings but also the potential conflict of ideals. Rather than breaking bad in the end, might as well not join one at all in the first place.” Kieran was being honest, and his candor made J. Pearlman’s smile even more bitter.

When he saw that Kieran was in need of some repair items, J. Pearlman knew it was a great chance, and although he knew the process would be hard and full of hurdles, he still had a certain level of confidence.

However, to his surprise, before he could even voice out his invitation, Kieran cut it all off mercilessly.

J. Pearlman was a little depressed at the rejection, but he didn’t show it on his face.

He chose to compromise instead.

“Then, if, and I mean IF it were to happen that the Freedom Alliance were in some kind of trouble in the future, could you help us if we required your assistance?” J. Pearlman asked.

“Sure. As long as the conflict isn’t with me or with anyone I care about, I can help, but don’t think that I will accept anything for free. I’ll pay you according to the market price, so please don’t reject me. This is the base of our deal, after all,” Kieran nodded and said in a firm tone.

Attaining things for free was delightful but owing others a debt of gratitude was harder to repay.

In order to prevent J. Pearlman from requesting any kind of difficult assistance in the future, Kieran didn’t mind spending more points on the deal so that he could possibly reject it in the future.

A stingy ghost’s calculation is very meticulous and intricate.

“500K then,” J. Pearlman stated his price amid his bitter smile.

Undoubtedly, a very cheap price. Though 500K Points wasn’t less by any means, for an item in the Advance Ranks, the price was considered cheap.

Items of the Advance Ranks exceeded what common players could imagine, and since the item could potentially fix a rank III item, the price would surge higher.

In simpler words, J. Pearlman was still hoping that Kieran would accept his favour.

But if Kieran were to accept it, he wouldn’t have suggested a deal in the first place, thus Kieran shook his head.

“1 million,” Kieran counter offered.

“I’ve never seen a buyer who actively raises the price.” J. Pearlman sighed.

“Because I know what I pay now is much less than what I will have to pay in the future,” Kieran said seriously.

“Fine then, we’ll proceed as you insist.” J. Pearlman finally gave up on trying to persuade him, and the trade that followed became simple.

Kieran converted all his Skill Points into Points, a total of 375,000 Points. Together with the dungeon clearing reward of 600,000 Points, he was still short of 25,000 Points.

Fortunately, the items he entrusted Lawless to sell were mostly sold off, so all he needed to do was to take the 25,000 Points from Lawless.

When he saw the transfer of 1 million Points, J. Pearlman’s heart shook.

Even for a high-ranker, forking out 1 million Points wasn’t something casual unless one sold his core items, but unless the player was crazy, no high-ranker would ever do that; Kieran was no exception to that either.

Thinking about the rumours floating amongst Freedom Alliance members that stated that “Kieran could find the Dragon tribe’s treasure with ease”, more thoughts came into J. Pearlman’s mind.

But in the end, when factoring how powerful Kieran was, the thoughts that rose in J. Pearlman’s heart were discarded completely.

He didn’t want the Freedom Alliance to fall into a sea of fire.

“Let me treat you to a drink. After finishing a 1 million Points deal, treating you to a drink isn’t some debt of gratitude,” J. Pearlman said.

This time, Kieran didn’t reject but he said, “I’ll pass on alcohol, just juice or tea will be fine.”

J. Pearlman nodded before heading to the bar counter.

After he walked away, the emptied seat was taken by another figure at the next moment.

Kieran, however, raised a brow at the person who took the seat in front of him.