The Devil’s Cage

“How much?!” Lawless cried out in shock uncontrollably.

“Five million Points! I am sure the bounty reward is no joke and the one who can provide this many points doesn’t seem to be joking either,” Blair answered with a bitter smile.

“Five million Points! Never thought my head would be worth that much! It’s such a huge amount that if it weren’t for killing me, I would sell myself,” Kieran exclaimed.

Benefiting from his very first decision of excavating through every dungeon world, Kieran had acquired an unimaginable amount of wealth throughout his efforts.

However, asking him to fork out a hefty five million Points at once was extremely difficult unless he sold his core equipment and items, but that was not realistic for him.

Killing the hens in favor of the eggs, quenching one’s thirst with poison, Kieran would not commit to such a losing act.

Likewise, he believed that others would not want to deal in a losing business either.

So, the one who put a five million Points bounty on him either held a deep grudge against him or bore ulterior motives!

Coincidentally, Alisritter the Swordsmith had warned him before.

“Is it the same group of people or another party?” Kieran wondered quietly.

While Kieran was pondering over the topic, Lawless slammed the table and stood up.

“Broker! It must be him! That damn cunning bastard!”

After going through a series of incidents, Lawless’ vigilance toward Broker had evolved into a teeth-clenching grudge.

If he had a chance to kill Broker, he would not hesitate to and would blow Broker’s head off with his gun.

So, in this kind of sensitive timing, when someone published an absurdly high bounty on Kieran, Lawless automatically linked it to Broker. It was only natural for the connection.

First, Broker had beef with Kieran.

Second, Broker was rich.

No matter which angle one looked at it, Broker fitted all the criteria of the publisher.

In fact, not just Lawless had that thought, the other lone wolves shared similar thoughts as well.

“That bastard hasn’t learned his lesson? We should sweep his base point again, but fiercer this time!” Ramont suggested.

His suggestion resonated with the other lone wolf players, attracting agreement from all other than Coll.

“Wait, you guys, don’t you think this is a little too deliberate? The problem just showed itself in front of us and the answer was found right after that? This doesn’t fit the Broker that I know. Based on Broker’s style, if he were really plotting something, we wouldn’t know what he was really thinking until the very last moment.”

Perhaps it was the delicate thinking of a girl or the sharp sixth sense of a woman, but Coll felt that something was wrong.

When she voiced out her opinion, the crowd was stunned.

Since they were able to become solo players, they were not idiots. Maybe they were skilled in different areas, maybe their personalities and attitudes differed; some were hot-tempered, some were cool, but regardless, they were able to react the fastest to incidents.

As for the slower reactions?

Similar to the number of players that joined the big city every day, those who vanished from the city every day were not few as well.

“Someone is trying to cheat us?” Hanses touched his chin.

“Not just cheat though. Think about those five million Points! Other than Broker, who else would be able to gather that many points without affecting his or her own progress?” Rhino smiled coldly.

The few solo players exchanged gazes and it seemed that they had an answer in their minds.

“I have some clues. I ran into Alisritter the Swordsmith before this. I don’t know if the group he warned me about and this five million Points publisher are the same, but I can be sure of one thing. Since they appeared in this timing, these guys are plotting something even bigger than what we are speculating! Five million Points is no small amount and if they are willing to use the amount as bait, they will surely be gaining a lot more. 10 million? 20 million? Or maybe more.”

Kieran told the crowd what he encountered before this and after glancing at the shocked solo players, his blurred out face grinned.

“Then…shall we do something big?” Kieran asked.

“Of course! Since those bastards made their move, are we still gonna sit around like cowards?”

“That’s right! I am not a coward!”

Rhino was the first to agree to the suggestion, followed by Ramont echoing him.

“Um, let’s do something big!”

Hanses and Coll exchanged gazes before nodding in unison.

Then, the crowd looked at Raven the Loner.

As his title suggested, although Raven had joined in the group discussion, he did not speak throughout the process or have the slightest intention to. He was carrying his cat and sitting there quietly as the discussion went on.

When everyone looked at him, Raven only looked back. He nodded, expressing his agreement.

As for Lawless?

No one asking him didn’t mean they didn’t respect Lawless’ opinion, but everyone knew whenever his friend was in trouble, Lawless would not sit out of the trouble.

“Uh… then… Can we join?” Garwen and Blair asked with hesitance.

“Of course!”

Lawless immediately nodded and looked around at his friends. As if the crowd was sharing a special link with Lawless, everyone replied in one voice, “Welcome aboard!”

…

As for the planning, arrangements, and countermeasures that followed, Kieran didn’t lead the group, instead passing it over to Lawless and the others.

There is strength in numbers.

The saying was applicable in any place and situation, especially when it was a group of people that ran dungeons alone who got together. Given their carefulness, vigilance and ability to improvise, though their plan might not be the most perfect one, it would be a steady one.

Understanding the saying, Kieran became a listener throughout the process.

After the plans were made and everyone moved out, Kieran moved out as well—he returned to 13th Wallway Street.

It wasn’t escaping but… waiting!

He was waiting for the five million Points bounty to brew, waiting for those players dizzed by the bounty to jump him.

In simpler words, Kieran had temporarily become bait and he didn’t mind it at all. Quite the opposite, as he was quite happy to do it.

After all, it was indeed a hefty amount for a side income.

The mercy and compassion towards the weak?

Sorry.

For Kieran, the players who were dizzied by the bounty would become his enemy if they launched an attack against him.

In Kieran’s dictionary, there was only one word to treat his enemy: kill!

Carrying his bag, Kieran departed from the train and slowly walked towards his room.

His Intuition began scanning the surroundings.

Fire Raven acted as his eyes from above in the sky and did not let the slightest detail slip.

Kieran would never underestimate anyone, especially the players in the big city. No one knew what kind of weird items or skills those players possessed.

But Kieran didn’t pick up any hostility near his room. Instead, he saw… Starbeck, the mimosa.

Starbeck was holding a basket.

“I’ve made cookies and brought tea!” Starbeck raised the basket in his hand.

“I smelled it, cream cookies with strawberry and orange flavour.”

Kieran couldn’t hold back his smile and went up to open the door.

As the door slowly closed, both of them vanished behind the door.