The Devil’s Cage

‘Before Joanna became a respectable lady, she had a petty job. But one must admit, she had quite the charm, despite her face being scarred during a fight.

‘The most talked about topic about Joanna, other than her outstanding leading capabilities, was her guardian knight and most reliable comrade, Becker the giant. Becker the giant was shocking; not only was he as strong as an ox, he’d once even killed a group of Union elites with his bare hands. He ended up forcing the Union to deploy their strongest infantry troops on the last encircle to annihilate Joanna. Fortunately, he was alone at that time and finally died off after killing hundreds.

‘As Joanna’s first bodyguard and later ally, Contly was known for her quick and fierce way of doing things. Many said that if she hadn’t died under the besiege of ‘Deldor’s Assault’, she would have made Joanna even harder to deal with. But in my opinion, if Contly hadn’t died in that assault, she would be the hardest one to deal with!

‘Joanna was really remarkable. Even I, as a man, could barely achieve what she had done. But still, she ultimately lost in the revolution. In the battle with the great general, Harold Lander, she might have gotten some advantages, but the final loss robbed her of any chances to make a comeback.’

…

Unlike the public information from the books that Lyn Amie borrowed from the library, in this document that commoners couldn’t get their hands on, Kieran saw some familiar names.

Becker, the giant who Herbert adopted after defeating him during their first encounter. He might not be smart, but he was definitely not weak.

Also, Contly, the self-proclaimed bounty hunter and also one of the new generation of Isogu City’s guardians.

However, the most concerning point was Harold Lander.

Despite not spending a long time with the young man, in Kieran’s mind, Harold didn’t look like a young man who would betray friendship and love.

Perhaps something happened that Kieran didn’t know of, ultimately turning lovers into enemies.

But the documents didn’t say anything about that, and even if they did, Kieran would not believe them 100%.

This document, or record, had too much personal surmising. If it weren’t for the date on the records, anything slightly more recent would have been totally useless.

Besides, amongst the personal surmising, there was one person missing: Cohen!

The poor little kid who was also a student of Herbert and peers with Joanna and Harold.

Since Joanna and Harold were active in a certain period of history, it would be impossible for Cohen to remain a nobody.

Given the situation back then, even if Cohen wanted to conceal his identity and live a normal life, it would have been hard for him to do so.

Joanna and Harold would not give him the chance either.

Even though this record was less than reliable, based on the written words, Harold, who had a fallout with Joanna, would have made every attempt to rope Cohen to his side.

No one knew their strengths more than each other.

“Is this author trying to hide something? Or… did something happen that forced Cohen away from the stage? Maybe Cohen was the fuse to the fallout between Joanna and Harold?”

Kieran recalled the eyes of Cohen when he looked at Joanna. Other than friendship, his eyes had showed admiration.

Kieran lightly tapped his fingers on the table.

It was Kieran’s habit to tap his fingers whenever his thought process was faced with a dead end.

This little habit allowed him to waste less time and save a lot of energy.

Similarly, Kieran knew that without sufficient information, any of his guesses and speculations were all useless. Uneducated guesses might even cause a backlash.

Look at the content of the written record! How many of the incidents were actually real?

Probably not even 30%.

“What in the world happened back then?”

Kieran ended his thoughts with the last lead lingering in his mind.

It wasn’t just because he didn’t want to waste energy on groundless guesses, it was also because there was knocking coming from the door.

Dok Dok Dok!

“Come in.”

After being given permission, Lyn Amie the makeup artist came in with a plastic bag.

Through the translucent plastic bag, Kieran saw eggs, a pack of bacon, bread, lettuce and one litre of a box of milk.

All the ingredients were at Kieran’s request, except for the last box of milk, which was Lyn Amie’s personal thought.

As for what he would be preparing?

Other than a bacon and egg sandwich, Kieran couldn’t think of anything.

“Bacon and egg sandwiches are my best dish! I guarantee that you will not taste something as bad as the beef that night! And I also assure you that it will not taste like some sloppily prepared food from the roadside!” Lyn Amie said with confidence.

“Is that so? I’ll be looking forward to it then,” said Kieran.

He then tidied up the records and walked to the sofa.

His weak body kept urging him to rest, especially after squeezing his brain juice while reading. He felt like he had been working for four or five days non-stop without getting a proper rest.

Torturous and tiring.

If it weren’t for his vigilance, Kieran would have really fallen asleep on the sofa.

Kieran slightly closed his eyes, emptied his mind and went to rest.

Meanwhile, in a certain office somewhere in Rain City, a discussion regarding Kieran had started.

“What? I have to leave the ‘shaman’ show?”

Mei Huasheng looked at her superior in astonishment.

“Yes. We will send another suitable officer to the TV station to fill in your position as a consultant of the show. Meanwhile, you are tasked with the case that happened last night.”

The station director took off his glasses and looked at Mei Huasheng.

“Didn’t you read my report? 2567 is really a dangerous person! If I don’t keep an eye on him, who knows what he will do?” Mei Huasheng emphasized.

“It is because of your report that I decided to send another officer to the show to fill your position. Mei Huasheng, you are capable enough, but you are not suitable being around 2567. You will only alarm him! A person will not make mistakes when he is on guard!” The director stated his reason.

His reason would not have been persuasive enough to others, but for Mei Huasheng, an old-fashioned person who blindly abided by the rules, it was extremely effective.

In fact, the director gave such an excuse because he knew Mei Huasheng’s personality.

Otherwise, he couldn’t even solve the problem at hand.

As for the so-called ‘shaman’ 2567?

The director didn’t even care, despite Mei Huasheng repeatedly reminding him.

An insignificant con-man, what could he possibly do?

After making sure the theft and murder wasn’t related to Kieran, the director had shifted his attention away from the ‘con-man’.

After all, as the theft and murder case appeared, too many other things required the director’s attention.

However, once he thought about his subordinate’s stubborn mind, the director couldn’t help but feel an oncoming headache.

He had to send someone to the ‘shaman’ show to fill the position, despite the station lacking in manpower; otherwise, Mei Huasheng would surely ask questions.

Although he could not deny Mei Huasheng’s capabilities, he also could not look away from how old-fashioned and inflexible she was. If she weren’t that good at following rules, the director would have thrown her back to the soldier rehabilitation center for a therapy session.

While he was thinking about candidates to fill the slot, the phone on the table suddenly rang.

After the director answered the phone and heard the content, his face drastically changed.