The Devil’s Cage

Steam Pot Street of E Block.

Kieran was striding quickly along the street and with Bloody Mary’s intel, he easily located Lude’s secret warehouse.

The warehouse was locked with a heavy mechanical lock but for Kieran, whose Lockpicking was at Grandmaster level, it wasn’t that hard for him to break through. The following digital lock was also easily broken through because of Bloody Mary.

When Bloody Mary leveled up from High Demon to Superior Demon, its strength had underwent a significant change. It was easy for Bloody Mary to deal with Lude, who thought so highly of himself.

Through the realistic illusory realm, Bloody Mary had acquired information that Kieran sought and more, like this secret warehouse, which housed Lude’s personal stash.

Di Di.

After a few digital beeps, the warehouse door opened up.

Compared to a real warehouse door, it was much smaller and shorter than average, but extremely heavy. When it opened up, Kieran could hear screeching from inside the wall, produced by the pulley.

The warehouse was smaller than expected, only around 10 square feet but it was fully stashed with a dozen boxes.

Most of the boxes held paper currency, but some of it had gold and jewellery. Kieran carefully checked the gemstones, which were mostly just common shiny stones without any attributes.

The outcome was no doubt disappointing for Kieran but no matter how disappointed he was, he’d always meticulously check his gains.

Then, he found a box hidden underneath another.

He opened the box and a pair of black chopsticks with a dragon etched into the handle entered his sight.

Kieran squinted his eyes.

[Name: Seven-inch Seeking Dragon (Replica)]

[Type: Wonder Item]

[Rarity: Legendary]

[Attack: Powerful]

[Attribute: 1. Increase Freshness; 2. Grip]

[Effect: None]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: Yes]

[Remark: This is a replica of the Seven-inch Seeking Dragon, although unable to compete with the authentic one, it is still very much sought after.]

…

[Increase Freshness: Any kind of food that Seven-inch Seeking Dragon touches, its freshness will be increased a certain level.]

[Grip: Any kind of food that Seven-inch Seeking Dragon touches, it will be easier to separate (including but not limited to ribs)]

…

“Legendary rank… chopsticks?!”

Kieran’s eyes showed shock.

He wasn’t just surprised by the existence of such tableware, he was also surprised that Lude was abe to get his hands on such an item.

No doubt Lude must have gotten this pair of chopsticks through snatching or plundering from others.

As for why he kept it in his warehouse and not with him at all times?

It was too obvious!

[Seven-inch Seeking Dragon] was very eye-catching. Once it appeared in the public eye, it would attract trouble, hence why it was kept under a box.

Without further thought, Kieran put the chopsticks into his bag and sent a message to Bloody Mary.

He wanted to know the original owner of this pair of chopsticks, only that could he decide whether or not he could use this pair of replica chopsticks.

Kieran wasn’t afraid of trouble, he was afraid of unnecessary trouble.

He also related into more things after he got his hands on the chopsticks.

‘Chefs with all kinds of weird weapons appeared on battlefields in the west!’

Kieran suddenly thought about the sentence that he had read from the book.

“Weapons? Tableware? Interesting,” Kieran mumbled to himself.

He then took some cash and left the warehouse.

Kieran knew he had to read more to understand the current dungeon world and its unique history but before that, he had to go to the last place on his itinerary for the day: the cafeteria.

E Block cafeteria was located beside E1 floor.

Unlike a traditional cafeteria, E Block cafeteria had its own independent field and a seven-story building.

All seven floors of the building were wide and spacious, with tables and benches lined up neatly on each floor. Students only needed to key in what they wanted to eat at the window in the respective floor and the food would be delivered to them, via the window.

Where did the food come from?

Underground.

Every student knew about that but only a few knew what the ‘underground kitchen’ was like.

Kieran was able to enter the kitchen with his special school badge, sizing up the scene that normal students couldn’t see.

Bright!

That was Kieran’s first impression of the kitchen.

Many fluorescent tubes were installed in the ceiling to shed light over the floor and the working students. The students, busy cutting and washing the cooking ingredients, had nowhere to hide.

Other than the brightness, there was the heat!

Kieran didn’t feel the heat though, [Secondary Elemental Damage Resistance] and Overlord level Devil Bloodline providing him with the Constitution to not feel hot, even if he was standing beside a volcano. However, the students who guided him down here and the others who were preparing the ingredients were drenched in sweat.

“Branch Leader sir, this is as far as I can bring you. You have to venture forth yourself from here. Sir Eiderburgh is in the room at the end. You can only enter the ‘cafeteria’ with his permission.”

The student said while sweat dripped off of his face.

“Mm. Thank you,” Kieran nodded and replied politely.

He then walked forward and pushed open the door.

Huuu.

A scorching air stream blasted Kieran’s face.

Blazing red fires were rumbling ceaselessly. Kieran felt like he saw a world in flames and in this fiery world, woks were being tossed up and down, hot steam coming from stew pots and the students standing amidst the heat looking like flaming warriors. They did not just handle the wok in their hands steadily, their stance was firm as a monolith.

Compared to the students inside the blazing heat, the students who guided Kieran down here faltered backwards before he even got close, having a hard time breathing.

Even the students washing and cutting the cooking ingredients were affected.

Kieran hastened his steps inside and closed the door behind him.

Ka!

The clear clunk did not affect the students who were cooking with the fiery wok, seemingly inside their own worlds.

Kieran was attracted to this fiery world because the aroma of food entered his nose.

He couldn’t help but breathe deeply and had to swallow his saliva relentlessly.

Kieran clearly felt the drums of hunger from his stomach, as if Gluttony was screaming hungry in his heart.

‘Heaven! This is heaven!’

Kieran had no idea what heaven looked like but this should be very close.

Kieran strode forward with that thought lingering in his head.

He had decided to stay and no one could stop him.

Amid the loud frying noises from the woks and stew pots whistling in the steam, Kieran’s firm footsteps brought him closer to the office at the end of the kitchen.

Meanwhile, the person in the office saw Kieran through the monitor, pressing the button beside his desk.

“You want o enter the cafeteria? Even if you are the Branch Leader of Student Council, you must follow the rules! Feel the fiery passion…. WHAT?!”

The person’s words stopped abruptly, jumping up from his chair as he widened his eyes inconceivably at his monitor.