The Devil's Cage

The seemingly sharp knife grazed Kieran"s ear and stabbed into his pillow.

Emma Eddie, who completed the action, looked at Kieran carefully, and when she realized he didn"t even blink, she frowned.

She pulled the knife out.

Cotton and feathers flew out of the pillow and got stuck in Kieran"s head and on his face. He looked unusually messy, but his eyes were as calm as still water.

Emma Eddie frowned harder under the calm gaze.

"You didn"t show fear or rage. Is it because you can tell that I won"t actually harm you?"

Obviously, after changing into a new ident.i.ty, Emma Eddie gained knowledge and sharp observation befitting her new self.

Kieran did not answer and instead looked at the surroundings quietly. 

He had been observing his surroundings from the start, hoping to find something different, something that did not fit the picture, because the entire time, he felt that something was very wrong.

"Is it because of the mask that you don"t want to talk? I can take it down for you."

Emma Eddie queried to break the silence, and this time, she chose another way, not forgetting to add a warning.

"But you have to promise me that you won"t do anything reckless. All I have to do is scream or make any noise, and Chief Pudder and Odork will come in. The chief"s strength is admirable, and he"s even armed while Odork is reliable and has a body that can subdue anyone."

Kieran didn"t mind getting the mask off his face, so he nodded after Emma Eddie"s warning.

Emma Eddie smiled as Kieran cooperated for the first time, thinking she had succeeded in the first step. She walked over to the other side of the bed and removed the mask from Kieran"s face at a safe distance. The moment the mask was removed, she quickly took a step back as if she was afraid that Kieran will bite her, but it seemed like she was overthinking.

After the hateful mask was taken away, Kieran licked his lips and moistened his mouth before he went quiet again.

Looking at a certain bulging spot on Kieran"s face, Emma Eddie unconsciously thought of the scrolls that she read before, and disgust quickly flashed over her eyes. 

Soon enough, Emma Eddie returned to her calm self.

She was here to prove Kieran guilty, not get frightened by him.

A maneater was scary, but he would not scare her!

"What do you want to say about your parents? If one of them required your blood or bone marrow to survive, would you save them?" Emma Eddie asked.

Kieran did not answer, his eyes didn"t even move. He had nothing to say, for he had never met his parents before.

Should he describe them, they would be no different than a pair of strangers to him.

From a certain perspective, he held a certain hatred towards them, but that was his own problem and unrelated to the current situation.

"Do you like cats? Or dogs? Or any other kind of pets?" Emma Eddie asked again, but all she got was silence.

"If you had a chance to go out, what would you do?"

The same process repeated itself for the next half an hour. Emma Eddie asked Kieran dozens of questions, but none was answered.

"Mr. 2567, you are not being very cooperative. We all know what caused this, but we also know your stubborn att.i.tude will not change things for the better—I will see you tomorrow!" 

That was the last words Emma Eddie said before Odork came in and pushed Kieran back to his ward. 

Throughout the one day period, Kieran was fed on a sticky, peflavoured liquid diet.

The next day, he was once again brought to the director"s office.

Ferris was still not around. Instead, Emma Eddie and Chief Pudder were inside waiting for him.

Kieran kept quiet again, and Emma Eddie couldn"t get anything out of him.

The next meal was also the same peflavoured liquid diet.

Around the second day, Kieran was sure that he would only be fed once a day, or at least that was what he got—he had no idea about the other patients.

He saw a lot of adults everyday, but every one of them was cold.

The mask on his face was only removed at the director"s office, hence he had almost zero chance to ask anything.

Throughout the two days spent there, the one he got familiar with was not Emma Eddie, but Odork, who played the role of caretaker and guardian.

After realizing Kieran wasn"t as brutal as rumoured, Odork would occasionally chat with him, but it sounded more like some self muttering than conversation. The things that he chatted about were the weather, his pay, and his wife and son, all unrelated things.

Through Odork, Kieran slowly understood the world that he was in.

On the third day, after Kieran finished his liquid diet, he was once again brought into the director"s office.

Emma Eddie, having spoken with Kieran in the past two days, became skilled in this. After Chief Pudder and Odork left, she removed the mask on Kieran"s mouth.

"How is your day?" Emma Eddie asked procedurally. 

She opened the conversation with the same phrase as yesterday, never once thinking Kieran would answer. This time, she was surprised.

"So-so, I guess," said Kieran.

When she heard Kieran"s voice, Emma Eddie was stunned before she looked at Kieran with slight joy.

"It"s good to hear your voice for the first time." Emma Eddie tried to present herself as a friendly person.

"It"s really become so-so after seeing you a few times now. You are more fitting in leather jacket, t-s.h.i.+rt, jeans and a buzz cut. It will be perfect if you put the nose stud back on," Kieran said calmly.

"Did you mistake me for someone else?" Emma Eddie frowned.

"Of course not. What I said is just the facts. Until now, I still can"t find out how you… you people appeared. You people are trying your best to make me believe that I am a psychopathic murderer—the straps on my body and the people"s gazes are all pointing at the same thing. And what Odork told me everyday informs me of the completeness of this "world."

"Maybe he overdid it, or your people are eager to make me believe this is a perfect world. You people used him and the fabricated family to deceive me, but you neglected one detail: if he was really a meticulous caretaker with a wife and child, he would not have carried the thick smokey smell on him when he went to and fro work. Especially when he has to take the train back and forth everyday in a rush. As he barely has any free time, he has to smoke one or two before the elevator arrives.

"Of course, that"s not just it. He said his pay is low and that he loves his wife and child, so he should have smoked a little less for the sake of his family, not two to three packets on a normal day. On top of that, he said it rained yesterday and he fell down on the slippery floor, yet his shoes were clean, last I saw. You can say that he cleaned it, but what about his pants? I saw him wearing those pants from the very beginning; he"d even purposely shown me the sewn work of his wife—an additional belt strap to allow him to better put on his belt.

"If you say everything is just my delusional thinking, then… I want to see Ferris! I don"t want to hear his voice or see his pictures. I want him in front of me in person! Can you people do that?" said Kieran.

Emma Eddie was stunned, and she looked blank.

"Of course, you can"t do it. Maybe you have a perfect memory about yourself in your mind, and you might even know where Ferris has gone, but you can"t locate him based on your memories. It is because… creating you, Chief Pudder, and Odork was already the limit. None of you can create an extraordinary existence like Ferris, who has awoken his bloodline"s powers to a certain powerful level, let alone the mighty Drexton. You might not even be able to replicate Drexton"s voice. Otherwise, he would be more convincing as the director of this hospital, not Ferris."

As Kieran stopped, the stunned Emma Eddie moved in a weird way. Stiff like a wooden puppet, her head turned around and looked at Kieran.

"You win this time! But this is just the start! You will ultimately drown in the illusions!"

A cold, mechanical voice came out of her mouth and everything before Kieran"s eyes shattered.

Darkness descended before it was swiftly replaced by light.

When Kieran regained his sight, he was sitting on a sofa, and his backpack and stuff were beside his feet.

His surroundings were also familiar: the study room of Randletine Street 17th.

Kieran had spent quite the time in this place in his previous visit, so he was exceptionally familiar with it, far surpa.s.sing his familiarity with anywhere else.

From how the book racks were arranged and the books" locations on the racks to the density of the lamps, Kieran knew it all by heart.

After a quick check, everything was just like how he remembered it.

When Kieran walked out the study room, he saw Ferris and Odork busy with ch.o.r.es.

"My lord, lunch is almost ready. Please wait for a little more. But if you have any requests, please let me know right away."

Ferris bowed elegantly and greeted him politely as if he was a real butler.

"Nope, just continue what you are doing." Kieran then sat on the chair as he spoke.

"Yes, my lord."

A quick answer later, Ferris brought Odork to work, and just like what Ferris said, lunch was soon ready.

Since Kieran refused alcoholic drinks, the appetiser wine was changed to lemon honey water. Nevertheless, Ferris practised his manners and took out a cold gla.s.s from the refrigerator.

The cold drink was refres.h.i.+ng, and a little sourness and sweetness circulated on his tongue before going down into his stomach. Kieran straightened his body because of the refres.h.i.+ng gulp, and he became eager for lunch.

The appetiser was Honey Chicken Wings, which were deboned and trimmed to bite-sizes. The whole plate of chicken wings was quickly gobbled down shortly after it was served.

When the bread and b.u.t.ter plus Swiss cheese was served, the Cream Oyster Soup was down to half a bowl, and the salad was almost finished.

Kieran tore the bread in half, soaked it in the creamy soup, and shoved it in his mouth. As he savoured the explosion of taste and texture from the soup-soaked bread in his mouth, he lightly grunted in satisfaction.

The Steamed Lobster and Beef Sirloin were served together.

Ferris also placed a cup of sky juice beside the plates.

A mouthful of water later, Kieran grabbed the thickest and juiciest part of the lobster and stuffed his mouth full. It was fresh and chewy, and there was no need for further garnish or side dishes because the fresh lobster was best in itself.

The Beef Sirloin was also the same, but the sauce was the star of the show. The sauce wasn"t cooked with red wine; instead, it was a mixture of white pepper and cabbage mustard. However, it better locked the meat juices in the bite, especially with the perfectly roasted meat, allowing the sirloin to have a perfect, flavourful bite—not too chewy, not too soft.

Ferris prepared Lemon Mousse as dessert to get rid of the heaviness of the main course.

A quick gulp later, Kieran took the second gla.s.s of drink served. It wasn"t lemon honey water anymore but apple juice.

It was tasty with the right amount of sourness, but it was richer than the previous.

Kieran slowly stood up with his gla.s.s, drained the last drop of apple juice, and said, "This is quite nice! Except for… that "place" that serves similar quality food, I have never encountered such decent food before. Did I miss out on something when I was searching in Alkender before? Or did Ferris improve his cooking to an inconceivably good level within such a short time?"

Kieran placed his gla.s.s down and walked towards Ferris, but before he could truly get close, Ferris vanished.

The scene Kieran was in was undoubtedly an illusory realm.

When everything finally faded away, Kieran stood in Smorewill Street.

Around him were battle traces left from the fight between him and Grudge Dragon and Death Knell.

Drexton currently ran towards him with the other superheroes of Alkender.

Each of them had joy from the bottom of their hearts on their faces. Of course, they had reason to be happy!

Not only did they clean up the tumours of Smorewill Street, but the Glutton Emperor also wiped out Grudge Dragon and Death Knell, the two most notorious supervillains that struck anxiety in people"s hearts with their names alone.

Perhaps as time went by, new supervillains would rise in Alkender, but it would be some time from now. 

An overdue time of peace would finally arrive in Alkender and its people.

Those evildoers who looked up to Grudge Dragon and Death Knell as their role models would surely learn a lesson from this incident.

Everything was made possible by the man in front of their eyes. 

Moreover, after what Willis, The Eye, told them, the extraordinary superheroes were grateful and proud to call Kieran a comrade-in-arms.

Drexton, the Fist of Justice, was the most excited among them all. He strode up to Kieran and hugged him tightly.

"Well done, 2567! Do you know? I…"

"Who are you?" Kieran"s cold voice interrupted Drexton"s excited words.

"Drexton" instinctively wanted to move back, but Kieran instead grabbed him and locked him in place tightly with his arms, the force around his waist forcing his upper body backwards.

"Drexton", shocked, looked to be in disbelief. He had no idea how Kieran found out.

He had discarded every scruple and used all his reserved powers to achieve the best, yet he was still exposed?

"Oh, so you are a fake," Kieran said calmly.

"Drexton" was stunned before his face flushed.

"YOU TRICKED ME?!" he shouted, but it was too late. 

Kieran squeezed his arms tight.

Kakca!