The Devil's Cage

What is equivalence?

It’s hard to define the word.

The most obvious example, for a person like Lawless, was that friends and family were priceless. He would never exchange his friends and family for anything else. Instead, one would have to worry whether or not Lawless would beat the hell out of their brains after asking him to exchange his friends and family.

However, Broker was different.

As long as he could get benefits from it, he would exchange anything.

As for feelings?

What a joke, that cunning bastard must have traded his feelings for other things of the same value.

Kieran would also be glad to exchange, but unlike Broker, he knew what he could exchange and what he couldn’t, similar to how he could never hurt Starbeck and Lawless because both of them treated him with the utmost sincerity.

If people treated him sincerely, he ought to return the favour. It was what he learned from the principal back in the orphanage.

He etched the words in his heart, because even though he was troubled by poverty, it didn’t change his mind.

Perhaps people would laugh at his naive, childish thoughts, but Kieran didn’t care once.

After all, if he lost his bottomline, would he still be himself?

Maybe, but he would not want to meet his ‘other self’, he didn’t even want to try.

From a certain aspect, his thoughts were also considered a kind of equivalent exchange. It was just that most people didn’t recognize his methods.

Bang Bang!

The tapping stopped, something coming into Kieran’s mind, causing him to look up.

“Yes boss?” Bloody Mary bowed.

“Go search everything in a 10 kilometer radius starting from the location of the [Philosopher’s Stone] core, leave no stones unturned,” Kieran said.

“Understand,” Bloody Mary replied quickly and vanished.

Kieran smiled.

“Let’s hope for surprises,” he said.

After all that, if Victor wanted to retrieve the core of the [Philosopher’s Stone], it was reasonable for him, but if he wanted to rely on the stone’s core to regain everything that he lost, he must fulfill one condition: provide things of equal value.

According to what Bloody Mary said, Victor wasn’t looking too good after he set up everything.

Should he take out the stone’s core, he would use the Equivalent Exchange as fast as possible, so branching out from there, it was natural that the offerings were placed not far from the location.

A 10 km radius was an appropriate distance.

Kieran leaned back on his chair, thanking Victor from the bottom of his heart again, a heartfelt gratitude.

Victor had helped Kieran a lot of times, back in Ring City and again now. He didn’t just prepare the items for the Equivalent Exchange, he also provided Kieran with some important references.

Especially the latter. If it was plausible, Kieran could achieve some of his goals earlier.

Kieran didn’t go out from the underground storeroom, waiting patiently inside and Bloody Mary did not let him down.

Half an hour later, the Superior Demon returned with a box.

“Boss.”

Bloody Mary opened it and passed it to Kieran.

Inside the box was a short knife, the blade narrow and long and the handle arched a little bit. It glimmered red and green under the light.

[Name: Gothe Blade]

[Type: Weapon]

[Rarity: II]

[Attack: II]

[Attribute: 1. Slither; 2. Silent Scorch]

[Effect: None]

[Prerequisite: None]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: No]

[Remark: Gothe Blade came from the legendary Demon Hunter Gothe from a hundred years ago. This blade and the Demon Hunter enjoyed the highest level of honor and glory.]

...

[Slither: Any living being (including souls and spiritual beings) damaged by Gothe Blade will undergo a Constitution authentication no lesser than rank II. When passed, inflict Strong rank damage for 2 times; when failed, inflict Bleeding status to the target, target will be unable to self-heal or recover.]

[Silent Scorch: When Bleeding status is inflicted more than 12 hours, inflict another rank II fire damage. Fire will burn from the wounds and engulf the whole unit target (a unit is equivalent to a human figure). When Silent Scorch is triggered, it will overwrite Slither’s effect.]

...

Kieran’s eyes shone when he saw the short knife in his hand.

[Gothe Blade] was a very good short knife, its attributes complementing each other, but what concerned Kieran was the value of the short knife.

“Using items and equipment as the cost for the Equivalent Exchange?”

Kieran muttered to himself, his lips slowly curling up into a smile.

What he had was an abundance of items and equipment!

“Stay here.”

Kieran ordered Bloody Mary and then walked down.

Bloody Mary bowed and sent Kieran off before it sat on that broken old chair. Although it was curious about what happened in the farm at the outskirts, it would not disobey Kieran.

However, Bloody Mary still had ways to know what was going on outside, it had a lot of subordinates after all.

Pak!

Bloody Mary snapped its finger like how Kieran always did to summon itself.

Several souls hidden around Roze Farm instantly shared their vision with Bloody Mary.

Kieran was on the way down, but he knew what Bloody Mary was doing and he didn’t mind. He was happy that Bloody Mary did it because he knew how rewarding it would be.

As time went by in this dungeon world, what Kieran lacked wasn’t his sealed powers anymore, it was manpower!

Kieran never thought himself as almighty, he had his own forte and had things that he couldn’t do well.

Like learning the Mystical Knowledge of the Witchcraft practitioners. Kieran would have had to spend a great amount of concentration and time before he could even reach Entry level but Bloody Mary learned it by simply taking a glance.

This involved the difference of natural talents.

If the Old Book Canberlanor was around, Kieran believed the Old Book would learn faster than him and could help him deduce a more suitable way for him to learn, thus making everything easier.

Quantity incites quality changes!

The rule never changed!

Therefore, Kieran never minded adding more manpower to his arsenals, but of course, it had to be within the limit and control.

“My lord.”

Du and the white monster, who had returned silently, bowed to Kieran.

These two monsters were very trusable and they were a help that Kieran was happy to have.

“O, I need you to do something for me,” Kieran looked at the white monster, who was once the gatekeeper. Its real name was revealed to be O, and not White or Black.

“My lord, please do tell. As long as it’s not gatekeeping, I am willing to do anything,” O said honestly.

O had been a gatekeeper for over a hundred years and it hated its job, requiring it to stand there all the time without moving. The scenes before its eyes had always been the same, it wanted to move around and see the world.

“I need you to move around the world as quickly as possible. First, collect information. Second, collect manpower,” Kieran ordered.

He had some understanding of this dungeon world but it was not deep enough, he needed a helper to discover more secrets hidden in the depths of the world and if he could gain more helpers along the way, it would be even better.

Who else was more suitable than O?

It possessed decent strength and had a restless heart.

“My utmost pleasure!”

O bowed respectfully, it couldn’t hold back its excitement on its face.

“Du will tell you about the rules of this world. After that, you can go get your travel fees from the restaurant and tell Li Jiajia that I am training down here. Tell her to deliver the message to anyone who asks about me. And... All the best, O,” Kieran said.

“I will carry out the task with perfection, my lord!” O said seriously.

Kieran smiled and nodded, pushing the door open and walking into the treasure room Du made for him.

The door behind him slowly closed and Kieran could hear all kinds of honest reminders from Du to O, every piece of advice very useful.

Kieran worried nothing with [Seodi Stone] around.

He then looked at his spoils, it wasn’t the first time he checked them but he felt happy every time he laid eyes on them.

Similar to the food Starbeck cooked, it was all great!

As if he was the king of his kingdom, Kieran walked around the treasure room, glancing over every single item and piece of equipment.

A total of 273 pieces!

He branded the looks of the items and equipment into his mind, remembering the weight in his heart and the feeling of holding them in his hands, even the smell of each item.

Kieran didn’t want to be overly obsessive but he couldn’t control himself.

What should he do?

He was helpless against it, he couldn’t suppress his bodily reflexes, so rather than holding it back, he might as well let it out.

He cleaned every single one of them, carefully and meticulously.

After all that, he went deeper underground.

Du had opened up a bigger secret room beneath the treasure room, just like how he had ordered, and it looked exactly like the space with the chains in his mind.

He already had the core of the [Philosopher’s Stone] in his hand. It allowed him to solve things in a better way but his attitude had determined that he would always go with the safest and most secure way.

He looked at the chains and the door hanging up in the air, taking a deep breath before starting the very first round of practise: he was practising how to avoid the invisible attacks while he broke every single chain!

...

“Where’s Royan?”

Song Shi sized up the empty floor after she came in the restaurant and didn’t see Kieran.

“The owner is training in the basement,” Li Jiajia delivered per request.

She didn’t spill Kieran’s location on her own, O told her what Kieran wanted her to do earlier, so she delivered the message to whoever asked about his whereabouts.

Li Jiajia had no idea why Kieran requested that of her, it didn’t match the personality of the Kieran that she knew but she didn’t overthink it, all she needed to do was follow orders.

As for the rest, she believed her boss would handle it all.

If it wasn’t enough, she still had her teacher.

To Li Jiajia, her teacher was always the strongest.

Standing on the peak of culinary equaled to almighty and invincible?

Invincible! She believed no one in the world could resist her teacher’s cooking, just look at Song Shi!

She asked about Kieran but her eyes were looking into the kitchen.

“Why doesn’t Roye want to come out?” Song Shi asked the obvious.

“What do you think he is doing?” Li Jiajia replied in an upset tone.

If it wasn’t for Song Shi, she would have continued to earn from her teacher, not sit outside serving the young lady.

“I bet he is cooking. I want 10!”

Song Shi smiled, wiping her drool as she widened her mouth.

The way Song Shi smiled put more admiration into Li Jiajia’s gaze, not towards Song Shi obviously, but towards her teacher!

Song Shi was a slave under her teacher’s cooking!

Li Jiajia commented on the silly smile on Song Shi’s face.

After that, she cleaned the bar counter, which her teacher told her to do. Even though the counter was clean enough, she didn’t mind making it squeaky clean.

Ding Dong.

The restaurant door was opened.

Amy, with the latest bag of the season, walked in.

“Is my partner back?” Amy asked.

“He is in the basement training,” Li Jiajia repeated the same thing to Amy.

“What a boring fella, so what is Roya cooking?” Amy grumbled before she switched the topic.

“Mutton soup and stuffed biscuits,” Li Jiajia answered.

“I want a set.”

Amy then looked at Song Shi and furrowed her brows.

‘A foxy look, decent attire...Huh? Isn’t that the new design that came out... like yesterday?

Even her shoes! That lipstick, is that Amida 999?

Damn it!

Who is she, how can she get her hands on the newest things so fast?’

Amy criticized Song Shi in her heart.

An unknown jealousy rose, further brewing into hostility.

Song Shi unconsciously straightened her back when she sensed Amy’s gaze.

She too examined Amy with the corner of her eyes.

‘Decent makeup, normal looks, normal clothes, last season’s stuff.

Even her shoes... Huh?! That bag, isn’t that the one that came out yesterday?

How could I forget to bring it out today! Too careless!’

Song Shi too spoke to herself in her mind.

Sparks were ignited between the two ladies.

Li Jiajia looked at the two ladies, who gazed at each other with hostility for god-knows-what reason, in confusion.

‘What’s wrong with them? Are they sick?’

Also a woman, Li Jiajia had no idea what caused the jealousy and hostility. To her, if she had the free time to size up other women, she might as well use the time to improve her cooking skills.

Ding Dong.

The doorbell rang again.

The short and slim Chief Teddy walked in with his curly hair.

“Where’s Royan?” Teddy asked, his eyes subtly sizing up Song Shi..

‘The grudge between them...no, not exactly a grudge, it’s rather complicated...Whatever...’

Teddy decided to put his opinion aside for now.

“The boss is training in the basement, you want to go see him?” Li Jiajia asked.

“Nope, no thank you. What’s on the menu?”

Teddy waved in denial and sat in the corner after an awkward laugh.

He came here to eat, not to see Kieran, what he said were just courteous words.

Li Jiajia flipped a white eye at Teddy’s action.

He was here because he was attracted by her teacher’s cooking, yet he had to ask about the owner’s whereabouts.

Hypocrite!

After another comment on Teddy, Li Jiajia went back to grind her cooking skills, but before she entered her trance, the doorbell rang again.

Ding Dong!

‘Run!

Run!

Something scary is here!’

The voice in her head spoke again, which made Li Jiajia furrow her brows.

Before she could even scold the voice away, she realized Song Shi and Teddy looked at the entrance with a strict look.

Could it be?

Li Jiajia went blank for a moment.

She wasn’t an idiot, she knew something was going south and before she could react properly, a new customer walked in.

The customer wasn’t old at all, around early 30s, his handsomeness out of this world, and it somehow confused his gender for being too pretty.

However, the customer was wearing a rather old and broken windcoat and pants, even his shoes were dirty.

His face looked a little rushed and his nose was sniffing non-stop.

The customer bowed awkwardly and asked Li Jiajia, “Sorry to interrupt, can I have something to eat? I will pay.”

The worry in Li Jiajia’s heart instantly flew away.

There was nothing to be feared as long as the enemy ate her teacher’s food.