Chapter 880: Messy
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Massacre!
A massacre between players was happening in front of Kieran.
Swords and knives clashed, guns and cannons were fired.
Screams of agony flooded everywhere as white light flashed.
Within a mere minutes, over 20 players died.
The trigger that incited the massacre was a garden. A garden filled with many kinds of herbs and it was keeping a lot of half-completed potions.
The herb garden originally belonged to Broker but as he went into hiding in his own room, the garden lost its owner. Even more so, when Lawless brought his group to approach the garden carefully, only then did he realize that the heavy guards that were usually around the garden were all gone, all related personnel were gone.
What they left behind was a messy herb garden and many half-completed potions and it was those things that triggered the massacre.
When one of the players bagged the herbs and potion, the fight broke out.
The battle started off on a small scale between a few players and in less than 2 minutes, the battle escalated to guild battle.
"Damn it! I have a feeling that all of these unnecessary battles were all set up by that bastard Broker! Not only these two guilds, but there are also many other fights that broke out on his other properties!"
Lawless cursed Broker when he received the newest update on the situation. He took a puff on his cigar and asked, "What now?"
"That bastard is much more ruthless than I thought. Believe me, Broker isn't a guy that is willing to give up his benefits out without a fight. Soon, he will retrieve everything he's lost, plus interest!" Kieran said in a heavy tone as he watched the fight further away.
He knew after this kind of massacre, the guilds formed by the players would have suffered huge losses and when Broker decided to counterattack, they would only be able to do so much then.
If the guilds didn't fall with a single blow from Broker by then, they really had some strong support behind them.
Obviously, Lawless knew about this.
"I'll transmit the situation here to those guys, hoping that it will calm them down a bit."
Lawless then started to contact those guildmaster that he was familiar with.
Looking at his friend, Kieran secretly shook his head.
The situation at hand wasn't something that could stop with some persuasive words anymore.
Stopping these bloodthirsty players from killing each other?
Unless Kieran were to intervene with his own hands, it wasn't possible.
However, Kieran believed even if he intervened, the situation would not turn for the better but will instead go downhill faster.
Besides, judging from Broker's character, he'd really hope Kieran and Lawless along with the others were involved.
People die for wealth; birds die for food.
Kieran could already picture what kind of rumors would be waiting for him if he went and stopped the players from killing each other and claimed the place for himself.
'2567 found Legendary weapons in Broker's secret base!'
'2567 found Legendary skill books in Broker's secret base!'
Such rumours would definitely spread like wildfire among players and Kieran believed if Broker could give up all these existing properties just like that, then he must have prepared for everything.
He might really place one or two Legendary items in some of the places.
However, it didn't mean Kieran would stay away and do nothing either.
"Tell those guildmasters to be wary of those players or factions who looting the things in the locations or inciting further conflict. They might be the spies Broker left behind," Kieran said.
Lawless was stunned for a fraction of a second before reacting to the situation.
He quickly turned Kieran's advise into written message and sent them off to the guildmasters but the few replies he got in return were enough to explain the situation.
"These good-for-nothing bastards!"
Lawless was so upset by the replies he punched the wall beside him.
Huuha, huuha!
His heavy breaths made him look like a raging ox; it went on for almost 20 seconds before he calmed down.
"What is Broker going after?" Lawless thought about the question the moment he returned to his usual self.
"I don't know. Do you know any of those players who worked together with Broker in the bazaar?" Kieran asked.
Kieran really had no idea what Broker was trying to do right now, despite him having guesses but that was it.
Compared to wild guesses, he was more willing to take things upon himself in order to gather more information about the situation.
"I don't know but I know someone who does!" Lawless replied.
"Starbeck?" Kieran reacted immediately.
"Yup! Follow me, we shall have a chat with him." Lawless then turned around to the train station.
Kieran followed.
…
The meeting with Starbeck went smoothly.
Kieran and Lawless saw Starbeck in an extremely common villa equipped with a garden.
Though the term "common" was only valid when it was used with Starbeck's identity.
Kieran originally thought Starbeck would be inside a palace, living like a prince, not wearing casual clothings with an apron, tending to his small garden.
Looking at Starbeck with his scissors and sprinkling can, meticulously taking care of his bonsai plants, Kieran was slightly stunned. The mimosa under the back light had an extremely tranquil presence, just like a small white flower under the first light.
Kieran raised a brow and turned to his friend beside him.
Lawless however pretended like nothing happened and went straight in.
"Sup, Starbeck. Can you introduce us to those wealthy players that worked with Broker in his little bazaar?"
Lawless cut straight to the point after greeting Starbeck.
"What happened?" Starbeck lowered his gardening tools and looked at Lawless in a confused look.
Lawless then turned to Kieran and after Kieran nodded, he immediately explained what happened.
"I see." Starbeck gave a long sigh.
"You know any of them? Faster, tell me what happend!"
Lawless was stunned by the long sigh before being overwhelmed with joy.
"I'm sorry. I have a contract with Broker. I can't reveal the details to a third person. Who would've known Broker would have scruples against you, 2567. There's a high chance that you might be the few of them," Starbeck said in an apologetic tone before sizing up Kieran with an unusual gaze.
The unusual gaze reminded Kieran of the gaze from someone who had discovered some precious treasure.
Uncontrollably, Kieran frowned but he didn't pressure Starbeck anymore.
As a player, he knew the power of the contract.
"That piece of no good sh*t! Cunning bastard merchant!" Lawless said with gnashing teeth before throwing his fist in the air.
Even though Lawless didn't mean anything by it, Starbeck's character was still frightened by the sudden fist throw, he almost fell to the ground.
Fortunately, Kieran was there to prevent that from happening.
"Thanks. My character always gets me in trouble…"
Before he could finish, Starbeck's body was trembling hard all of a sudden as though he saw something terrifying.
At the same time, Kieran that felt his chest was getting hot.
The [Blade of the Daybreaker (Sub Scroll)] flew out on its own.
Chapter 881: Missed Something
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The scroll flew out and placed itself before Kieran.
Then, on the cooldown column, [5/10] quickly blurred out and it increased to [6/10]!
That was still not the end though, looking at the quickly changing cooldown counter, Kieran squinted his eyes and turned to Starbeck.
The mimosa at that moment was more terrified than ever, his body was shivering non-stop.
In front of Starbeck, there was also another scroll that flew out, it was laid open and the cooldown counter also changed as well.
Huuu!
Kieran took in a deep breath saying, "If you don't want to die, bring every piece of equipment and item that can save your life, we will start the dungeon right now!"
"B-But…But…"
"T-This…is…"
Starbeck who was in a state of stupefaction stuttered intensely.
"Now!" Kieran said in a heavy tone.
A sudden terrifying aura erupted from Kieran, the pungent sulfuric smell even filled noses.
Starbeck dared not object at all and quickly moved as he was ordered.
"What is going on?"
The astonishment in Lawless's eyes was hard to conceal. He knew Kieran had the [Blade of the Daybreaker (Sub Scroll)] and Starbeck had the [Blade of the Daybreaker (Main Scroll)] but he never thought it would change this way: the unique title mission main scroll didn't even require its owner to experience a dungeon run yet the cooldown number changed.
"Must be Broker's nasty work! Is Starbeck's sixth dungeon limit almost up?"
Kieran didn't answer Lawless, he asked himself instead.
"Yes, a few more days, we are already preparing for it… YOU'E SAYING?!"
Lawless answered out of habit but the moment the words escaped his mouth, he suddenly realized something. He couldn't help but widen his eyes in Kieran's direction.
"Yes, that's what that bastard is planning to do."
"Starbeck's dungeon limit is almost up after a few days and I don't think that bastard picked this time out of coincidence. He was not satisfied with the title Broker, he wanted another, Blade of the Daybreaker! More so, he can kill two birds with one stone by removing me, the thorn in his side! That is why he and his men disappeared without a trace recently because they are using some special method to hasten the opening of Blade of the Daybreaker and maybe even… change the dungeon itself!"
Kieran took a deep breath and replied to his good friend's confused gaze.
"But, how?" Lawless was still unwilling to believe.
"What how? The underground game has items that we can't even imagine that allow you to enter a dungeon via special means, even though the dungeon is a Unique Title dungeon, it's not impossible."
Kieran was quite confident in his understanding ofwhat was going on since he used [Emerder's Deal] before.
Based on [Emerder's Deal], as long as one paid the appropriate cost, it wasn't that hard to enter any dungeon they desired.
What were the things that Broker had an abundance of?
Points! Skill Points! Equipment, items!
These were the things that common players sought after like a flock of ducks; although Broker couldn't get as much as he wanted, it would still be enough for him to do something, more so…
Kieran suddenly realized something and he looked at his friend again.
"Have you ever thought of the effect of a Unique Title?"
"The common titles that we have would give us some benefits, but what about the Unique Title?"
"The title of Witch made people tremble with fear because she represented absolute power and slaughter that people dreaded."
"The title Broker, on the other hand, was always neglected by people because he hid himself very well, or was it his title effect that made others instinctively neglect him. What he had built was all business connected, most of the time players dealt with him in trades of items but other than that, what do people think of him?" Kieran asked.
"Cunning but always has the good stuff?" Lawless answered in an uncertain tone.
That's right! Cunning, but always has the good stuff! This is the first impression from most people. Even though it was expensive, he does have all the good stuff. But does anyone think about where he got all the good stuff? Or did anyone reach out to the players that sold him the good stuff?" Kieran continued.
Having one or two good equipment and selling them to Broker wasn't anything weird. If Kieran didn't have Lawless's help, he would do so as well but were there players that sold their top tier items to Broker every time they acquired them? It wasn't realistic.
As players' dungeon entry numbers increased, so would their knowledge and experience. Especially during the auction in the secret bazaar, it was all public to the veterans and all of them would get their items appraised for their value, so there would be no cheap selling anymore.
So, if Broker wanted to buy things at a cheaper price than the market, it was quite impossible.
Still, under these circumstances, why did Broker look like he was earning an astronomical amount of Points and Skill Points?
Other than a heavy disguise, there was only one route left for him: Broker had a channel that allowed him to acquire a large amount of equipment and items in a fairer price.
Where did this "channel" come from then?
The meaning of the title "Broker" itself was self-explanatory enough.
"You are saying?" Lawless looked at Kieran with a look full of disbelief.
"It should be what you are thinking right now. "Broker", a Unique Title related to reselling to earn profit but everyone was paying attention to his reselling but neglected his source of getting all those items. In addition tothat cunning bastard's arrangements, even if someone did a background check on him, they would be mislead to believe he had a steady flow of "players' channel" and naturally forgot about the most impossible answer: buying all his items from the system's Shop!"
"As the holder of a Unique Title, it's reasonable for him to buy something from the Shop that common players can't see and can't buy since it is a one-of-a-kind existence!"
Kieran smiled coldly when he saw the cooldown number on his sub scroll increased from [6/10] to [7/10].
"That is why he wanted to get another Unique Title! An ancillary type title "Broker" has benefited him in every way possible and if he has another, obviously an offensive type title, Blade of the Daybreaker, it's like adding wings to a tiger! Then, it will be easy for him to become the next Witch!"
"This Goddamn bastard, having such a big ambition!" Lawless cursed.
"I'll gather the manpower and go in the dungeon with you guys!"
Lawless said right after he finished cursing but at the next moment, Lawless cursed in a more furious manner, "Why can't we party up?"
"It must be that bastard's nasty work again! They must have foreseen the changes at hand, so he knew how we would react to this: using our own average dungeon entry number to prevent his alteration. But he will not allow us to easily change that, a bunch of people carrying the coward Starbeck through the dungeon, despite how hard it will be, it wasn't dangerous. What if I alone had to carry Starbeck?"
"Truth be told, if it wasn't impossible, I believe he might have isolated Starbeck completely but he missed one thing," Kieran said calmly.
"What thing?" Lawless was stunned.
Kieran pointed at Starbeck who came back.
TL Note:
The dungeon limit mentioned for Starbeck is the one "player needs to enter a dungeon at least once in 3 months. Now Kieran wanted to help Starbeck to clear the dungeon because of the previous agreement and also the pressing matter of the title dungeon.
Chapter 882: Seize Every Moment
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Starbeck who was pointed at by Kieran stood there blankly, he was completely lost.
Lawless, on the other hand, opened his mouth.
"Are you sure, 2567? Starbeck's balls are…"
Before Lawless even finished, the meaning was made clear and as one of the veterans, Lawless knew how troublesome would it be to carry a coward through a dungeon run; any slight misstep and they would end up in a million pieces.
Starbeck's gaze was dimmed but he couldn't refute the comment about him because it was the truth, there was no space for him to refute at all.
"He is a coward alright but it didn't mean he has no strength at all. Just like how we are all attracted by Broker's business capabilities but neglected his true nature. The Starbeck we see now is indeed a coward but we haven't seen any of the resources he controlled!"
Kieran pointed at Starbeck again.
"If I place you and Starbeck in a deathmatch coliseum, I would bet for Starbeck's victory… because when you really damage him it will be your end!"
"Just look at Starbeck's equipment! Six rings engraved with defensive and healing runes. A necklace that seems to be covered up by a common outer coat yet it gives out extreme negative energy. The belt has similar to Agile and Nimble rune engraving as well and his pants should be made out of some kind of beast hide because it gives me the chills, plus these boots… If I am not wrong, it should have some teleportation runes engraved on it right?"
"Most importantly, this isn't his whole arsenal. You want to know what he keeps in his potion satchel at his waist?"
Kieran looked at his friend that was dumbstruck by his words, he added a sense of teasing in his words.
Then, Kieran looked at Starbeck with unconcealable surprise.
Kieran had a hunch that with Starbeck's wealth, he would surely fully equip himself and yet the equipment on him was too shocking.
Every equipment and item were at least Rare rank and above; most of his arsenal was at Legendary rank and he also had two Advanced Rank equipment, which was I rank and above.
With extraordinary Intuition and Pro level [Mystical Knowledge], plus a whole lot of similar ranked items and equipment as a reference, Kieran would not be wrong about this.
The seemingly normal outer coat on Starbeck was actually a piece of Advanced Rank equipment. Likewise, the other equipment that could emanate its own aura under the presence of Advanced Rank equipment would not be any lower either, let alone the things inside the waist satchel.
Even with Kieran's current Intuition and Pro [Mystical Knowledge] he couldn't seem to grasp a clue about the contents of the satchel.
So, there was only two explanation for this: One, the contents in the satchel were too common; Two, the contents were far from what he could imagine.
With a whole bunch of Rare, Legendary, and Advanced Rank items and equipment as an example, Kieran leaned towards the latter.
What rank were the items inside Starbeck's satchel? Or rather, what kind of items could the Advanced Rank satchel hold?
Kieran was wondering in his heart while his eyes were glued to Starbeck.
Starbeck panicked when he was being sized up by Kieran and almost out of instinct, he moved his steps slightly towards Lawless, trying to hide behind his big body to block Kieran's gaze.
However, when Starbeck saw Lawless's even more ferocious eyes, he immediately changed his mind and moved behind Kieran quickly. He stuck his head out and stared at Lawless with caution.
Starbeck would hide behind Kieran whenever Lawless acted against him, but now?
It seemed like because of Kieran's words, Starbeck had gotten some courage to stick his head out.
"I-I'll try my best to support 2567," Starbeck said.
"Wipe your tears and snot and you might be a little more convincing," Lawless grunted coldly.
Starbeck shrunk behind Kieran like a quail bird right away; Lawless didn't bother with him anymore.
Lawless then turned to Kieran, "Feel any confidence?"
"Yup, at least my next dungeon is a special one, not an entirely new world," Kieran answered.
"Hmmm." Lawless nodded before he headed outside.
When Lawless opened the door and Starbeck saw the situation outside, he shrunk back behind Kieran as he trembled.
Robots! Hundreds of robots were emanating a cold luster under the bright sunlight!
"So it's that bastard's nasty work!"
Looking at all the robots in their sight, Kieran and Lawless exchanged a glance.
Lawless then smirked, the scene was within his expectations.
Since Broker decided to go after his biggest employer after their relationship went south, it would be natural that Broker showed no mercy and trying to prevent Kieran from bringing Starbeck back to his room was also a must for him.
"2567, I'll give you a boost."
"Let's hope Lady Luck is on my side today!"
Then, Lawless took out a die that had all sorts of weapon icons printed on each side.
He hurled it up to the sky and when it fell back down on the ground, it landed on the side of a Gatling gun icon.
"Lucky!"
As the die vanished, Lawless took out another cigar from his pocket.
"Can you spare a light mate?"
"Sure."
Kieran lifted his left hand and started a small flame in front of the cigar.
Lawless took a deep breath, igniting the cigar and the smoke swirled around his face right away.
As Lawless was bathing himself in the aromatic scent of the seemingly alcoholic cigar, he took two Gatling guns out of his backpack. He lifted the Gatling guns up and aimed straight at the robot crowd.
A faint brilliance flowed out of Lawless's hands and was infused into his Gatling guns and bullets through a ribbon that he placed around his finger near the trigger.
The brilliance slightly changed the gun body and the bullets as if it was infused and when Lawless pulled the trigger…
Dak Dak Dak Dak Dak Dak Dak!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The shooting and explosions sounded off together. The mighty stream of bullets instantly tore apart the defense line of the robots.
Kieran grabbed Starbeck and disappeared in a flash.
The robots were not a problem for Kieran but he didn't have time to tangle with them right now.
The cooldown counter on [Blade of the Daybreaker (Sub Scroll)] was increasing gradually, it was slower than previously when it turned from [6/10] to [7/10] but it didn't exactly stop.
Kieran needed to seize every moment he had and fortunately, he had Lawless moving with him.
Lawless turned around at looked at the direction where Kieran disappeared, he took a deep puff from his cigar once more before turning back to the robots that were swarming at him.
He laughed viciously, "Hey you punk ass metal heads, come to daddy! Daddy will serve you boiling hot soup with bullets!"
Triggers were squeezed, muzzle flashes were flickering.
Bullets were dancing and shells were splashing everywhere.
No one noticed tht the bullet shells splashed on the ground were rolling backward, silently forming the face of an elder.
Lawless who was holding the robots back didn't notice it; the robots who were executing their orders didn't notice it.
The elderly face that was formed by the bullet shells just quietly looked at Lawless.
A second later, the elderly face revealed a satisfied smile.
Somehow after that smile, the firepower from the Gatling guns had gotten stronger suddenly and the brilliance on Lawless' hand started to spread out to his arms.
Chapter 883: The Distant Naveya City.
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Words started to pile up before Kieran's eyes as he traveled through the blinding light and gravity was lost.
[Entering Party Dungeon!]
[Special Dungeon: Party]
[Party Members: 2]
[Party leader 2567 that initiated the special dungeon has 5 dungeon entry count; Party member Starbeck has 6 dungeon entry count]
[Calculating Special Dungeon difficulty…]
[Party member has dungeon entry count that surpass the Special Dungeon…]
[Difficulty confirmed: 5th dungeon]
[Background: You have entered Naveya City and are involved in huge unexpected trouble but this is just the start…]
[Main Mission: You need to be in Naveya City for 4 weeks and make sure you and your party member's identities aren't exposed; remaining time: 0/28]
[Acquired temporary language pack, Disappears upon exiting the dungeon.]
[Clothing, backpack, weapons, and other items remain unchanged, Temporarily altered appearance, Returns to normal upon exiting the dungeon]
[Detected firearms and grenade do not match the dungeon period, power decrease 90%. When you entered the dungeon, you will be compensated with corresponding skills. (Compensated skills can't be leveled up and will disappear upon exit of the dungeon]
[Note 1: This is a special dungeon and because you have reach I rank, you can not fail the main mission. Once you fail, it's game over!]
[Note 2: Party member's main mission and punishment (if fail) will be determined by their own dungeon entry count.]
…
As the blinding light faded, Kieran appeared in a broken small house.
There was a big hole on top of the roof, allowing a direct view of the two full moons hanging in the sky.
One was greenish white and the other was eerily purple.
The drastically contrasting moonlight shined through the hole into the house. Starbeck who Kieran advised to use some items to suppress his presence quickly did so while Kieran himself stepped into the shadows like water returning to the sea.
Transcendence and above [Undercover] with the addition of [Dark Movement Technique] allowed Kieran's hiding techniques to go through drastic changes despite the latter only being at the Basic level.
Kieran was sensing his surroundings.
When he noticed that the dangerous presence that pressured him last time wasn't here, he was relieved from the bottom of his heart; he then waved at Starbeck.
Kieran did carefully read through "Introduction to Naveya City", "Analytics of the temples developments in Naveya City", and "Distributions of underground factions of Naveya City", so he was very clear on where the dangerous presence originated from.
The temples!
One of the 25 temples of various sizes that was scattered throughout Naveya City.
But of course, for Kieran at his current power level, that dangerous presence back then was really nothing, still, Kieran had to be careful because the Gods that were worshiped in the temples did not go into slumber nor go away but…
They really existed!
Divine miracles would come from the Gods occasionally as well.
Kieran knew what it mean: real Gods!
After the battle with Ancilanco, Kieran had a deeper understanding of the so-called "Gods", the divine beings.
A God without its divine position, a broken divinity and a flickering divine flame in addition to suffering consecutively from repulsion still possessed powers similar to a high-ranker.
So what would a God with its divine position, complete divinity, and a blazing divine flame be like?
The simple of thought of it caused Kieran to frown. That was why Kieran brought Starbeck together into this dungeon and not the Fire Raven, despite the Fire Raven having quite the supportive abilities.
The reason was the Fire Raven's outlook and its praiseworthy abilities were all too eye-catching.
Kieran knew what was the biggest disadvantage he has in the current dungeon world: identity!
His identity could not afford being searched or investigated, any simple investigation would expose him as an outsider.
Kieran had no need to doubt the priest in the temples and their means; anyone related to Gods could no longer be explained by common sense.
Look at the main mission: [You need to be in Naveya City for 4 weeks and make sure you and your party member's identities are not exposed].
It might seem extremely easy but the fact that it was a 5th dungeon difficulty, it was enough for Kieran to be more careful than ever.
"Follow me!"
Kieran then carefully pushed open the broken house's door.
There was nothing noteworthy inside the broken house though; no furniture, no decorations, and not only was the roof broken, the floor was as well.
The humid and tough ground beneath the wooden flooring notified Kieran that there was no underground basement in there.
Starbeck carefully followed behind Kieran, keeping as quiet as possible.
Truth be told, after Starbeck learned from Kieran that there were Gods in this dungeon world, the mimosa was frightened to his core. He even tried to suggest finding other ways to prevent his upcoming death because of the limit but when he realized Kieran's aura had changed and he picked up the sulfuric stench, he was smart enough to obey.
He didn't know Kieran's plan, not even what he wanted to do next. All he could do was shiver and follow behind Kieran.
Fortunately, although they ran into two groups of fully armed patrolling soldiers, such common patrolling soldiers even with their torch raised couldn't see through the hiding effect from Starbeck's item.
After moving forward for another ten plus minutes, Starbeck realized the terrain had switched from dirt to pebbles. The surface of the pebbled ground even became clean, not filled with mud, puddles, or garbage anymore.
When a small house made entirely out of stone appeared, Kieran finally halted.
"This is where we are heading?" 2567, you seem to be very familiar with this place."
Starbeck thought in his mind while he kept Kieran's back within his sight.
As for asking him directly, the mimosa didn't have the guts to do so.
Just like that, when Kieran signaled him to walk over, despite Starbeck's heart being scared, he still followed his orders and went over as his body shivered.
Kieran took a glance at him; his heart was at a complete loss for commenting on Starbeck.
Kieran even noticed when his gaze landed directly at Starbeck, Starbeck trembled even harder.
"If I say he is as cowardly as a mouse, I might be insulting the mouse instead…" Kieran couldn't help but shake his head.
If there was any other possible option, he definitely wouldn't party up with this coward but reality would not bend based on a single person's will.
Others couldn't alter the eventsthat had already happened, neither could Kieran.
All he did was take a deep breath to regulate his own emotions.
Then, Kieran knocked on the stone door.
Dok Dok, Dok.
It wasn't a casual knock but a rhythmic one.
The stone-made door produced heavy thuds following the knocks, even though it was a quiet night, the sound couldn't reach far.
It seemed like the stone door was specially treated. Even though the look of the door has no difference from any other, its specialized material allowed it to absorb sound. Unless one were to be very close when the knocking happened, it was as good as silent.
After knocking, Kieran stood before the stone door, waiting patiently and after a while, a door was opened up.
It wasn't the stone door before him though but the door from the other two-storey civilian house behind him.
A hunchback, one-eyed old man with a hood over his head that covered most of his face appeared behind the door and waved at Kieran and Starbeck.
"Come in! You know the rules, don't cause any trouble! Otherwise, you will regret that you came into this world!"
After the seemingly violent threat, the old man moved aside and revealed the path inside his house.
Kieran dragged Starbeck who was frozen by the threat along and went inside.
When the door closed, the passage to the underground was opened up right after; clamors came from below.
0Chapter 884: Oak Hand
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After the secret passage was opened up and the torch shined light into it, a flight of stairs was revealed.
The hunchback, one-eyed old man stepped aside and didn't even bat an eye at Kieran and Starbeck anymore, as if he fell asleep.
However, in Kieran's eyes, the old man had tightened his muscles, ready to strike.
Kieran was clear if they really stepped into the passage down the stairs, they would be welcomed by furious attacks from the old man and the vicious traps underneath the passageway.
Inside "Distributions of underground factions of Naveya City", Kieran had precisely read lots about the organization before his eyes now: Oak Hand.
Perhaps they might not be the strongest among the gangs in Naveya City but they were definitely one of the most, if not the most, cautious.
That was why they were able to develop over the past 20 years quietly under the deeply rooted temple factions.
Compared to a real faction of traditional roots, the years that Oak Hand had been around would only allow them to be considered as a young bud, but that was extremely difficult in Naveya City.
One needed to know the biggest gang faction inside Naveya City, the Emerald Rock, had only been established for less than 5 years.
In fact, the book mentioned that most of the people thought that if Oak Hand had no intentions of becoming the biggest faction in Naveya, the so-called Emerald Rock will not be around.
As though Kieran was insulted, he stepped up to the old man, looked down at his hunchback, one-eyed figure and asked with a cold tone, "Since when did Oak Hand become so impolite?"
Kieran slightly showed off his killing intent as he spoke; no devil, no cardinal sins, only the one originating from himself.
Still, it made the old man stagger backwards. In the old man's eyes, Kieran's figure was long gone and what he saw was the charging of a myriad of soldiers and horses.
Iron flowed like the rapid current; blood stained the battlefield like the setting sun.
The aura of a true warrior that had fought in the battlefield caused the old man's only eye to widen.
He managed to get a hold of the wooden wall beside him, thus saving himself from an ugly fall but he was still rendered speechless under Kieran's pressuring aura.
Until Kieran put away his killing intent, the old man panted heavily as though he was a drowning victim being rescued.
"P-Please forgive me dear sir! We don't mean any disrespect! But that thing happened recently forced us to take extra precautions! As you may have know, the reason why Oak Hand has always been around is because of our vigilance."
The hunchback, one-eyed old man panted hard before standing properly in front of Kieran in a respectful manner.
A gatekeeper like the old man might only possess common battle capabilities but had sharp eyesight that surpassed others. Surely he knew what kind of people he could afford to provoke and what kind he couldn't. Kieran, the warrior that came from the battlefield was definitely one of the people the old man couldn't handle.
"That thing? What thing?"
Starbeck who was silent for a quite a while suddenly opened his mouth.
The mimosa tried to maintain a steady tone, suppressing his trembling voice and purposely spoke slowly; he sounded like someone that was trying to fake some kind of accent.
However when Kieran took a step back and whispered to the mimosa's ear, his fake accent became thought-provoking. At least the Oak Hand gatekeeper saw the scene and his remaining eyes was glimmering.
"My dear lord, are you curious about it? I guess you must have stayed in your family's manor for quite a while, otherwise, you must have heard about some reckless fools that stole the Holy Thorn Grail two weeks ago. Because of this incident, we have to be more careful than ever. After all, the folks at Thorn Temple have been crazy about finding the ones who stole it and the likes of us are the ones they showed "extra" care." The Oak Hand gatekeeper said with half flattery, half explaning but his words didn't sound like he was trying to probe for information.
Although the gatekeeper was curious about where Kieran and Starbeck came from, he knew how to guarantee his own safety.
As for the news of the stolen Holy Thorn Grail?
It was the news that was two weeks old, it didn't hold much value anymore. Most of the slightly capable people would know what happened.
"Dear sir, dear lord, please, follow me!"
The gatekeeper then stepped into the passage.
"The Holy Thorn Grail was stolen two weeks ago? Is it the time where I disappeared? Or earlier than that?"
Kieran was pondering upon the matter as he looked at the hunchbacked figure.
Although because of the dungeon clear special rewards, Kieran wasn't completely in the dark about Naveya City, yet he still couldn't be certain of the timing.
Last time with Tiki's "help", he entered this place in a hurry and didn't get to know more. This was also the reason why Kieran chose Oak Hand as the target to approach; he wanted to know more.
Kieran went down along the stairs and arrived at one end of a corridor that was almost10 meters long.
Despite the poor lighting, the whole corridor seemed very dark but Kieran still clearly spotted holes hidden in the wall seams; sharp presences were coming from behind the holes.
What were the empty holes for?
The answer was self-explanatory. The arrows that were hidden inside could turn anyone who crossed the corridor into a hedgehog.
Starbeck too spotted the holes; his body shivered.
Out of instinct, Starbeck turned to Kieran and what he got in reply was a cold gaze that intensified his pressure.
Starbeck always felt like he was looking at a lifeless body or a pebble beside the road when he caught Kieran's cold gaze. Whichever it was, it frightened him.
"I can't make 2567 angry! I need him to overcome the obstacle! If I leave him, I will be dead!"
The sane part of his mind mustered up enough effort to suppress the panic from the scares.
"We are disguising as a young master and attendant from a big family in this trip. The attendant has to fulfill the young master's curiosity and with the young master's begging, the attendant brought the young master on a road trip to Naveya City, allowing him to have some experience. While I as the young master has to act stupid, trying to get as much information as possible…"
Starbeck slightly breathed and repeated the plan that Kieran told him before in his mind.
When the mimosa lifted his head up, the group had arrived at the other end of the corridor.
The hunchbacked gatekeeper knocked on the door a few times in a way that only his comrade would know.
Tssk Ga!
One of the two tightly shut wooden doors was opened up from the inside.
Instantly the clamoring noises multiplied, the hall inside was well-lit.
A small hall crowded with people appeared before Starbeck's sight. He would have thought he arrived at a morning market if it wasn't for the vicious looking people with swords and knives around them.
The scene before him and how he pictured a gang's base was completely different.
The mimosa looked left and right, up and down out of curiosity.
Compared to the curious mimosa, Kieran stood beside him calmly and explained softly to his "young master".
From "Distributions of underground factions of Naveya City", Kieran knew that Oak Hand as the longest running gang in Naveya City didn't just go around collecting protection fee that simple; its main source of operation was running the black market.
No doubt the scene before him was a black market gathering.
"So this is the black market! So will that stolen Holy Thorn Grail be here somehow?"
The mimosa went along with the plan, asking naively.