"Greetings!" the two guards at the gate of the bar greeted as Daniel and some man who was chained up appeared in front of them.
The prisoner wore a torn and ragged shirt and pants. A black cloth was wrapped around his entire face, from the top of his head to the bottom of his neck, blocking his vision.
The guards were ragged-looking men with rough hair and skin, along with the worn and torn outfit of a gangster.
"Is the supervisor in right now?" Daniel inquired.
'No sir! He has gone away to deliver a few goods," one of the guards answered.
"I see. Open the gates; I need to lock up this guy here," Daniel ordered.
Obediently, the guard opened the gates to the bar.
The inside of the bar was messy, with the tables and chairs lying all over the place. A stale smell of rottenness gushed out as soon as the doors opened. The only light sources were a few candles on the candlestand on the walls.
Daniel stepped in, used to the disordered and smelly place. The man behind him, whose hands were tied with a rope, found it a little more challenging to adjust.
"Sir! Where are the rest of your teammates?" the guard asked, looking around.
"They went back home. It's been a rough week for all of us, after all," Daniel replied, not bothering to turn towards the guard.
The guard nodded before closing the door.
Grabbing hold of one end of the rope, Daniel pulled the man with him and headed to the other side of the bar.
Arriving behind the bar counter, he placed his hands on a random tile on the wall.
Soon, a magic circle appeared on the wall, and it slid away to the right, allowing the men to climb down the flight of stairs behind it.
Torches hung up on the wall, with only a few lit, providing a very dim light.
After descending the stairs for almost a minute, they finally arrived at a room.
It was a room of considerable size. More than twenty men and women sat on the tables scattered around, chatting and drinking. A huge chandelier hung from the ceiling at the centre of the room, providing a rich ambience.
Daniel headed to the door at the other end of the room, with his prisoner tailing close behind him.
"Looks like you caught someone interesting this time," commented the woman leaning on the wall beside the door.
She wore a red T-shirt which was too small for her, showcasing her big build and huge muscles. Her long black hair was tied back into a messy bun, and dirt was smothered on her rough peach-ish skin.
"You know how it is, Layla. I was just lucky," Daniel replied in a joking voice.
"Hah! If you keep this up, the supervisor may even promote you to my assistant supervisor post the next time he's around," joked the woman as she walked closer to the chained man.
He took a step back as his hands and feet shivered violently.
"I guess he can't handle being close to someone as powerful as me!" Layla exclaimed, pridefully flexing her huge muscles.
"Yeah. He got beat pretty bad, so he's afraid of anything that comes near him," Daniel replied, tugging on the prisoner's chain.
Happy that the new slave was fearful of her very presence, she happily walked away, sitting down on a table and drinking with a bunch of her comrades.
The chained man spread his arcane around, sensing the people and items in the room.
"Stay weary of that woman; she's the second most powerful here," whispered Daniel, opening the door and walking in with his prisoner.
The room the duo had just entered was utterly dark, with not even a single candle lighting the place.
The prisoner effortlessly broke the rope binding his hands before taking out a wooden torch from his inventory and lighting it. He took off the cloth on his face, revealing the white mask he wore underneath.
"What is this," the prisoner mumbled, as he got a clearer view of his surroundings compared to using his night vision to look around.
"The cage," Daniel replied, looking in front of him.
It was a vast space, almost a hundred metres in both width and length. The ceiling was nearly eight metres above the ground.
Because it being underground, the air had gone incredibly still, causing the piss and shit to stagnate where it was instead of being ventilated out.
More than a hundred small cages were kept, one on top of the other across the centre of the room, with a person in almost all of them.
The walls were carved to make rooms, with steel bars at their openings. More than five such cells like this were on either side of the room, with more than twenty people in each one of them.
"Why are all of them unconscious?" Nox inquired as he neared the piles of cages and examined their prisoners.
"Because of that," Daniel replied, pointing at the orbs floating around the room, "They release a non-lethal poison at fixed intervals, causing each one here to remain subconscious."
The room wasn't too deep underground. If each one of the slaves started shouting, then it won't be long before the people on the surface noticed it. That's why the slaves were not always allowed to stay conscious.
Nox looked around, surveying the cage. The brick walls were dry and brittle and probably were the only supports holding up the ceiling.
"Where do they lead?" he asked, pointing towards the vents, not larger than the size of two watermelons put together, equidistant from each other, which ran along the top of the wall.
"They're used to vent the poison gas when it's released. All of them are connected with space magic and lead to the main waste management plant on the zeroth floor," Daniel replied, "If you're thinking about using them to escape, it'll be better to give up. Firstly they are too small for anyone to fit in. Secondly, it's not possible for humans to survive in the waste management plant."
After a few more moments of staring at the ventilation system, Nox turned away, scanning the room.
The same thought always crossed Daniel's mind whenever he saw the slaves locked up in cages, 'I don't know any of these people. The only one I know and love is my brother, my blood. I will find a cure for him! I'm doing all this just for that. I don't need to get sad thinking about the path I've already begun walking on.'
"Your operation is bigger than I thought," whispered Nox, observing the half-dead state of the slaves.
"I brought you here because you told me to. But what are you even going to do? The people standing guard outside this room are strong," said Daniel, looking at the room's one and only door.
'I already know that. All of them are above level thirty. Five of them were around level forty, and that woman was around level sixty-five,' thought Nox, 'Even with the help of all my shadow soldiers, it'll be difficult to take out all of them at once.'
But he hadn't let his fate rest on luck alone. He had somewhat of a plan. It's just that the plan would require an extreme amount of luck.
"Where are they?" he asked, turning towards Daniel.
Daniel nodded, beckoning Nox to follow as he walked towards one of the cells in the walls.
"Luckily, they weren't sold yet," Daniel whispered, staring at two people who lay unconscious on the ground in one of the cells, along with a dozen other people.
'Elizabeth. Liam.'
Nox fixated his eyes on his former teammates.
Elizabeth's smooth skin and hair had been riddled with dirt and mud, while Liam looked like he had lost some weight due to malnutrition. Both of them were in a bad state.
"The weak players are locked in the cages in the wall, while the ones who're a little strong are locked in individual cages, which are much more sturdy," informed Daniel, "As such, the wall cages are much easier to break. The problem is, if they are bent even a little, an alarm will ring, alerting everyone in the room outside."
The masked man didn't withdraw his eyes from his former teammates as he said, "Go and join the people outside. I'll take care of the rest myself."
Without asking any questions, Daniel left Nox alone in the room.
If he was caught helping Nox, then there would no longer be a use for him as an underworld informer.
"Wait a bit longer. I just need to make some preparations first," Nox mumbled, facing away from the cell.
.
.
.
"So, who's the one you brought in this time?" the black-haired woman inquired as she downed an entire beer mug.
"Who knows... Found his roaming the streets alone late at night," replied Daniel, sitting across her and sippings on his beer.
'He's always like that. Why can't he enjoy the beer by drinking it in one go? It's like there's always something on his mind," Layla thought, staring at Daniel.
She refilled her beer mug before downing the entire thing again.
"By the way. Did you hear about Nickel and his team?" Layla asked.
Daniel nodded, "They were found dead in a dark alley, weren't they?"
"Yep. All their necks had been severed by the same weapon. The experts say it was a dagger," she replied, "Flint has been going crazy over the death of his brother. He always patrols where his brother died and kills anyone who passes there late at night."
"The supervisor wouldn't let it slide if he continues it any longer. His rash actions may lead to us being discovered."
"True."
A brief silence followed their conversation. Daniel kept sipping on his beer while Layla downed one beer mug after the other.
"Where did the supervisor go, though? He's usually not gone this long," Daniel inquired.
"Someone made a big purchase tonight. He went to escort the goods and the buyer back home. I don't think he'll return tonight," Layla replied, sinking back into her chair.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
The alarm echoed across the silent and still room, jolting everyone awake.
"An intruder!"