The Devil's Cage

Panda Novel

Meanwhile, inside an office, Sphinx was looking at the body at his feet, his face was gloomy and depressed, to the point that he looked scary.

Sphinx didn’t just lose a temporary hideout last night, even Elponder, one of the men who was quite useful was killed after that and now, another core member of the organization had his throat slit in public.

“Damn it!”

Sphinx fiercely threw the cigarette into the ashtray, his face was showing a sense of regret.

He really did regret it now!

He thought this was a hard to come by chance for him and for Bloody Ridges, who knew things would unfold like this…

The grand plan that he had in mind hadn’t even been realized and his left and right-hand men were killed.

Who will be next then?

Such a question popped up in Sphinx’s mind, it caused the boss of Bloody Ridges to be more restless and anxious. He waved his hand and signaled his men to take care of the body.

He then pulled out the drawer at the bottom of his desk, taking out a mobile phone.

The mobile phone was left for him by “that person” and he was also warned not to make the call unless absolutely necessary.

No doubt now was the perfect time. Sphinx dialed the only unknown number in the phone and waited patiently for it to get through.

Then he heard the voice saying the line was currently busy; “that person” had hung up on him.

Sphinx was stunned. He dialed the unknown number again right away but this time what he got was more direct: the number you’ve called is not available.

“F*CK!”

Sphinx threw the phone at the wall in front of him.

Pak!

The phone shattered to pieces.

Sphinx was panting heavily as he glanced over the splattered parts of the phone.

He knew he was abandoned by “that person”, or in other words, “that person” planned to do so from the very beginning: using him then abandoning him to attract the attention of the public.

Sphinx who wasn’t stupid and woke up from his greed and figured out the grand plan behind this but it seemed to be too late.

Sphinx already had a hunch of what he would soon have to face, but he didn’t plan to give up just yet.

Growing up in the streets and now gaining an independent foundation, Sphinx definitely had the persistence that was required to get to where he was today. Although for others, the persistence he had was just some obnoxious act, Sphinx relied on his persistence to get through all the hurdles in his life.

“I won’t fail this time as well! I will…”

“So you are Sphinx?”

Sphinx clenched his fist fiercely, his mind was thinking about how would he conduct his “counterattack” but before he could think of any, a sharp voice entered his ear.

“No!”

Sphinx denied it without a second thought. He then reached towards the handle of his gun in the drawer.

Gak Cha!

However, just as Sphinx’s finger touched the handle of his gun, the bones in his palm burst in succession.

Pak Pak Pak Pak!

It sounded like firecrackers popping continuously.

After a series of popping noises, Sphinx’s right arm was completely torn apart from his palm to his elbow.

“Aaaaaaargh!”

Amidst the excruciating pain, Sphinx fell out of his chair, his blood was splattering all over the place from his elbow and the desk was instantly painted red.

A figure then walked towards the blood tainted desk and sat on it. The figure then looked down on Sphinx from his towering position.

“Are you Sphinx?” The figure asked again.

“Y-Yes! Yes, I am! Save me!” Sphinx didn’t deny it this time.

The pain and great amount of blood loss were sufficient for him to make the right decision and following his answer, the blood gushing out from his elbow were getting smaller, the pain faded away swiftly as well.

After the slight relief, Sphinx only saw the figure before his eyes.

The figure had a black mantle that was tainted with Sphinx’s blood, the white skull mask was reflecting the sunlight, delivering coldness into one’s heart despite the warmth of the sun.

“Slither Bone!”

The utterly familiar outfit made Sphinx cry out in fear and shock.

“I’m flattered that you know me. Believe me, it will help you even more in the conversation that we are going to have.”

“Where is the Hell Breath?” Slither Bone asked with a laugh.

His laugh was sharp and irritating, similar to a claw scratching across the blackboard, causing numbness on Sphinx’s scalp.

“I am just a pitiful bastard who someone used, I don’t know… Aaaaargh!”

Before Sphinx even finished giving his excuses, his left hand burst open like his right hand.

“I don’t want to hear any of that, you know that! Of course, you are just a pawn, I am asking about the person behind you, who is he?” Slither Bone asked in a heavy tone.

“I don’t know! He always covered his face and I sent men to follow him before yet every time they would return without results or didn’t return at all! After that, he gave me a warning and forced me to give up on this thought of trying to figure out his true identity!”

“I am just a common man, he is an extraordinary individual He contacted me each time, not the other way around, other than leaving me with some emergency contacting methods, he gave me nothing!”

“I swear, everything I’ve said is the truth!”

Losing both his hands, Sphinx lied down like a fish out of water, trying to struggle yet helplessly, couldn’t do anything except look pitiful.

Had someone else confronted him, they’d show mercy to Sphinx in his current state but not Slither Bone.

As Alkender City’s notorious supervillain, Slither Bone was infamous for torturing others for pure pleasure. Therefore, as Sphinx’s words ended, the bones on his feet started to burst as well.

Bang!

Bang!

After two more bursting noises, Sphinx’s excruciating cry followed.

His excruciating cry would never sound pleasant, except Slither Bone listened to it as if he was listening to a concert, not only infatuated, he even danced to it.

10 seconds later, when Sphinx’s voice turned hoarse, only then did Slither Bone stop his ridiculous dancing.

“Where is the phone that he left you?” Slither Bone continued his question.

“There!” Sphinx spoke in a faint and lifeless tone.

Slither Bone turned around and saw the mobile phone smashed to pieces and after glancing over the parts, he grunted coldly.

“Useless trash!”

Bang!

Following his vicious comment, another bursting sounded on Sphinx but this time, he had no more limbs to be executed, instead, it was his head that burst open like a flower.

His brains flew in all directions, Slither Bone didn’t even want to avoid the splattering, allowing the brain matter to cover his body.

Slither Bone started to hum his little tune as he felt the little warmth from the blood and brains through his outfit and mask; he walked towards the shattered phone.

Although the phone was smashed to pieces, it wasn’t unrepairable.

However, just as Slither Bone bent down, he abruptly rolled aside.

A bullet grazed Slither Bone’s body and embedded itself onto the wall.

A man with a big hat covering his face, holding a pistol and a double-barreled rifle on his back walked out from the shadow.

“Predator? You want a piece of this as well?”

Slither Bone stared at the new arrival.

As the super villains of the same city, both of them had met before and even confronted each other before, so Slither Bone knew how troublesome it would be to tangle with the Predator.

“Not just me, even that knucklehead Ironjaw Croc is here. I really have no intention to cross that bastard’s path, so can you just give me the phone pieces here?”

Predator was shaking the pistol in his hand, talking in a very playful manner yet Slither Bone’s heart sank.

Predator didn’t want to cross Ironjaw Croc’s path, neither did Slither Bone.

In fact, within Alkender City, those who wished to fight Ironjaw Croc, the ex-wrestler and current supervillain were only a handful, whether it was the superheroes that upheld justice or the supervillains who acted recklessly for their own gains; Ironjaw Croc was too much trouble to deal with.

Aside from being impenetrable, Ironjaw Croc had outrageous strength as well. In his first heist job, in order to stop the pursuers, Ironjaw Croc lifted a 3-ton truck, blocked the pursuers’ path and strode away boldly.

Countless people remembered that scene clearly, common men were overwhelmed when they saw the 3-ton truck being lifted into the air, the extraordinary individuals shared the same feeling as well.

One needed to know, Ironjaw Croc was not the best in lifting trucks but wrestling.

With that outrageous strength combined with his wrestling techniques, after that heist job, Ironjaw Croc was known as the criminal that possessed the most authority to rule over Alkender City after Death Knell, Mr. Ghost, and Grudge Dragon.

“Give it to you? Do you have what it takes?” Slither Bone laughed.

“Of course! It’s a cold hard fact!” Predator took the double-barreled rifle from his back.

Both sides were at the brink of a fierce fight but despite the tension, a series of footsteps could be heard without any effort made to conceal them.

Dak, Dak, Dak, Dak.

The footsteps were heading towards the office and it walked in through the door without pausing.

Slither Bone and Predator placed their attention at the entrance without being too concerned because, in both of their point of view, the man who walked through the door was already a dead man!

As super criminals, both of them didn’t care about harming innocents but when they saw the figure that walked through the entrance with his crow feathered mantle, their breaths were forced to a stop because…

The figure was holding a crocodile head!

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