Cherreads

Chapter 3 - A Dark Truth I

A security guard pops up. 

Gaurd: "What's your level?" 

Devlin: "We are here for a mission.". 

The guard asks for the message, Zen shows it. 

Guard, thinking: "They are given a mission by God. They must be a saint! And that guy is ranked 1! He is the strongest of the land! Must I get an autograph?" 

The guard takes out his register 

Gaurd: "Will you mind giving an autograph?"

Zen is confused but gives the autograph and goes. 

Devlin: "Man, you are famous all of a sudden. Is it because of neutrality?" 

Zen: "Well, I really don't know!" Anyways, we should go!" 

Zen: "Hey, Devlin! For Level 1, do all of them last from midnight to 6 in the morning?". 

Devlin: "Well, they have 4 batches: midnight to 6 in the morning, 6 to noon, noon to 6 in the evening, and from 6 to midnight, and it goes on!" 

Zen: "Oh, that's why they have so much rush hour every 5 and 11 for no reason!". 

Devlin nods his head: "Anyways, what even happened to that guy, huh?". 

Zen: "Yeah, his face was like" Zen makes a shocked face. 

Devlin: "Do that again! Do that again!" 

Zen does that face again, more exaggerated. Devlin laughs even harder and can't stop. 

Zen: "Then that guy was like, Oh my god! Rank 1????? Like, bro, it's only going to be 14 of them, not 15! They are celebrities". 

Devlin, while laughing: "I know, right! Like, bro, seriously, do your research!". 

Zen: "Yeah, man!". 

They go silent. Zen: "Man, I feel bad for that guy. Like, imagine rank 1 talking about it!".

Devlin replies, "Yeah, I guess..." 

They reach floor 1. 

Devlin: "Get your camera ready!".

Zen says, "And you get your list ready!" 

Devlin: "Okay, we have 300 cages to check on this floor!" 

They check the first cage.

It was filled; they checked the second was too, and so was the 3 to 10, but at the eleventh. 

Devlin: "It's empty! Zen!".

Zen clicks a picture and continues. 

Zen: "Man, that many on the first floor! 10 out of 3 thousand!" 

Devlin: "I know, right! When I go, there are barely 30 to skip as a whole in all the levels in the entire city! I doubt if a cage has been empty." 

They continued, The 12th was filled, but the 13th had one missing.

Zen clicked a picture and then went onward. 

From 14 all the way through 76, everyone was there. Devlin: "I hope not everyone else has skipped!". 

Zen: "Yeah, it would take forever to reach the second level for that to be the case!". 

Devlin: "I know, right!". 

Zen: "All you say is, I know, right? Don't you have anything else to say?". 

Devlin: "No". 

Zen: "Oh my god...". 

Devlin: "I know, right!". 

Zen: "Drop it. Let's check 77!". 

They went towards the cage, but at 77, two were missing. 

Zen: "Talk about being promoted to the next level!". 

Devlin: "I know ri-.". 

Zen: "No, you don't know right!". 

Devlin: "Fine..." 

They march onwards. 

At 97, I was missing. 

At 159, 7 were missing. 

160-279 was clear, then at 280, 1 was missing. 

Devlin: "Bruh, the day we get a job, and everyone is skipping!". 

Zen: "The world has to hate us!". 

Devlin: "The world?! Is that a JoJo's reference"? 

Zens: "Hell yeah!" 

They complete through the first floor 

Devlin: "Well I hope-",

Devlin is interrupted by Zen 

Zen: "I don't hope it's gonna go any better!". 

Devlin: "Sure...". 

They see the first cage. 

Zen: "Well it's, filled" 

Devlin: "Don't keep your hopes high" 

Zen: "Yeah..." 

They saw the second cage, It was filled and so was till the 17th. But for the 18th. 

Zen: "Well here comes another" 

Zen clicks the image 

Devlin: "What's even the matter eh?" 

Zen: "Let's check on Google..." 

Zen opens his phone and types

"What will happen today".

Google shows many results but most of them were astronomical or simply not happening in Gluttony. 

Devlin: "Huh...That's weird, Nothing today." 

Zen: "Anyways, Thank God there are how many people who are getting punished are there on the top, we don't have to check!"

Devlin: "Yeah, What might be happening?"

Zen: "They must be scared!" 

Devlin: "Well... It doesn't harm you, nor does it give you trauma!" 

Zen: " Wells truly weird, it has to be rare!" 

Devlin: "Well... It's not about being scared, This facility might not be treating others right!" 

Zen and Devlin move on.

They are shocked at 200-202 

Zen: "Huh? 200 is empty!" 

Devlin: "What is happening?" 

Zen: "What goes on in this place?" 

Devlin: "I'd switch to this place and try to figure out what happens!" 

Zen: "What?? Cage 201 is empty as well!" 

Zen clicks the picture. 

Devlin: "I must check..." 

Zen: "What if they do physical torture..." 

Devlin: "The punishment of Wrath is physical..." 

Zen: "So they are doing the Wrath's punishment?" 

Devlin: "Maybe something even worse..." 

Zen: "How? Why?" 

Devlin: "They might be getting tortured..." 

Zen: "We need to find them!" 

Devlin: "We must..." 

Zen: "Save them, But How?" 

Devlin: "First, We interrogate the escapee if we find them!" 

Zen: "Then?" 

Devlin: "Then we tell Mr. Beelzebub" 

Zen: "So he sends us to investigate?" 

Devlin: "Yes..." 

Zen: "Hmm...We must save them!" 

They go to Level 3 

Zen: "Huh? No Gaurds at Level 3!" 

Devlin: "Huh?" 

Zen: "Let's try to see what's happening inside!" 

They try to see what is happening, To their surprise, 10 people were hanged in a cross upside down and were force fed. 

Zen clicks the picture. 

Devlin and Zen look at each other, Their eyes showed dread, They were traumatized by what they saw. 

Devlin: "We are going to Level 2!" 

Zen: "We have to check..." 

They go back. 

They go far away from Guards. 

Zen and Devlin peek in, The People were having the same fate.

Zen clicks a picture 

Devlin: "Yup that proves it...They have no mercy." 

Zen: "I need to puke..." 

Zen rushes to the restroom and pukes. 

Zen: "How the hell are they going through it!?" 

Devlin: " Fuck... I also have to puke... " 

Zen goes besides, Devlin pukes as well. 

Devlin: "We have to investigate more..." 

Zen: "Let's get this over with..." 

They go to Level 3. 

Zen: "Still Empty?" 

Devlin: "Why would the guards not be in cases like that?" 

Zen: "Maybe they're planning something?" 

Devlin: "What could they be planning?" 

Zen: "Remember that security guard?" 

Devlin: "Which one?" 

Zen: "The one who took that autograph?" 

Devlin: "What about it?" 

Zen: "We will need that guy" 

Devlin agrees and they reach the first level. 

Guard: "You guys done?" 

Zen: "We have a question" 

Guard: "What question" 

Zen: "Have you noticed any weird things around here?" 

Guard: "No, Why?" 

Zen: "Look at this" 

Zen shows the guard the images. 

Guard: "Wha-" 

Zen: "We need you, We are gonna investigate other levels, Make our conclusion, You must have the list of everyone right?" 

Guard: "Yes" Zen: "We need that after concluding, this will have the locations and faces" 

Guard: "Yes" Zen: "We will take a dozen to Beelzebub, They tell everything, I show them the pictures and then see what happens" 

Guard: "Well if you say so..." 

The guard goes with them. 

Guard: "So, What do you want me to do?" 

Zen opens his messages and shows it to the guard. 

Zen: "I asked good to send you a message saying to check inside the cages, I believe you must have gotten the message" 

Gaurd: "Let me check..." 

The guard checks, Zen was right, God had sent him a message. 

Zen: "Well, you make them see the message, tell them that you won't snitch and lie to god" 

Devlin: "Man you are a genius!" 

Zen: "Thank you, Anyways, you are gonna hide your phone's camera, It will be recording, You are gonna record them" 

Guard: "Then do it to other levels, Have the evidence" 

Zen: "Yes, You will work inside out" 

The Guard enters. 

Punisher: Huh? What are you doing here? John." 

The guard shows him the message. 

Punisher: "Oh-" 

Guard: "Hey, Look I'm at your side, I won't snitch anything, Trust me!" 

Guard: "Anyways, What is this?" 

Punisher: "Well, You see, We are torturing them, you can see the camera" 

The guard shows the camera

Guard: "Why record?" 

Punisher: "So our boss can see and pay us" 

Guard: "So this has been an operation?" 

Punisher: "Boss bought the facility and does secret torture" 

Guard: "Where is the boss from?" 

Punisher: "I cant te-" 

The punisher is shot. 

Guard: "Thank you for being so stupid..." 

Gaurd frees the ten people

Person 1: "Thank you sir!" 

Guard: "Hey you all, Outside are two men, One in Blue, One in Black, Be near them!" 

They all go. 

Person 1: "Mister!"

 Zen: "I have a question..." 

Devlin: "Can you explain what they were doing to you?" 

Person 2: "It's been 2 years..." 

Zen: "What happened in that time?" 

Person 2: "2 years ago, A man named Liang Cheng bought this facility for over 2 billion karma! The previous owner sold him to it" 

Person 3: "Then that person replaced the entire employee snuck men from the dark web!" 

Zen: "Even that guy?" 

Person 8: "Sort of, He was working for them but the thing was He was just noting names!" 

The guard comes outside 

Zen: "Hey you..." 

Guard: "I was hearing you, Liang Cheng is a man from Pride, He is over 500 years old, He was one of the earliest souls who started from here 

Devlin: "Tell more!" 

Guard: "He is an entrepreneur, Mainly he sells real estate worth millions... this is his biggest investment..." 

The guard stops and resumes 

Guard: "That's the website, 89.drksedflngchng.com, Its name is nothing but everything else in here is a cipher..."

 Devlin: "I will go to the house and hide all of them, Zen sends everyone you see here! 

Zen: "Got it!" 

Guard: "Take that punisher's gun, Zen" 

Zen: "They have a gun?" 

Person 10: "They were threatening us!" 

Devlin: "Hey dude! Come here!" 

Person 10 leaves 

Zen: "What happens if you get shot?" 

Guard: "The person will respawn at the chamber and is sent back, their memories are erased of Limbo and it becomes their first experience..." 

Zen: "Oh-" 

Guard: "But the thing is, some can afford to have their memories not erased, it costs 2 million karma for each person..." 

Zen: "Liang bought there as well?" 

Guard: "There aren't many working here, Only 50 people work here including me...That means Liang had planned all of this..." 

Zen: "You mean?" 

Guard: "Liang already thought of this...He might already have his attacks ready..." 

Zen: "Should we just go and shoot every guard, free every poor soul while recording it?" 

Guard: "The thing is that...Since there are 50 employees, The thing is that, we can only find 60 cages...I doubt if it has a pattern" 

Zen: "What happens in those without an actual guard?" 

Guard: "That's the thing, I don't know..." 

They go to the next cage. The gaurd enters Punisher: "What are you doing here...Eugene?" 

The guard shoots him. 

Guard: "Zen! I think I found a way to find out who is an actual guard!" 

Zen: "Whoever doesn't know your name?" 

Guard: "That's the thing, I know the names, There's no Eugene working in this place...If they say a name that doesn't work here, statically it's saying a robots name!" 

Zen: "Damn...You are smart! Let's free them!" 

They free everyone. 

Zen: "Go to this address! You'd be saved!" 

They go to the home of Zen and Devlin. 

They go to more and more levels. 

Guard: "Here goes the 50th!". 

Zen: "Phew...Wait, What about Level 10?" 

Guard: "Level 10, anywhere are controlled by bots!" 

Zen: "No, Not that!" 

Guard: "Right...We'd need the access card for that!" 

Zen: "How would we get it?" 

Guard: "The overseers have it all the time, They have magic which doesn't allow them to be killed, meaning they can't go to The Chamber, They are truly immortal, They can only faint..." 

Zen: "So, We wait?" 

Guard: "Precisely!" 20 mins pass, A short old man with a scientist coat comes 

Overseer: "Huh? It's your break-" 

The Overseer is attacked by the Guard.

The guard snaps The overseers neck and Zen takes the access card 

Guard: "He should wake up any minute..." 

The light goes red, emergency light. 

The guard looks back, to his surprise, they got caught by the CCTV. 

Zen: "Oh no..." 

Guard: "It's over for us..."

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