*Three Weeks Earlier*

The hot sun shone brutally above the sands, blinding his sight with the bright light. He wore a long turban on his head while his abala was swayed by the hot air. The brutal heat was making him sweat and he panted as he made his way through the desert. Beads of sweat dripped over his piercing blue eyes but he did not let the heat faze him. ​​

Sand was rippling all around him, brushing against his feet as he marched on towards his destination. There was not a soul in sight and no trace of water anywhere. His throat felt parched but he did not care about comforts. He had a mission to fulfill.

He took out his compass. If his information was correct, he must head south for at least an hour more until he reached a large stony hill.

"What a pain," SD muttered. If it was not for the sake of his precious payment, he would not have bothered to do this.

But a promise was a promise. And when it came to a scumbag like himself, it was not easy to get away with broken promises.

"Where is it?" he wondered. The sun was directly above his head now. He did not carry his cellphone nor any sort of watch with him.

Instead, he relied on his survival instincts. Cowards like him were more concerned about how to stay alive. Since he was a coward, he was well versed on how to survive. It was the nature of humans to survive and he was not different.

Even if he had to kill others to survive.

Suddenly, he felt goosebumps on his skin. There was no one in sight for miles yet, SD knew that he was being watched.

"Excellent," he smirked. He simply whistled and walked on, ignoring the people hidden within the sand. His senses were alert and he knew that they were going to jump on him from the right. It was always the right. He never knew why people would attack him on that side.

Here goes nothing, he sighed inwardly. Right on cue, he felt a swoosh of air on his right and a man jumped on him. SD did not react. He did not even pretend to be surprised but let the man cover his face with a black cloth.

"Don't move!" a man shouted in a foreign language. "Otherwise, I'll blow your brains out!"

SD felt a gun being pressed to his temple. The man was no doubt a local, possibly one of the rebels who were fighting the government of that country.

By the sound of his voice, it was probably not a man but a boy who was hardly in his late teens. SD could tell that the rebels were training these young and unemployed boys to join their cause to liberate the country from a tyrannical government.

In turn, the rebels will establish their own tyrannical government, sugarcoating their cruelty as a just cause. After all, only tyrants overthrow tyrants. Was that not the law of the world?

"Who are you?" the boy demanded. SD heard the shuffles of more footprints.

1? 2? No. 6. There were six other rebels. One wrong move and he would be killed.

"I'm the Doctor," SD replied. The rebels were surprised that the foreigner knew their language.

"Are you a local?" another man demanded. SD heard the voice carefully and deduced that it was a middle aged man.

"I'm a well wisher," SD simply shrugged. "I want to meet your leader."

"Why should we believe you?" the older man demanded. "You could be a spy!"

"I am a spy," SD grinned from beneath the cloth. The gun pressed harder to his temple. How boring, he thought.

"We should kill him!" another one of the rebels piped up. "He might get us killed!"

"But why did he say he's a doctor?" the younger boy asked.

"He was probably sent here to poison our great leader!" a fourth man spat. He stepped forward and punched SD on the face. SD felt blood flowing out of his cheek but he held his ground.

"If you don't let me meet him, then he'll be poisoned by a government spy tomorrow morning," SD grinned. "But if you do let me meet him, then by next week, he'll be ruling the government."

The men stared at the brash man who did not fear them. Even though they were holding the weapons, there was a dark aura emitting from the captured man as if he was the one manipulating them. They were a little afraid of the foreigner who was eyeing them from beneath the cloth. But that was impossible. He could not see them.

Could he?

"Take me to your boss," he ordered coolly. "And I'll tell you how to take back this country within a week."

"Why are you helping us?" the middle aged man asked.

SD took a deep breath before saying, "The son of a bitch President did not pay me my money. That's why."

The men had no idea how to react to that answer. What was he trying to pull?

"I think we should let the leader decide," the middle aged man suggested. "Let him decide what to do."

"But what if he tries to harm the leader?" a fifth man pointed out.

"Tie his hands!" the sixth man said. "And also bind his mouth! We'll hold on to him."

"Does he have any weapons?"

SD felt rough hands scan his body. "You can touch all you want, hun," SD said in a sarcastic tone, pushing his hips ahead. "It's free property after all."

The man who was scanning him, felt disgusted by the foreigner. Were their customs this strange? Or was this man just sadistic?

"He's clean," the man announced. "We can take him to the leader."

SD felt rough hands shove him forward and he was being led to their hideout. They had put the black cloth over his face to protect their hidden spot but it was useless. SD knew exactly where their hideout was and even without their guidance, he could have found it on his own.

They walked for over an hour until the group stopped in front of a small shack. SD heard the men murmur something before they roughly pulled him. He knew that the hideout was in the basement of the shack which was run by an old couple who were masquerading as husband and wife.

They descended a set of stairs. SD's ears were alert, listening to every sound intently. Dripping of water…there was a waterbed somewhere nearby. They were probably not far from the capital. The ground beneath him was damp and he could smell sewage. No doubt that the rebels were using an underground base which was near a sewage pipe.

"Move!" one of the men barked at him.

SD resisted the urge to roll his eyes and stepped into the dungeon. Immediately, he sensed the presence of another man somewhere in front of him.

His captors made him sit on a chair and tied his hands behind him. The cloth was taken off his face and he found himself staring at the face of a bald man with one eye. His dark skin glistened with sweat and a stink of stale tobacco came from his mouth. The man stared at SD with great interest.

"I know you," the man frowned. "You're the one they call the Sadistic Doctor."

"That's me," SD said in a singsong tone.

"They say you know everything," the man sneered. "Any information one wants and you'll give it."

"As long as I get paid," SD stated with a smirk. "And once I'm paid, I won't resell that information to anyone else unless there's a loophole on our agreement."

"Seems like you're greedy for money," the leader claimed.

"I'm just a simple person who happens to be selfish," SD said calmly.

As soon as he said that, another punch landed on his nose. SD almost blacked out but managed to keep himself steady. Blood was flowing out of his nose, seeping into his lips and he spat out the salty liquid. His eyes were still on the leader, unflinching.

The leader expected SD to be scared or enraged but to his surprise, the Doctor was calm and quietly observing him without any fear.

"Looks like you don't fear me," the leader stated.

"On the contrary, I'm quite the coward," SD smirked. There was a dramatic pause before SD added, "Ermin."

The leader froze in shock.

"How did you know my real name?" Ermin demanded. His men were also surprised by the revelation and took up guns to point at SD.

"I know a lot of things," SD shrugged. "Your father was a farmer who died in the revolt twenty years ago, forcing your mother into the flesh trade. Your sister was kidnapped by the Imperial army and was never seen again. I can go on. Should I narrate what happened to your wife?"

"Sir, give us the permission to shoot him!" the young boy said. "I can-"

But Ermin held up his hand. He was visibly shaken by the revelation. This foreigner was not an ordinary person.

The way SD was smiling at him despite being injured, unsettled the leader. He had seen many cruel people in life but this one was different. He was not afraid of anything.

And that made him the worst of the bunch.

"What do you want?" Ermin whispered.

"I simply want to pass you information which will help you take down the government," SD revealed. "If everything goes as per my plan, the President of this country will be dead within a week."

Ermin peered at the man who was grinning sadistically. "What do you want in return?" he frowned. "And why are you helping us?"

"The President failed to repay his dues to me so I have no obligation to follow his orders," SD stated. "He failed to make his payment."

"He didn't give you your money?"

"It's not money I want," SD said. He leaned forward. His hands may be tied but he was still a hardcore negotiator. If he wanted something, then he would not hesitate to kill in order to obtain it.

After all, nothing in the world was free. Not even his heart.

"If you manage to kill the President tonight," SD went on. "Then you'll have to give me access to his safe."

Ermin pondered over his words. He had heard about this man who called himself the Sadistic Doctor. He was not an actual doctor but the name was given to him because the information he gathered had the solution to many political and international crises.

All of his information was so accurate, that starting from politicians to underworld dons, everyone was his client. He sold information to the highest bidder, not caring if it fell to the wrong hands as long as he got his payment.

So when SD himself approached someone to supply information, there was always a catch.

All the while, he plotted his own plans.

"Is that all you want?" Ermin asked. "Access to his safe."

"Access to a particular file in his safe," SD replied. "Once he's dead and you become the President, I'll take it from you."

Ermin pondered over it. If SD was after that file, then there must be something very important in it. If the President was out of his way, then it would be easy to steal it away from the information broker.

"Deal," Ermin said. "I'll give you the file if you can help us kill the President."

SD's lips curled into a smile. "Deal," he stated.

Ermin stared at him, feeling suspicious.

"Why are you so adamant in getting that file?" he asked.

"Let's just say..." SD said in a lazy tone. "It'll help me in watching my enemies burn."

He kept on flashing that sinister smirk, making the rebel leader uncomfortable.

At that moment, Ermin realized that he may have done a deal with the devil himself.