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墨書 Inktalez
"It seems that way now. I understand; come onto my back," Xiong Tai said hurriedly, bending down to allow the other person to climb on.
"Alright, the structure here looks quite complex. We should be cautious. Xiong Tai, your main responsibility is to protect Nosty. I hope you won't take any more reckless actions like before. Use your heightened senses to perceive the changes around us. Everyone else, be careful and don't let your guard down," Ross said as he took a few steps back, then gestured to those around him.
His attentiveness was truly commendable, and everyone nodded in agreement upon hearing his words.
The path ahead did not seem particularly difficult to traverse; after all, this long corridor appeared to have an end. However, they never expected the current stretch of road to be so lengthy.
Yet, it seemed they had reached a stopping point near the end because they had no choice but to halt. There appeared to be no further passage or junction ahead. The entrance had always been a straight path, and they hadn’t sensed anything unusual along the way—just a straight walk without any turns or breaks. They could never have imagined the significance of the route laid out by its original creator.
At that moment, a seer must have predicted that someone would eventually come to visit with a purpose. The structure here was indeed quite rudimentary; people back then likely did not possess the same heavy sense of monetary value or protective instincts as today. It seemed that communication among people at that time revolved around food, and the idea of honoring the deceased with elaborate burials was a custom that had only emerged in the last two or three thousand years. Had such customs really existed long ago?
"Ross, what should we do now? Do you have any other impressions?" Freyr immediately responded to Ross while carefully feeling along the wall in front of him. "How strange; this wall is actually wet. What is this sticky substance? Hmm, it looks like coal dust... No, wait, there seems to be something else inside. Come look; it's bronze! This wall isn't an obstacle or stone; it's a large door made of bronze." They stepped back slightly and looked at it from a distance; indeed, it was a door with advanced construction, resembling those from modern times.
Freyr had not expected such a feature here. However, the Bronze Door did not seem hidden beneath coal dust; rather, it was a result of the surrounding environment. Clearly, there was more to this door than met the eye—it was sealed within this place. It felt like only the tip of an iceberg was visible; one could only wonder what kind of world lay beyond that door.
Just thinking about it made this place feel considerably mysterious. It truly appeared to be a bronze figure, and many who noticed this characteristic were left speechless.
Ross remained unfazed, standing still as he focused on something. He always possessed a unique intuition for observing others' peculiar traits. No one could imagine whether he had other untold stories from his past; if their guesses were correct, he had likely been here before.
He slightly closed his eyes and leaned forward, thoughtfully touching the wall. It was unclear what he intended to do; his hands were covered in a soft sludge that resembled both coal dust and mud. Yet he seemed completely unfazed by it. This sludge might even trigger some mechanism for a hidden door—it didn’t appear to be any special tool.
In that instant, he triggered an internal mechanism with his hand; his entire arm plunged into a dark hole. Then he pulled hard, and the sound of chains suddenly echoed as if the heavy door was beginning to open. Everyone was taken aback by the unexpected presence of an opening in that spot.
Moreover, this was precisely the location of the hidden door. Ross opened his eyes and turned back to continue, "Well, there’s a hidden door here. If you don’t look closely, you’d really think this door can’t be opened. I just noticed it a moment ago. Inside the hidden door is a chain; pulling that chain seems to activate the mechanism inside the door." The others leaned in closer, and as they adjusted their positions to look, they quickly discovered that it was indeed as he described.
As he pulled the chain out heavily from the hidden door, it took some effort at times to open the Bronze Door.
It seemed that this Bronze Door hadn’t been opened in a long time; rust covered its surface in a thick layer. As it creaked open, Ross suddenly remembered something and waved his hand to grab the Gas Mask from his pocket, putting it over his face.
Seeing this, the others quickly followed suit and donned their Gas Masks. With them on, they shouldn’t have to worry about any toxic gases that might come from inside. However, even if there were no toxic gases, the dust that thrived in an oxygen-deprived environment became rapidly active once exposed to oxygen. The two eye holes of the Gas Mask were soon covered with black sludge.
Unsure of what this substance was, they used their gloved hands to clear away the black mud until their vision gradually returned.
The Bronze Door had already opened, revealing a wall where half of it was in an open state.
“Let’s go in now,” Xiong Tai suddenly said boldly.
This was truly unexpected, but Xiong Tai likely wanted others to step forward first to test the waters. However, he didn’t anticipate that those nearby would be even more cautious than he was.
“Let’s not go in just yet. I know what the situation is here. From my memory, this door will completely close once all of us enter. We’ll need to find a clever way to pry open the gap in this door before we can get it to open again. Even if we go in and the Bronze Door closes behind us, there must still be another exit deeper inside; otherwise, I wouldn’t still be alive now. You all understand what I mean?” Ross immediately responded, halting any further action.
Upon hearing this, everyone understood the implication behind his words. Ross’s reasoning was indeed correct; they could choose not to follow his deduction and act on their own accord. However, if something went wrong afterward, Ross might have the intention to save them but lack the ability to do so.
After all, he knew very little about the dangers here. Although he only had a vague impression of some perilous aspects, compared to most past missions, this solid Catacomb could very well serve as a burial pit. They still didn’t know if there would be other unforeseen events behind the Bronze Door or where exactly the exit lay. For now, they were hesitating about whether or not to venture deeper inside.
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