Chapter 401

Chapter 401

This job required a lot of patience. Anyone with a short fuse would've bailed a long time ago.

The internal layout was a real pain. It wasn't a total mess, but it took me several laps around the bronze statue before I finally managed to pull the object out of its gaping mouth.

I held it in my hand and saw it was a key, though I couldn't tell what it was made of.

To be exact, it was just the upper half of a key. The lower half was still missing.

It was probably inside the other bronze statue, where Andy was still working.

Just when we thought we were about to get the key halves from the two bronze statues and open the bronze door, reality hit us hard again.

What Andy found wasn't the lower half of the key but a magnet.

Andy, usually pretty chill, was visibly annoyed. He tossed the magnet around irritably. "What the heck? I thought it was the key. If the other half isn't here, where could it be?"

"If it were that easy, it wouldn't be waiting for us to open," I said, trying to calm him down. "Take it easy. Worst case, we end up like these skeletons."

Andy chuckled bitterly. "Alright, alright. I'll keep trying. Maybe the next one will be the key."

With that, he picked up the magnet and went back to work on the bronze statue.

Carl and I didn't sit idle either. I double-checked my statue for anything we might have missed, while Carl meticulously searched for any overlooked clues.

Once I was sure my statue had nothing left, I regretfully stood up and joined Carl.

He was frowning at a fist-sized hole in the bronze door. "Carl, did you find something?"

"No, just curious about this hole," Carl replied. "Why would there be a hole in the door? If it were artificial, it shouldn't be so smooth. If it was natural, there shouldn't be just one."

Based on this, Carl speculated, "So, could this hole be a key clue?"

"Maybe," I said, rubbing my chin. "Why don't we see if we can pull something out of it with the magnet?"

Carl nodded, and we each grabbed a magnet, moving them around the bronze door.

No luck.

Andy didn't find the other half of the key either, just more magnets.

Looking at the pile of magnets in front of Andy, I laughed. "Are they messing with us?"

Andy shook his head. "There's nothing left. The other half of the key isn't here."

With two potential hiding spots ruled out, we turned our attention to the hole in the bronze door.

I estimated its depth to be about three feet.

I tried reaching in, but my arm couldn't touch the bottom. Andy and Carl took turns trying, but none of us succeeded.

Carl looked at me. "What now?"

"How about we use a bone as a makeshift arm?" I suggested.

Andy laughed, covering his eyes. "Looks like we have no choice."

We quickly found a suitable bone among the skeletons and used it as a stick to probe the hole.

Soon, we heard a faint sound.

We couldn't tell what it was, but any sound meant there was something inside.

Now, we needed to get it out, and we might find our next clue.

The gaps between the finger bones were too large to hook anything, so we had to think of another way.

I pondered for a moment, then said, "If the other half of the key is in there, we can't use the bone arm to get it out."

I tossed the upper half of the key onto a magnet, and it stuck instantly, giving me an idea. "Maybe we can use a magnet stick to pull out the other half of the key."

Andy and Carl understood. Andy said, "You mean stack the magnets into a stick and push it into the hole?"

I nodded. "Exactly. Let's give it a try. It might work."

With a plan in place, we quickly got to work.

Soon, I had a magnet stick in my hand, though it was unstable and could break apart easily.

Luckily, the bronze door didn't attract the magnets, or the stick would have fallen apart before I could use it.

No, the designer probably anticipated this, which was why they used bronze for the door.

Now came the tricky part.

Andy and Carl agreed to let me handle it.

I carefully inserted the magnet stick into the hole. When I pulled it out, something was attached to the end.

It was the other half of the key.

This was exciting news for all three of us.

Andy crossed his arms and scoffed at the Atlanteans. "Is this the best they could do? They spent so long and couldn't open this door?"

"Not necessarily," I countered. "Maybe the Atlanteans never came here themselves. They might have sent outsiders as sacrifices, hoping they could open the door and earn a chance to live."

If they couldn't open the door, they'd die here, never seeing daylight again.

"I agree," Carl said. "Brandon, Elijah, and Leroy didn't seem like fools. An entire city of Atlantis couldn't be devoid of smart people. If they wanted to solve this, they probably would have."

I shrugged. "Maybe they had reasons they couldn't come here, which explains why Leroy and his guards never set foot in this attic."

We didn't dwell on the reasons. Instead, we focused on the key.

Though it was in two pieces, we could combine them.

As the key turned in the lock, we heard mechanical sounds, and the bronze door opened.

The door was heavy, so we pushed it open together, only to be startled by a sudden figure in our view.

Carl even took a defensive stance, his wings flapping and creating a gust that nearly blew out my candle. I quickly shielded it, preventing us from being swallowed by darkness.

Andy swallowed nervously. "What is that? Why isn't it moving?"

"It doesn't seem human," Carl said. "I don't sense any living presence."

With Carl's assurance, I bravely approached and found it was just a creepy statue.

Relieved, the three of us let out a collective sigh.