The four of them were stunned by the unexpected situation.
Marshall Malone frowned and said, “There’s no way forward. What should we do?”
Leo furrowed his brows and said, “The tunnel might have collapsed due to years of disrepair and underground water erosion. But since we’ve come this far, we can’t give up easily.”
“Should we keep going?” Marshall Malone looked troubled. “We don’t have diving equipment, and we don’t know how long the tunnel is submerged or what the underwater conditions are like. Diving blindly would be very dangerous.”
“Yes,” Bonnie Hale agreed. “We should return to Latzburg first, get the diving equipment, and then come back.”
Leo shook his head firmly. “I have a feeling that if we give up this opportunity, we might miss the treasure forever. We must move forward.”
Marshall Malone and the others looked helpless. Leo was the leader of this expedition, and his words were orders that had to be followed.
Leo continued, “Don’t worry, I won’t let anyone take unnecessary risks. You wait here while I check the situation underwater.”
“Be careful,” Marshall Malone and the others reluctantly agreed.
Leo nodded, put down his backpack, took off his clothes, leaving only his shorts, but a waterproof flashlight, took a deep breath, and slipped into the water.
The underground water was icy cold, but it didn’t bother Leo.
Four or five minutes later, Leo emerged from the water and returned to Marshall Malone and the others.
Marshall Malone asked, “How long is the submerged tunnel?”
Leo shook his head gloomily. “I swam nearly a hundred meters and still didn’t reach the end. It’s impossible to swim through it in one breath.”
“What now?” Marshall Malone and the others looked distressed.
Leo thought for a moment and said, “I’ll create a new passage through the cave wall.”
With that, Leo flipped his right hand and took out a talisman.
Instantly, a large section of rock on the cave wall began to move magically, opening up a spacious passage parallel to the tunnel.
“Hold on tight,” Leo said softly. Using the Earth Concealment Technique, he took Marshall Malone and the others through the passage in a flash.
The passage closed behind them, and the cave wall returned to its original state without any trace of disturbance.
Seconds later, deep within the tunnel hundreds of meters away, a solid cave wall suddenly opened up, revealing Leo and the others.
A few meters behind them, the tunnel was still submerged in underground water.
The Earth Concealment Technique wasn’t difficult for Leo, but taking four people with him required four times the Spiritual Power.
He also had to precisely control the direction of the Earth Concealment Technique to keep it parallel to the tunnel.
Any mistake could lead them astray in the vast underground world.
He also had to accurately judge where the underground water ended; otherwise, emerging in the wrong place could be dangerous.
“Thanks, Leo,” Marshall Malone stepped forward and gratefully patted Leo’s shoulder. “This mission would have been impossible without you.”
“Yes, thank you,” Ripley said sincerely. He was now in complete admiration of Leo.
“No problem. Let’s keep moving.”
“Don’t you need to rest?” Bonnie Hale asked worriedly.
“No need,” Leo replied confidently.
The four of them continued forward.
Soon, they noticed that the tunnel began to rise noticeably.
Suddenly, there was a soft click.
Immediately, the tunnel lit up with a string of lights from near to far.
Marshall Malone was stunned. “I just accidentally touched the wall. How did it cause such a big reaction?”
Leo and the others looked at the wall beside Marshall Malone’s right hand, where a deep red switch was clearly visible.
Ripley said irritably, “You touched the light switch.”
Leo was puzzled. “This place has been abandoned for sixty or seventy years. Everything should be decayed. How can these lights still work? Where do they get their power?”
“Something’s definitely off,” Marshall Malone agreed. “Look at the support frames of this tunnel. They show no signs of decay and look quite new. They must have been renovated recently.”
“And these lights above us aren’t old-fashioned gas lamps from World War II but modern ceiling lights,” Ripley added excitedly. “It seems someone regularly maintains this place and has independent power supply equipment still running well. If I’m not mistaken, we’ve already touched part of the treasure.”
“Exactly! There must be another entrance directly leading here for those guarding the treasure to maintain it regularly,” Leo agreed.
Thinking back, the abandoned mining area, sealed mine shaft, and cleverly disguised tunnel were likely just The Iron Guard’s way of protecting the treasure.
Marshall Malone couldn’t help but marvel, “Without such deep cunning, The Reich’s Treasure wouldn’t have remained safe for decades.”
Ripley eagerly said, “Let’s stop marveling and keep moving. I can’t wait to see what the treasure looks like.”
Leo smiled and waved his hand. “Let’s go.”
The four of them gathered their spirits, turned off their flashlights and headlamps, put them in their backpacks, and continued forward.
After walking a few dozen steps and turning a corner, they saw a sturdy iron door ahead.
The iron door was painted with bright yellow edges, making it very conspicuous.
They stopped in front of the door. Leo’s eyes gleamed as he said, “I have a feeling that behind this door might be The Reich’s Treasure that countless people have sought for decades.”
“What are we waiting for?” Ripley said impatiently. “This iron door can’t stop us!”
He rolled up his sleeves and prepared to use force.
“Wait,” Leo said calmly. “We don’t know what’s behind this door. It’s best not to use force. If we cause a collapse and bury the treasure, it would be troublesome.”
Ripley was startled and quickly withdrew his hand. “Then how do we open it?”
“Simple,” Leo said as he touched the iron door, releasing his spiritual sense and channeling his Spiritual Power.
With a series of clicking sounds, the iron door slowly opened on its own.
“There you go,” Leo said proudly. “Let’s go.”
Marshall Malone and the others followed Leo through the door.
Behind it was a ten-meter-long passageway with lights still on.
As they walked through this passageway, their view suddenly opened up dramatically.
They found themselves in an enormous underground cavern with hundreds of high-powered incandescent lamps installed on its walls, illuminating it like daylight.
Conservatively estimated, this cavern was about a thousand square meters in size. Its walls and ceiling were reinforced with steel and concrete, making it very sturdy.