Right in the middle of the room, gold ingots were stacked and piled up.
I looked around carefully, inspecting the huge room in detail - the ground, four walls, and ceiling.
When everyone shined their flashlights at the gold pile, the reflected light made our faces glow like golden statues.
"Oh my god! I can't believe I'm seeing this. I've never seen anything like it," Bobby exclaimed when he saw the gold.
Wasting no time, Bobby ran up and tried to pick up one of the gold ingots.
"Stop! Don't touch anything!" I shouted and pulled Bobby back.
Both of us fell to the ground from the sudden tug.
"What the hell, Sam?" Bobby was annoyed by my sudden interference.
"Nobody touch anything. Look around the perimeter of the gold ingot pile," I said, shining my flashlight around the edge. "You can see a groove running along the pile."
This was a common booby trap. The gold pile was placed on a platform, now flush with the ground from its weight. Once the weight decreased, the platform would rise, triggering mechanics to drop the trap door. Then the ceiling would come down on us.
I explained how it worked, and Bobby's eyes widened, his jaw dropped, astonished at how dangerous it was.
"So how do we move all the gold ingots? We're already so close," Bobby sighed, exasperated.
Firecracker Tan rubbed his chin, contemplating for a while, then asked, "Can we add weights to the gold ingot pile, then remove an equivalent amount of gold?"
"No, the lever needs to be at the same level. Any additional weight will cause the trapdoor to drop," I said, shaking my head.
"So, what do you suggest?" Amy Lee asked.
"We have to find the duct for the trap door mechanics and jam it with something that can withstand the force," I replied.
Bobby's face brightened upon hearing this.
I briefed everyone to try and find the duct behind the walls. We got to work knocking on the walls, listening for hollow sections.
"Here, I found it," Henry motioned everyone over.
I knocked on the wall a few times. It sounded different from the other sections. This was it.
Bobby and I used our hammers, trying hard to break down the wall.
Henry shook his head, unimpressed with our strength.
"Why are you shaking your head? I ate more than usual. Give me a month at the gym and you'll see," Bobby said, unhappy.
"Let the grown-up show you how it's done," Henry said, stretching his arms.
He took Bobby's hammer, swung it back, and twisted himself as much as possible. When he reached his max, he cried out and swung it towards the wall.
"Whoosh!" I felt the gust of wind move strands of my hair as the hammer went by.
The bricks smashed, revealing a small hole. Inside was a huge chain, likely linked to mechanics on top.
We hammered a digging bar into the hole of the chain.
"Henry, stand by the digging bar just in case," I said, worried it might not be strong enough.
He nodded and stood next to it.
We then got to work, removing gold ingots one by one. As time went on, we took more, shoveling them into our backpacks.
When we cleared half, I felt the platform move. I glanced quickly at Henry.
He reacted fast, holding up the digging bar on his shoulder.
"Hurry, I can't hold it much longer," Henry cried out, clenching his jaw and turning red from exertion.
We didn't waste time, using our shovels to throw the gold ingots out as fast as possible.
"Done! Henry, run now!" I shouted as the last one to leave the room except Henry.
Henry took a deep breath, let go of the digging bar, and ran.
The platform elevated slowly, causing the chain to move down. With it, the ceiling started to drop.
Henry was 10 meters away when the ceiling got halfway down. Then 5 meters, with the ceiling right above his head.
"Hurry!" I held out my hand, trying to pull him out.
He saw it and leaped forward with all his might, falling flat right in front of me.
The ceiling was at my waist level now.
I crouched, grabbed Henry's hand, and fell back, using my weight to pull him out with all my strength.
He barely made it out. The ceiling touched the floor and closed the room right after his feet cleared it.
"Ha... ha... We did it!" I cried out in joy while still lying on the ground.
The rest of the team hugged each other, overjoyed at what we had done.
Bobby came up to Henry, pulled him up, and gave him a thumbs up.
I laughed at his reluctance to thank Henry verbally, opting for a friendly gesture instead.
"Wow, Henry, you're really strong," I complimented him.
"I have other skills, you know," he said, taking out a blow dart.
Bobby saw the blow dart and his face lit up.
"Henry, that blow dart... Ahem, it gave me nightmares, so to confront my fears..." Bobby started, but I slapped him on the back of his head.
I rolled my eyes at him and said, "There are side effects to using the hallucination drug. Go ahead if you dare."