Jacob let the One Fist team enter the sealed space first, and when they all went past the entrance, he took something out of his space ring. It was a TNT brick, and he started to set them in the tunnel!
Jacob has already heard half of Frugal's conversation with his father, and he knew trouble was coming. Although it was unexpected, now he had no choice but to take extreme measures.
The Star Hackers were extremely mysterious, and from what he could tell, Frugal and Aven were the children of some high-ranking members. So, destroying this pathway was the only option he had now.
But he had to do it discreetly since the One Fist was still useful, and he couldn't let them suspect him too early. So, after setting the TNT, he set a timer and finally entered the space himself.
The members of the One Fist team were astounded as they looked around the space. No one had ever expected that there existed such a place, and some of them even suspected that it had something to do with the Vile Witch since it was too coincidental.
But they refrained from saying anything. They were still afraid of Jacob and uncertain about where he sent his two companions. For all they know, he had sent them to call for his own men here so he could get rid of them.
As for Jacob killing his own people, this notion never even crossed their minds since, in their viewpoint, those two were Jacob's people.
"Alright, everyone. You all should rest while I try to decrypt these runes. I don't know how much time it will take, but I want you all to be patient. We all have enough ration for two or three months. So, please bear with me, and we'll save not only Leader Bryan, but if there are more treasures, I don't mind sharing." Jacob nonchalantly stated.
But his words caused everyone's eyes to shine since they were all greedy from the heart, and at that moment, the life of Bryan didn't matter much. If anything, some of them were afraid Bryan might take everyone since he had a head start.
"Leader Viper, are you a rune artificer?" Oply couldn't help but ask with staring eyes.
"I know a thing or two." Jacob nodded since there wasn't any need to hide it.
"You are very humble. Sorry again to doubt you before." Oply quickly bowed her head since she knew not just anyone could become a Rune Artificer, especially one who could decrypt those complex runes that even she couldn't read properly despite known rare rank magic rune language.
"No worries. Now, if you'll excuse me, we should hurry." Jacob said before he walked toward a certain rune pattern.
Now that he had taken care of troublesome members of his team, he needed to hurry and decipher those runes so he could reveal the presumable keyhole. He still wants to be done with it before the star hackers come. It was far better to be discreet than sorry.
The One Fist team didn't bother Jacob and quietly found a place to rest, and some silently started to discuss this place and make plans.
A few hours later, when no one was paying attention, Jacob took a short break, and two space rings appeared in his hand. They belonged to Frugal and Aven, who were still unconscious in his infinity pendant.
He didn't get the chance to look into them since he was in a hurry, but it didn't mean he had forgotten about them. He was just waiting for the right chance.
Jacob first tried to peer into Frugal's ring, and he was surprised when he saw the ring was of intermediate epic rank. There were six talismans, 29 magic scrolls, four weapons, nine knowledge related to magic, and around 5000 magic gems, and all of them were epic rank!
Although he didn't know those talisman functions, it wasn't difficult to research them. So, he was quite content with them. But he didn't find anything else, not that 'key' at least.
So, he peers into Aven's ring next, and it was also an intermediate epic rank, and not only but it was far more filled than Frugal's.
There were 18 talismans, nine weapons, two full body armor, 43 magic scrolls, a whole shelf of books, and around 10,000 magic gems. Lastly, there were a few documents, an old scroll, and an antique bronze key with the same symbol on its head that was engraved on the sealed door!
Instantly, he knew that the key was the thing he was looking for. As for the old scroll, he hadn't seen it before, but those documents were familiar. They were the same document they showed him before coming here, and the map was also within them.
But when he opened that scroll, he was startled because it was a map and upon closer inspection, his eyes went deadly cold because the map those two showed him was only a small part of this old map!
'What a bunch of cunning bastards.' He cussed in his mind and urged to eat those two right now. But control himself since he wasn't alone yet.
Nonetheless, he was glad that he acted quicker, or it would have been too late because there were some interesting points on the map, which should have been the layout of the Vile Witch Layer, and he finally understood why those two wanted to take people with them despite having this detailed map.
Jacob quickly remembered the map in exact detail before storing it away. Now that he knew the truth, he felt at ease. So, he focused on the runes again, but he was also paying attention to the time.
Three hours later, Jacob looked behind, and the One Fist team was still minding their own business. His lips rose slightly, and then he did something which drew their attention.
Clenching his fist, he punched at a peculiar rune symbol!
'Bang…'
The entire space trembled slightly as all the symbols shone faintly before turning back to normal, and everyone was alarmed.
"What happened?" They looked in Jacob's direction.
But before they could get the answer…
'Boooommm…'
A huge explosion rang from the entrance, shaking the whole space violently, and thereafter, more explosions started to rumble.
With the last explosion, the mirror-like entrance shattered with a huge water blast, and when the aftermath settled, the entrance completely vanished, leaving the same rune wall as the rest of the space.
Everyone paled because this meant only one thing: they were trapped, and the only way outside was the way forward!
Jacob's astonished voice sounded at this moment, which made everyone flabbergasted, "Oh? It seemed there was a trap in this array. If anyone tries to open it, the entrance would collapse. How unfortunate!"