Pocket watch

After donning the black attire, Ethan concealed the black-clad figure lying on the ground in a corner, then carefully and slowly made his way upstairs.

He was aware that every step he took was fraught with risk, but to find that mysterious light source and to uncover the truth behind it all, he was willing to take the chance.

Even though Ethan's physique had become extremely robust, making him virtually bulletproof, he subconsciously still considered himself a normal person.

It's always good to be cautious. After all, Ethan was not invincible, especially considering the special firearm used by Carlos and his team.

The situation upstairs was much more chaotic than he had anticipated, with signs of search everywhere, several rooms had their doors blown off, and debris scattered around.

Ethan silently prayed he wouldn't encounter any trouble. He tried his best to blend in as one of the black-clad individuals seemingly busy searching, occasionally pretending to inspect the debris on the floor to mask his nervousness.

Just then, Ethan noticed a group of black-clad individuals gathered in front of a door that seemed particularly significant. They appeared to be arguing about something, one of them holding a stack of papers, comparing each item they found against it. Ethan realized that this might be the key they were searching for.

"Boss, has the chief gone mad? How could there possibly be such an ancient civilization under the sea?" Ethan overheard someone saying.

"Shut your mouth. When has the chief ever been wrong? Have you forgotten the freak with the scroll we encountered at the old house?" The person holding the paper files responded rudely, and this voice did not seem to belong to Carlos.

"The Carlos is always spouting nonsense, boss. How could someone be covered in tentacles? Even if there's video, it's too fake."

"Yeah, and it seems like our chief's mind is getting fuzzier by the day. Why would an ancient civilization use a pocket watch? And how could this place have anything to do with a pocket watch?"

"Yeah, look at what the chief wrote, it's complete gibberish. 'The God of Temporal Order'? I've never heard of such a deity in any mythology."

Surrounded by what seemed to be the "boss", the other black-clad individuals started discussing.

An ancient civilization? The God of Temporal Order? A pocket watch? What were they searching for? They seemed to be talking about the freak who found the scroll, which was me, but what about the pocket watch? Ethan was filled with doubts.

"Enough, haven't you noticed something off about this place? The security doors here are unusually strong, and the staff here don't even have the keys. Think about what's inside." The man identified as the "boss" scrutinized the paper again, impatiently. "Demolition man, is the next door ready? We don't have much time."

"Ready, boss, just give the word." The demolition expert , holding a detonator and also clad in a black robe, seemed eager to please in Ethan's eyes.

"Hold on, what have you been doing around here? Which group are you with? What's your task?" The chief suddenly addressed Ethan, his tone cold.

Ethan felt a moment of crisis. He knew he couldn't reveal himself at that moment, but he also couldn't not respond.

"What to do now? Should I take them down?" Ethan pondered. There were too many of them, and with the black-clad individuals downstairs, it would be hard to take them all out. But if they didn't have that special weapon, Ethan thought he might be able to escape even if they tried to stop him.

As he hesitated, a ringtone interrupted everyone's focus - the boss's phone had rung.

The boss turned around to answer the call with composure.

"The police are coming? How's that possible? We've already blocked all communications and alarm systems." The boss furrowed his brow, clearly surprised by this sudden turn of events. His voice was low, but Ethan could still hear him.

"And didn't we already pay off the police chief? Even if someone called the cops, why would they arrive so quickly?" a man in black chimed in from the side.

Ethan was unaware of the underlying games and conflicts, but it was clear that the emergency text he had sent out had taken effect.

"Everyone, pay attention, the police are here!" The boss immediately turned around and shouted loudly.

The scene instantly became chaotic, and Ethan took the opportunity to sneak back a couple of steps.

"Close all doors and windows on the first floor immediately! Send out negotiators with hostages to buy time! On the second floor, assign three people to cover the windows to prevent snipers! Add a few more to follow the demolition expert for the explosion; the mixture doesn't need to be precise, speed is crucial! Everyone else, speed up, we need to complete the task before more police get inside! Then send a message to the leader, asking him to prepare some men for backup!" The boss issued a series of orders in an orderly and swift manner, and everyone sprang into action.

Ethan took the chance to sneak away while they were distracted. There was no better time to escape, and he blended back into the crowd of men in black, quietly listening to these instructions, a plan forming in his mind.

"The explosives are here! Need three people for separate blasts!" the demolition expert shouted.

Ethan, who had been waiting nearby, stepped forward and said, "I'll do it!"

He knew that if he could use the explosives, he might be able to open the door to the sealed room and find the crucial item.

After the other two men in black arrived, they were handed a box-like object and a syringe.

"Place the explosive and stick it in the middle of the door, closer to the lock, see this opening? Inject all the nitroglycerin into it, and it will explode automatically after a while. This amount is a rough estimate, so keep your distance," the demolition expert explained.

"This is a homemade explosive device; it feels like it could be very unpredictable. Don't damage the contents inside," Ethan thought, looking at the rudimentary device in his hands.

"You three, each of you take one of these three rooms on the map. I'll stay here and prepare the next round of explosives!" the demolition expert then gave each of them a map, which marked roughly 12 doors.

"I'll take that door," Ethan quickly said, choosing it for a simple reason: it was close to the staircase leading downstairs.

The demolitionist didn't say much when he saw this. After assigning the positions of the other two people, the three of them started to take action.

After Ethan separated from the three people, he immediately walked down the stairs.

"I didn't expect it to go so smoothly." Ethan thought excitedly. Now he had a chance to know what was inside the door.

He quickly walked down the stairs, walked through the corridor, came to the inconspicuous door, and took out the blaster.

This simple blaster has double-sided tape on one side to stick to the door. Ethan tore off the protective film of the double-sided tape and installed it on the door a little closer to the door lock.

"Then just use a syringe to inject the nitroglycerin, right?" The doctor recalled the steps, and took out the syringe after confirming that it was correct.

"What are you doing?" A cold voice came from the corridor, making Ethan break out in a cold sweat.

Ethan turned around and saw that it was another man in black, and he was following him!

"Don't move," he took out his pistol and continued: "Although the boss let you go just now, I think you feel a little strange. What is in this door? Why did you come to this door?"

Ethan really didn't expect that someone was following him. "He must not be allowed to tip off the information. I need time to explode... Then I can only kill him."

After making up his mind, Ethan became more cautious. He thought of Carlos' dirty tricks, so he tried to pretend to explain: "I have been dreaming these days, and I dreamed that what we are looking for is not upstairs, but in In this door."

"I know this is ridiculous, but in fact my dream is so real. I am convinced that God must be guiding me." Ethan made up a random reason and raised his arms to pretend that he had no ability to resist, but in fact Slightly tighten your abdomen and bend your knees to ensure that he can rush over as quickly as possible in an instant.

"This is too ridiculous. Why didn't you tell the boss? And what's your number?" Sure enough, the man in black began to hesitate, and he turned the muzzle of the gun slightly upward.

At this moment, Ethan slammed his foot on the floor and rushed over!

Ethan used his full strength, and he believed that the burst of speed at this moment could reach the level of a world champion.

"Bang!" The gun rang out, and the man in black fired a shot in panic! The loud sound echoed in the library.

Ethan was hit by this shot, but was only slightly blocked for a moment. Ethan quickly rushed in front of the man in black and slapped the man's neck hard, knocking him out.

Damn it, am I not fast enough or my acting skills are not realistic enough? Ethan noticed that the noise upstairs seemed to have stopped. The gunshot had alerted the people upstairs. He had to do it quickly and blast the real door.

Ethan immediately rushed to the door, injected nitroglycerin into the blaster, found a corner of the corridor and began to observe, counting the time silently in his mind.

"10 seconds." There didn't seem to be any movement upstairs.

"20 seconds." There was an explosion! It looks like the blasting started upstairs.

"30 seconds... Someone is coming! The footsteps were very soft, but after Ethan concentrated, he could still hear the footsteps.

what to do? Ethan decided to retreat, as the time explosion might start at any time.

"40 seconds, is the reaction time so long?" Ethan's heart was pounding. He had already seen three men in black walking down the stairs and found the person he had knocked unconscious on the ground.

"50 seconds, hurry up!" Those men in black walked over slowly with guns raised!

"Boom!" Ethan was knocked away by a huge shock again. This time he was far enough away and the blast was successful!

The three men in black were badly damaged by the explosion, and Ethan rushed over to deal with them quickly.

He cast a glance before passing the blasted door.

The interior of the room was much larger than he had imagined, surrounded by various ancient documents and some very ancient-looking instruments. On a display stand in the center, there was a pocket watch that looked very ancient, but shone with a strange light.