Chapter 199: Opening The Blocked Gate

At the end of a corridor, several broken planks and old containers seemed to be lying. It was evident that it had become a place to throw refuse and had not been in use for a long time.

From the gaps of rubbish, one could see a metal gate hidden behind it all. That was nothing but the second gate of the basement. From the outside, it had been chained and locked, with its key been missing for ages.

"That gate? We haven't gotten around to opening it though?" Kiana questioned.

"Oh, we will be able to do it rather easily, now that we have some new 'tools' to ourselves," Lucius stated, gesturing to the Lost.

"Ah, I see. But still, it might be a bit too much letting them be seen by others, won't it?" Kiana asked.

"For that, I have a solution… well at least a temporary one." Lucius said and went to one of the cabinets at the side of the lab.

Opening it, one could see different kinds of robes hanging inside it. Seeing them, Kiana instantly understood what Lucius was intending to do.

"These should be fine… might be a bit small, but will be enough to hide their appearance, mostly." Kiana said.

"Mmhmm, we should get some that are their size made as well. Just so we are ready for the next time." Lucius replied.

"Alright, I'll get some tailors to make a few sets of large sized robes." Kiana replied.

Lucius nodded his head and turned to the first Lost he had made. 

'Let's take only one of them for now.' Lucius thought before commanding Doyle, "follow me." 

"Eng!" Doyle grunted in repose and started to follow behind Lucius.

They went to the blocked door at the end and stopped.

"Clear this out and open the gate." Lucius ordered.

Doyle immediately went ahead and pushed the items that were blocking the way with his large hands.

~thud~thud~thud~

They were like a kid's toy to Doyle and he moved them around easily. Once a path was opened for them, Doyle looked at the large metal gate that blocked their path. Doyle didn't directly attack it, though, which was what Lucius had actually guessed.

"Oh… interesting. His intelligence is certainly better." Lucius muttered to himself.

Rather than attacking directly, Doyle looked at the gate and estimated what would be the best way to open it. He first placed his hands on the gates and tried to push them.

~Creak~

The doors made a creaking sound as a faint crack was also heard. Over time, the door had rusted and the seam that was between the two gates had joined up due to the growing rust.

But now that seam was cracked by the force of Doyle and the gate was moved. 

~Weeng~

The sound of metal bending could be heard as Doyle increased his force and the latch that blocked it started to bend. The Bar had rusted enough that it could no longer be moved and the only way to open it would be to fully break it.

~DENG~ 

The latch broke and the metal gates were directly pushed outwards.

~clang~

But before they could go beyond a certain point, they were blocked by the chains that restricted the gates from outside. But along with the opening of the gate, a faint breeze could be felt coming from the gaps.

The fresh air entered from the outside, blowing the damp basement air to the back.

~Creak~

The Chain started being strained and the gate spread apart even more. 

"Hnggg!" Seeing the gap in the door and the Chain behind it, Doyle stopped pushing.

Instead, he extended his hand and clasped the chain, pulling on it inward. Then with both his hands, he pulled it apart.

~SNAP~

The chain broke apart like dried straw under the strength of Doyle and the gate was now free to be opened.

~Creak~

Doyle pushed the gates apart, making a creaking sound. The hinges of the gates had also rusted, causing them to be hard to move. 

"There we go. That was perfect Doyle." Lucius couldn't help but praise.

He had seen Lost work before and they thought more with their muscles than they did with their brain. But it was evident the Lost he had made was far more intelligent than the ones he was used to before.

'The only question is if all of them will be like this, or is this one unique?' Lucius thought to himself.

"Come here Doyle, put this on." Lucius ordered.

Doyle walked towards him and picked up the large robe from his hands. He looked at it and moved it over his back, but it just ended up falling down.

~Sigh~

"Seems like fine motor actions like these will need more experience." Lucius muttered to himself.

He then picked up the robe and asked Doyle to kneel so that it could be put on. The robe was a rather simple robe with only a hood and no sleeves. It draped over the body and was tied at the front around the neck.

This was the only robe that Doyle could use as all others that Lucius had here in the lab came with sleeves that were far too small for Doyle. Besides, they would be getting bigger ones made later, and thus Lucius didn't really mind it for now.

And Doyle wouldn't mind it either as well… he simply could not; he didn't have the mental acuity for that yet.

"Keep this part above your head at all times," Lucius said while pointing to the hood at the top. 

"Eng!" Doyle responded with a grunt and pulled on it to bring it to the front.

~RIP~

But then, a part of the hood was torn due to his strength and the sharp claws.

~Sigh~

Shaking his head, Lucius simply decided to make better robes later.

"We'll get some thick hide robes for them." Kiana commented.

"Yes, that might be for the best." Lucius nodded his head before looking outside the gate.

"We should head out, now that we are finally done." Lucius stated.