Chapter 341: Picking locks

Ivy once again went around the factory to see if she could find a window, or perhaps another door that was easier to open. Opening the main shutter would not be a wise idea when there were chances of workers coming to report for their daily work any time now. And to her happiness, she found a small door towards the left of the entrance gate. Although it still seemed to be a difficult option to open it when she had no idea how strong it was, she could at least try.

"Come on, Ivy.' Let's get to work. Ivy mumbled under her breath and she tried to unlock the lock on the shutter using a hairpin. But it was of no use. The lock was of a different kind than she was used to. So, this attempt of hers went futile. However, she was not short of ideas. She had come prepared for her mission. She removed her backpack and dug inside, trying to find the tool she wanted.

Ronnie had been observing Ivy struggle with the lock and he wondered if he should help her with it, just like how Kaito was wondering the same in his mind. They both gave each a look and then Ronnie nodded at him. He took a step forward with the intention of helping the girl when he stopped suddenly hearing Ivy exclaim.

"Ah ha, found it." Although Ivy's voice was not too loud, the two men were too close to her. So, they could hear whatever she was muttering to herself. Ivy had pulled out a lock pick set and a torque wrench. She checked the best suitable lock pick for the lock and then inserted it carefully. She then supported the lock pick with the wrench and when she got the correct grip, Ivy started to rotate it clockwise.

At first, nothing happened and for a second, Ivy feared the lock pick to have bent inside. If that was the case, then it would only make matters worse. "Please, please, please. Open up." She begged softly and the next second, there was a small tick and the lock had opened. "Yes."

Ivy then repeated the same procedure with the other lock and now she could open the shutter with ease. Meanwhile, Ronnie and Kaito could only gape at each other in shock seeing Ivy's abilities. The girl surely knew her way and was always well prepared. Ivy pulled the shutter up just enough for her to crawl inside and left it open for the two men to get inside. Thankfully, the shutter did not make any noise. Or else, they would have attracted the two guards.

There was absolute darkness inside the factory and Ivy could not even see her next step. Ronnie had closed the shutter as soon as he and Kaito had made it in safely and due to the auto-lock system, he did not have to worry about the lock again. 

Ivy pulled out a torch she had with her while she threw another one to Kaito. She knew that they did not have one and it was her fault, she should have informed them about it before. But, it was not a problem. She had brought three with her for precautions. Ivy could have used the torch in her phone, but she did not want to waste the phone charge this way. Who knew when she would be needing it, to take photographs or record a video perhaps?

The three people took careful steps, this time, Ronnie and Kaito moving closer to Ivy than before. They had no idea what was in the factory and even if there was someone staying here. They did not want to take risks, not when there was absolute darkness around them.

"Please be careful, Miss." Ronnie alerted from behind while he ran his eyes around the area illuminated by his torch. He was on high alert now as they were in an unknown territory.

The three people toured around the factory, taking a thorough look inside. However, they found nothing extraordinary. It was a normal food package industry, nothing significant. They were only canned and packed foods around them and nothing weird. Ivy was secretly delighted on being here. If things got delayed, then she would not be starving at least with so much food around her.

They toured the factory twice, thrice trying to see if they had missed something. But no. They could not find anything suspicious. However, Ronnie found something finally on their last try. It was a hidden stairway, that led to the underground. At first, the stairway was not noticeable at all. It was perfectly hidden behind a fake wall, which did not seem fake at all.

It had been Ronnie's sheer luck to have stumbled upon it when he had leaned against it for support. The wall behind him had moved with him and this raised suspicion in him. He knocked at it testing it only to find that it was a wooden partition. He searched around trying to find anything that would move the wall and he noticed a small knob which was right beside the conveyor belt. Ronnie turned it and the wall before him separated, leading to a hidden stairway.

The sudden noise made Ivy to turn to him and her eyes widened in disbelief. Who knew there would be a fake wall and that the knob they had assumed to be one to run the conveyor belt was in fact the key to move the wall?

Ivy smiled in happiness and gave Ronnie a thumbs up for finding it. She wanted to dash forward and take a look at where the stairs led her, but Kaito stopped her right in time. "Why?" Ivy whispered, frowning slightly at being stopped. It was not like she was not being careful.

"Miss, there might be someone on the other side. Please follow our instructions this time. Please. We do not want to take any risks, do we?" Kaito whispered back politely.

"But.."

"Miss, he is right. Please stay in the middle and bear with us this one time. Please." Ronnie begged. The fact there was a hidden wall was enough to send them warning signals. They had seen a lot of cases of these kinds and usually, the chances of finding someone guarding from the other side was damn too high. 

Ivy reluctantly agreed to their words. Although she had no problems with going in alone, she did not act stubborn. Since the two were stressing on this issue this much, she relented to their wishes and allowed them to do as they wished.

The three people now tip-toed down the stairs with Ivy in between Ronnie and Kaito. However, Ronnie had to stop halfway in the middle, making the other two behind him to halt, when he met two burly looking men looking at the trio with narrowed eyes.

"Uh oh. Damn it." Ivy muttered under her breath. Ronnie's fears had come true and they had people waiting for them on the other side.

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