Speaking of keys, Ma Lu remembered that Seta had also given him one last time, it was an Earth Dragon tooth, similarly associated with the Secret Treasure.
When Ma Lu left, he had thrown it into the storage point, and this time he brought it with him, adhering to an attitude of trying his luck.
Upon checking his pockets, he found the Earth Dragon tooth again, but when he got to the stone door, there was no reaction, nor did he see anything resembling a keyhole on the door.
"Hey, could there be many rooms that store the Secret Treasure? Each room corresponding to a different key?"
"I'm not sure either," Mai Mai said, "The existence of the Secret Treasure is a mystery in itself, no one is clear about how many there are, but I think that if there are multiple, there wouldn't be that many. Otherwise, aside from the leader of the Golden Sword, Hogan, no one else would have obtained the Secret Treasure for so long, and there's no reliable information on whether Hogan actually has the Secret Treasure."
"Let's search along the way," Boggy said, "Starting from the place where we met Jinjian, especially in the cave where we fought with Black Hand's men. In the rush, Jinjian shouldn't have been able to hide the key too far."
Everyone then dispersed to search for the key.
Since they were unclear about the exact appearance of the key, they pretty much picked up everything they could find on the road, including but not limited to bones, rocks, and even hair.
However, they still couldn't open the stone door.
Two hours later, the members of the Twin Sunflower Hunting Group were somewhat tired and really couldn't think of any other place Jinjian could have hidden the key.
It wasn't until Ma Lu had a sudden inspiration, "A person like Jinjian who's full of lies constantly led us to believe he tossed the key somewhere else, but perhaps he was just deceiving us."
"But I searched him, more than once, there's no key on him," Boggy said.
"Maybe you didn't search thoroughly enough."
"What do you mean?"
"There are places on a person's body to hide things other than pockets," Ma Lu said.
"Such as?"
"The mouth." While saying this, Ma Lu pried open Jinjian's mouth, reached in with his fingers, and rummaged around but found nothing.
"It seems your theory wasn't accurate."
"No, there's another place." Ma Lu's gaze moved downward, finally resting on Jinjian's buttocks, and he said to Mai Mai, "Your turn now."
"These... look a bit like equipment design diagrams," Mai Mai was the first to speak, "They appear more complex and intricate than the standard equipment available on the market."
Marky also thought of something at this time and whispered, "I remember my teacher talking about it in class, mentioning that about a thousand years ago, our civilization went through a decline and lost a great deal of knowledge."
"Oh, you mean the Great Blackout? The sun disappeared for half a month, all solar devices stopped working, and soon the world was plunged into darkness. End-of-the-world theories raged, chaos broke out everywhere, order was completely broken, and people vented their despair in all kinds of crazy ways."
"What, there was such a history?" Ma Lu said.
"Yeah, the damage caused by the Great Blackout still hasn't been completely undone to this day," Mai Mai said, "These blueprints most likely come from lost technology."
"So these iron plates aren't the secret treasure?"
"I'm afraid that's the case," Mai Mai said, "It seems that Jinjian's information wasn't accurate, but these iron plates are still very valuable. I know a friend who is a weapons expert with his own equipment factory, and he would likely be interested in these plates."
"Will he pay a high price for them?"
Seta was a bit disappointed upon seeing that the room didn't contain the secret treasure, but her hopes were reignited after listening to Mai Mai's words.
"He should. That guy isn't short on cash, and he's obsessed with lost technology," Mai Mai nodded, "We might even be able to ask him to make us a few pieces, so our hunting can be easier in the future."
"That would be great!" Seta was immediately cheered up at the thought of money to be had.
Ma Lu was also in a good mood since they had managed to procure some 4-star ingredients along the way.
Only Boggy's eyes flashed with an imperceptible hint of disappointment, but she concealed it well and showed no signs of it.
After collecting the iron plates, they directed the group to carry the Spiked Leg Tailless Scorpions up, and then brought down the motorcycles left by Jinjian and others, covering the stone slab again.
The sandstorms in the desert were strong, and in just a few dozen minutes, the area would be covered in sand. In a few hours, it would be difficult for outsiders to notice anything out of the ordinary.
But a deputy leader and two full teams missing, Black Horn would certainly not let it go, the question was how long it would take for Sanrew to pin it on the Twin Sunflower Hunting Group.
Jinjian was full of lies, but he was right about one thing; killing him would only escalate the situation.
Boggy seemed to realize this too, her expression becoming slightly solemn before Ma Lu spoke again.
"Since we've come this far, why not finish off Sanrew as well?" Ma Lu said, "...When is he likely to leave the city?"
"..."