Coming closer, David handed the metal detector directly to Xiao Ran.
"Sean, this metal detector is ready to use without any problems."
Xiao Ran nodded and immediately took the metal detector.
"Okay, let me scan this altar and see if I can find anything."
With that said, he turned on the metal detector and checked it quickly.
As David said, there are no issues with this metal detector and it is in top condition.
Immediately afterwards, Xiao Ran put the metal detector's probe on the surface of the altar and started scanning.
The moment the exploration pan touched the altar, a pleasant chirping sounded immediately.
The moment they heard this voice, David and Christopher were stunned at the same time.
The next moment, a look of surprise appeared on their faces.
"Sean, there are obviously some metal objects hidden inside this altar. What could they be?"
David asked impatiently.
"Is this the holy object we are looking for? This is too easy."
Christopher continued.
Xiao Ran did not respond to them immediately, but continued to scan other locations on the altar with the probe.
Next, the chirping sound of the metal detector never stopped and kept ringing.
While detecting, Xiao Ran was also analyzing the detected metal signals and guessing what the metal objects hidden in the altar were.
Of course, this is just acting.
He knew exactly what was hidden in this Skull and Bones altar.
After performing for a while, he felt that the heat was almost done, so he stopped what he was doing.
As the metal detector coil left the altar, the continuous chirping stopped abruptly.
Afterwards, Xiao Ran thought for a moment, then shook his head and said:
"There are many metal objects hidden in this marble altar that was built later, but this is not a good thing."
"Judging from the distribution and general shape of these metal items, these metals are likely to be steel bars."
"The purpose of these steel bars is to reinforce the altar and seal the original flue to prevent anyone from sneaking in through the flue."
"That is to say, the altar and the flue above are all made of reinforced concrete. It is difficult to explode even with explosives."
"Such a place obviously cannot be used to hide sacred objects. In that case, no one can take out the sacred objects. This is unreasonable."
"ah!"
David and Christopher both exclaimed, a little disappointed.
Then, they nodded again.
"It is true. If it is all reinforced concrete, it will be difficult to demolish, and the only way to do it is to use violent means."
"This is inconsistent with President Taft's original intention of leading people to hide those sacred objects. They wanted to protect the sacred objects, not completely destroy them!"
Christopher nodded and said, obviously agreeing with Xiao Ran's judgment.
Hearing his words, Xiao Ran's eyes suddenly lit up.
The next moment, he took two steps back and looked up at the wall above the altar.
Directly above the altar, two portraits of Skull and Bones members hang alternately.
The people in these two portraits are two former US presidents, both of whom are famous.
One was Taft, who led people to bury several sacred objects, and the other was George H.W. Bush.
Bush's portrait is slightly lower, while Taft's portrait is higher, more than five meters above the ground.
Xiao Ran looked at the two portraits, especially the one by Taft, and then fell into deep thought.
After a while, he said:
"Christopher, your words reminded me that this may be a direction to explore."
"Since these are the sacred objects that Taft led his men to hide, we might as well pay more attention to him."
"When your club remodeled this fireplace and turned it into an altar, Taft had just graduated a few years ago."
"Later he became president and his status within the Skull and Bones Society was greatly improved, so he was able to hang his portrait here."
"In this case, there may be some secret hidden behind his portrait."
Hearing his analysis, Christopher couldn't help being dumbfounded.
After thinking for a moment, he immediately nodded excitedly.
"You are right, Sean. It is really possible, and the possibility is very high."
"President Taft's portrait has been hanging in this location for more than a hundred years and has never changed its location."
"He knew where the sacred objects were hidden, and he did not rule out the possibility that he hung his portrait in front of the sacred objects."
"Behind his portrait, which happens to be the original flue of the fireplace, there is plenty of room to hide things"
Xiao Ran nodded slightly, then smiled and said:
"Christopher, I need a ladder that can go up and down. Go up and check what's behind Taft's portrait. Maybe you'll find something."
Before he finished speaking, Christopher nodded eagerly and said:
"We have prepared an extension ladder that can rise to a height of seven meters, which is completely sufficient."
After saying that, the guy walked towards the wall on the west side of the hall.
On the floor over there, there is a retractable aluminum ladder.
In the blink of an eye, Christopher was coming with a ladder.
Then under Xiao Ran's command, the ladder was set up in front of the altar close to the wall.
However, Xiao Ran did not immediately climb up the ladder to check. After thinking for a while, he said:
"Christopher, for safety reasons, I suggest you take down the portraits of Taft and Bush Sr. from the wall to avoid accidents."
"We can cooperate with you to protect these two portraits. After taking down these two portraits, I will go up to investigate the situation."
Christopher would naturally not refuse such a proposal.
He nodded in agreement without thinking.
"No problem, Sean, we really need to protect the portraits of these two presidents."
Later, under Xiao Ran's emphasis.
The guy first tied a safety rope and took safety measures before boarding the ladder.
After a while, the portraits of Taft and George H.W. Bush that were originally hanging on the wall were taken down one after another and placed on the floor.
Afterwards, Xiao Ran tied a safety rope around his waist, held the metal detector in one hand, and climbed onto the ladder.
As he climbed, he paused for a moment every two steps.
Then use a metal detector to scan the wall to see what's inside.
The location he explored was the former fireplace flue.
As he moved, the metal detector kept beeping.
Through the detected metal signal, he analyzed it in a blink of an eye.
These metal items in the walls are all steel bars used to seal the flue, not gold and silver treasures or antiques.
But when he reached the top of the ladder and extended his coil toward the area where Taft's portrait had previously been hung, the metal detector suddenly went silent.
This sudden change stunned the three people present.
Immediately afterwards, Christopher cheered excitedly.
"Great! The metal detector stopped ringing, which means there are no metal objects in this wall."
"Does this mean that there is an unknown secret space inside this wall?"
"Those sacred objects that have been missing for a long time are not metal objects, so they cannot be scanned by metal detectors."
David, who was standing under the ladder for protection, also had eyes shining with excitement.
However, Xiao Ran did not give a conclusion immediately.
He took the metal detector and quickly scanned the area and surrounding area where Taft's portrait was originally hung.
When the metal detector's coil moved up half a meter, the metal signal sound that had just disappeared appeared again.
Move thirty centimeters to the left and right, and the same situation will occur.
Hearing the chirping sound again, both David and Christopher froze on the spot, a little confused.
Xiao Ran, who was standing on the herringbone ladder, fell into deep thought.
After pretending to think about it, he said:
"It is basically certain that there is a secret space in the wall behind Taft's portrait."
"This secret space is about half a meter high and 60 centimeters wide. It is not yet clear how deep it is."
"It is currently unknown what is hidden in this secret room, but there is definitely no metal object."
"It may contain those holy objects, or it may be empty. Only by opening it and checking can we know the result."
Hearing this, Christopher was so excited that he almost flew up.
"Then what are you waiting for? Sean, let's find a way to open this secret compartment!"
"I have to say, you are really amazing, you can always create all kinds of miracles!"
David, too, couldn't wait any longer.
However, Xiao Ran smiled and shook his head.
"Don't rush to open this secret compartment now, Christopher, it won't be too late to do it later!"
