Soon, more than two hours had passed.
After more than two hours of digging, a large hole was found in the garden of the apartment building.
The deepest part of this large pit is about five meters deep, and the width of the edge of the pit is more than five meters.
From the pit mouth to the deepest part of the pit, there is a long slope for the excavator to start working.
The soil, sand and gravel dug out of this large pit were immediately transported out of the garden.
It was then transferred by a garbage truck parked on the street outside and transported to a nearby construction site for temporary storage.
When this exploration operation is completed, all the soil will be transported back to backfill this big hole.
The accumulated water generated during the excavation process will be pumped out immediately and drained to the outside through temporary pipes.
Fortunately, there is not much water at the bottom of the pit, which will not affect the excavation work.
While talking, the excavator dug out a lot of soil from the bottom of the pit.
The next moment, Matthew, who had been watching the situation at the bottom of the pit, suddenly shouted to stop the excavator.
Then he observed the situation at the bottom of the pit and then said loudly:
"Sean, we have dug to the top of the tunnel deep underground. If we dig about twenty centimeters further, we will reach the dome of the underground tunnel."
"In order to avoid damaging the underground tunnel, I decided to switch to manual labor for the rest of the excavation work until the top of the underground tunnel was dug out."
At this time, Xiao Ran and the others were sitting under a parasol in the garden, drinking coffee and watching the progress of the excavation.
After hearing Matthew's introduction, Xiao Ran immediately stood up and walked towards the big pit in the center of the garden.
When he came to the edge of the pit, he looked at the situation at the bottom of the pit, then nodded and said:
"Okay, Matthew, I agree with your suggestion and use manual excavation until the vault of this underground tunnel is dug out."
"After digging the vault, don't rush to open the vault to avoid accidents. It's best to detect it first and then find a way to open the vault."
"This secret underground passage has been sealed for more than 200 years. If there were no vents connected to the outside world, the air inside would be extremely dirty and even poisonous."
"For safety reasons, after digging to the vault of the underground tunnel, everyone on site must wear gas masks, and those involved in the excavation must wear full protective clothing."
After the words fell, Matthew immediately nodded and responded:
"Understood, boss, we will be careful"
The two leaders of the Louvre Museum and the Sorbonne University looked at each other, and then nodded in unison, with no objection.
Afterwards, Xiao Ran retreated under the parasol and continued to drink coffee and chat.
Matthew and the others quickly adjusted their excavation plan to get the excavator out of the pit.
Then two exploration team members were sent down to the bottom of the pit. They first scanned it with a metal detector to make sure there were no traps before starting to dig.
Ten minutes later, they had successfully dug to the vault of the underground tunnel and stopped immediately.
Xiao Ran and Henry came to the edge of the pit again and looked at the bottom of the pit.
At this time, a vault made of red bricks appeared at the bottom of the pit. It was mottled but very solid.
Although this result had been expected for a long time, everyone was still excited to see this secret tunnel hidden deep underground being dug out.
"Wow! The specifications of this underground secret passage are not low. It looks quite solid and its scale is not small. I wonder what secrets it hides?"
“I don’t know whether this underground secret passage was sealed by the Public Security Committee during the French Revolution or by someone else?”
"I hope this is sealed by the Public Security Committee. In that case, the things hidden in this underground tunnel may be more precious."
Henry and Connell started talking, and everyone was very excited.
Xiao Ran turned to look at them, then smiled and said:
"Gentlemen, what secrets are hidden in this underground secret passage? What are the metal objects hidden in the secret passage? The answer will be revealed soon."
"Based on the situation of this apartment building, I tend to believe that this underground secret passage was probably sealed by the Public Security Committee. Originally, it might have been a secret escape passage."
"Many members of the Public Security Committee who once lived in this apartment building may have used this secret underground passage. Later, for unknown reasons, they sealed the secret passage and blocked both ends."
After hearing his analysis, Henry and the others nodded.
Next, Xiao Ran pretended to observe the secret tunnel vault at the bottom of the pit carefully for a while, and then said:
"Guys, judging from the condition of this vault, there should be no traps. To be on the safe side, you can use a metal detector to detect it."
"After the detection is completed and it is confirmed to be safe, you can dig out a few meters along the vault, and then find a way to open the vault and start the next step of exploration."
Before he finished speaking, an archaeologist from the Louvre suddenly interrupted.
"Mr. Sean, if we open this underground tunnel from the vault, will it destroy the stress structure of this underground tunnel and cause a large-scale collapse?"
"This secret underground tunnel is located very deep. The other parts that have not been excavated are covered with thick soil, sand and gravel, as well as buildings, which are very heavy."
"If you rashly destroy the vault of the secret passage, it may destroy the stress of the entire secret passage, destroy the existing balance, and lead to collapse. I think it is better to be cautious."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Ran immediately turned to look at the archaeologist, his eyes full of surprise and a bit of appreciation.
The next moment, he smiled and said:
"Professor Renault, right? You are very thoughtful and your concerns are justified. The possibility of causing large-scale collapse does exist."
"But we have already considered this issue. After studying the structure of this underground secret passage, I think it will not collapse, so I thought of opening a gap in the vault and entering this underground secret passage."
"The reason why I made this decision is because of the rooms in the secret passage. The existence of those rooms completely changed the stress situation of this underground secret passage."
"To put it simply, a lot of the pressure that should have been borne by the secret passage vault was transferred to those rooms, making the vault stronger."
"On this point, you can study the relevant detection data again. It will still be some time before the vault of this secret passage is opened. I believe you will find something."
After hearing this, Professor Renault couldn't help but fell into deep thought.
After thinking for a moment, he nodded and said:
"You are right, Mr. Sean. If there are many rooms in the secret passage, it will indeed change the stress on the top of the secret passage."
"We will carefully study the data you detected, hoping to find enough evidence to prove your judgment."
"Of course, no problem, Mr. Renault, we always adhere to the principle of safety first."
Xiao Ran smiled and nodded.
Next, he gave Matthew and the others a few more words.
Then he turned around and took a few steps back, waiting for the result with Henry and the others.
Matthew and the others carried out further exploration and excavation, while Professor Renault and others were studying the structure and stress issues of this underground secret passage.
A few minutes later, the two exploration team members working at the bottom of the pit had completed their detection and basically confirmed that there were no traps.
Immediately afterwards, they started further excavation to broaden the working area.
It took Renault and the others nearly ten minutes to confirm that Xiao Ran's previous judgment was correct.
If an entrance is cut from the vault of the secret passage, it will not destroy the stress of the secret passage and will not cause much damage.
In this way, it will not cause large-scale collapse, resulting in huge irreparable losses.
When they came to this conclusion, Xiao Ran immediately issued instructions for the next step of action.
"Guys, everyone put on gas masks, and then use the water knife to cut an entrance in the vault of this secret passage and see what you can find."
After saying that, he led Henry and the others back, each took a pair of gas masks and put them on.
