Once Don Richi was defeated, the rest of the group emerged from their hiding place thanks to Eduard signaling them with a light, turning something on and off that Lidia recognized well due to the training she was undergoing to become an agent.
Everyone gathered, including Dani, who approached the motionless body of Don Richi and shouted: "That's what happens when you mess with me, ha, ha!" The others stared at him with piercing expressions, causing Dani to lower his head and mutter: "Well, they did it," before retreating behind Eduard.
"What's next?" Lidia asked Eduard in a firm but calm tone.
He turned to Dani and asked if they should also bring this person along. The scientist shook his head.
"We just need to get into the machine room that activates the door for the next level and the ID card he has," Dani explained, nervously adjusting his glasses.
"We saw that the door came out of that wall. The control center must be there. Quickly, look for a switch," Lidia ordered Elena, Maria, and Billy, who began inspecting every corner of the area.
Meanwhile, Lidia meticulously searches for Don Richi's unconscious body.
"I found a hollow part of the wall. I think this might be where the mechanism to open the door is located," Billy pointed out, indicating a specific spot.
Eduard quickly approached the indicated location and, with a precise punch, broke through that section of the wall. Sure enough, there was a lever that lowered with a metallic sound. A mechanism began to hum, and the wall in front of them slowly rose.
"Bingo!" Eduard exclaimed with satisfaction.
For her part, Lidia checked every pocket of Don Richi's lab coat but couldn't find the ID card they needed. Then, she looked at the dog and said:
"It's your turn, Podbe."
Before proceeding, Lidia pulled out the rope she had previously used to tie up Dani and bound the man's hands and feet, ensuring he couldn't escape.
"Alright, now go ahead, Podbe," she said with a smile.
Podbe approached Don Richi and began licking his entire face. The man felt something wet and sticky on his skin, and as he woke up, he saw the dog staring intently at him while licking him.
"What's wrong with you? Where have you been putting that tongue? Stop doing that!" he shouted, trying to push the dog away.
Podbe stopped licking him, and when Don Richi opened his eyes fully, he could see everyone standing in front of him.
"How did I lose? Damn it, this can't be possible! Is this a dream?" he muttered, confused.
Podbe growled softly and barked at him, as if responding to his questions.
"Calm down," Eduard instructed, soothing the dog. "This isn't a dream," he added, crossing his arms.
Don Richi recalled the final moments before his defeat and exclaimed:
"Damn animal, this is all your fault!" he said, glaring at Podbe.
"Don't look at the dog, look at me," Eduard interjected with authority. "Now that we've defeated you, we want your ID so we can move on to the next floor."
"Do you think I'm going to give you anything? Don't even dream about it!" the man tied on the ground responded disdainfully.
"In that case, we'll search for it ourselves. You can stay here tied up until someone comes for you, but as you know, there's no quick way to get up—only by the stairs," Eduard retorted, turning around and entering the control room with the others.
"Wait!" Don Richi shouted, hesitating. "I'll give you the ID card and open the doors so you can move on to the next level if you take me with you, just like you're taking that traitor Dani."
Dani hid behind Lidia, trying to avoid Richi's furious gaze.
"You're not in a position to make deals," Eduard snapped, "but you can come with us. You'll be tied up with those ropes, and Lidia will keep hold of you."
"I accept the deal," Richi said, resigning.
Lidia had Billy adjust the ropes, but not before pulling out her weapon and pointing it at Richi, warning him that if he tried anything, she wouldn't hesitate to shoot. The man thought about escaping, but seeing the determination in Lidia's eyes, he decided to play along. Billy adjusted the bindings, leaving only his hands tied, with some extra rope, so Lidia could pull him if needed.
Billy thought to himself: "This way of tying is terrible; it looks amateurish." He glanced at Lidia and gave a disapproving look, which she caught instantly. Sparks flew between their stares, and Billy grew agitated, muttering:
"It's done, without looking back at Lidia."
"Alright, Richi, where's the ID card?" Eduard asked impatiently.
"It's inside, next to the controls. I never carry it with me when I go out to deal with intruders," Richi commented with an arrogant smile.
They entered the cabin, and Dani quickly pressed the red button that was supposed to activate the stairway doors, but he didn't see Don Richi's ID card.
"Where is it? There's nothing here, Richi," Dani asked, frowning.
"If you untie me, I can show you where it is."
"No, thanks," Lidia replied dryly. "Just give us that ID card."
"Fine, it's on the desk over there," Richi said, nodding toward it.
Eduard approached the desk, but just before touching it, Podbe barked urgently, alerting him. Thanks to his detective mode ability, the dog detected a trap. At that moment, darts shot out from the desk, but Eduard narrowly managed to dodge them.
"That was close," Eduard said, breathing deeply. "Thanks, Podbe."
The dog barked in response. Eduard carefully examined the desk and noticed there was nothing visible. He returned to the others and shouted at Richi:
"No tricks this time, or I'll make sure you go first, and any trap you've set will hit you instead."
Richi was nervous, but inwardly, he wished those intruders would disappear because of having defeated him. "No one defeats me," he repeated to himself. "They'll fall soon," he added with resentment.
Eduard, growing impatient, searched everywhere. He instructed the others not to approach because there might be more traps.
"I know, Podbe can find it. Maybe if I ask him, he'll understand me. Podbe, boy, can you search for that object?"
The dog understood perfectly, though he couldn't speak to them. He activated his detective mode ability and began inspecting the room, detecting all the hidden traps. Suddenly, he spotted a white glow coming from a book on one of the shelves. Immediately, he ran toward it and grabbed a green book. Richi was sweating profusely, visibly tense.
A trap was triggered, launching nails from the wall, but Podbe dodged them with ease. He handed the book to Eduard, who gave him a pat on the head. When Eduard opened it, they found the ID card hidden within its pages.
"Thank you, boy!" Eduard exclaimed with a smile.
As punishment, they placed tape over Richi's mouth so he couldn't speak. On the monitors, they could see the door they needed to follow. But first, everyone's stomachs growled loudly.
"I think it's time to eat, even for the dog," someone joked, causing laughter.
"Reia commented to Podbe—, but what a shame," she said in an ironic and playful tone.
Luckily for everyone, Eduard had brought some cookies and his famous concoction. Everyone ate the cookies, but the drink made them nauseous. They also gave some to Richi, who grimaced in disgust before they taped his mouth shut again.
After finishing their meal, they continued on to the next floor. Upon reaching the entrance, they opened the door and entered. But this floor was desolate, with no signs of life. They began calling out: "Hello, hello!" but no one responded.
"How strange," Dani said aloud. Seeing a large hole in the ceiling, he added: "The other group must have been here, but how could they have made such a big hole without Richi and me noticing? These structures aren't built like they used to be."
Quick and agile, Dani found an elevator that took him to the control room. There, he saw that the doors were already open. He went back down and informed the others:
"Interesting, it seems this floor has already been cleared. Let's move on to the next one."
Everyone followed him, trusting that Dani wouldn't try anything malicious after his confrontation with Richi. When they arrived, they saw the door was open and began descending more stairs.
"Again? No, we're tired of all these stairs," Maria and Billy complained.
"There's no other way; we'll have to keep going," Eduard said, leading the descent behind Dani.
The others followed. As they walked, everyone silently wondered where Adia, Gat, Ezequiel, and Rino were.
On the sixth floor, a hooded figure observed from a balcony a large garden filled with ice statues. Beside her, an eagle-shaped robot chattered away.
"Ah, my beautiful ice oasis, but I'm not going to sing like in that sappy movie song," the figure said, laughing as the robot muttered to itself: "I think she's lost a screw or two."
When she heard the entrance door begin to open, she commented:
"How nice, more statues for my collection—and a dog, that's new," she murmured, watching the newcomers through the monitors.