Stronghold (21)

The researchers were surprised to see us which was a surprise to us.

It seemed that they had only blocked the door as a last resort, but they had never expected it to actually be needed.

After all, they never thought that the group that they had sent to rescue Gargamel would fail.

But the daze that they were in only lasted a few seconds before the researchers quickly gave orders. Once those orders were given, the creatures that were with them moved into position to block us.

They also seemed like they were prepared to attack at any moment.

The only reason that they didn't was because they saw the blood that was on Gargamel's neck.

The researchers had shown surprised looks when they saw this, which meant that they knew about his powerful defenses. However, it didn't seem like they were able to figure out what had broken through those defenses.