The old mill entrance opened before noon.
Atlas engineers found it beneath the western foundation, hidden behind a collapsed grain storage room and nearly three meters of packed soil. The original stairwell had been deliberately filled with stone, timber, and lime mortar, but age and underground movement had cracked the seal enough for air to escape through the floorboards. Once the mill was evacuated and the surrounding ground secured, the engineers removed the debris layer by layer rather than risk dropping the entire structure into the tunnel beneath it.
Marcus arrived as the final stone block was lifted aside.
