"Quit stirring things up," Officer Logan said, glaring at Vincent Moretti with a stern look. "You're a loan shark, and I'm a cop. Who do you think people are going to believe?"
Elliot Hayes glanced at the arguing crowd, and he knew Officer Logan wasn't lying—he was definitely a cop.
But the direction he was going was off.
Maybe it was his profession, maybe it was his sense of justice, but Elliot couldn't help trying to get everyone to calm down and organize themselves.
The break had already gone on for a while, and the noise gradually died down.
In that time, Elliot had repeated "My name is James Miller" in his head countless times, until it started to annoy him.
After all, there was a broken corpse lying beside him, which made it impossible to focus.
Blood was dripping off the table, and the smell was getting stronger. Everyone had been in the room with the body for almost an hour, and a strange stench was starting to fill the air.
Elliot Hayes glanced indifferently at the corpse next to him. His pants were already filthy.
When a person dies, their organs lose control of their muscles, leading to incontinence in the short term.
Before the stench of death could fully hit, the foul odor was already overwhelming.
Elliot and another woman were sitting on either side of the body, and she seemed especially bothered by the smell, constantly holding her nose.
Another ten minutes passed, and Basic Gemini finally spoke up. "The twenty-minute break is over, the game will resume."
The young man, Damien Reid, took a deep breath, steadied himself, and said, "My name is Damien Reid, and I'm a web novel writer."
"Before I came here, I was writing the final chapter of a novel in my rented house. There are over a hundred characters in the book, and nearly all of them needed to make an appearance in the final chapter, so I was completely focused on writing and didn't hear anything happening outside."
"In fact… I don't even know when the earthquake happened or when I lost consciousness…"
Damien Reid's story was different from everyone else's. It seemed like he was completely independent, and his narrative ended abruptly after just a few sentences.
"That's it?" The burly man blinked in confusion. "You just say 'I don't know,' and that's your story?"
"Because I can't lie, I have no reason to make something up to fit in with the rest of you," Damien Reid's voice, though quiet, was strangely convincing.
"Alright... next," Officer Logan said, still looking skeptical. "It's time for the lady."
"Hey, cop," Vincent Moretti said, clearly annoyed by Officer Logan's attitude, "We're all participants here, don't act like you're the captain."
"Someone has to organize us, right?" Officer Logan retorted. "I've said it before, there's only one enemy among us, the other eight need to stick together."
"That doesn't mean you get to be in charge," Vincent Moretti dismissed Officer Logan's words with a wave. "Out there, maybe I'd be scared of you, but in here, who knows if you're the liar?"
"Enough, you two," the cold woman interrupted.
This cold woman had been criticizing Basic Gemini for locking them up for 24 hours from the start. She was clear and calm.
Once the arguing quieted down, she continued, "This so-called game... no matter who wins, the rest of us might be considered indirect murderers, since we all voted for Basic Gemini to kill him. That's what you should be thinking about."
At those words, Elliot Hayes's face twitched slightly.
If he really made it out of here alive, then yes, he had killed the other eight people.
But what could he do?
The card in front of him clearly said liar. Who would willingly give up their life and let others live?
"I'm Vivian Hart, a lawyer," the woman said, folding her arms, her face expressionless. "It's a shame to meet you all in such a strange place, otherwise, I'd definitely hand out my business card."
No one understood Vivian Hart's humor, but she didn't seem to care.
"Before coming here, I was organizing court documents. My client was scammed out of two million dollars, the amount was huge and the case was serious."
When she mentioned the two million, everyone reacted normally, but Vincent Moretti was clearly shocked and asked, "Two million?"
"Yes, two million. They say lawyers are the most fair and just people, but we do have personal connections. That man borrowed from a loan shark to feed his family, which is concerning. But the illegal lending is a separate issue, not related to me."
"When the earthquake hit, I was driving to meet my client. I was near Mission Ysleta, I remember… I wasn't driving fast, about forty miles an hour. Suddenly, I saw the ground crack ahead of me."
"I slammed the brakes and stopped just before the crack, but the car behind me didn't react in time, and there was a chain collision."
"I heard a few loud crashes, and my car got pushed into the crack. Then I passed out and ended up here."
Another story ended, and now only three people were left to share theirs.
"Mission Ysleta…" the middle-aged doctor thought for a moment. "Is that the Mission Ysleta in El Paso?"
"Yes, I work in El Paso."
Looks like the earthquake had spread across the country.
Based on these unfamiliar stories, guessing who's lying was impossible.
"Now it's my turn." Officer Logan looked at the group. "I already said my name earlier. I'm Li Shangwu, a detective from Reno."
"Before I came here, I was watching a fraud suspect. Reliable information had pinpointed his exact location."
"This suspect had scammed a huge amount, two million dollars. It was the first major fraud case of the year in my city."
"My partner and I were monitoring from the car, just waiting for the suspect to show up."
"But the suspect was smarter than we expected. He seemed to sense danger and didn't show up for three straight days."
"We had been in the car for three days, with no food or water. We were about to break."
"But you know what's worse than having nothing to eat or drink for an adult man?"
"It's running out of cigarettes."
"We had no smokes left. By the rules, we couldn't leave our post, but it was unbearable without cigarettes."
"So I sent my partner to run and buy some, while I kept my eyes on the suspect's place."
"But just after he left, the earth started shaking. I was about to get out of the car to see what was going on when suddenly I felt something tight around my neck."
"Even though we were trained in close combat, that thin line around my neck was hard to deal with. I couldn't even reach the person behind me or get rid of the line."
Everyone glanced at Officer Logan, and they could clearly see a red mark on his neck.
"I immediately laid the seat back to breathe, but I couldn't turn around. I'm a big guy, and my legs were stuck under the steering wheel."
"While I was lying down, someone hit me on the head with something, and I lost consciousness."
After hearing Officer Logan's story, everyone started to doubt.
He had a completely different story. Everyone else had been knocked unconscious by an accident. But he had been attacked and brought here.
If they had to pick the most suspicious person, wouldn't it be him?