Elliot Hayes, while trying hard to turn the table, said, "The first letters of the cities Reno, Indianapolis, Greensboro, Houston, and Tucson form 'right,' which means 'right' or 'correct.'"
"Miami, Orlando, and El Paso start with M, O, and E."
"No matter where Damien Reid's city is, as long as it starts with V, it will form 'Move,' so the answer was already determined from the beginning."
The group sped up their movements, casting strange looks at Elliot Hayes.
His thinking was too unconventional, but he had uncovered two answers consecutively, which made the others start to question him.
Elliot Hayes himself realized this, so he spoke to the group: "Don't misunderstand. If the next game requires abandoning you to save myself, I'll do whatever it takes to survive."
Upon hearing this, the others fell silent and clenched their teeth, continuing to turn the table.
The nine people gathered around the table, turning it towards the right.
"How many turns have we made?" Vincent Moretti asked.
"Twenty-six," Seraphina Grace replied.
"How can you count it?" Vincent Moretti blinked. "The table looks the same all over."
"I counted the bloodstains on the table," Seraphina Grace said seriously. "Counting is important for us psychologists."
Elliot Hayes furrowed his brows. "Not even thirty turns yet. We need to hurry."
Everyone quieted down and sped up their movements.
However, the table became harder to move as they went along; it seemed the internal chains were tightening.
"What's going on?" Vincent Moretti gritted his teeth. "This is too heavy."
"Keep going... maybe it's connected to the door!" Sasha Venus said, grinning.
Her words gave the group a glimmer of hope amidst their despair.
A door.
Since this room could magically create holes, why couldn't it create a door?
Though everyone's arms were sore, they continued turning the table, one circle after another.
"Don't give up! Only five more turns left!" Seraphina Grace shouted.
At this moment, everyone was clenching their teeth, exerting all their strength. No one dared slack off.
Jangle... Jangle...
With the final turn, it was obvious the table had been fitted into something.
Everyone sighed in relief, feeling the soreness in their arms.
There were only three minutes left until 1:15.
"Where's the door?!" Vincent Moretti yelled anxiously.
The walls around them remained unchanged, and they could still see the cold gleam of the harpoons in the dark holes.
"Fuck! There's no door!" Vincent Moretti's voice carried a hint of despair.
"We were wrong! We guessed wrong!" Emily Parker screamed, "We should have turned left, right?! We shouldn't have trusted that liar! We're all going to die here!!"
Elliot Hayes frowned...
Wrong?
Before anyone could react, the clock in the center of the table suddenly did something unusual.
It shook slightly, then shot out eight laser beams.
The beams moved slowly from the clock to the edge of the table and stopped.
To everyone's confusion, the clock precisely divided the table into nine equal-sized sectors, like a pizza.
"Crash!"
With a loud sound, the table broke apart.
The clock at the center was now left standing on a small wooden post.
Time was too tight, and everyone was flustered.
"What is this?" Damien Reid shouted. "The table shattered?"
Officer Logan, with his years of experience, noticed that each sector of the table had a handle on the back. He instantly understood what was going on.
"It's a shield!"
He picked up one of the table sectors and held it in front of him.
"We can use these shields to block the harpoons!"
Hearing this, everyone else quickly raised their own table sectors.
However, just seconds later, they realized the problem.
"How do we block?" Attorney Hart asked, showing rare signs of panic. "With harpoons coming from all directions, we can only block one side."
"We need to cooperate," Elliot Hayes said as he regained his composure. "We form a circle and cover each other's backs."
The others quickly adjusted their formation and waited in silence.
At that moment, Elliot Hayes glanced at writer Damien Reid and noticed sweat on his face, his whole body shaking with visible tension.
Outside the room, in the distant corner, the sound of a bell rang again.
"Are you okay?" Elliot Hayes asked.
"N-No, I'm fine..." Damien Reid shook his head.
"Hey! Dr. Clarke, turn your shield over!" Attorney Hart suddenly called out.
"Why?" Dr. Clarke looked at his shield, which had its sharp end facing down.
"If you leave it like that, it won't block my legs!" Attorney Hart said, panicked. "I'll get hit!"
"If I turn it over, it won't block my head!" Dr. Clarke retorted, "Which is more important, my head or my legs?"
Some people, after hearing the argument, thought Dr. Clarke made a valid point, and they all started turning their shields the same way.
Sharp end down, wide end up.
This created a strange situation.
Harpoons coming from all directions would only be blocked by the upper half of the shield, meaning everyone's legs would be hit.
"Is this really right?" Emily Parker hesitated, "Even if we hide our legs behind the sharp end, what about the harpoons coming from behind? And the ones coming from above?"
"I'll block the top!" Officer Logan raised his shield. "Everyone get closer. I'll protect you."
Seraphina Grace quickly thought it through and said, "The rest of us should arrange ourselves with a staggered formation! We can all stand in different positions!"
"Yes! That makes sense!" Vincent Moretti agreed.
"No," Elliot Hayes interrupted them, "If everyone positions their shields vertically against the harpoons, they'll be easily pierced..."
"Well then, what do you suggest, genius?" Vincent Moretti asked.
Elliot Hayes' gaze fell on the mask lying on the floor.
"Why aren't bamboo shoots afraid of the rain?"
The last clue made Elliot Hayes pause for thought.
"Wait... wait a minute... give me more time," Elliot Hayes frowned.
Everyone held their breath, watching as time ticked away, leaving only a minute until the harpoons were fired.
"Forget about him!" Dr. Clarke shouted, "Let's just arrange ourselves like Seraphina Grace said, staggered!"
"Shut up, asshole!" Vincent Moretti yelled, "I trust the liar's words."
"You!" Dr. Clarke gritted his teeth and swallowed his words.
"Got it!" Elliot Hayes suddenly widened his eyes. "Everyone, sharp end up!"
Though some were skeptical, most people, with their minds blank, had no choice but to follow his instructions.
Dr. Clarke hesitated for a moment but also turned his shield the way Elliot Hayes said.
"Everyone, crouch down!" Elliot Hayes continued. "Move the sharp ends to the back and get closer together. Officer Logan, you don't need to block the top anymore. Join us!"
Under Elliot Hayes' direction, they slowly arranged all the sectors in a line, forming a cone.
No one had expected that all the sectors would fit together perfectly, blocking gaps from all sides and above.
From a distance, the cone looked like a bamboo shoot waiting for a downpour.
Everyone's hearts pounded in the tense silence, with only their breathing filling the space.
"It's coming..."
Elliot Hayes calculated the time in his head, then signaled quietly.
The next moment, everyone heard a sharp sound of wind, followed by an invisible object crashing into Elliot Hayes' shield.
Then came the sounds of harpoons crashing in from all directions, like a violent storm.
The force of the harpoons was unexpectedly strong, and everyone felt their arms aching from the shock. They could barely hold onto their shields.
Fortunately, all the shields were now pressed together, creating a delicate balance.
"Ah!"
Suddenly, a harpoon pierced the shield in front of Emily Parker, making her scream.
Elliot Hayes turned and saw the harpoon stop just two or three centimeters from Emily Parker's eyes.
Had the shield not been strong enough, she would have been dead by now.