Elliot Hayes looked troubled. He had already tried, and the fishhook's barbs were so intricately designed that it was almost impossible to pull it out of the body.
Looking at the blood flowing steadily, Elliot Hayes felt a sense of daze.
Had they really died?
Do the dead still get injured?
Elliot Hayes steadied his thoughts. Now was not the time to dwell on such things; the immediate task was to cut the rope.
All the fishhooks were slowly retracting now. How could he use another fishhook to cut the rope?
One thing was certain: once all the ropes retracted into the wall, the fishhooks would disappear, and Damien Reid would die.
"We need to find a fishhook... but what should we do?" Elliot Hayes furrowed his brow and quickly scanned the surroundings.
It was time to gamble once again.
He grabbed two fishhooks that were slowly retracting from the ground and quickly tied their ropes together, tying a secure knot.
"Hey! Stop crowding around Damien Reid." Elliot Hayes said. "Everyone do what I'm doing! At least we need to leave one fishhook."
Seraphina Grace immediately understood what he meant and found two fishhooks, tying a neat knot.
But the knot she tied looked strange, something Elliot Hayes had never seen before.
At this moment, he didn't have time to think much about it and kept his focus on the two fishhooks in front of him.
As the ropes continued to retract, the two ropes were tightly pulled together.
At this rate, it wouldn't take long before one of the ropes would break, leaving only one behind.
Elliot Hayes slowly stepped back, and the ropes began to make a horrifying noise. If his guess was right, under such immense tension, a broken rope might injure someone.
Sure enough, the next moment, one of the ropes made a loud noise and snapped.
The other rope, with the fishhook still attached, wildly swung through the air before violently slamming onto the ground, leaving a deep mark.
Elliot Hayes ran forward, hoping to untie the broken rope before the fishhook was fully retracted into the wall.
But at this point, the two ropes he had tied together were completely deformed from the tremendous force. Not only was it impossible to untie the knot, even the shape of the ropes was hard to identify.
"I'm done!" Seraphina Grace shouted from not far away. "Someone with strength, hurry up and cut the writer's ropes!"
"Done?" Elliot Hayes turned around and saw that Seraphina Grace had tied the ropes so cleverly that when they broke, they automatically separated.
Officer Logan, who hadn't even finished tying his own knot, immediately put down the fishhook in his hand upon hearing this and said, "I'll cut it, give it to me!"
Taking the fishhook, Officer Logan quickly approached Damien Reid, who was about to be pulled into the wall.
Fortunately, although the fishhook appeared sharp, the tip had a small edge, making it useful like a knife.
Vincent Moretti, seeing this, stepped forward to help. Although Elliot Hayes had thought of a solution right away, Damien Reid was already less than half a meter from the wall.
The ripping pain was unbearable for Damien Reid. He had no choice but to slowly retreat with the rope, otherwise, the barbed tip in his chest would make him scream in agony.
Officer Logan grabbed the rope behind him, quickly assessing the situation, and then aimed at the rope closest to Damien Reid's body, beginning to cut with the sharp fishhook.
His hands were steady, each cut hitting the rope precisely.
But the rope was harder than expected, and after several cuts, only small notches were left.
He quickly assessed the situation and realized it was becoming more difficult.
Although the rope would eventually be cut, what they lacked now was time.
Within a minute, Damien Reid's body would make contact with the wall, and cutting the rope from behind would become impossible.
"I'm fucked, is it done yet?" Vincent Moretti asked anxiously. "You're moving so slow, you're going to kill this guy!"
"Shut up!" Officer Logan snapped, then continued to exert more force.
As Damien Reid's body neared the wall, Officer Logan was already drenched in sweat.
His composure was impressive. Even though the atmosphere was tense and suffocating, not once did he miss a cut. Every slice landed precisely on the previous notch.
But seeing Damien Reid's body less than thirty centimeters from the wall, Officer Logan's arm was starting to falter.
Vincent Moretti quickly moved to block Damien Reid's body with his own, cushioning him from the impact. This way, although Damien Reid would take damage sooner, the distance between him and the wall wouldn't change for now.
"Cop! Hurry up!"
Officer Logan took a deep breath, continuing to cut. By now, most of the rope had been severed, but it was still attached.
Damien Reid let out painful screams as the fishhook, after piercing his body, dug back into his chest with its barbs. His clothes were soaked in blood, making the scene horrifying.
"Am I going to die..." Damien Reid gritted his teeth and said. "I really am, aren't I... who's trying to kill us..."
"Be a man!" Officer Logan said sternly. "There are so many people trying to save you, don't act like a girl!"
Damien Reid immediately stopped whining upon hearing this. He knew Officer Logan was right. Everyone was running around trying to help, and he couldn't drag them down.
The barbed fishhook was deeply embedded in Damien Reid's flesh, and he let out a muffled grunt, clenching his teeth.
Dr. Clarke immediately grabbed a cloth and shoved it into his mouth.
After all, in extreme pain, a person might bite their own teeth to pieces.
Everyone surrounded Damien Reid.
The short twenty seconds felt like hours. Officer Logan, calm and collected, continued to cut the rope.
Finally, with one last precise slice, the tough rope was severed.
At the same moment, both Damien Reid and Vincent Moretti collapsed onto the ground, exhausted.
The others rushed over to help them up.
It seemed that Damien Reid had survived.
Dr. Clarke immediately pulled Damien Reid to one side and began examining his wound. The injury was as expected, and he still needed to remove the fishhook from the front.
The most difficult problem now was stopping the bleeding.
Dr. Clarke pondered for a moment, then used several pieces of cloth to plug the wound near the fishhook.
"Hey, doctor, aren't you going to remove the fishhook?" Vincent Moretti asked.
"We can't remove it, he'll die if we do." Dr. Clarke said with a serious expression.
"Die?" Vincent Moretti asked, puzzled, pushing Dr. Clarke. "What the hell? We went through so much effort, and now you're not saving him?"
"I am saving him!" Dr. Clarke impatiently shrugged off Vincent Moretti's hand. "To be blunt, the fishhook has to stay in him for him to survive."
"Why?" Emily Parker, who was nearby, couldn't help but ask.
"If the fishhook is removed, all that will be left is a wound that keeps bleeding, and death will just be a matter of time." Dr. Clarke answered calmly. "For now, leaving the fishhook in him, although it will cause pain, at least he won't die from blood loss. Those small wounds will stop bleeding temporarily once the blood clots."