Chapter 5: Dr. Escano

"I..." Blue Coat seemed calmer than the others, unaffected even by the corpse on the table. "My name is Sidney Escano, I'm a doctor, as you can tell from my attire."

He reached to tug at his dirty blue coat and continued, "Before coming here, I was performing surgery on a woman. She had an intraventricular tumor that was growing rapidly, causing mild hydrocephalus over the past six months. Without immediate craniotomy, there was a risk to her life."

"I opted for a frontal approach surgery, directly puncturing into the ventricle under CT guidance. This type of surgery carries significant risks every time, but the woman chose to take the chance to be with her young son for the long term."

"Normally, in the operating room, even a slight breeze is unacceptable to maintain stability. But who would have thought something more powerful than the wind would come."

"When the earthquake struck, I had just removed the woman's skull and was cutting the dura mater. If something went wrong at this step, it could easily cause brain injury, leaving devastating consequences."

"I made a decisive decision to terminate the surgery and temporarily cover the woman's skull. Otherwise, her life would have been in danger in the dusty environment."

"But this step was more difficult than I had imagined. I couldn't even stand steady, let alone accurately cover a small piece of skull."

"The nurse beside me bumped into me, and everyone couldn't maintain their balance. In the chaos, I could only use a sterile sheet to cover the woman's head first, then immediately turn around to organize everyone to evacuate. But at this moment, I was hit by a medical cart on my leg and fell to the ground."

"Before I could stand up again, the ceiling of the operating room cracked open, and I immediately lost consciousness."

After listening to the doctor's story, everyone's complexion didn't look natural.

He used a lot of medical terms in this story.

If there was a term that was made up, no one would be able to identify it.

"Doctor Escano, where are you from?" the muscular man casually asked.

"I don't feel obliged to answer your question," Dr. Escano replied. "I've finished my story."

The muscular man opened his mouth as if to say something but then remained silent.

"Is it my turn?" a bespectacled young man with a hesitant look asked, "My name is Walter Nitsche, I'm a..."

"Wait," Snow Wolf suddenly interrupted Walter's speech.

This action startled Walter, who turned back in confusion.

"What... what's going on?" 

"It's 'halftime,'" Snow Wolf chuckled awkwardly. "We'll take a twenty-minute break now." 

Everyone seemed a bit bewildered. 

A halftime break at a time like this? 

Lucas glanced at the clock in the center of the table. It had been half an hour since he woke up. It was now twelve thirty. 

"So, this 'break' is mandatory," Lucas silently reminded himself, "At twelve thirty, regardless of who the speaker is, there will be a mandatory twenty-minute break..." 

But the game had only been going on for thirty minutes, and now they were taking a twenty-minute break? 

Lucas furrowed his brow, knowing this wasn't something he needed to worry about. 

The organizer of this game was clearly eccentric, and there was no point in trying to rationalize it with normal thinking. 

So, he repeated the phrase "My name is Jack Brown, I'm from Virginia" over and over in his mind, preparing for when it was his turn to speak. 

The others waited silently, their expressions showing their discomfort. 

It was called a "halftime break," but the atmosphere among the group became even more tense.

"Um... can we talk during the break?" the muscular man asked Snow Wolf.

"Oh, of course, you all have free time now, and I have no right to interfere." 

the muscular man nodded, then turned to Dr. Escano. "Dr. Escano, where are you from?"

Dr. Escano's expression darkened. "I must say, you seem to have been displeased with me from the start. Why do I have to tell you where I'm from?"

"Don't misunderstand, I mean no harm," the muscular man said calmly. "The more you say, the more credible your story becomes. Since everyone has mentioned their hometowns, there's no need for you to conceal yours, right?"

"The more I say, the more credible it becomes?" Dr. Escano shook his head noncommittally. "All I know is that 'the more you say, the more mistakes you make.' If the rule is absolute, then there's no problem with my story. Besides, I don't trust any of you."

"That's a bit biased," the muscular man replied. "There are nine people here in total, and only one is the enemy. If you're willing to cooperate, we can work together to expose the liar. By continuing to conceal information, you only make yourself more suspicious. This is the second time I've asked you, are you still going to hide?"

The muscular man seemed adept at questioning, and with just a few sentences, he cornered Dr. Escano logically. His implication was clear: 

only the "liar" would refuse to trust others, as they know their own identity. Continuing to conceal information would only make Dr. Escano a target.

However, being a neuroscientist, Dr. Escano was not an ordinary person. He snorted and countered, "Then you answer me first: Who are you? What do you do?"

"Me?" The muscular man didn't expect Dr. Escano to suddenly turn the tables, and his expression became somewhat unnatural. 

"Yes, since you've persistently questioned me after my narration, I think it's fair for me to ask you questions before yours," Dr. Escano chuckled. "Fair enough?"

The muscular man pondered for a moment, then nodded. "You're right. I have nothing to hide. My name is Cliff Brown, and I'm a criminal policeman."

With those words, everyone turned to look at him. At this moment, the phrase "detective" provided an unexpected sense of security.

"You're a cop?!" Dr. Escano exclaimed, momentarily surprised.

No wonder he seemed to be probing from the beginning. He was also the first to propose the idea of "keeping everyone alive." Maybe he really wanted to save everyone.

Dr. Escano's attitude noticeably softened. "In that case, I apologize for my earlier attitude. I'm from Massachusetts."

At this point, Jessy, with tattooed arms, looked somewhat uncomfortable. "Dr. Escano, do you trust this Officer Brown?"

"Hmm?" Dr. Escano looked at Jessy quizzically. "What are you getting at?"

Jessy tapped the table with his fingers and said calmly, "It's not 'narration time' now, which means... everyone can lie."