The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

THERE was a man who was carrying a child – a boy of six or seven years old to be exact. It wouldn't cause so much commotion if he was simply carrying the boy with one hand. But no, he was also holding some kind of weapon in the other. And he was pointing it at the kid's temple.

"Close this section if you don't want this brat to die!" the man shouted.

"Mister, please, try to calm down and let go of the child," another man said in a pacifying tone. He looked like the employee in charge of this section. He was slowly walking towards the man with the weapon. 

"Shut up! I told you to close this section, not to talk nonsense to me!"

Then the man suddenly pointed his weapon towards the employee and fired. A bullet laser came out of it. The employee tried to dodge but the bullet laser still grazed his leg and blood immediately spurted. 

The people around shouted. Seeing the blood, they finally realized that the man with a weapon was not just some simple lunatic. He's a lunatic that wouldn't hesitate to hurt people. And that made him even more dangerous.

Another employee supported the employee who had just been shot. "O-okay, okay, we will close this section. Just please calm down."

"Then do it!" the man shouted. "And don't even think of disarming me. I have a bomb attached to my body! If any of you come near me, I will detonate the bomb and we will all die here!"

As if to prove what he said, the man removed his vest. On his chest, a square shaped transparent box was attached. Two red dots were constantly blinking on it.

Some people who were planning to disarm him quickly stopped in their tracks. The people inside the food section became even more scared and anxious.

It didn't take long before metal doors appeared at the entrance of the food section. Not only that, even the windows were covered by metal, completely shutting them off from the outside.

Unlike most of the people inside the food section, the Townsend twins still remained calm despite of what was happening. 

"Is that really a bomb?" Astrid whispered to his brother.

Although they were not that close to where the commotion was happening, it's still best to talk quietly just in case the man had a high physique level. Because that would mean that there's a high chance that he could hear them. Astrid didn't want to irritate the guy.

Reas narrowed his eyes on the man. "Yeah. It's some kind of homemade bomb if I'm not mistaken."

Astrid didn't doubt what his brother said since the other was more familiar with things like this. "The security system of this mall should have detected that he was carrying a bomb and a hot weapon, right? Why didn't the security system raise an alarm?"

"It should have, under normal circumstance." 

Astrid quickly understood what Reas was trying to say. "You think it's because of the kid?"

Reas nodded. "That guy probably took the kid as hostage before even going inside this mall. Either he intentionally kidnapped him or he just randomly took someone before hiding here. The security system of this mall detected that he had a bomb and a weapon on him but decided not to raise an alarm for the safety of the child."

After all, the guy looked like he was mentally unstable. If the security system issued an alarm, it would definitely startle the man and he might just accidentally pull the trigger of the gun that he was holding. That would be very bad for the kid.

"But for sure, the system will alarm the authorities, right?" Astrid asked.

"Yeah. Maybe he was already being chased before this that's why he took someone as a hostage," Reas said. 

This guy was probably either a wanted criminal or someone who was planning to commit a crime but was found out before he could even do it. He had a feeling it was the latter. If it was, then that would be so lame. No wonder the guy was now having a mental breakdown.

"It would be good if he didn't have a bomb with him," Astrid commented.

If he didn't, Astrid was sure that a number of people here would be more than willing to subdue the guy. 

"Even without the bomb, it would still be easy to subdue him. The only problem is how to get the kid away."

Hearing what Reas said, Astrid looked towards the boy being held hostage. He had curly silver hair and a pair of sapphire blue eyes. He was frowning and biting his lips, obviously trying to stop himself from crying. His eyes were filled of determination. As if telling himself that if he cried, then that meant that he lost to the man pointing a gun to his head.

Brave kid – Astrid thought.

"Then if the kid is taken to safety, would you be able to subdue him and prevent him from detonating the bomb?"

Reas glanced at his brother when he heard that. "What are you scheming?"

"Answer my question honestly first," Astrid said. "I have to make sure that you wouldn't be hurt or be in danger if you try to subdue that man."

"I won't. I'm confident that I can subdue him and even disarm the bomb along the way," Reas answered, his voice didn't even fluctuate. As if he was only asked if he could drive a car or something instead. "So, can you now tell me what you're scheming?"

Astrid rolled his eyes at his younger brother. But deep inside, he was very relieved to hear his answer. 

"Can you not call it scheming? You make me sound like a villain," he said.

Reas shook his head and decided not to debate with his brother regarding his 'scheming'. "Then, what's your 'plan'?"

"My plan is fairly simple. I'll snatch the kid and you subdue the man. Easy, right?"