Chapter 553 - COUNT TO TEN

Bonnie walked around the hostages and stopped beside the beautiful girl Clyde had questioned earlier for taking too many pictures of her food. Then, she asked the girl to stand up from her crouching position behind the table. 

Bonnie used the muzzle of her gun to caress the cheek of the girl lightly. 

Tears flowed out of the girl's eyes involuntarily as she faced her nightmare.

"You are some kind of influencer or social something, aren't you?" Bonnie asked softly. 

The girl nodded, even though she wanted to scream and run. She did not dare do anything after seeing how that guy had died so quickly while trying to escape. While he was a bit of a jerk for trying to leave his girlfriend, he did not deserve death. 

"You should be a little braver if you are going to make it in life," Bonnie advised. "Now, I have a very important task for you.. If you fail me, I will be very unhappy. And when I am unhappy, bad things happen. Understood?" 

The girl nodded again. 

"I want to hear you say it," Bonnie said. 

"I understand." The girl said in a shaky voice. 

"Great. I want you to be the director and cameraman for our little show. You should be very experienced with matters involving angles, lighting and storylines." Bonnie said with a pleased smile. "I want you to capture this scene perfectly." 

"The priority is to make the players stand out. And our audience must understand and sympathise with the characters. You cannot afford to be careless. This one is for the history books, wiki or whatever people will use to store information in the future. Understood?" 

The girl was still afraid, but she spoke up. "I understand." 

"That is great. Give me your phone." Bonnie said. 

The girl handed over her phone, and Bonnie gave her the phone where the Watch app was still running. The girl's hands were shaking as she took it. 

"Keep those hands steady, girl," Bonnie warned. "If this phone falls, there will be a lot of unhappy people. It will be hard to pacify them. They might even find you if you manage to escape from this place." 

The girl tried to remain calm, but it was impossible in the situation. But if she did not follow Bonnie's request, she would probably end up dead. 

"Here is a trick I learned when I was a little girl," Bonnie spoke like a mature auntie to a younger generation. "When you are in pain and scared, do not think about the big picture. You only need to worry about surviving to the count of ten." 

"Your entire life is those ten seconds. Do not worry about the rest of the future except for those ten seconds. If you survive them, try again. Before you know it, you will be a grown-up with control over your life. Or in your case, you will be posting dumb stories and stupid pictures online again." 

With that, Bonnie turned away while taking the snatched phone away.

The girl did not dare take offence at the insults made by Bonnie. She took a deep breath and counted to ten. She aimed the camera at the two calm people in the restaurant. She felt envious of their relationship and confidence, even in a dire situation. 

She started counting to ten again. That woman might be crazy, but she was right. It did help alleviate her fear and shaking. Surviving for ten seconds was not too hard. 

Kaito pulled a chair for Akira to sit down. He looked at her face. She did not look distressed or even afraid of the current situation. Nothing about the threats from Bonnie and Clyde even caused her heart rate to accelerate. 

However, Kaito could not help but worry. 

He had already made a decision in his heart. He hoped that things would not get there. But if push came to shove, he would only need to disregard the lives of the people in the restaurant and save his wife and unborn child. 

In an ideal situation, he would like to ensure that everyone, apart from the anxious young man who was already dead, got out safely. 

But the real world was not like a perfect movie. Sometimes, one had to make the best decision to match their situation and their conscience. 

He was sure that he could protect Akira. He would probably sustain some injuries, but he could even kill Bonnie and Clyde. But it would not be without a lot of collateral damage. 

He had looked into their eyes when they started broadcasting themselves on Watch. They did not plan on getting out alive. They planned on leaving the world in the most dramatic and memorable way possible. 

Therefore, they would not stand still and wait for him to kill them. 

"You do not have to play their game. We can get out of here." Kaito said while checking on Akira's condition while on one knee in front of her. 

"I know. It is a little interesting. Plus, there is no harm in trying to save a few people." Akira said while tapping on her phone. "Think of a way for us to take them out without killing them. Right now, there are too many eyes on us. It would be better if we could take them in alive." 

She spoke in a low tone, making it impossible for people around apart from Kaito to hear. They looked intimate as they discussed their predicament.

"I can try for non-lethal injuries, but I am not sure of the success rate," Kaito replied. 

"Do not push yourself too much. We will just try to save any person we can, but our family comes first." Akira said as she continued tapping on the phone in her hand. She had never been happier about this phone that Zhong Feng gifted her. 

"Alright." Kaito stood and kissed her head lightly. 

When he turned, he found a chopper flying from the Crystal Plaza to the Floating Pavilion. It seemed like the CAB was finally taking notice of the warning given by Akira. But they sure had taken their sweet time to respond. 

Kaito sighed at the inefficiency of the government.