Everything Is Fine

"This outfit is pretty nice."

"Honestly, the original owner's closet doesn't even have a single decent outfit. Nothing but combat suits."

"Maybe I should get myself a few proper sets of clothes."

In the fifth-floor clothing section, Azu casually took down suit after suit, tracksuit after tracksuit, trying them on in front of a full-length mirror.

Just then, Maeve's voice sounded in his earpiece. "I'm in position. I can take out the sniper at any time."

"Have you found the bomb?"

Azu put down a white suit. "I'm scanning. God, this place is huge. It'll take me a little time."

Maeve said, "You'd better hurry. The negotiations outside don't seem to be going well. One hostage is already dead."

"I know."

Azu picked up a yellow tracksuit with black stripes and held it up against himself, then mimicked Bruce Lee wiping his nose.

Only then did he toss the clothes aside, walk out of the clothing section with his hands behind his back as if taking a stroll, and casually scan his surroundings with the X-ray vision that came with Laser Eyes.

As he passed through a corridor, he spotted a girl hiding in the storage room among the clutter. Remembering that the mission required him to rescue hostages, he walked over and pushed open the storage room door.

Azu lowered his voice. "Is anyone there? I'm—"

"Shh."

A girl crawled out from the tool area. "Keep your voice down, sir. The place is full of criminals."

Azu took a look. She was an Asian girl with classically delicate features and plain clothes.

She wore sunglasses and held a white cane, using it to feel out the ground around her.

Azu waved a hand in front of her eyes, but the girl did not react at all. She really was blind.

"Miss, I'm—"

Just as Azu was about to identify himself, the girl grabbed his hand. "Sir, don't talk."

"Come with me. We'll hide. It's safe here. The bad guys won't find us."

"You don't need to be afraid. I believe Homelander will come save us."

Azu did not know whether to laugh or cry. Still, being "protected" by a blind girl was a novel experience for him.

It was something he had never experienced since crossing over.

After thinking it over, he simply decided not to reveal his identity and asked instead, "Miss, what should I call you?"

"Lin Aida." The girl smiled. "But my friends all call me Xiao Lin."

"Xiao Lin."

Azu said, "My name is John."

"Hello, Mr. John." Xiao Lin pulled him into the tool area.

Azu asked curiously, "Aren't you worried that I might be a bad guy?"

"No. When you came in, I could already smell you."

"You smell fresh, like hay drying in the sunlight."

"In my experience, people who smell like that are always helpful gentlemen. So I'm certain you're not a bad person."

Xiao Lin covered her mouth. "We'd better stop talking, in case someone finds us."

Azu smiled and said, "Actually, I know a secret passage."

"Really?" Xiao Lin sounded doubtful.

Azu said, "I'm a pipe cleaner. I'm very good at unclogging pipes."

"I handle all the pipe cleaning in this mall. If you trust me, I'll take you out of here."

Xiao Lin thought for a moment, then nodded. "I trust you, Mr. John."

"Good. If you don't mind, I'll carry you on my back. It'll be faster."

Xiao Lin nodded and climbed onto Azu's back.

Azu carried her, then his eyes lit up red. Two Laser Eyes shot out, blasting an opening through the storage room wall.

He then rose gently into the air, floated out through the opening, and landed on the ground with Lin Aida on his back.

Just like that, he carried the Asian girl all the way to the mall parking lot before setting her down.

"We're at the parking lot."

Lin Aida let out a soft cry. "That fast?"

"Of course. I told you, it's a secret passage. A shortcut that only I know." Azu led her to the tactile paving. "We should part here. You can take care of yourself, right?"

"Of course."

Lin Aida held Azu's hand. "Thank you, Mr. John."

"Oh, right."

"Could you give me your phone number? If there's a chance, I'd like to treat you to a meal."

The girl took out her phone.

Azu smiled and entered his number, along with the name "John."

After Lin Aida took back the phone, she used the voice assistance function to call Azu's number.

Only after hearing Azu's phone ring did she hang up, say goodbye, and leave.

Azu turned around, floated into the air, and flew back to the mall.

Then he noticed the huge ventilation ducts running along the mall's outer wall.

"Maeve, where do you think the bomb would need to detonate to reach every corner of the mall as quickly as possible?"

Azu looked at one of the vents and smiled.

A moment later.

He stood inside an air duct, looking at a suitcase on the floor. Without even opening it, he could see a sophisticated device inside, along with a Poison Gas Bomb.

"Found it."

*

*

*

"This is the second hostage!"

On the fifth floor of the mall, a man in a long black coat and a rabbit mask grabbed a woman by the hair and dragged her to the window.

The man cautiously hid behind the hostage to prevent the police snipers from attacking him.

"See that? This is your fault!"

"If you don't release our comrades, there'll be a third one, then a fourth!"

With that, he shoved the hostage out the window.

The white woman, not yet thirty and fairly pretty, screamed as she fell from the building.

The ground grew larger and larger in her eyes. Just as she was about to hit the hard pavement, she suddenly realized she had stopped in midair.

Then she saw a hand in a red glove around her waist, followed by a reassuring voice. "Are you all right, ma'am?"

The woman looked up and saw a handsome face and a sunny smile.

His golden hair was meticulously combed back, and his blue combat suit represented hope. Though he lacked his Stars and Stripes cape, the woman recognized him at once.

"Homelander!"

Azu held her as he flew outside the entrance, landed among the police officers, set the woman down, and looked at them. "The bomb has been defused. Everything is fine now."

"Leave the rest to me and my companion."

Everyone fell silent.

Then thunderous applause broke out.

"Homelander!"

"Homelander!"

"Homelander!"

Amid the cheers, Azu slowly rose into the air, facing the mall and looking toward the fifth floor.

"People inside, listen up. If you release the hostages voluntarily, I can plead with the judge to show you leniency."

The mall broadcast soon came on. "Go to hell, Homelander! Every hostage's life will be on your head."

"Detonate the bomb!"

At those words, the police officers shrank back, instinctively ducking behind their patrol cars.

But after a moment, there was no sound at all from inside the mall.

Then the extremists' furious voice sounded over the broadcast. "Where's the bomb? Why isn't it responding?"

The police officers immediately erupted into cheers again, all giving Azu thumbs-ups.

Azu smiled. Then, with a sudden whoosh, he became a streak of blue light and slammed into the fifth floor of the mall.

Boom!

The windows from the fifth to the third floors of the mall shattered at once. Fragments flew everywhere, reflecting the sunlight like magnificent fireworks!