The boy leaned back, crossing one leg over the other with a smirk instead. "I told you already, idiot. If you want to kill her, go ahead. She'll resurrect at the temple anyway."
The girl stiffened, blinking at her brother in disbelief, but he continued unmoved.
"My mother loved us a lot, you know..." He added coldly, crossing his legs, "She loved us so much that she didn't hesitate to sacrifice my dad, my family, thousands of people, and even make a deal with demons to make us big overnight, all for the sake of our future. Do you think she wouldn't secure our lives? Hmpf… both of us, even after we die, we resurrect again at our Temple. So, whether we live or die, nothing would change for us, except for a few days of inconvenience and losing a portion of our mana. But you, on the other hand, will be hunted to extinction instead. So if you have business with this hijack, do it. Just don't annoy us again."
"You're bluffing," the villain said, his lip curling.
He ate the last bite of steak, then washed it down with the remaining wine. When the glass clinked softly onto the table, he stood with deliberate slowness.
Then he lunged.
His large hand shot out and clamped around the girl's throat.
"Ack—!" she choked, her body jerking forward as her fingers clawed desperately at his wrist. Her legs kicked weakly against the floor, heels scraping helplessly.
Her brother, however, didn't move an inch or even flinch.
He watched with detached interest, as though observing a wildlife documentary.
The girl extended a trembling arm toward him, eyes pleading, face turning red as her breath became too heavy.
Still, he leaned back further into the cushioned seat, widening his smirk. "Go on," he taunted the villain. "Kill her. Why are you taking so long? Losing your edge? Or was your reputation just bravado?"
The villain's teeth clenched. A surge of mana flared under his skin, veins glowing faintly with violent energy. His grip tightened further.
The girl's eyes rolled back slightly.
But then—
The walkie-talkie on his belt crackled sharply.
The villain froze.
A woman's voice spoke from the other end, calm yet firm. "This is the official negotiator from Eclantis Police Department. Can you hear me, Mr. Brain?"
The villain snarled under his breath and released the girl, letting her collapse onto the floor as she coughed violently, drawing rasping breaths.
"Damn it…" he muttered, storming out of the cabin and slamming the door behind him.
The silence that followed was painful.
The girl continued coughing, tears slipping down her face as she struggled to steady her breath. Her brother finally looked at her—not with concern, but with a look of disgust.
"You are a disgrace to our family, Celia," he said flatly. "Hard to believe we are twins."
Celia wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, which was still shaking. "I… I'm not as talented as you, brother…"
"You could at least put up resistance instead of acting like a weakling," Celus snapped at her. "So embarrassing." He folded his arms and leaned back again, dismissing her existence entirely.
"Anyway," he continued with casual cruelty, "once we reach the station, we go our own ways. You leave for Heavenly Academy, and I continue for Thunderclap. Except during holidays, I won't see you. I've had to endure your presence for these last few hours. That's enough."
Her head lowered. She said nothing. Her eyes stayed fixed on the floor, as if hoping it might swallow her up.
*
Meanwhile, outside the train;
The highest official in the tent, the deputy police commissioner of Eclantis Police Department, addressed the others with his hands pressed on the table, "I was just informed that the headquarters were going to send a rescue team to deal with this situation, in case we cannot get this situation under control. If we allow them to clean up our mess, our reputation will fall, and there will be a series of suspensions. Or worse, our department might even get a deduction in funds during the upcoming fiscal year. I'm open to suggestions."
The negotiator also looked at the others to see if anyone had any plan, now that she appeared to have failed in her first attempt at negotiation.
However, her hopes were crushed as she heard a bunch of useless suggestions like…
"How about we threaten him using false charges against his remaining family members?" said the Railroad Police's divisional superintendent.
"Are you serious?" The deputy commissioner sharply gazed at him. It sounded so absurd to him.
A representative from the nation's Federal security then asked, "What if we threaten him with his brother's assassination in prison, then?"
The deputy commissioner couldn't help but go into a rage this time. Getting up on his feet, he shouted at the man, "We are the police, goddamn it. Are you all villains or heroes?"
"What about infiltrating the train? The Pro Hero "Ghost" could pass through the barrier and go in there."
"Nope, he is away on another mission."
"What about offering 100 million zeni, asking him to back off this one time?"
"You arrived late, Mr. Kessinger. You are not aware that our negotiator has already tried that before. Even 500 million didn't move him a bit. It failed."
"How about just adhering to his demand and releasing the prisoner? Once our hostages are freed, we can arrest him once again, right?"
"Kruger Brain was serving at a Federal prison. According to the laws, once released from that place, all of his recorded crimes will be written off and can no longer be used again to arrest him in any of the 27 countries in the Federation. There's no way it will be acceptable, unless our President pulls off a favor."
"Hmm… there must be a civilian or Astron warrior with the power of disguise, right? How about we use that person to our advantage? You know, posing as Kruger Brain…"
The piece of advice from the captain of a SWAT team brought hope to the deputy commissioner.
He immediately ordered his subordinates to get to work as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, Mirandae, the negotiator, contacted the villain and asked for three hours to fulfill his demand, stating that her higher-ups agreed to it but needed to talk with the Central city's judiciary.
Luther agreed, and the special team filled with hackers started looking for their target.
As if the goddess of luck smiled upon them, they were even able to find an Astron warrior with such abilities in just 15 minutes. He is merely an adventurer who makes money by mining in dungeons.
Half an hour later, a team of five arrived at the location, introducing themselves as the members of Team Centauri, the official rescue team sent by the Headquarters.
As for the other team that arrived with them, they were kept secret from even the police.
Captain Michael Dower, aka the Knight Shield, went on to inform the Deputy Commissioner that they were going to take the mission, but this would be a secret operation, and publicly, it would be labeled as a move from Eclantis Military's special division.
He agreed to their plan, but not abandoning his initial idea, as the person was already found and the police are on their way to meet him and convince the fellow to cooperate with them.
Meanwhile, far away from the train, behind the rocks on the cliff, the team of B-class heroes led by an A-classer was observing the situation.
Captain Wave Rider passed the orders to his team, "Okay, our target is in Carriage 4, containing the leader and just two more subordinates. We have only a few seconds to enter the train. Mary, use your powers to create an earthquake, just enough to disrupt one's attention."
"Understood, boss," nodded the curly-haired girl in her jumpsuit.