"That's essentially how I feel about life. Full of loneliness and misery and suffering and unhappiness, and it's all over much too quickly."
- Alvy (Annie Hall 1977)
...
"A moment to witness a miracle!"
When the Phantom Thief said these words, all the reporters present became excited.
The last time Phantom Thief said these words was during the Dragon's Egg Ruby Necklace heist, and then he performed a fantastic trick where he made it rain backward in front of everyone.
So, what shocking performance will Phantom Thief bring this time?
They were all looking at the Phantom Thief and the white-clothed Bat-Signal, ready to get the perfect close-up shot.
It wasn't just the journalists; the paparazzi were even more excited.
A lot of unknown paparazzi photographers were lucky enough to capture some close-up shots of Phantom Thief stealing in the past.
Many newspapers paid a lot for these shots, which helped them make a lot of money.
It's really something to envy!
Just thinking about it, if someone went to all that trouble and risked getting caught by taking secret photos of celebrities' affairs or cheating.
That would only make a small amount of money, and even if someone followed them for ten days or even a month, they might not get any good photos.
Even if they do get good shots, they could be sued, and even if they win, they could be fined.
In short, taking pictures of the Phantom Thief doesn't carry any risks, and the pay is high.
There's no need to worry about missing this opportunity.
As long as Phantom Thief sends a notice or someone publicly challenges him like this time, he will show up and do what he's supposed to do without fear.
"Come on, Phantom Thief, go ahead, show us what you've got!"
At this moment, the Phantom Thief turned around to face the Bat-Signal, then reached out and grabbed the white cloth covering it.
He turned back toward the audience and spoke with a mysterious smile.
"Let me tell you a secret, this cloth has magical powers."
As soon as he finished speaking, the Phantom Thief pulled the cloth outward, completely removing the white cloth covering the Bat-Signal and revealing what was underneath...
Huh?
There was nothing underneath the white cloth!
The massive Bat-Signal, which was taller than a person, had disappeared!
At this moment, the Phantom Thief flicked the white cloth he had removed, causing it to fall like a white carpet over the area where the Bat-Signal was before.
No matter where people looked, they couldn't see any trace of the Bat-Signal.
"I'm sorry, everyone. Wayne Enterprises made this bat logo out of promethium alloy, and I couldn't think of a good way to solve it. So, I had no choice but to steal the entire Bat-Signal."
The Phantom Thief sighed and said something in a tone that made people believe that he truly didn't have a solution.
"How is this possible?"
In that instant, almost everyone present couldn't help but open their mouths wide.
At first, they thought the Phantom Thief might take the bat logo off the Bat-Signal or use the white cloth to get the gemstone out of the signal.
They didn't think he would be able to make the whole Bat-Signal disappear.
During the whole process just now, Phantom Thief never touched the Bat-Signal.
He just dropped a white cloth from above to cover the Bat-Signal, and then he pulled off the white cloth, and the covered Bat-Signal disappeared!
Is this really magic and not just a trick?
Could it be that the piece of white cloth the Phantom Thief used had some kind of magical power?
In the world of magic, making a large object disappear wasn't that rare. There was a famous magician who even made an entire airplane disappear.
But everyone knows that these tricks can only be done in a carefully set-up place with the help of many people, and that most of them can only make things disappear and can't bring them back.
Bruce chose the location and even prepared the Bat-Signal, so Phantom Thief didn't have to make any of those preparations.
The Phantom Thief willingly accepted the challenge and had no opportunity to set up the scene.
Unless the Phantom Thief hired Bruce Wayne as a helper, which is clearly impossible.
If Bruce were performing this magic, people wouldn't be as surprised because Bruce would have had plenty of time to get ready.
For example, he could have dug a hole under the Bat-Signal's lawn and put an iron support with a moving structure on top of it to keep it from falling.
When the mechanism is triggered, the Bat-Signal signal will automatically drop underground.
Obviously, Phantom Thief didn't have these conditions, and yet he managed to create an impossible miracle that truly surprises people.
Don't forget, the Bat-Signal is taller than a person and weighs over a ton.
Could the Phantom Thief move it with his small size?
He couldn't possibly move it.
But the fact remains that the Bat-Signal disappeared, which was impossible, and something the Phantom Thief made happen right in front of them.
At this moment, no one can imagine what kind of magical principle the Phantom Thie used to achieve this.
They could only explain it as magic.
"Mr. Fox, did you figure out the method Phantom Thief used just now?"
Jim turned to Lucius and asked.
"Well..."
Lucius shook his head, which showed that he didn't know. Then he looked over at Bruce and saw that he was furrowing his brows and pondering.
"I mentioned earlier that today's visit was just a rehearsal, and I wouldn't take the gemstone with me. So now, I will bring back the Bat-Signal and the gemstone."
The Phantom Thief kept talking, which surprised everyone in the audience.
The disappearance magic trick of the Bat-Signal was so shocking that they forgot for a moment that Phantom Thief had said earlier that what they saw today was just a rehearsal!
In other words, the Phantom Thief not only made the Bat-Signal disappear but also had to bring it back!
The Phantom Thief took a deep breath, bent down, and grabbed both corners of the white cloth on the lawn with both hands.
He slowly lifted the cloth.
When it was raised to about half a person's height, Phantom Thief's hands stopped as if he thought lifting it slowly was too inefficient.
Then Phantom Thief let out a deep breath and looked much calmer. He shook the white cloth up and down quickly with both hands, like he was shaking a blanket.
The white cloth started to ripple like waves.
In the middle of this shaking, Phantom Thief suddenly pulled the cloth outward, just like when he made the Bat-Signal disappear.
The entire cloth was lifted up from the lawn.
A shocking scene happened.
The Bat-Signal, which had vanished without a trace, had actually come back!
It stood behind Phantom Thief just like it had been before, as if everything that had happened a moment ago was just a dream.
"Well then, let's end today's rehearsal here. See you all in three days."
The Phantom Thief bowed to the crowd and then disappeared in a strange puff of smoke.
...
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