"If you win, you live. If you lose, you die. If you don't fight, you can't win.
- Eren Yeager (AOT)
...
some time, in a quiet corner of Gotham City...
"Huff—It's so hot!"
Dean took off his bat-shaped helmet and let out a sigh of relief. His forehead was covered in beads of sweat, and his back was already soaked with sweat.
He didn't just take off the helmet; he also removed the batsuit and the thick layer of silicone muscles, and the nearly ten-centimeter-soled boots.
As soon as he took off all these things, Dean immediately felt several pounds lighter, as if he had come back to life.
Yes, Henry didn't actually meet the real Batman earlier, he met Dean, who was in disguise!
The reason for putting on a suit was because Batman's reputation in Gotham was too powerful, and he is good at doing everything.
Henry told him everything simply because he was scared, which might not have happened with anyone else.
Moreover, how could an elegant and classy Phantom Thief like him do a violent interrogations?
It just wasn't right.
To be honest, it wasn't easy to pretend to be Batman in this heavy outfit, and it almost suffocated him.
The batsuit he was wearing wasn't made of high-tech materials, it was purely a cheap replica made of plastic and a little bit of metal.
Dean started by using a flashlight to shine a bright light, then abruptly turned it off and moved behind Henry to avoid being recognized.
This created the illusion that Batman appeared and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
With his eyes still adjusting to the bright light, it was hard to focus on the details of the batsuit.
Luckily, Dean did a good job, and Henry didn't see through his disguise, so he successfully got the information he wanted.
"Cough, cough, cough! Dammit, just a few words, and my throat feels so uncomfortable. Isn't Batman tired of talking like this every day? Isn't he afraid that he might lose his voice one day?"
Dean coughed heavily and couldn't help but complain.
'Never thought this would be another scheme by the Penguin Gang...,'
He placed the fake Batman costume's parts on the ground and thought about them.
'Last time, it was bad enough that he hired Firefly to kill me using a Dragon's Egg Ruby Necklace as bait, and this time, he somehow managed to get the real 'Stone of Misfortune'!'
'Sure, I exposed his money laundering scam, but does he really have to go to such extremes to kill me? What grudge does he hold against me?'
'Moreover, the one who revealed the whole story was Vicki Vale, right? I only provided some assistance. Why did Penguin have to target me instead of seeking revenge on Vicki?'
Dean didn't quite understand why the Penguin had such a strong hatred for him.
He also couldn't understand why Vicki, out of all the reporters in Gotham, was the only one who gained the favor of all the supervillains.
It was rumored that Vicki once interviewed the Joker face-to-face, not in a prison or Arkham, but at a crime scene full of hostages.
In that situation, she had the courage to criticize the crimes committed by the Joker, and the Joker didn't even get angry.
They even seemed to have a friendly conversation.
As if an invisible force was mysteriously protecting Vicki.
'It seems I need to find a way to make the Penguin suffer a bit. He doesn't intend to let me off easily.'
Dean rubbed his chin and pondered.
'The 'Stone of Misfortune', maybe I can make good use of it...'
...
On the other side, Wayne Manor
Dick returned home, dragging his exhausted and mentally drained body.
"Welcome back, Master Richard."
Alfred came out to greet him, and he asked with a half-smile on his face.
"Did the mission go well today?"
"Don't teasing me, Alfred. I'm sure you already know. There was a live media broadcast at Wayne Tower, everyone will know that Phantom Thief played a huge prank on Gotham for April Fool's Day."
Dick shook his head and sighed.
"I should have been prepared when I deciphered the date as April 1st. But I actually believed he would move today. I underestimated how playful Phantom Thief can be."
"It's intriguing to have a criminal with such a mindset; it's really hard to say if that's good or bad."
Dick sighed.
"Well... if it's playful without anyone getting hurt, I don't think it's a bad thing. Honestly, I feel the same way as you do, Master Richard. I don't dislike Phantom Thief."
Alfred chuckled.
Hearing Alfred's words, Dick looked at him curiously.
"Master Richard, perhaps you haven't noticed, but on the day Phantom Thief committed his crime, especially during his public performance, the overall crime rate in Gotham went down. Even though there are still a lot of crimes in the city, the crime rate has dropped down."
"Really?"
Dick's face showed a surprised expression.
He didn't dislike Phantom Thief simply because he felt that deep down, Phantom Thief wasn't bad and he hadn't committed any truly unforgivable crimes.
But he never thought that when the Phantom Thief showed up, the crime rate in Gotham would actually go down.
"Yes, Master Richard. You can check all the recent crimes on the Batcomputer. The overall numbers have indeed dropped."
Dick still found it hard to believe.
Upon careful consideration, Dick noticed that after Phantom Thief's performance, the number of criminals he encountered during his night patrols seemed to go down.
Especially tonight, when Dick returned from Wayne Tower, he only encountered three robberies on the way, which was low compared to the usual five or six.
This made Dick realize something new about Phantom Thief.
...
The next day, April 2nd.
On this day, Dean didn't come to the Orpheus Jewelry Exhibition Center.
After all, Phantom Thief's crime was scheduled for the third day.
Dean was just a staged magician and not a real detective, so he wouldn't be of much use if the Phantom Thief didn't show up.
There was also a risk of encountering other thieves and potential danger.
That's why Dick didn't ask Dean to come today.
Dick and Barbara arrived at the exhibition early. Their task was different from Dean's; they were here to protect the diamond from being stolen.
"What did you say?"
As soon as Dick and Barbara entered the exhibition hall, they heard Henry angrily scolding two workers. He revealed some shocking information in his words.
"Last night, I saw both of you enter the 'Hope Diamond' exhibition hall to perform maintenance on the equipment. But now you're telling me that you fell asleep, didn't have enough time to finish the job, and woke up at home!"
Henry pointed angrily at one of the maintenance workers.
"Then who did I see yesterday? Was it the Phantom Thief?"
"And you!"
At that moment, he pointed at the other worker.
"I specifically assigned you and your partner to maintain the exhibition hall last night. How did Phantom Thief find out about this? And you didn't even recognize your own work partner?"
...
A/N: If we reach 400 power stones today, I will release an additional chapter tomorrow.
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