"Obsession is going to beat talent every time. You got all the talent in the world, but are you obsessed? Let's face it. It's you against you out there. When you walk on that court, you have to think, "I am the best guy out there". So let me ask you again. Do you love this game?"
- Stanley Beren (Hustle)
...
'Never mind, these details don't matter. Since the Phantom Thief here is a dummy, the diamond must be fake too, and this message card is probably just a trick to fool the police.'
That's what Jim thought.
Just then, Kim approached him with a grateful expression on her face and said, "Commissioner Gordon, thank you so much! You were able to get the 'Hope Diamond' back from the Phantom Thief. I can't imagine what would have happened if it wasn't for you."
Looking at the excitement on Kim's face, Jim found himself confused.
"Wait a minute, Ms. Kim, Are you saying that this 'Hope Diamond' is the real deal?"
How could this be?
How could it possibly be real?
If Phantom Thief had put the real 'Hope Diamond' on the dummy to attract the attention of the police, then where did the real Phantom Thief go?
Why would he do this?
More importantly, if the diamond in front of them is real, does that mean that earlier in the exhibition, the Phantom Thief stole the diamond that was separated by two layers of containers in less than a minute, escaped outside the exhibition hall, and even had time to put the diamond on the dummy...
Is that something a human can do?
Could the Phantom Thief really be a magician?
"Well, there's no doubt that this is the 'Hope Diamond'. Didn't I confirm it when I was at the window earlier?"
Kim didn't notice the confusion in Jim's eyes and nodded.
With the confirmation, even though he couldn't believe it, Gordon had no choice but to trust it.
In addition to the message card and the diamond, the GCPD also confiscated a glider and the dummy this time.
While these weren't high-tech items, they were things used by the Phantom Thief and had considerable research value.
"Ms. Kim, let's return the 'Hope Diamond' to the exhibition hall first."
Jim proposed, and Kim agreed, because they both wanted to get the diamond back to a safe place as soon as possible.
They reached an agreement.
After leaving a small team to continue investigating the scene, Jim and the others led more than ten police cars to return the 'Hope Diamond.'
...
"I've got bad news for you. I'm not in a very good mood today, so you better spill all the information you know quickly!"
Inside the office of the Orpheus Jewelry Exhibition Hall Center, Robin pressed Henry onto the desk with a fierce and threatening expression.
One hand firmly pressed down on his shoulder while the other twisted the director's wrist.
With just a slight twist, a strong sense of pain rushed from Henry's arm, making him cry out in pain.
Just a little while ago, Henry hoped to be a hero who would get the 'Hope Diamond' from the Phantom Thief.
However, after searching his office for a long time and emptying the items in the safe, he couldn't find the exact spot of the diamond.
This is getting strange, normally, no one else should know.
The Penguin's gang only asked Henry to swap the diamond; they wouldn't care about what happens to the 'Hope Diamond.'
'Wait, there seems to be someone else who knows that the 'Hope Diamond' is here!'
Henry quickly remembered the only person who knew about it—the person he believed would never do something so shameful.
Batman.
Just as Henry was angry that Batman would steal the diamonds, feeling guilty for betraying the trust of the citizens of Gotham...
Without saying a word, Robin kicked open the office door and pushed Henry up against the desk.
Wow, as soon as the master steals the diamonds, the sidekick comes to beat him up.
Is there no justice left?
Are there no laws anymore?
At this moment, Henry felt frustrated.
But Robin didn't care if he was frustrated or not and directly asked him.
"I'm asking you, what exactly is the 'Hope Diamond' that was on display at the exhibition these days? Why did you switch the 'Hope Diamond'?"
Hearing the question, Henry was instantly enraged.
Unfortunately, Henry couldn't express his anger right now, so he forcibly smiled and spoke gently, "R-Robin, is there perhaps a misunderstanding between us?"
"I've already told Batman everything I needed to say. I swear, I didn't hide anything. Didn't Batman tell you?"
"Batman?"
Robin stared at Henry with a doubtful gaze.
"If you had come up with a better excuse, I might have believed you. But you're saying that you've seen Batman and even shared information with him? Who are you trying to fool?"
"I'm telling the truth, I encountered Batman when I was on my way home two days ago!"
Henry panicked and quickly told the story of the incident where Batman threatened him while hanging on the roof.
"Batman... Penguin's gang... The Stone of Misfortune... Hope Blue Diamond..."
After listening to Henry's account, Robin's eyes flickered.
"So, that's what happened..."
...
Diamond District, Thurston Manor
After going through different boring counter-surveillance techniques, Dean finally managed to return home in peace.
'The first try at disguising myself, and the results are quite impressive.'
As he thought about it, Dean made his way to the basement.
Now he had to do something extremely important.
Dean carefully took out a box from his pocket and placed it on the table.
Inside was the 'Stone of Misfortune' that Penguin had used to curse him.
Despite having the system, which made Dean not particularly afraid of curses and bad luck, just to be safe, he decided not to open the box for now.
He mentally called the system and calculated the results of his operation.
[Congratulations, host, for completing the custom mission—stealing the 'Stone of Misfortune'.]
[Mission Difficulty: Difficult]
[Treasure Value: Excellent (a crystal that holds mysterious cursed power, causing misfortune to anyone who comes into close contact with it)]
[Elegance Level: B]
[Overall Evaluation: A (high difficulty and treasure value raised the overall score)]
[Rewards: 1,200 Amazement Points (from the audience in the exhibition hall, GCPD police, Jim Gordon, Robin...) + 1800 Amazement Points (given for completing the mission)]
[Account balance: 2,600 points, a total of 5,600 points.]
After buying the 'Superhuman Reflex' talent, Dean originally had over 2,900 points left.
But later, he buys it for some highly useful gadgets, like a mini bug device, which costs over 300 points. This left him with only 2600 points.
Just after the mission was settled and rewards were given, the system's notification continued ringing in Dean's ears.
[Detecting an unknown C-level curse source that may pose a deadly threat to the host...]
[Detecting a seal that can effectively resist the curse source...]
[Curse source analysis is in progress... Sealing object analysis is in progress... Analysis is complete.]
[You can choose to let the system absorb the seal. After successful absorption, an invisible shield that resists all similar curse source attacks will automatically activate around the host.]
[Special Note: It can only resist the same type of curse and can only protect against the C-level curse level. Its effectiveness against higher-level curses is slightly weaker.]
...
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