"The eyes chico, they never lie"
- Tony Montana (Scarface)
...
"This is Gotham Channel 7, and I'm your host, Recie White. I'm here to bring you some news."
"Recently, Phantom Thief revealed that he would steal the 'Hope Diamond'. This event has sparked heated discussions among the people of Gotham. Yesterday was the day of Phantom Thief's crime, and we believe that our audience is curious about the result."
"According to sources from the Orpheus Jewelry Exhibition Center, the police successfully stopped the Phantom Thief during his escape, and the 'Hope Diamond' was recovered. Although Phantom Thief managed to get away, this is the first time the Gotham police have recovered stolen property from him, rather than Phantom Thief returning it himself."
"So, did Phantom Thief fail for the first time, as people imagine? An anonymous informant told us that the Phantom Thief did not plan to take the 'Hope Diamond' from the beginning. Instead, his real intention was to break the long-standing curse on the diamond. The person stopped by the police was also not the real Phantom Thief, but only a dummy intentionally left behind by him."
"As for whether the curse is a real legend or just a marketing scheme,we cannot be sure."
"The credibility of this anonymous tip is uncertain, and the Gotham police have not provided any information in the matter. The truth remains uncertain, and it's up to you."
At Gotham Academy, Dean was bored, so he sat at his desk and watched a news show on his phone.
He watched the news because there weren't many people in the classroom, and there was still a lot of time before class.
First of all, the anonymous person was not Dean, and he did not know who provided information to the media.
It could have been the media paying off a cop who was there, or it might have been someone else.
Whoever it was, it doesn't really matter. It's not a bad thing anyway.
"... In the last news, a few days ago, in a certain neighborhood in Gotham's Upper West Side, there were several bizarre murder cases. The victims' corpses were terrifyingly drained of blood, as if they were drained by the legendary vampire. There were also many witnesses who claimed to have seen a giant bat at night, which is believed to be the culprit in the case."
"The witnesses insist that it was not Batman but a real bat-like monster. However, except for eyewitness testimony, there is currently no related video or image to confirm the existence of this bat monster."
"The GCPD Upper West Side Division's response to this case is that there's no such thing as a bat monster in the world, and no one has died from being drained of blood by a bat monster. Commissioner James Gordon is investigating the case currently, and he hopes to catch the real culprit soon.
"Thank you for watching today's program..."
Before the host's closing statement was finished, Dean swiped his phone to exit the video.
'A giant bat monster that killed several people? So there's an extraordinary creature like this in Gotham? I thought Poison Ivy and Killer Croc were typical villains of Gotham.'
After hearing the last news, Dean thought to himself.
Since Dean does not know much about the DC world, he naturally believes in any urban legend-type information. After all, Batman was also a legend before he became famous to everyone.
Back when Dean had just started middle school, the urban legend of the 'Sewer Crocodile' was quite popular in Gotham, but not many people believed it was true.
The whole school made jokes and laughed about the 'Sewer Crocodile,' but Dean was the only one who took it seriously.
During that time, he made a decision to avoid sewer grates when walking.
But then something happened. The 'Sewer Crocodile' actually appeared.
It was a notorious supervillain known as the Killer Croc, who looked like a humanoid crocodile. It was a rumor that he was suffering from atavism.
Batman and Robin defeated Killer Croc, and at the time, Robin was still just a kid.
After Killer Croc was imprisoned, the people who used to make fun of the Sewer Crocodile stopped mentioning him.
Dean suspected that this time it could be a similar situation.
As time passed, more and more people crowded into the classroom.
"Hey... Dean..."
At that moment, Dick walked into the classroom, carrying his backpack and greeted Dean with a tired voice.
Dean couldn't help but be surprised when he saw Dick's tired face with heavy dark circles under his eyes.
He seemed exhausted and a little shaky on his feet.
"Oh, man! What happened to you yesterday?"
Dean asked.
Seeing Dick in this state, Dean couldn't help but answer.
"I was going to ask you the same thing."
Dick replied grumpily.
"We agreed to go to the exhibition together yesterday to expose Phantom Thief's tricks. So, where were you?"
"What are you talking about?"
Dean asked in confusion, "Didn't you call me early yesterday and say that Lily found the bug I planted on her and told me not to come because it might be dangerous?
"What?"
Dick suddenly became more alert. He instinctively questioned, "When did I tell you that?"
"Did you lose your memory or something?"
Dean tapped his phone a few times and showed the records to Dick.
"The call was from my number at 8:37 AM. This is indeed my number, but I remember I didn't make any calls during that time..."
Dick looked at the call records on Dean's phone and immediately pulled out his own phone to check his call history.
He found the same 8:37 AM time, which should have shown no call records, and now had a record!
Dick made a call from his phone that he didn't actually make, and at that moment, he understood what was going on.
'Darn it! Phantom Thief!'
Dick's anger burned inside him as he clenched his fists unconsciously.
After that, Dean's voice came out like a bucket of cold water pouring down.
"Hey, hey, hey! Dick! What are you doing? You're going to break your phone if you keep squeezing it so hard!"
Dick snapped back to reality and quickly stopped squeezing.
By now, his phone screen had cracks all over it, which broke Dick's heart.
While others might think that being Wayne means endless fun and unlimited pocket money, only Dick truly understood how careful Bruce could be with money.
He has to do chores as arranged by Alfred to earn one hundred dollars of allowance per week.
Dick had so many girlfriends to go on dates with, and that little money is just not enough.
Dick has to pay for the majority of his daily expenses on his own through part-time jobs, aside from the various tools and transportation that Robin requires.
Looking at Dick's expression, Dean couldn't help but burst into laughter inside.
Since he dared to disguise himself, he must find his thoughts on the idea that 'Dean' really wants to impersonate 'Dean'.
He can't let 'Dean' have a reason to appear at the exhibition.
Taking Dick's phone without him noticing was a piece of cake for Dean. He even managed to crack Dick's phone password in just a minute and a half.
To avoid Dick's curiosity leading him to check the call logs, Dean even made a call to himself using their voices and phones separately.
...
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