"Just because someone stumbles and loses their path, doesn't mean they're lost forever."
- Professor X (X-Men: Days of Future Past)
...
"What? Bruce Wayne's challenge with the Phantom Thief will also involve Batman?"
After hearing the last words of the casino broker, almost everyone showed a surprised expression.
"Although we knew Phantom Thief was committing a high-profile crime, it was only a matter of time before he caught Batman's attention. But I just didn't expect Batman to go after that thief so quickly..."
"Tsk, tsk, back when I heard that even Robin and Batgirl couldn't deal with Phantom Thief, I thought he was talented. If he had taken on business like Catwoman, I might even consider working with him."
"But now that annoying Batman is after the Phantom Thief, this kid might have trouble even in the future."
"What's there to worry about? If you really want to recruit Phantom Thief, you can just take him to see Professor Pyg. He can fix any broken limbs, but he won't look as good after being fixed."
"What? Go to Professor Pyg for treatment. You must be kidding. After he treats someone, they can't be recognized as humans anymore, and the fees are ridiculously expensive. I'd rather find Calculator to find me a new member than spend that much money on Phantom Thief."
This was the underground VIP area of the Iceberg Casino, where only exceptional people came to enjoy themselves.
Most of them were supervillains or gang leaders, and many of them had fought Batman before.
This is normal because there aren't many criminals in Gotham who have trouble with Batman.
Gotham has always had a high crime rate, but the number of violent crimes like murder and killing is not that high.
The total number of people killed by murder in Gotham each year is lower than that in cities like New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
However, this didn't mean Gotham was a better city than those with higher murder rates.
Murder was just one of many different kinds of crime.
A lot of Gotham's underground organizations thought that killing people, helping people kill each other, or doing mass murders was stupid and bad for business.
If they really didn't like someone, making them disappear was a much better option.
Why bother killing them? They'd be missing without a trace, and who could prove it was a murder case?
The Penguin was a good example of this way of doing things. He never wasted a bullet on someone he could dispose of without killing them.
Of course, if they pushed him too far, even after he gave them money and nice words, there was no place for them in this city.
This has also led to a surprisingly high rate of disappearances in Gotham.
How high, exactly?
It's unclear, as the Gotham City government has never allowed such data to be made public.
What made Gotham truly terrifying was that it was the center for all kinds of illegal businesses.
Drugs can't be compared to Mexico, gambling can't be compared to Las Vegas, and chaos can't be compared to the most devastated by-war area in the world.
If we look at a single type of crime, there are always places that are worse than Gotham.
The real scary thing about it is that this city is the center of all kinds of illegal businesses.
In addition to drugs, gambling, and prostitution, Gotham also has murders, arms smuggling, fraud, theft, robbery, kidnappings, bombings, arson, and terrorist attacks...
Almost every kind of crime in Gotham City can be traced back to the top-level team of experts, who operate together and work together on the surface.
This is truly unique in the world.
Not to mention that Gotham City is also home to its own pride—the largest and highest quality group of mentally insane criminals on Earth!
Just like now, there were hundreds of gamblers, such as top professionals like assassins, traffickers, kidnappers, drug dealers, arms dealers, cult leaders, and more, came together at the Iceberg Casino for a unique event.
They might be considered part of the Penguin's gang as they come over to gamble and support the Penguin's business.
Since Batman existed, these people have lost a lot of money in their illegal businesses because of Batman's persistent efforts.
They lost a lot of money as a result.
Anyone can imagine how much they hated Batman.
But there was a saying that the people who know you best are often your enemies. The more Batman beat them up, the more they realized what kind of monster he was.
Bruce Wayne challenges the Phantom Thief. If Batman were to get involved, it would definitely be to help Bruce catch the Phantom Thief.
But can Batman be compared to the Phantom Thief?
Of course not!
How could the Phantom Thief win against Batman?
There's no need to talk about direct combat power since the Phantom Thief is so small that he wouldn't stand a chance against even one punch from Batman.
In terms of technology, intelligence, money, and allies, Batman had it all.
The Phantom Thief only had some magic tricks for deception.
Wayne Enterprises was known to be the major financial supporter of Batman.
Bruce had already said publicly that he wanted to help street-level heroes all over the world before the Justice League was formed.
Batman was definitely one of them, and since he lived in Gotham, he might even get more money than other heroes.
As for whether anyone had ever thought Bruce Wayne was Batman, the answer is yes.
But in Gotham, if anyone said something like this, most people would laugh at them until they stopped.
Can a playboy like Bruce really handle the job of Batman?
The people of Gotham have seen Bruce grow up, so what skills did he have that they didn't know about?
The scenario of Bruce Wayne and Batman being in two places at the same time is impossible.
It's impossible for Batman to have clones, right?
Also, Gotham City's supervillains are more interested in bigger targets than Bruce Wayne.
The Wayne Enterprises and Gotham's Kingpin—if it wasn't for Batman ruining their plans, the Wayne Tower would have been destroyed ages ago!
Just less than a year ago, even a third-rate villain like Killer Moth managed to kidnap Bruce Wayne.
If he was really Batman, wouldn't everyone have realized it? Killer Moth's fighting skills aren't that impressive, right?
Do you believe that? I bet even Killer Moth himself doesn't believe it.
It's ridiculous to say that Batman is Bruce Wayne. It states that it be the second funniest joke in Gotham City.
In short, anyone at the gambling table with a functioning brain decided to bet against Phantom Thief's success.
"It seems like nobody has much faith in the Phantom Thief. The odds for betting on his failure remain at 1:1, while the odds for betting on his success have reached an astonishing 1:230! No one is betting that the Phantom Thief will win. This game could be hard for us."
Once everyone had placed their bets, the casino dealer spoke in frustration.
Just then, a bold and arrogant voice rang out from the crowd.
"Hard? I say, let's not make it hard at all!"
...
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