"You can never build a kingdom with someone who craves attention from the village."
-Unknown
...
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
At the center of the Gotham City Stadium lawn, the entrance of the Phantom Thief was accompanied by a series of muffled sounds.
Suddenly, sparks shot out from the area around the Bat Signal, just like the fireworks that start a show and shine brightly in the night.
Countless sparks formed a dazzling pattern in mid-air, which was none other than the iconic cartoon face of the Phantom Thief.
When the sparks fell down, they suddenly turned into a quick puff of smoke. An immaculate figure came out of the smoke and stood next to the Bat-Signal.
It was none other than the Phantom Thief.
This appearance was slightly different from three days ago, but it was much more good and spectacular than just appearing and disappearing in a puff of smoke.
"Phantom Thief! Phantom Thief! Phantom Thief!"
At the moment when Phantom Thief appeared, the audience at the Gotham City Stadium erupted in cheers.
Phantom Thief's fans waved their light sticks and shouted his name.
This scene hardly looked like the crime scene of a notorious thief.
Anyone who doesn't know better might think that some international celebrity is holding a concert here.
In the center of the field, Phantom Thief adjusted his white top hat with his right hand. He then slightly bowed in the direction of Bruce and Jim and scanned around the audience.
"Mr. Wayne, Commissioner Gordon, all the members of GCPD, and my dear audience, according to our agreement, I've come to accept the challenge."
The Phantom Thief's voice wasn't loud, but the tens of thousands of people inside the stadium could clearly hear his words through the stadium's speakers.
Besides Jim, Bruce's eyes twitched slightly as he thought, 'Phantom Thief hacked into the stadium's broadcasting system. It seems that the firewall I set up was too simple and couldn't stop him... Well, Phantom Thief probably has some serious hacking skills, a talent that hasn't been shown in his previous criminal records... No, it might have been there, but nobody noticed."
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
At the same time, the dozen GCPD guards around him instantly fired their weapons without warning or orders.
Because Jim had given the order not long ago that as soon as they saw Phantom Thief, there was no need to wait for orders; they were to open fire and stop him!
A dozen tranquilizer darts whizzed towards the Phantom Thief.
In that instant, a look of surprise flashed across the Phantom Thief's face.
It seemed like he hadn't expected this situation at all.
"Phantom Thief, this time you won't be able to escape!"
Jim's eyes showed a determined glint.
However, in the next second, everyone present couldn't help but show shock on their faces.
It happened so quickly that when the Phantom Thief faced off with a tranquilizer dart, he wasn't as dummy-like as some people had thought.
The dart did not knock him out.
Instead, he dodged the tranquilizer dart in a way that was hard to believe.
The Phantom Thief wasn't as fast as a certain friend in the Central City who could dodge bullets and create countless afterimages of himself.
The Phantom Thief just moved his body slightly left and right, just enough to avoid the tranquilizer darts and let them pass him.
It was as if he had known the flying path of the tranquilizer darts in advance and had adjusted his body accordingly.
In fact, it would have been more reasonable for the Phantom Thief to temporarily use his cape to block the tranquilizer dart.
"This! How is this possible?"
The guards who fired the darts were dumbfounded.
This wasn't right, was it?
[A/N: They only knew that MC doesn't have any superpowers and only uses regular magic.]
The initial speed of the tranquilizer darts they used wasn't as high as that of regular bullets, but it was still a fast attack, almost as fast as sound.
How could someone just dodge it like that?
But the Phantom Thief avoided it like it was as easy as drinking water or eating food, making it look like they were making a big fuss.
"Commissioner Gordon, I really didn't expect you to open fire on me the moment we met. Do you not think that is rude?"
After dodging the dart, the Phantom Thief spoke with a serious expression.
"I never thought it necessary to be polite to a criminal."
As he spoke, Jim tried to hide his surprise, but his expression remained cold.
"Is that so? I thought we could be considered friends. This is truly sad."
The Phantom Thief just shrugged and sounded a little hurt.
"Hmph!"
Jim coldly snorted.
"But it's quite surprising that you used tranquilizer darts against me instead of live ammunition. Tranquilizer darts are much more expensive than regular bullets, Commissioner Gordon. You seem quite willing to spend for me."
At this moment, the Phantom Thief changed the subject.
He slowly raised his right hand and opened his palm. There was a tranquilizer dart on it, and it was the same model as the one used by the GCPD.
It turned out that Phantom Thief had not only dodged the bullets by swaying his body, but he also managed to catch one of them!
The audience was shocked once again.
They already thought that dodging tranquilizer darts was almost a superhuman feat that only a few people in Gotham could do.
But he was catching a speeding dart with a speed so fast that no one could see when he did it.
This was completely beyond human capabilities, and even Batman might not be able to do it!
When did the Phantom Thief become this terrifying?
Is it an illusion?
But the Phantom Thief did have the same kind of tranquilizer dart that the Gotham police use.
Just a few seconds ago, the Phantom Thief they knew was just a normal human with a smart mind and skill in magic.
Why has the Phantom Thief become so unfamiliar now?
The officers were confused as they looked at Jim.
They didn't know if they should keep following the order to shoot the Phantom Thief or just give up.
Fortunately, they didn't have to remain confused for long because Phantom Thief decided for them.
"Well... if you keep interrupting me like this, I won't be able to perform properly, so I guess I'll have to ask you to take a nap first."
As soon as the Phantom Thief finished speaking...
Zzzt!
A faint buzzing sound suddenly echoed, and then, like being electrocuted, several guards stiffened and fell unconscious to the ground.
"Phantom Thief! What did you do to my men now?"
The sudden shocking turn of events made Jim's temples throb as he angrily asked with a stern gaze.
In response, the Phantom Thief grinned.
"Don't worry, Commissioner Gordon, I just attached a small electric device to them. The electric won't be dangerous, and they'll wake up after a while."
Seeing Phantom Thief's smug expression, Jim was angry and wished he could just draw his gun and take down Phantom Thief immediately.
"Phantom Thief tricked us again!"
Bruce quickly stepped forward to calm him down.
"Don't act impulsively, Commissioner Gordon. The GCPD's operation failed, but there are others involved."
...
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