"Do not caught up on what could have been."
- Unknown
...
After repeatedly checking Batman's expression, Phantom Thief finally confirmed that Batman was not joking.
Batman really decided to help him distract the thousands of Man-Bats near Wayne Tower.
It never came to him that Batman had many reasons not to trust him and had said that he would never let the Phantom Thief get away from him.
But now he was determined to let him go on his own.
Batman said Lucius Fox was watching over Wayne Tower, but if the Phantom Thief really had intentions, Lucius wouldn't be able to stop him.
Batman couldn't have ignored this possibility.
But by agreeing to this plan, Batman seemed to have given the Phantom Thief some trust.
He at least believed the Phantom Thief wouldn't betray Gotham at this very important time, which would have made things even worse.
This didn't mean that Batman would go easy on the Phantom Thief in the future. On the contrary, he might raise Phantom Thief's priority on several levels.
Occasionally, it's more valuable to pull someone back from the brink of wrongdoing than to punish someone who has already done it.
Phantom Thief wasn't one to hesitate. He wholeheartedly agreed with Batman's plan to use him as bait to lure away the Man-Bat.
In fact, Batman's willingness to protect him was a great advantage. Otherwise, it would be difficult to even approach Wayne Tower.
There would be an endless number of Man-Bats waiting for them as soon as they dared to step out of the Batwing and onto the rooftop of Wayne Tower.
They would tear them to pieces without hesitation.
As powerful as it was, the Batwing's weapons system couldn't guarantee their safety in this situation.
The area around Wayne Tower was too open.
They couldn't block most of the Man-Bats from getting in like they did in the East District, where only a few could fly in.
In addition, Batman sees all of these Man-Bats as victims of a virus. He would never be able to hurt them, even if he died.
It gets even harder to deal with the huge group of Man-Bats in this situation.
As for the Phantom Thief... fighting tens of thousands, or even more than a hundred thousand Man-Bats, was never something he considered.
Why make things complicated when you can solve the problem all at once?
"When should I eject?"
The Phantom Thief asked straightforwardly.
"Now."
Batman calmly uttered a single word.
"What?"
Immediately after, Batman pressed a red button on the console without warning.
In the next moment, a semi-transparent glass cover appeared over the co-pilot's seat and wrapped the Phantom Thief inside, which created a small form that looked like an escape pod.
After a swish, it was pushed out of the top.
"This is approximately 1,700 meters from Wayne Tower, and the escape pod will probably land about 1,200 meters away."
Although the ejection was sudden, the Phantom Thief quickly reacted and calculated the best position to detach from the escape pod and reach Wayne Tower.
At the same time, the Man-Bats gathering around the Batwing noticed something strange flying out of it and immediately swarmed towards it.
The glass covering the escape pod seemed hard, but it was unclear whether it could withstand the aggressive attack of so many Man-Bats.
Just as countless Man-Bats were about to touch the escape pod, an eerie sound wave that human ears couldn't recognize suddenly swept across the entire sky.
wryyyyyyyyyy!
"Roar!"
At this very moment, the countless Man-Bat emitted a roar that was both painful and angry in the sky.
The Man-Bats who were charging toward the Phantom Thief changed their directions frantically and headed towards the Batwing.
Before this, the Man-Bats attacking the Batwing mostly used their sharp teeth and claws, or even fists and kicks as weapons.
literally "crashing" towards it.
They would never quickly pursue this suicidal attack mode involving crashing into the plane.
However, when the Batwing emitted a specific frequency of ultrasonic waves, almost every Man-Bats went crazy and recklessly charged toward the Batwing.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The sound of intense impacts sounded continuously, and even Batman could clearly hear it from the cockpit.
As more and more Man-Bats collided with it, the Batwing started to tremble, and the slight vibrations filled every corner of the cockpit.
"It worked! Using ultrasonic waves definitely attracted the attention of the Man-Bats!"
Seeing the reaction of the Man-Bats, both Phantom Thief and Batman couldn't help but think the same thing.
Without hesitation, Batman immediately maneuvered the Batwing and quickly moved away from Wayne Tower.
Now, the Batwing was basically a portable Man-Bats taunting device.
With the continuous sending of specific frequency ultrasonic waves, more and more Man-Bats were being attracted to it.
It seemed like there were an endless number of Man-Bats gathering around Wayne Tower before, but now almost all of them are gone.
It was now a really safe spot.
"A bit closer; we're almost there."
In the descending escape pod, following a curved trajectory, the Phantom Thief looked towards Wayne Tower ahead and continuously estimated the distance between them.
800 meters... 700 meters... 600 meters...
500 meters!
The escape pod soon arrived at the ideal distance that the Phantom Thief had calculated!
If it continued forward, the escape pod would fall below the plane of Wayne Tower's rooftop.
With a loud bang, the glass cover of the ejection seat automatically detached, and a white figure jumped out.
At the same time, he unfolded the triangular glide wings on his back and flew straight toward Wayne Tower, which was less than five hundred meters away.
In that instant, the five thousand people who hadn't been turned into Man-Bat yet saw their phones, TVs, or computers turn on themselves while at home.
They saw live footage of the Phantom Thief flying through the air.
It didn't surprise anyone because they had seen it happen before.
The virtual live stream room was activated again!
"This is... Wayne Tower?"
The viewers watching the live stream easily recognized the most iconic landmark building in the city.
However, they wondered why the Phantom Thief would suddenly appear here.
"How did the Phantom Thief go from Robinson Park to Wayne Tower? What about Batman? Didn't he already catch the Phantom Thief? Did the Phantom Thief manage to escape during that time?"
In their minds, the last place where the Phantom Thief appeared was Robinson Park with Batman.
It was clear that they were not on the best of terms, even though things weren't as tense as they thought they would be.
After that, one Man-Bat suddenly appeared and attacked the Phantom Thief.
The result was the Phantom Thief and Batman teaming up to resolve the situation, and it seemed that the Phantom Thief even brought out an antidote for the Man-Bat virus, which they used to return the injured Man-Bat to humans.
Then there was... nothing else.
The livestream suddenly shut down, and there was no continuation even after waiting for a long time.
At that time, some people thought it might be because Batman had done something about the Phantom Thief.
It was even possible that Batman had already stopped Phantom Thief, which is why the video was cut off.
After all, people in Gotham thought it wasn't impossible for Batman to shut down the Phantom Thief's mysterious livestream.
Nobody knew what happened next, but Batman and the Phantom Thief went to the east side to look into where the virus came from.
The Phantom Thief didn't plan to start another live stream at that time because certain secrets were inconvenient for the public to know, especially when they were inside the Batwing.
If Batman found out that the Phantom Thief had secretly started a livestream and exposed the inside of the Batwing to everyone, he would probably fight him head-on.
The Phantom Thief Kid did not want to fight with someone like Batman, even though they were most likely already fighting.
But on the other hand, the Phantom Thief felt that it would be quite exciting if it did come to that...
"Wait a minute, something doesn't seem right about Wayne Tower. What's going on there?"
Suddenly, some of the viewers noticed something unusual about Wayne Tower.
"There are people saying that Gotham is currently plagued by some kind of Man-Bat virus. There are infected bat creatures everywhere in the city. How come there's nothing around Wayne Tower?"
"Wayne Tower is supposed to be close to the infected area. A few of Man-Bats have been seen in my more remote area. How is it possible to see empty at Wayne Tower?"
The people working in the media industry in Gotham usually have sharp eyes. It didn't take long for almost everyone to notice the anomaly at Wayne Tower.
"Could it be that Wayne Enterprises developed an antidote to cure the virus, so all the infected ones around there have already been cured?"
"Or did Wayne Enterprises use some unknown weapon to kill all the Man-Bats around them?"
"Is it possible that this is not actually live streaming but that the Phantom Thief has released recorded footage from before?"
What had happened at Wayne Tower had everyone confused, and they couldn't stop guessing.
Fortunately, their questions were soon answered.
"Ladies and gentlemen, now I have something to announce to all of you."
On each of their electronic devices, the Phantom Thief flew towards Wayne Tower, appeared on the screen, and slowly spoke.
Hearing this, every viewer was shocked. The words of the Phantom Thief were undoubtedly meant for them!
"I believe everyone is already aware that Gotham is currently facing an unusual crisis. A terrifying virus that can be transmitted through the air is spreading throughout the city, and anyone infected with the virus will transform into a bloodthirsty monster."
The Phantom Thief spoke quickly, but his words were exceptionally clear while allowing everyone to hear clearly.
"In response to this crisis, Batman and I have decided to cooperate temporarily. We discovered the source of the virus's spread not long ago."
"This virus crisis is an intentionally orchestrated biochemical attack and not an accidental leakage from a laboratory!"
"Currently, Batgirl and Robin have begun investigating the mastermind behind the scenes, while Batman and I are preparing to solve the problem of the virus spreading in Gotham City."
The Phantom Thief's words were shocking. The media workers watching the livestream felt like their heads were about to explode.
The amount of information he announced in his words was huge!
What does it mean that the Phantom Thief and Batman have decided to work together temporarily?
Are they sure they both haven't lost their minds?
One is a master thief known for his magical prowess and fantastic tricks, and the other is a superhero famous as the world's greatest detective.
These two don't look like they can work together, do they?
It's possible that both Batman and the Phantom Thief have both been infected by the virus and are no longer in their right minds?
Well, let's put that question aside for now.
The critical point is that Phantom Thief claims the Man-Bat virus is not a natural disaster but a man-made catastrophe!
A sample of the original Man-Bat serum was studied and created by Kirk Langstrom, which everyone knows.
Besides him, who else knows the formula for the serum?
No one! Not even his wife, Francine knows!
Perhaps Batman knows, but there's no way the virus leaked from Batman, so there's no need to consider that.
Kirk has been locked up in the Arkham Asylum for over a month and couldn't have done this.
Who could have leaked the Man-Bat virus?
What is the purpose of this mastermind who caused everyone in Gotham to become Man Bats?
What benefits does the mastermind gain from this?
It's unimaginable, and it's just impossible to imagine.
The only good news is that the Phantom Thief's final words bring a glimmer of hope to the virus crisis.
"Now, thousands of Man-Bats near Wayne Tower have been lured away to other places by Batman, giving me a chance to get closer to Wayne Tower."
At this point, the Phantom Thief continued and turned to look behind him. The audience in the livestream also saw what was behind him.
In the distance, a massive and incredibly dark circle appeared in the sky. The surface of the circle was a pit and far from smooth.
However, as people rubbed their eyes and looked closely, they realized that those supposed pits were actually Man-Bats!
There were too many Bat-people to count, and it was impossible to see inside, but everyone already knew the details through the Phantom Thief.
Batman was inside there!
"Luring away countless monsters to clear a path and finding a way to uncover the mastermind, the detective has completed his mission... now it's time for the thief to complete his."
As soon as he finishes speaking, Phantom Thief smoothly lands on the top of Wayne Tower.
On the high tower, a white figure stands at the edge of the rooftop, and with the breeze blowing, his cape is gently fluttered.
The clouds in the sky coincidentally part, and a full moon appears, shining on the Phantom Thief, dazzlingly bright, almost glowing.
Then the Phantom Thief begins his final words.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I promise tonight I will steal the virus from every infected person in Gotham!"
...
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