Become a Phantom Thief from the Comic World

Dick said seriously.

"Kaitou Kidd wants me to play this game with him, then I will play with him to the end!"

(Brothers, the college entrance examination is finally over and you can finally be liberated.)

Chapter 21 The auction begins

"Well, if Master Bruce were here, he would definitely make the same choice as you."

Alfred sighed and did not continue to dissuade Dick, but quickly switched his role from Wayne's butler to the Bat-family's assistant.

"Should we tell Director Gordon that Kaitou Kidd has sneaked into the auction venue? We can ask the police to conduct another screening of the people in the venue."

"No, we have no evidence to prove this to the police. By pointing out my identity on the card, Kaitou Kidd is saying that only I can participate in this game."

Without a second thought, Dick declined the offer to seek aid from Gordon.

Saying that Kaitou Kidd has sneaked in without any reason will only make the police doubt themselves, and the only thing they have to prove it is Kidd's card.

But the name on the card is Robin, not Dick. Unless someone else gets the exact same card and more than one or two people have it, Dick's secret identity will be exposed.

He couldn't put on his Robin uniform and ask, because he couldn't explain the origin of the card, and Dick had already foreseen the scene where the police would ask for his face to verify his identity when they saw him.

"How are you going to find Kaitou Kidd without the police's assistance in the investigation? The total number of people participating in the auction is close to a thousand!"

Alfred asked confused.

"It doesn't matter. Batman and I have always been external aid to the police. We have never let the police become our external aid. I can handle it on my own, and...I have a little idea of ​​Kidd's plan."

Dick shifted his gaze to the crowded place and squinted his eyes to examine everyone.

"I really want to see what surprise Kidd is talking about."

"So what should we do now?"

Seeing that Dick seemed confident, Alfred asked.

"Doing what we're meant to do, of course - having dinner."

-

After a while, in the public toilet behind the venue.

Dean took off his original waiter disguise and put on a new one.

That's right, the waiter who took Alfred and Dick's order was Dean in disguise.

As for how he sneaked into the auction venue, it starts with Dean knocking out the chef intern Tom.

Disguised as Tom, Dean first continued to do odd jobs in the kitchen. No matter what kind of work it was, as long as his colleagues were unwilling to do it, he took it upon himself. This is called a hardworking and hard-working person.

A newcomer who has just joined the job and has not yet adapted to the intensity of work works so hard, and the results are obvious.

Dean soon became exhausted and paralyzed. He could not even move a finger while lying on the ground, which made the other masters feel a little unbearable.

Especially when he kept asking Tom to take out the trash before, he thought it was because he was irritating Tom by shouting and drinking at him. At this time, he was too embarrassed to ask Tom again even if the trash can was full.

Although they were a little surprised that Tom suddenly became so diligent, no one suspected that Tom was a fake.

Because all the staff in the kitchen had passed the police identity verification in advance, they subconsciously believed that these colleagues were real.

Moreover, surveillance is installed on the back door. As long as you don't actively leave the surveillance range, nothing will happen.

In addition, everyone is very busy with work and has no extra time to think about it.

This is a kind of inertia in thinking. No one will doubt someone who has been proven. This is why Dean chose to disguise himself as Tom.

After all, it is impossible to repeatedly verify everyone who has left sight. Both the person who verifies and the person being verified will eventually be unable to carry out the process due to the irritability of one or even both parties.

In short, in the opinion of all the employees in the kitchen, Tom's body was already overwhelmed, and there was a possibility of sudden death if he continued.

It would be fine if it were normal times, but these are extraordinary times. With so many big shots in the hotel, there must be no accidents at this time.

As a result, the tired and paralyzed "Tom" was transferred to a different position and came to the venue restaurant to serve as an orderer and food delivery person, which is also commonly known as serving plates.

The hotel's kitchen is not only on the first floor, but also on every floor. However, the kitchen on the first floor is the largest, and the kitchens on other floors are relatively smaller.

The work of the kitchen on the first floor is mainly to process ingredients and pre-prepare them to a certain extent. Only a few finished dishes are made.

The processed ingredients and prepared dishes are then transported to the kitchens on each floor through staff elevators, and then the meals are prepared and served to the table.

In this way, Dean was ordered to push a cart of ingredients to the kitchen on the 18th floor, and then started serving dishes.

It didn't take long for him to notice the arrival of Dick and Alfred.

The collision with Vicki Vale and the dropped dinner plate were all done intentionally by Dean just to send Dick that card.

After sending the card, Dean left the venue immediately and changed his disguise.

He knew that when Dick saw the card, suspicion would be locked on the waiter and Vicky Vale, and if Dean continued to maintain his original disguise, he would be exposed.

Although this would result in the inexplicable absence of a plate server, there were many staff in the restaurant, so they wouldn't be able to notice it for a while.

By the time it was discovered, the auction would have started long ago, and it would no longer matter to Dean by then.

Unless Dick revealed that Kaid Kid might be disguised as a waiter, Dean was pretty sure the former would never do it, and he couldn't, because that was the downside of a secret identity.

Looking at his watch, Dean smiled meaningfully.

"The auction is about to officially begin. What do you think Robin will do? Will he be scared away because I revealed his identity——"

Dean asked as if he was talking to himself, and then looked back at the rich man who was unconscious and tied up on the toilet.

"Mr. Graytard Eason?"

-

Not long after, the auction officially began.

The huge curtain separating the auction venue and the entertainment venue finally unfolded, and nearly a thousand upper-class people in the venue entered the auction venue one after another and found seats on rows of terraced seats.

There were obviously no names on the seats, but this group of people seemed to follow some unspoken rules. Everyone did not sit down randomly, but looked for seats with purpose.

Which row is the location in? Left or right? Who is sitting next to you?

It seems that these have been decided a long time ago. Perhaps in their eyes, seating is a symbol of status.

Even if there are more empty seats in the front row than in the back row, people who shouldn't sit in the front row can only squeeze into the back row.

However, no matter how distinguished the person came in, the seats in the center of the first row were always empty.

Until Dick and Alfred arrived, the two of them sat in the middle position very naturally, and no one dared to object.

Because they represent the uncrowned king of Gotham - Wayne.

Chapter 22 Internal Conflicts of the Penguin Gang

"Hello everyone, I am Joey Cicero, the executive manager of this hotel. I welcome all distinguished guests to our hotel and participate in this auction."

On the podium at the auction venue, Manager Cicero held the microphone and made opening remarks to the celebrities in the audience with a smile.

“What’s in front of me now is today’s first auction item – an antique pocket watch!”

There was a table in front of him. On the table were a set hammer and a pocket watch that looked very old.

Behind Cicero, a large screen was erected, which displayed various details of the pocket watch.

"This pocket watch comes from the famous Elliott family in Gotham. More than a century ago, the then head of the Elliott family, Edward Elliott, spent a lot of money to invite world-class craftsmen to make it..."

Cicero rambled on about the history of antique pocket watches.

In the audience, Dick pretended to be listening with interest, but in fact he was absent-minded.

"Kaitou Kidd's target should be the pink diamond, and the time he will take action will definitely be at zero o'clock..."

Dick thought to himself.

"Obviously no one noticed that Kaitou Kidd had sneaked in. He could have kept hiding. Why did he send a card in advance and provoke me to find him?"

"Is he so confident that I won't be able to expose his disguise before the time comes? Or is this just part of his plan?"

He held two cards from Kaito Kidd in his hand, one was a notice letter and the other was a challenge letter.

Dick looked at the contents on the two cards, thinking a lot in his mind.

"Think about it, if I were Kaitou Kidd, what would be the last thing you want me to do right now..."

At the same time, on a building opposite the hotel, several snipers set up sniper rifles on the rooftop and pointed them at the hotel, in the direction of the auction venue on the 18th floor.

Beside the sniper, Penguin's henchman O'Kilwe took out his cell phone and made a call.

"What's the matter, O'Kilwe?"

Not long after, the phone was connected and a female voice came from inside.

"Lark, are you already at the auction?"

Okierwe asked.

"I sat in the corner and watched these rich people fighting over a pile of old scraps, and Greylatard was beside me."

The woman named Lark said impatiently.

"It's still a long time before the fake stone comes out. If you have anything to say, please say it quickly!"

"Be careful what you say at the auction so that no one can overhear you."

O'Kilwe warned with a frown.

"Ha! Are you questioning my ability? Don't forget that I have been working under the boss for much longer than you. No one can hear me as long as I don't want to."

Lark said disdainfully.

"It's up to you. Anyway, you're responsible for anything that goes wrong... Are there any signs of Kaito Kidd's appearance?"

O'Kilwe asked in turn.

"No, if I had seen it, he would have died by my gun by now."

Lark's tone was full of arrogance, as if he didn't take Kaito Kidd seriously at all.

"Confidence is a good thing, Lark, I hope you can be worthy of this confidence."

O'Kilvi said with a light smile in his eyes.

"If nothing else happens, Kaitou Kidd will show up at midnight. I'm calling you just to remind you. Don't forget what the boss said. Don't attack Kaitou Kidd immediately. Let the GCPD follow him first. Just for fun, we won’t show up if we can.”

"Humph!"

Lark snorted and hung up the phone, not sure whether he agreed or disagreed.

"Miss Lark, what did Mr. O'Kilwe say when he called? Did the boss have new orders?"

Beside her, a rich middle-aged man in a blue suit asked with a smile on his face.

This man is none other than Ashletad Ethan, the general manager of Ethan International Shipping Company, the unconscious man who was tied up in the toilet by Dean not long ago.

So how did Gray Letard, who was supposed to be trapped in the toilet, appear at the auction?

The answer is simple, he is not the real Gray Letard at all, but a disguised version of Dean Thaston.

Pretending to be Gray Letard was not an easy task. After all, there was a big size difference between Dean and him, so he had to put a lot of stuffing in his clothes to look presentable.

"No, he is just making fun of me and wasting my time!"

Lark said dissatisfied.

"You seem to have a lot of opinions about Mr. O'Kilwe? You two are the boss's most trusted confidants, so why do you seem so deeply conflicted?"

Dean, disguised as Ashletard Ethan, asked strangely.

"Hmph!" Hearing this, Lark sneered and said, "The most trusted confidant? Why should he? I have been with the boss for ten years, and I have eliminated countless enemies for the boss, and the Penguin Gang has made money from all the industries. I am also managing the largest Iceberg Casino!”

Iceberg Casino?

Dean's eyes flashed. This place was said to be the birthplace of the Penguin, but it was actually handed over to the woman in front of him who didn't seem to have a very bright mind.

I really don’t know if Penguin trusts Lark so much, or if this woman has some clever tricks?

"Who is Okierwei? He only joined the gang three years ago. He only does small jobs such as collecting debts, lending money, betting on horses, and being a thug. Usually he is not even qualified to see the boss, and he just does it. Two years!”

"If it hadn't been for a gang war last year, this guy got in front of the boss through some shitty luck. He came up with a few ideas and was taken seriously by the boss, and he turned into a shitty consultant."

Lark's face was full of disdain.