Become a Phantom Thief from the Comic World

It needs to be difficult enough, but at the same time not impossible for people to guess.

This forced Dean to learn a lot of unpopular knowledge that normal people wouldn't even bother to listen to, in order to expand the material library for writing notice letters.

On the way, I also disposed of the synthetic 'pink dream' - I just found a trash can and threw it in it.

When he came to the library, Dean went straight to the deepest section of the ancient religion and mythology section. He picked up a book on the shelf that looked very obscure just by looking at the cover, and stood there and started flipping through it.

As he watched, a surprised voice suddenly came from the aisle to Dean's left.

""Introduction to the Study of Greco-Roman Polytheism"? I didn't expect anyone would be interested in that kind of book!"

Dean turned around and saw a red-haired girl wearing glasses staring at him in surprise...the book in his hand.

The girl looked to be a year or two older than Dean. She was tall and well-proportioned. She was wearing a white uniform, with the title "Librarian" on her badge.

She was pushing a trolley full of books, and she seemed to be sorting the books.

"Oh! I'm sorry, sir, I didn't mean to disturb your reading. I was just too surprised, because from the first day I worked here until now, I have never seen anyone looking for books on this bookshelf."

Noticing Dean's gaze, the girl immediately realized that she might have affected others and quickly apologized to Dean.

Let me ask you a question, is there anyone who still can't tell the difference between Dean and Dick?

Chapter 38 Barbara Gordon

"It doesn't matter. There aren't many people who come to this library in Gotham, and even fewer people are willing to read such boring books. It's already good that you didn't mistake me for a thief with evil intentions at the first time. ”

Dean closed the book and stuffed it on the bookshelf, saying nonchalantly.

"Besides, I'm just about to leave here and find something to eat."

The time now was close to 1:30 in the afternoon, long past the normal meal time, but Dean also had a late breakfast, so he wasn't actually very hungry.

He had lost track of time while reading. If the administrator girl hadn't spoken out just now, maybe Dean would have read longer.

"Is that so? Then I have to recommend to you the dining area in our library. I swear on my father's name, the cheese rolls sold there are the best in Gotham, and the point is - it's good quality. It’s cheap, so I really recommend you give it a try.”

When Dean said he wanted to eat, the girl eagerly recommended him the delicious food in the dining area of ​​the library.

I don’t know if the cheese rolls here are really that delicious, or if she is actively soliciting business for the sparsely populated library.

But then again, shouldn’t this type of library be supported by government subsidies?

Is the dining area outsourced? Or are they trying to make some extra money?

who cares.

Dean immediately shook these meaningless thoughts out of his mind. He was not very interested in such things.

"It's a delicacy that can be highly recommended by the police chief's daughter. I think it's not far behind. In that case, I'll go over and try it."

As he spoke, Dean stood up and walked to the library dining area.

"Wait! What did you just say?"

As soon as Dean finished speaking, the administrator girl quickly grabbed him and asked with a shocked look on her face.

"you know me?"

"No, this is the first time we've met."

"Then how do you know my identity?"

The girl looked at Dean looking up and down suspiciously.

"It's very simple. The recruitment requirements for Gotham City Library administrators are much higher than those of ordinary libraries, and they can enjoy some additional public service benefits. If they have not majored in library management in college or their parents are public officials, there are very few people. You are qualified to serve as a regular employee here, and the color on your employee badge is dark blue, which means that you are a higher level than other librarians here."

Dean said matter-of-factly.

"It's impossible for an ordinary person to get this position at your age."

"But what does this have to do with being the police chief's daughter? Can't I just be the daughter of any city official?"

Dean smiled faintly and said: "Gotham officials are usually... not very honest. It is impossible for their descendants to be interested in a position like librarian, which has many benefits but extremely low salary, let alone Maybe he can bear the hardship of practicing martial arts all year round."

"And you are different from them. You have practiced fighting skills, maybe judo or karate. This can be seen from the thin layer of calluses on your hands and the tight muscles on your legs. That shape is different from simple fitness. The difference in training is caused by hitting hard objects all year round. It means that you have been practicing martial arts for a long time and are very focused. Like those second-generation people who sign up for martial arts classes just for fun, it is almost impossible to practice like this. .”

Especially in a world like DC, once a rich second-generation official or a serious official goes to learn martial arts, he will definitely become a superhero. But superheroes are only a minority after all, so how can they be seen casually?

"Given the environment in Gotham, there are very few families who would send their daughters to systematically learn fighting techniques, and they are often concentrated among people in the political and legal system such as police, lawyers, and judges, because they know the hidden secrets of this city better than ordinary people. It is dark, and at the same time it is richer than ordinary families, so they will try their best to hope that you have the power to protect yourself, after all, they cannot keep their daughter away from home for the rest of their lives."

Hearing this, the girl's interest was gradually aroused.

"According to what you said, even if my parents may work in the political and legal system, why can they be targeted at the GCPD chief? He is not the only police officer with a daughter."

"Well... let's talk about a friend of mine. He has many sources of information. He once told me that Director Gordon has a genius daughter. She got a PhD in library management from Gotham University when she was only eighteen years old this year. Degree, combined with your age, it’s obvious that’s you.”

Dean shrugged and raised his brows. He was not lying. This friend was actually Dick. They had known each other for so many years and often chatted about things they knew.

Dick always complained to Dean about the corruption of various dignitaries, and Dean would also reveal some little secrets in magic to Dick.

One of them mentioned Commissioner Gordon's daughter, but Dean didn't pay much attention to it, and he didn't know that Barbara was Batgirl.

"..." After hearing this, the girl was silent for a while and said: "So, you have actually known that my father is Jim Gordon for a long time, and what you said before is all nonsense?"

Dean smiled slightly and said, "How can you say it's nonsense? Am I wrong?"

"Okay, okay, your powers of observation are great, you should become a private detective... I'm Barbara Gordon, can I ask what your name is?"

Barbara formally introduced herself, then asked Dean's name.

"First acquaintance, Miss Gordon, I am Dean Thaston. This is a meeting gift for you."

Dean stretched out his hand and snapped his fingers, and a pink rose appeared out of thin air in his hand. He bowed slightly and handed the flower to Barbara.

"Oh, thank you, can you do magic?"

Barbara accepted the rose generously and said slightly surprised.

Conjuring a rose is not a rare skill. It can be said to be a basic skill that every magician knows. However, because of this, it is more difficult to perform well, especially in front of a discerning audience.

Batgirl's eyesight is obviously very good. Barbara can see through most of the close-up magic tricks at a glance, but when Dean conjured a rose just now, Barbara didn't see his trick at all. .

It’s not that I can’t understand it, it’s that I can’t see it.

Barbara knew the principles of this magic trick, and she could even pull it off herself, but it was basically impossible to do it to the extent that Dean couldn't see the trick at all.

"Thinking about it carefully, I seem to have heard the name Saston somewhere before...I remembered it! You are the famous young genius magician!"

Suddenly, Barbara seemed to remember something.

"Grayson told me about you before...wait, you said a friend told you that Commissioner Gordon had a daughter? Could it be——"

"Yes, you guessed it right, that friend of mine is Dick Grayson."

Dean admitted frankly.

Chapter 39 Dragon Egg Ruby Necklace

Gotham City Library, dining area.

It’s hard to imagine why a library would have a dedicated dining area. Who would read here hungry?

It is quite common for a library and a coffee shop to be opened together. It is more in line with normal people's living habits to drink coffee while reading a book.

When Dean walked into the dining area for the first time, he found that the environment here was unexpectedly very good.

Although there are not many customers eating here, the entire dining place is very clean and tidy, and the decoration is somewhat similar to McDonald's model, full of simplicity.

In fact, Dean feels that this place is more like a library cafeteria than a restaurant for outside guests. There are obviously more people wearing librarian uniforms than guests who come to read books. This may be because the meal time has passed long ago. .

At this time, a waiter came over with a plate of food and placed it on Dean's table.

"Sir, this is the cheese and beef roll set you ordered. Please use it slowly."

This set meal comes with two beef rolls, an American French fries and a glass of freshly squeezed lemonade. The cheese beef roll is much larger than McDonald’s chicken roll. The total portion of the whole meal is not small, and the price is very cheap. .

According to Barbara's statement of high quality and low price, at least for now it seems that the latter is correct.

"Thank you."

Dean thanked the waiter, but he did not start eating immediately. Instead, he looked at a red-haired girl across the table.

"So...why did you come with me, Miss Gordon?"

Dean asked with a strange look on his face, "Aren't you going to organize that whole trolley of books?"

"In fact, that's not my job in the first place."

Barbara spread her hands and said indifferently: "As you said, my position is one level higher than other librarians, so my job is not to manage books, but to manage librarians, although here There are not many people in total who can take care of me."

"Just now I pushed the cart to organize the books, mainly because I was really free and had nothing to do, so I went to help other employees share the load."

Barbara curled her lips and said, "Now that I have met someone who interests me more than organizing books, of course I will come over."

"Wow, I'm really flattered then."

Dean exaggerated.

"You may not believe how famous you are. When I was in school, almost every female classmate dreamed of having your signed photo. Even though I was busy preparing my thesis to apply for early graduation, I had no energy to pay attention to the magic show. Whatever, I can still hear your name from time to time.”

Barbara's face was full of seriousness. The name of Gotham's talented young magician was quite deceptive.

Especially when Dean still has a handsome face, this will attract young female fans even more.

If Barbara's Gotham University is like this, then you can imagine how terrible Dean's own high school is.

Dean has lost count of how many girls wanted to date him. In short, he rejected them all without exception.

Whenever Valentine's Day comes, Dean's cabinets or drawers at school will be filled with piles of confession letters, flowers and chocolates, which has always made Dean very distressed.

This situation also makes the boys in the school generally unfriendly to Dean. In general, Dean usually only spends time with Dick.

It was not until Dean basically stopped performing on stage in the past two years and his fame gradually declined that the situation became much better.

"What a genius young magician. That's all in the past. It's just a false name. There are many magicians in the world who are better than me."

Dean took a bite of the cheese beef roll, chewed it a few times, swallowed it and said, "Like the brother and sister from the Zatara family in Gotham, both of them are top magic masters. The younger brother seems to be younger than me. Really After all, he is Gotham's most talented magician."

It was somewhat boring to eat alone, so Dean started chatting with Barbara.

"Now that you've eaten cheese and beef rolls, how do you feel? Doesn't it taste great?"

Barbara suddenly looked at Dean expectantly and asked.

"Uh...it feels pretty good."

Dean was asked and he didn't know what to say for a moment. After thinking for a while, he decided to answer truthfully.

Generally speaking, the taste is okay. At least there is nothing wrong with Dean eating it. It may be less interesting than the braised pork roll.

As for whether it is the so-called "best cheese and beef roll in Gotham", it's hard to say, after all, Dean has never tasted it from other places.

In short, Dean gave his evaluation.

"I just said the formula is fine!"

Who knew, as soon as she heard Dean's reply, Barbara said in surprise.

"You don't know, the person in charge of the kitchen decided to modify the recipe of cheese beef rolls a few days ago. She thought that adjusting the flavor would attract more customers to dine. It was a disaster!"

Having said this, Barbara quietly looked back at the counter, then turned around and spoke to Dean in a low voice.

"You haven't eaten other food in the store, so you don't have a deep impression, but believe me, the only edible thing here is this beef roll. If the recipe is really modified, then I'm afraid I will have to order takeout every day."

"But if a diner reports that the cheese beef roll is delicious, it will convince her that the current recipe does not need to be modified. Unfortunately, few people will order this dish. Fortunately, you are here today."

Hearing this, Dean fell into deep thought.

I don’t know why, but suddenly I feel like the cheese beef rolls on the plate don’t taste the same...

-

At the same time, Gotham's Diamond District is an area where a large number of wealthy people gather, and it is the area with the best security in the entire city.

It is also the base camp of the Penguin and the area where the Iceberg Club is located.

Yes, you heard it right, the area where the Penguins are entrenched is the area with the best security level in Gotham, surpassing the old city where the GCPD headquarters and the city government are located.

In the Iceberg Club, a beautiful woman who looked to be about forty years old and had a luxurious body walked into Penguin's office with trepidation.

She wears a necklace studded with diamonds around her neck, but the diamonds are not the protagonist of the necklace, they are just a foil, because hanging on the necklace is a huge oval-shaped ruby ​​with the diameter of a palm. You can tell at a glance that it is Priceless treasure.

In the office, Penguin sat alone at the table, looking at her with a smile.