"One more drink." Wolverine's voice came in, mixed with the blaring music.
Liu A'dou froze. Wasn't he just in 1985? How was he back here? He was supposed to wake up in the future, after being taken to 2045 by the Flash. Why was he suddenly back in the present?
Actually, it made sense. With the interstellar traveler crisis no longer a threat in the future, the Flash naturally had no reason to return to 2015 to find Liu A'dou. Which meant Liu A'dou never needed to go to the future at all. That proved the future had changed. So coming directly from 1985 back to 2015 was logical. Still, after saving the future, none of those people even bothered to thank him—unbelievable.
It felt like a lifetime ago. Modern clothes still looked more pleasing to the eye. It had only been thirty years, but the changes were huge.
He felt Wolverine pat his shoulder three times. Suddenly, Liu A'dou remembered something. "Wolverine, I'm trusting you with Elsa's safety. I just remembered something. I'm heading out first—and remember, no drunk driving."
Watching Liu A'dou's hurried back, Wolverine just assumed he'd forgotten to lock the door.
Liu A'dou rushed to the spot where the invisible jet was parked. He wanted to check if that base in the Antarctic still existed. It was a good place. Maybe he could hide the things he stole there. That's why he was so eager to confirm it.
The invisible jet took two hours to reach Antarctica. Looking down from the cockpit—sure enough, it was still there. A good place, Liu A'dou thought. Ozymandias wasn't all bad; at least he'd built something useful.
The frigid wind howled. Liu A'dou wore only a thin outfit. Luckily, the continuous Ripple flowing through him kept his blood warm, protecting him from frostbite. No one seemed to have been here in thirty years. The decorative stone columns outside were mostly buried and partially broken. Thankfully, the entrance remained, though it was blocked by snow and he had to crawl inside.
He squeezed through the snowy tunnel and entered the main hall. It was still exactly the same—except for the wall of TVs, which was mostly busted. A good place. A really good place. Liu A'dou almost carved his name into the wall right there. From now on, this would be his base. He was thrilled.
He found the light switch. Surprisingly, the lights still worked. Ozymandias had really gone all out building this base. It was powered by quantum energy copied by Dr. Manhattan—enough to last this place for centuries.
With the lights on, Liu A'dou noticed something in the corner. That definitely hadn't been there in '85. He walked over and froze. It was the Watchmen's uniforms. Nite Owl's armor, Silk Spectre II's bodysuit, and Rorschach's inkblot mask—each sealed in a separate glass chamber. Beside them was a workbench like the one in Nite Owl's underground lair. Liu A'dou brushed off the dust and picked up a black notebook lying on the table.
Inside was a letter.
After reading it, Liu A'dou was overwhelmed with emotion. It was a letter from Rorschach to him. That's when he learned that after 1985, Nite Owl and Silk Spectre II had gotten married, while Rorschach continued fighting crime until the collapse of the Soviet Union. As for the schemer Ozymandias, he died in prison due to a failed genetic modification he attempted on himself. The world finally emerged from the Cold War. Rorschach took off his mask and lived a quiet life.
Rorschach had made a few trips back to Antarctica to hide the Watchmen's gear here. At the end of the letter, he wrote, "Kaitou Kid, although we didn't spend much time together, I know you're destined to accomplish great things in the future. You don't show sympathy to criminals, but you show restraint—that makes you better than me. The future belongs to you. Ms. Ada Wong told me that doing this would help you. I entrust all that we were to you. Please keep watch for a brighter tomorrow."
Now that he thought about it, Rorschach would be around sixty-five by now. Maybe he even had grandkids. Liu A'dou hadn't expected to be trusted this much. Thinking of that stubborn, short guy, he was moved to the point of tears.
The notebook was Rorschach's journal. It documented cases he had cracked and his personal insights. Other notebooks were Nite Owl's, filled with technical schematics. Even his aircraft, the Archimedes, had been left behind in Antarctica.
He flipped the letter over—there was more? It was his own handwriting. Liu A'dou stared at the familiar script, overwhelmed by emotion. It was a message from his future self, written back in '85: "I've erased all records of Kaitou Kid, including most of the Watchmen's files. The Antarctic base now belongs fully to you. Do your best. Written to my past self."
No wonder Ada Wong had said even S.H.I.E.L.D. had little info on the Watchmen—it was all erased by his future self. But that was fine. Now he could have the base all to himself. Tools had already been prepared. Even Dr. Manhattan's duplicated energy source was still working. This place really was tailor-made for Kaitou.
Liu A'dou got to work cleaning right away. A base had to look like a base. He couldn't be crawling through snow every time just to get inside. He focused Ripple into his wedding ring, then used the Ripple laser to melt the snow clogging the base.
Despite how old everything was, much of it was still usable—and the technology was extremely advanced. For example, the particle disintegration system at the stairwell was downright ruthless. Even Dr. Manhattan had once fallen victim to it—though it hadn't done much in the end.
There was also satellite-link equipment, though it was badly outdated. Still, with a few part replacements, it could work again. This place was no worse than the Batcave. With some light upgrades, it could become Kaitou Kid's personal HQ.
At last, he arrived at the power core—Dr. Manhattan's custom-made energy cell. The sphere stored quantum energy, with numerous ports and tangled cables. All the base's power ran from here—ventilation, heating, elevators, filtration systems. And even after thirty years, the energy inside was still going strong.
"You don't even need a fridge in here," Liu A'dou muttered, staring at the blizzard outside. That was all he could think of.
Over the next few days, Liu A'dou made multiple supply runs. The invisible jet couldn't carry much at once, but once Archimedes was up and running again, it could double as a cargo plane. After thirty years, many parts inside had aged badly.
Luckily, Nite Owl had left the full blueprints. Liu A'dou followed them, dismantling and tweaking until the craft was repaired. With a full tank, it was flight-ready. Then he ordered a load of raw materials and started remodeling the base. Originally, it was all done in an Egyptian theme. Liu A'dou wasn't a fan. The exterior had to stay, but the interior—he could change that.
He tore out every Egyptian statue, framed Rorschach's letter and hung it on the wall, and put up a giant selfie of Kaitou Kid.
Next, he replaced the antique wall of televisions with LCD monitors and added a tower PC. It could double as both TV and computer. The internet reception was bad, but Liu A'dou could fix that. After a full week of fiddling, the base finally matched Kaitou Kid's style. Oversized playing cards, a rose conservatory, magician's tools—everything in place.
And now, he had a new goal.
New York City was hosting a special jewelry exhibition. One of the featured pieces, Deep Sea Blue, was a priceless gem mined from the ocean floor. Definitely something worth Kaitou Kid's attention.