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Chapter 51: Superman Would Totally One-Shot Kid!
"Shocking! Phantom Thief Kid's notice reappears, target set on the Star of Hope!"
"Netizens suggest Director James choose a different filming location to avoid Phantom Thief Kid's edge!"
"Kid sent a notice! Another giant diamond is about to be stolen!"
Overnight, the news of Kid's new heist notice spread throughout Gotham.
Originally, the mere fact that Director James was filming The Macragge in Gotham was already rare headline news. Now that Phantom Thief Kid had decided to get involved, the two events combined to instantly create the hottest topic in recent memory.
Perhaps to veteran Gothamites, a big movie director wasn't much of an event compared to the Riddler or Two-Face. To them, Phantom Thief Kid was significantly more attractive.
However, for movie fans outside Gotham—across the nation and the world—the situation was reversed. They had no interest in Gotham's super-criminals and knew nothing about them.
Therefore, upon hearing that a thief had issued a notice threatening to steal the Star of Hope—arguably the world's number one diamond—from the film crew, their first reaction wasn't worry. Instead, they took to social media comments to ridicule the audacity.
"Are Gotham thieves always this brave? Daring to eye the Star of Hope? If he's so brave, why doesn't he go steal from the Louvre?"
"Hahahaha, I'm dying. It's one thing to want to steal a diamond, but sending a heist notice? Who does he think he is, Arsène Lupin?"
"Honestly, I'd rather believe that 'Phantom Thief Goat' guy is just hyping up the movie than believe someone this stupid exists."
"Phantom Thief Kid is nothing. If he has the guts, let him come to Coast City. If he can hop around for more than a day, I'll eat my shoe!"
"Good lord, Coast City is getting arrogant. What about us in Metropolis? Superman would definitely one-shot Kid, okay!"
"...Guys, I just looked up this Phantom Thief Kid's past deeds. Putting everything else aside, his close-up photos are actually quite handsome. I strongly suggest Kid come to London."
"Wait, London? Something's wrong with you!"
In a short amount of time, every internet platform reporting on Kid's new notice was flooded with similar mockery.
When the honest, simple folk of Gotham saw these messages, they naturally engaged in friendly exchanges, educating the ignorant outsiders about Kid's various miraculous feats. Sometimes, online comments couldn't clarify the details, so enthusiastic Gothamites would invite these netizens to meet offline for a "chat."
While arguments raged online, they didn't affect Tim and Barbara in the Batcave. From the moment they learned of Kid's notice, they had gathered to discuss countermeasures.
"Well, any leads?" Tim asked Barbara with a solemn expression.
"Some, but not much. You?" Barbara asked back.
"To be honest, I'm not sure," Tim said uncertainly.
"Quartz, Flame, Ocean, Breeze,
In the twenty-six letters with head and tail reversed,
Find the nineteenth day and night,
I will board the Pride of Macragge,
And personally pluck that cruel flower of hope."
"The last two lines are clear enough, so let's leave them for now," Tim mused, chin in hand. "The critical information lies in the first two lines. Quartz, Flame, Ocean, and Breeze—what is the connection between these four unrelated things?"
"And the 'twenty-six letters with head and tail reversed.' First, it definitely doesn't refer to the total letter count of the words above, because those four words only have twenty-two letters total. Reversing them doesn't yield any meaning either. So, I believe it refers to the Atbash cipher."
The Atbash cipher is a substitution system where the last letter of the alphabet represents the first, the second-to-last represents the second, and so on—Z represents A, Y represents B, etc. It fits the description of "twenty-six letters" and "head and tail reversed." Tim was confident this interpretation was correct.
But problems arose immediately.
If one applied the Atbash cipher to Quartz, Flame, Ocean, and Breeze, the result was a string of meaningless characters: Quartz became fziga, Flame became oznv, Ocean became xvzm, and Breeze became ivvav.
No matter how these letters were arranged or combined, they couldn't piece together a coherent message.
"Then there's the 'nineteenth day and night.' I don't think it's as simple as the operation taking place nineteen days from now. If we apply the Atbash cipher to this as well, the nineteenth letter is S, which decodes to H."
"And then... there is no 'and then.' I can't think of any further explanation for S or H," Tim said, rubbing his temples. "Damn Phantom Thief Kid. I feel like his notices are becoming increasingly incomprehensible. I hope he doesn't turn into a second Riddler."
"Tim, is it possible we've fallen into a trap of our own making?" Barbara asked, arms crossed, leaning back in her wheelchair and looking up in thought.
"What kind of trap?"
"Any kind. My interpretation of the notice is roughly the same as yours, but I have this nagging feeling that something is off. I just can't put my finger on where."
"Don't push yourself too hard, Barbara. If we can't figure it out right now, let's set it aside. You need rest," Tim advised.
"Ha, anyone can preach, but have you rested properly?" Barbara chuckled, unconcerned. "Besides, when it comes to pulling all-nighters, I have way more experience than you. You might not believe it, but night work now is much easier than before. Back when Dick and I were Batman's only helpers, we spent entire nights fighting gangs, hitmen, robbers, and corrupt officials that multiplied like cancer cells. Sleep was the world's most expensive luxury. Every night, we fully expected to drop dead the next day."
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