DC: Phantom Thief Kid

Chapter 22: Lark

A hero would sacrifice you to save the world, but a villain would sacrifice the world to save you.

- Lelouch vi Britannia

...

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

On the stage of the auction, Manager Cicero held a microphone and smiled as he gave his opening speech to the upper-class audience below.

"Now in front of me is the first auction item of the day—a vintage pocket watch."

In front of him was a table with a gavel and an old-looking pocket watch.

Behind Joey, a large screen was set up, which displayed the details of the pocket watch.

"This pocket watch comes from Gotham's famous Elliott family, and over a century ago, Edward Elliott, the head of the Elliott family, spent a lot of money to invite world-class craftsmen to make it..."

Joey talked endlessly about the history of the antique pocket watch.

In the audience, Dick pretended to listen with great interest, but his mind was somewhere else.

'Phantom Thief's target should be the pink diamond, and the time for him to do it will definitely be the moment when zero arrives...'

Dick pondered secretly.

'Why did he send out a message in advance and challenge me to find him when nobody noticed him sneaking in? He could have stayed hidden until the right moment.'

'Is he so confident that I won't reveal his disguise before the time arrives? Or is this just part of his plan?'

He held the two cards from Phantom Thief in his hands, one was the notice, and the other was the challenge.

Dick compared the contents of the two cards and pondered intensely.

'Let me think, if I were Phantom Thief, what would be the last thing I would want to do right now...'

At the same time, on the rooftop of a building across from the hotel, several snipers aimed their weapons at the hotel, exactly at the 18th-floor auction venue.

Beside the snipers, one of Penguin's henchmen, Ignatius took out his phone and made a call.

"What's the matter, Ignatius?"

The call connected not long after, and a female voice came from the other phone.

"Lark, are you inside the auction? "

Ignatius asked.

"I'm sitting in a corner, watching these rich people fight over a bunch of old junk of metal as if it's worth anything. William Ethan is with me too."

The woman named Lark replied impatiently.

"It's still a long time before that fake gem comes out. Get to the point; what do you want?"

"Just be careful what you say inside the venue, don't let anyone hear you."

Ignatius warned with a frown.

"Hah! Are you doubting my abilities? Don't forget, I've been working for the boss much longer than you. As long as I don't want to, no one can hear me speak."

Lark scoffed.

"As you wish. Anyway, if anything goes wrong, you're responsible... Have you seen any sign of the Phantom Thief?"