105 Chapter 105: Lifted

"In Spite Of Everything You've Done For Them, Eventually, They Will Hate You"

- Green Goblin

...

"Cough, cough, cough, cough!"

Under the effect of the irritating gas, Robin's eyes turned red, and he began coughing violently.

As the last choice, Robin had to step back temporarily and use his cloak to cover his face.

At the same time, he quickly unlocked the handcuffs in hopes of freeing himself from the tear gas as soon as possible.

He knew that by stepping back, he was giving the Phantom Thief the opportunity to steal the diamond.

The exhibition hall was now blacked out, which meant the gravity sensors were no longer active and the alarms wouldn't be triggered.

There was nothing that could stop the Phantom Thief now!

'Damn you, Phantom Thief!'

Robin thought angrily.

"Robin, you really need to be more cautious when dealing with things the bad guys give you."

The Phantom Thief's playful voice came from nearby, and Robin instinctively swung his fist to the side but didn't hit anyone.

"Oh, one more thing I forgot to mention."

At that moment, the Phantom Thief spoke as if he had remembered something.

"The diamond you thought was a fake 'Hope Diamond' earlier... is actually the real deal!"

"Don't joke around! If that was the real 'Hope Diamond,' then why did you come back to the exhibition? And what about the diamond that's on the display stand now?"

Robin couldn't easily believe Phantom Thief's words, but obviously that wasn't Phantom Thief's main concern.

"Believe it or not, it won't be long before the GCPD catches up to that dummy. Soon, you'll know the truth."

"Or... you could go ask Henry Orpheus."

The Phantom Thief's voice echoed from all directions.

It was impossible to see or even hear Phantom Thief clearly because the effects of the tear gas hadn't completely diminished yet and Robin's cloak was still covering his face.

The voice sometimes sounded close, sometimes far, sometimes on the left side, and sometimes on the right.

The voice started out clear and loud, slowly weakening until it faded completely.

Even though Robin didn't hear the footsteps of the Phantom Thief leaving, he knew that he was definitely no longer in the exhibition hall.

After a few seconds, the effects of the tear gas completely dissipated, and Robin's senses returned to normal.

Sure enough, there was no trace of Phantom Thief in the exhibition hall anymore, and the 'Blue Diamond' on the display stand had disappeared along with the diamond box.

Instead of immediately chasing after the Phantom Thief, Robin stayed in place and started pondering.

'Ask Henry Orpheus?'

Robin had a feeling that when Phantom Thief mentioned Henry at the end, he might have some hidden meaning.

Moreover, Phantom Thief confidently said that the diamond in the dummy's hand was real, which means that the diamond in the exhibition hall was fake.

Could it be that the Phantom Thief had returned to steal the fake?

That is definitely impossible.

Even if Phantom Thief was unpredictable, Robin couldn't imagine him doing something like using a real diamond as bait to switch it with a fake.

However, Phantom Thief's attitude was so sure that it obviously left Robin with some doubts.

From his words, it seemed that Henry was someone who knew the inside story.

Robin couldn't help but recall some missed details from before.

For example, when the diamonds were originally stored in ice, Henry insisted on using a box to contain the 'Hope Diamond,' claiming it was to seal a curse.

At first glance, this behavior might seem good, but the box was not just a clear, colorless container.

It was slightly blue and clear, and it had a colorful diamond inside of it in a colored box.

Both the box and the diamond were of a similar blue color, making it difficult even for top gemologists to determine the real 'Hope Diamond' with just their naked eyes.

Now it seems that Henry likely did this on purpose so as not to let people discover that the 'Hope Diamond' on the display stand was a fake.

Not long ago, when everyone was still in the exhibition hall, Robin had suspicions about Dean and also noticed that Henry was acting strangely.

He didn't seem concerned about the diamond theft. In fact, he seemed somewhat happy about it.

This made Robin hesitate between 'Dean' and 'Henry,' wondering which one was the fake disguised to be the Phantom Thief.

But no matter who the Phantom Thief disguised himself as, he would eventually return to this exhibition hall, so Robin just needed to wait for him here and catch him.

But now, the situation seemed a bit more complicated.

Dean was indeed the fake disguise of the Phantom Thief, and Henry wasn't as innocent as he appeared.

'I guess I have to go talk to Henry Orpheus now."

With a determined look, Robin thought to himself.

...

While the Phantom Thief and Robin confronted each other in the exhibition hall on the street near Gotham Knight Stadium.

At the top of an abandoned building that was about to be destroyed, a white glider descended rapidly.

At the same time, a beam of searchlight came down from the sky, directly shining on the white glider.

Several police cars followed closely behind and parked at the entrance of the abandoned building.

Police officers rushed out of their cars and ran furiously towards the rooftop.

"Calling the chief, this is Helicopter No. 2. We've located Phantom Thief's position, and the target has temporarily stopped moving."

The helicopter pilot reported to Commissioner Gordon first.

"Report the exact location of the Phantom Thief immediately and watch him closely!"

Commissioner Gordon received the report as he was a few blocks behind due to a late departure. He urged Harvey, who was driving, to hurry to the building.

In Commissioner Gordon's police car, besides him and his old partner Harvey Bullock, there was a mature woman seated in the back.

It was Miss Kim Beckett from the Smithsonian Museum who requested to go with Jim and Havey, as she wanted to see if the real 'Hope Diamond' was found.

After a while, Jim and his team successfully arrived at the abandoned building, and the officers who had arrived early had already sealed off the scene.

"Where is the Phantom Thief? Did we recover the diamond?"

As soon as they got out of the car, Jim hurriedly approached one of the officers at the scene and asked.

Hearing this, the officers looked at each other strangely and said, "The diamond should have been recovered, but..."

"But what?"

"Sir, the Phantom Thief isn't here. From the beginning, we were chasing a dummy, not the real Phantom Thief. It was a dummy."

Jim felt like he had been struck by lightning.

He remembered that he had suspected the Phantom Thief outside was a fake, so why did he bring all his subordinates to chase after him?

"Sir, this is the diamond we recovered and... a message from Phantom Thief."

One officer brought out two sealed bags.

One contained the stunning 'Hope Diamond,' while the other held a message card from Phantom Thief Kid.

Jim handed the diamond to Kim for careful appraisal while he read the message card himself.

"A beautiful diamond named 'Hope,' yet cursed with the 'Misfortune', causing people to fear and preventing them from truly appreciating its beauty. This is truly regrettable. So, I've lifted the terrifying curse that has trapped this diamond for centuries.

Yours sincerely, Phantom Thief."

"Lifted... the curse?"

After reading the information on the message card, Jim was filled with question marks in his mind.

'What does this mean?'

'Did the Phantom Thief steal the "Hope Diamond" to lift its curse?'

Whether Jim ever believed in any curse on the diamond or not, even if there was one, he didn't believe the Phantom Thief would come especially to remove the curse from the diamond.

In any case, Jim was completely puzzled and confused.

But this was Gotham after all, and not understanding the motives behind crimes was too normal.

...

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