Chapter 29: Pink Fantasy

"To truly understand someone, you must listen not only to their words but also to their silence."

- Thors (Vinland Saga)

...

In the corridor outside the auction hall on the 18th floor of the Gotham International Hotel, William was carrying Joey on his back and was running wildly.

"Today's auction has been completely ruined. Mr. Penguin's deal is almost impossible to proceed as planned. How angry will he be? Can I still survive?"

Joey weakly asked William on his back.

"To be honest, I don't know. The boss's temper is always unpredictable. Maybe he doesn't even care about such a small matter like this," William reassured.

"I hope so," Joey sighed.

"You've never worked with our Penguin Gang before, and Gotham International Hotel has a good reputation. The people here are all high-ranking officials and celebrities from Gotham. You don't need to mix with us. So why did you suddenly agree to let our fake diamonds be auctioned?" William asked curiously.

"Forgive me for being rude, but I am really curious why you're helping the boss. Did he threaten your wife or son? Did he hold a gun to your head?"

Speaking of which, William suddenly realized that his question might not be right and apologized.

"Sorry, I've tried to bribe you with money before, but you never agreed. So I always thought you were a fraud who pretended to be good. The reason why I asked you this question was not out of curiosity but because I needed to know how close your relationship with the gang is to analyze the boss's attitude towards you."

"It's Ignatius Ogilvy, Mr. Penguin sent him to deal with me... I-I don't want to think about that memory, it was terrifying..."

Joey's worries about the future made his mind chaotic, and he couldn't even hear the loopholes in William's words.

"Ignatius Ogilvy?"

William said it with a look of sudden realization.

"So it's him. No wonder you're so scared," William said.

At this moment, a series of hurried footsteps approached from behind, accompanied by a loud shout.

"Put that person down, Phantom Thief!"

Robin caught up, and he was prepared.

He had a semi-transparent gas mask on his face, which could effectively protect him from different known toxic gases on Earth.

This is the one he wore in the temporary storage room of the auction items before.

He replaced his ordinary eye mask with special sunglasses that could greatly reduce the impact of bright lights and even had infrared sensing capabilities.

With all these protective gears, flashlights, smoke bombs, tear gas, and other techniques would not affect Robin.

"Ph-Phantom... Phantom Thief?"

Upon hearing Robin's call, Joey's face froze, and he looked at 'William' with shock.

A chill ran down his spine, causing him to shudder and feel numb and cold.

Did he just reveal the secret deal between him and the Penguin?

"Oh well, I've been exposed,"

Dean said, shaking his head helplessly and apologizing with a sheepish smile.

"Robin, since you want this guy who is so scared to death, I'll just have to give him back to you," Dean said.

With that, the person who was disguised as William suddenly stopped.

He grabbed Joey's wrists on his back and then turned a 180-degree to throw him backward.

When Joey let go, Dean reached out his right hand and grabbed his collar, pulling it down hard.

With his clothes, pants, and disguise removed, Phantom Thief revealed his true identity.

Phantom Thief!

"The appearance is really good, but unfortunately it is a fake."

At some point, a small piece of pink diamond appeared in the hands of Phantom Thief.

The diamond was cut into a beautiful olive shape.

With a gentle flick of his hand, the diamond disappeared, leaving everyone wondering where Phantom Thief had hidden it.

Meanwhile, Joey was rushing towards Robin.

Robin's gaze was firm, and he slightly moved aside, letting Joey fall to the ground while he continued chasing Phantom Thief without slowing down.

"Tsk tsk, Robin, you didn't even catch that guy. Aren't you afraid he might get hurt from the fall?"

Phantom Thief complained as he saw Robin ignore Joey and charge straight at him.

"Hmph! You used about sixty percent of your strength to throw that person away. Even if Joey fell to the ground, he would scratch his skin at most. Compared to that, of course chasing you is more important!"

Robin, trained by Batman for many years in different martial arts techniques, had a deep understanding of different fighting styles.

In other words, he had mastered the basic principles of human force.

Robin could easily see how much the amount of force Phantom Thief had used and what effect it would have.

Hearing Robin's words, Phantom Thief couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

Did his eyes deceive him?

Did Batman really teach this kind of technique?

Also, Robin was still young. How skilled would he become after practicing for ten or eight years?

It seemed impossible to know someone's next move just by watching their body movements, right?

At this moment, a voice that was extremely familiar to Robin sounded from behind him, and the voice was full of anxiety.

"Robin! Something... something bad is happening! Forget about Phantom Thief, come back quickly!"

Alfred!

Upon hearing Alfred's anxious call, Robin immediately stopped and turned around to see if something had happened to him.

However, when he looked back down the corridor behind him, besides Joey lying on the ground, there was no sign of Alfred.

"Oh! My dear Robin, please take a few more steps forward. I'm right in front of you."

Robin didn't foolishly move forward but turned back, his expression darkening as he faced Phantom Thief.

He knew that this must be Phantom Thief using some kind of device or speaker on Joey.

Suddenly, Phantom Thief turned his head and grinned at him as he ran forward, showing him an object that looked like an earpiece in his hand.

Phantom Thief put the earpiece to his mouth and said, "Robin, my dearest Wonder Boy, what do you want to eat when you go home? I can cook the best food for you."

It was Phantom Thief who spoke, but Robin heard the voice coming from Joey.

The tone and voice sounded exactly like Alfred's. Robin was amazed at Phantom Thief's ability to copy human voices without any props or gadgets.

Despite the surprise, Robin did not give up chasing Phantom Thief. He ran faster than before and quickly caught up to him.

The corridor in the hotel was not infinitely long, and they soon arrived at a turning point.

Now, Phantom Thief was about to reach the corner, while Robin was slightly behind due to his earlier hesitation.

As Phantom Thief turned the corner, he disappeared from Robin's line of sight.

But when Robin turned the corner...

"ah--!"

...

patreon.com/Sothisq

You can find up to 20 advance chapters at my patreon.