90 Chapter 90: April Fools' Day
"Oh yes, the past can hurt, but the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it"
- Rafiki (The Lion King)
...
As time passed, the sky slowly darkened.
Dean walked through the corridor as if he had nothing to do, casually glancing around as if he had nothing better to do.
Not far away from him, a woman wearing sunglasses walked towards him from the opposite direction.
It was Lily.
"Dean?"
Lily greeted him as soon as she saw Dean, but he kept walking without stopping.
"Hi, Ms. Lily."
Dean smiled and said something, then kept moving forward.
Soon, the two passed each other and continued walking in their original directions.
"How's it going?"
Shortly after, Dick's voice came through Dean's earpiece.
"Mission accomplished. The transmitter and bug are hidden, and Lily hasn't noticed anything so far."
Dean's lips curled up slightly as he responded, "My task is done. What about you guys?"
At the same time, near Wayne Tower, Dick in his Robin suit is running forward at full speed between rows of buildings.
When the distance between two buildings was close, Dick would just jump over them, using the Grappling Gun in his hand when he couldn't jump over.
Despite running so fast, Dick's breath remained surprisingly steady, and he could even have a normal conversation with Dean while running.
"I'm almost near Wayne Tower. I hope to get there before 7:50 PM."
In response to Dean's question, Dick answered slowly, "Barbara and Commissioner Gordon are on the roof of the exhibition hall using binoculars to watch the Wayne Tower and wait for Phantom Thief to show up."
"Why are you going to Wayne Tower instead of staying on the rooftop with them?"
Dean asked.
"Just consider it as me wanting to see Phantom Thief with my own eyes."
Dick casually replied, "Dean, Barbara is monitoring Lily. You can go up to the rooftop and wait for Phantom Thief, or you can stay in the exhibition hall to help guard the diamond. I'm going to get busy soon, I'll hang up now."
Inside the exhibition hall, Dean ended the call with Dick, but he was quietly happy.
'Robin went to Wayne Tower, Batgirl and Commissioner Gordon are on the rooftop, and now is the perfect time to do what I need to do."
With the planned time approaching, Dean chose to stay in the exhibition hall instead of going to Wayne Tower.
He wasn't worried that Phantom Thief's absence would have a negative impact on him because he had planned everything days in advance.
Dean glanced at the time and saw that there was still about an hour until 7:50.
"There is still plenty of time."
Dean took out a small display device that looked like a phone. It showed a radar-like image with a noticeable red dot slowly moving.
That red dot represented Lily, but the signal did not come from the transmitter Dick gave him.
Dick had only asked Dean to help with the bug but hadn't given him the connected receiver.
So, Dean hid two different transmitters and bugs on Lily.
In that split second when they passed each other just now, Dean successfully completed the task of placing the four mini devices on her without being caught.
Just like Dick suspected that something was off with Lily, Dean had similar thoughts.
But he knew Lily couldn't possibly be the Phantom Thief.
If Lily was using a fake identity, that would mean she was another thief eyeing the 'Hope Diamond,' a rival to Dean.
This situation was bad for Dean.
It's worth mentioning that Lily designed the exclusive exhibition hall for the 'Hope Diamond.'
If her purpose was to steal the diamond, she would definitely leave behind some countermeasures against the security measures.
And her whole design was based on the Phantom Thief as an imaginary enemy, like using a low-temperature environment to make it harder to move using his fingers or making a room with only one entrance and exit.
There might be other traps specifically targeting the Phantom Thief that she hadn't revealed, catching Dean off guard.
In short, Dean didn't want Lily to be a real threat.
'I need to prepare for the worst. She's currently in... the women's bathroom.'
Based on the position and distance displayed on the signal receiver, Dean quickly thought of Lily's current location.
...
Night falls, and the time for the anticipated appearance of the Phantom Thief is coming close.
At this moment, everyone is getting nervous.
The police of the GCPD, the staff inside the exhibition hall, Batgirl and Robin, and the people gathered on the streets below Wayne Tower
That's right, at this point, there are not many people left inside the exhibition hall.
On the one hand, the exhibition only stays open until 8 p.m. every day, so it's nearly closing time.
On the other hand, someone leaked information about Phantom Thief's plans and location to the news, which made them exposed to everyone.
The Phantom Thief is now a celebrity in Gotham, so naturally, it has attracted countless people to gather around Wayne Tower.
At this moment, there are four or five helicopters hovering above Wayne Tower.
Two of them were police helicopters from the GCPD, and the rest were from major media outlets like Gotham TV and Gotham Gazette.
There are photographers and reporters on board running live broadcasts.
"Hello, everyone, I'm Vicki Vale, a reporter from Gotham Gazette, and I'm currently above Wayne Tower."
"You can see that there is someone on top of Wayne Tower. Let's zoom in a bit, okay? Can you all see it? That's Robin! He must be waiting there for the Phantom Thief to appear."
"Let's boldly imagine what will happen later..."
The rooftop of the Ophie Jewelry Exhibition Hall is located several kilometers west of Wayne Tower.
Jim, Harvey, Barbara, Kim, Henry, and several police officers are standing there, using binoculars to look towards the top of Wayne Tower.
"Time is almost up. Helicopter 1, Helicopter 2, report your status!"
Commissioner Gordon used the communicator to contact the two helicopters and ask.
"Reporting, sir. Everything is normal... Wait! We've got something!"
Just as the helicopter pilots were about to report that everything was normal, they suddenly stopped and changed their words.
"There is an unidentified flying object on the radar approaching Wayne Tower from the southeast!"
Hearing this, Jim immediately moves his binoculars towards the southeast.
He sees a white glider rapidly approaching Wayne Tower.
Just like last time, this glider is equipped with an engine on its tail, allowing it to maintain stable flight even in the middle of the airflow caused by the helicopter rotors.
The difference is that this glider heading towards Wayne Tower is much larger.
It's at least three to four times bigger than the glider Phantom Thief usually uses, which makes it noticeable in the sky.
On the rooftop of Wayne Tower, Robin, who had been waiting for a long time, stood up and stared at the rapidly approaching white glider at high speed.
However, when the white glider is about to reach the top of Wayne Tower, it suddenly takes a turn and circles around to the northwest side of the tower.
Then there was a clattering sound.
A huge banner suddenly opens beneath the glider, wrapping around half of Wayne Tower.
The banner carries a large message written in large letters that even people on the ground can read, and when they saw it, everyone couldn't help but smile.
"Happy April Fools' Day!"
...
A/N: If we reach 1, 400 power stones today, I will release an additional chapter tomorrow.
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