The sudden opening announcement echoed through the entire venue like a clap of thunder, instantly stealing the attention of everyone present.
High-profile socialites dressed in expensive suits and gowns froze mid-conversation. At the same time, officers of the Gotham City Police Department snapped their heads toward the source of the sound. All eyes locked onto the dazzling white figure standing calmly under the stage spotlight.
For a brief moment, silence ruled the auction hall.
Then disbelief crept across Commissioner Gordon's face.
"Kaito Kid?!"
His grip on his pistol tightened instinctively as he stared at the gentleman thief standing boldly in full view.
"How did he get there?" Gordon muttered, half to himself.
The confusion burning in his mind was the same question Robin had wrestled with moments earlier. Surveillance footage had been checked again and again—there had been no window of opportunity for Kaito Kid to tamper with the hotel's power system.
And yet, the blackout had happened.
Even more unsettling was the fact that after the power failure, Gordon had personally ordered a thorough sweep of the auction stage and its surrounding structures. Officers had inspected curtains, equipment racks, lighting rigs—every possible hiding spot.
There had been nothing.
And yet now, Kaito Kid stood right there, smiling casually as if he had always belonged under the spotlight.
The auction venue itself was massive, divided into two primary sections. One half served as a luxury entertainment complex—restaurant, ballroom, cocktail lounge—while the other half housed the formal auction stage.
A thick curtain separated the two areas, but structurally, they shared the same enormous hall.
There were no direct exits from the auction stage itself.
The only way in or out was through the entertainment complex.
With Robin having already ruled out the ventilation ducts earlier, that left only one possibility.
Kaito Kid had to be hiding among the bidders.
But that didn't make sense anymore.
All attendees had already been escorted into the entertainment area and were under strict police supervision, undergoing headcounts and identity checks.
Logically speaking, Kaito Kid appearing on stage right now should have been impossible.
A murmur spread through the crowd.
"Who's that guy in white?"
Not everyone present followed crime news. Many of Gotham's elite lived far removed from petty thefts, even famous ones.
A well-dressed man leaned over and whispered excitedly, "That's Kaito Kid! He's been all over Gotham lately. They say he's a strange thief who steals priceless items just to return them later."
"So he's a lunatic?" someone scoffed.
Kaito Kid raised a gloved hand theatrically, bowing slightly.
"Good evening, Commissioner Gordon," he said smoothly.
"And greetings to the brilliant young hero of the Bat-family."
Robin's jaw tightened.
Kaito Kid's gaze drifted across the stage, almost disappointed.
"Hmm… I don't see the Pink Dream."
His tone carried genuine regret.
"What a shame. To think I wouldn't get to witness the splendor of the world's greatest pink diamond with my own eyes."
He turned back toward Gordon.
"Commissioner, might you kindly tell me where the diamond is being kept?"
Gordon didn't respond to the taunt.
Instead, he raised his pistol, aiming squarely at the thief.
"Hands up, Kaito Kid!"
His voice boomed through the hall.
"Every route on this floor is sealed. There's nowhere for you to run."
The commissioner took a steady breath.
"The auction hall is empty now. You can't use civilians as shields anymore. If you resist arrest, we are authorized to fire."
Then his tone softened—just slightly.
"Your crimes so far haven't crossed the line. Surrender peacefully, confess, and I'll personally recommend leniency."
The crowd held its breath.
Kaito Kid didn't move.
His expression—partially obscured by the glare of the lights reflecting off his monocle—remained eerily calm.
"So… even the police don't know where the item they're guarding is?"
The words struck Gordon like a needle.
At that moment, Robin frowned.
Something was wrong.
From the moment Kaito Kid appeared, he hadn't moved at all. No shift of posture. No casual gestures. Even his breathing seemed nonexistent.
Robin's mind raced.
Then it clicked.
A familiar trick.
"Don't shoot!" Robin shouted suddenly.
Before anyone could react, he sprinted toward the stage at full speed.
Kaito Kid didn't respond.
Didn't flinch.
Didn't even turn his head.
Robin leapt—
Thud!
His fist slammed into Kaito Kid's face.
Instead of resistance, the figure burst apart like an overinflated balloon.
Fragments scattered across the stage.
Gasps erupted from every direction.
Robin crouched down, sifting through the remains.
A small device lay among the debris.
A megaphone.
"It's a dummy," Robin said grimly.
"The voice came from this. The real Kaito Kid was never here."
The crowd buzzed again.
Then someone screamed.
"Over there! Kaito Kid's over there!"
All eyes turned toward the back row of seats.
In the dim light, a faint white silhouette stood motionless.
Unlike the stage decoy, this figure wasn't under a spotlight. If not for the unmistakable white suit, no one would have noticed it at all.
Gordon narrowed his eyes.
"You two—check it out," he ordered.
"Careful. If it doesn't move, don't fire."
Before the officers could take three steps—
"Behind us! He's behind us!"
A police officer shouted in panic.
Another white figure stood twenty meters away.
This one was running.
Fast.
Too fast.
Gordon's pulse quickened.
This one was real.
Before he could issue an arrest order, chaos exploded.
"On the right! He's on the right!"
"No, that one's fake!"
"The one near the ballroom—look at how he moves!"
White figures appeared everywhere.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then more.
It felt like the entire venue was surrounded by Kaito Kid.
Just as Gordon tried to regain control—
"Report! Patrol Team A here!"
"We've spotted a suspect in Corridor One on the eighteenth floor. He's fast—requesting immediate backup!"
Gordon's stomach dropped.
Before he could respond—
"Report! Patrol Team C—"
The transmission cut out.
Gordon realized the truth.
This wasn't one escape plan.
It was a masterpiece.
And Kaito Kid was already everywhere.
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