Chapter 135: What Happened?
"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."
- Albus Dumbledore (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)
...
The Phantom Thief was like an invisible wind, he showed up out of nowhere and left just as quickly.
No one knew how he left, just like no one knew how he made the big and heavy Bat-Signal disappear and reappear.
As the white figure disappeared, the thick white fog over Gotham City Stadium slowly began to dissipate, but it would take some time to completely clear.
"This...is the end,"
Looking at the Bat-Signal that remained in the field due to the Phantom Thief's leaving, the surrounding audience was suddenly filled with a sense of melancholy.
Although they had witnessed an incredibly amazing magic show, it was a bit short.
It had been less than ten minutes since dozens of Phantom Thief gliders had suddenly appeared in the sky.
The actual magic the Phantom Thief performed was only two or three minutes long.
This made the people in the stadium feel unsatisfied. They felt it would have been nice to see more of Phantom Thief, even if it wasn't magic tricks.
What followed was intense anticipation for the Phantom Thief's official crime in three days.
Today was just a rehearsal, so it would be reasonable to make some improvements and upgrades for the actual performance, right?
"Mr. Wayne, Mr. Fox, I think we should take out the ocean gemstone from the Bat-Signal and verify it carefully to avoid any unexpected situations."
Commissioner Gordon said to Bruce and Lucius seriously.
"I know you both have confidence in the promethium alloy, and I also believe Phantom Thief will keep his word not to steal the gem today. But it's important to do regular checks to make sure nothing unexpected happens."
Bruce nodded in agreement and glanced at Lucius, who immediately understood and turned to Commissioner Gordon.
"Commissioner Gordon, please come with me. We'll get the tools for removing the cameras and the high-frequency vibrational molecular knife used to cut the promethium alloy."
Jim nodded and was about to leave with Lucius. However, just as the two were about to take a step, Lucius's phone suddenly rang.
"I'm sorry, Commissioner Gordon, I need to take this call. This is a work-related phone, and it doesn't usually ring."
Lucius apologized and pulled out his phone from his pocket. Jim didn't mind, and he shook his head.
After all, Phantom Thief was no longer here, and their work was just regular checks and nothing urgent.
Lucius took out his phone from his pocket and answered the call. A few seconds later, his expression suddenly changed, and he spoke into the phone in a serious tone.
"Okay, I understand the situation now. Don't panic for now; the priority is maintaining the entire live broadcast feed. I'll send someone to fix the cameras as soon as possible."
Commissioner Gordon was confused by his words, but he could tell from Lucius' expression that the call brought some bad news.
"What's going on?"
Bruce asked beside them, noticing the change in Lucius.
Lucius put down the phone and looked grim as he turned to Jim and Bruce.
"We've got a problem with the cameras we're using for the live broadcast."
Hearing this, Bruce's eyes narrowed, and he asked, "What kind of problem?"
"Just a few minutes ago, an employee responsible for operating the Gotham City Stadium live broadcast website called me. He informed me that about three or four minutes ago, seven out of our total sixty-eight live broadcast feeds suddenly went black. After investigating, they were sure it wasn't a software issue; the live broadcast system was functioning perfectly."
Lucius explained while glancing at the sixty-eight cameras surrounding the Bat-Signal. There were sixty-eight cameras in total, each connected to a live broadcast feed.
(Why aren't the cameras placed next to each other? This is because cameras are not limited to capturing only one line, but rather they can capture a fan-shaped area, so there's no need for so many of them.)
The cameras are connected by fences, forming a blockade that separates the inside and outside.
A perimeter connecting the cameras creates a barrier between the inside and the outside.
These cameras are not ordinary cameras but high-speed cameras made with Wayne technology that can take as many as two million frames per second.
This would make it suitable to analyze the Phantom Thief's movements frame by frame.
Lucius continued, "They suspect that seven cameras either broke down or were tampered with on purpose, which caused footage from those angles to be lost during the live broadcast."
"About three to four minutes ago?"
Bruce narrows his eyes slightly and says, "That's the same time when Phantom Thief made the Bat-Signal disappear, right?"
"If Phantom Thief destroyed those seven cameras, it means that there is a high possibility that these cameras captured flaws in his method."
When Phantom Thief made Bat-Signal disappear, he was actually quite a distance away from the others.
In this situation, even with Bruce's sharp eyesight, he would find it difficult to see every small movement the Phantom Thief made.
However, high-speed cameras with a 360-degree view angle would capture all of Phantom Thief's actions unless Phantom Thief had superhuman speed, which would make it impossible to avoid the capture of high-speed cameras.
Unfortunately, the Phantom Thief is not stupid. He wouldn't expose crucial information to the high-speed cameras.
There must be some important clues hidden within the malfunctioning cameras.
"Lucius, is it possible to recover the footage from the malfunctioning cameras?"
Bruce asked.
"It's hard to say. It depends on what method Phantom Thief used to tamper with the cameras. If it was a rough way, then the chances of repair are very slim."
Lucius shakes his head.
"Damn that Phantom Thief! He's probably somewhere having a good laugh right now!"
After Bruce and Lucius discuss the situation, Jim understands the situation about the cameras and immediately curses the Phantom Thief.
Then he turned serious and said, "You haven't revealed anything about the high-speed cameras to the public. It should have caught Phantom Thief off guard, but he still managed to tamper with the cameras. How did he know that these cameras might capture flaws in his method?"
Hearing Jim's suspicions, Bruce and Lucius both have solemn expressions on their faces.
There is no need to mention Phantom Thief, but any magician with even a little bit of fame in the world can do tricks of the hand so fast that ordinary cameras can't capture clear images.
If he didn't know in advance that the cameras were high-speed, there would be no reason for the Phantom Thief to destroy them.
If it was a natural malfunction of the cameras, it would be too coincidental for seven of them to malfunction at the same time.
The only people who knew about the high-speed cameras were Bruce and Lucius, as well as the employees responsible for managing the live broadcast.
Jim's point was...that there might be a traitor within Wayne Enterprises.
No, more precisely, the Phantom Thief infiltrated Wayne Enterprises to steal information!
Bruce and Lucius exchanged glances and decided to investigate when the Phantom Thief infiltrated Wayne Enterprises and leaked information about the high-speed cameras.
"Lucius, you and Commissioner Gordon should go check if Phantom Thief tampered with the Bat-Signal. I'll have someone else come to deal with the camera issue."
Bruce instructed Lucius and then left on his own to make a call.
...
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