Chapter 36: Batgirl

"Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not."

- Tyrion Lannister (GOT)

...

Meanwhile, in Wayne Manor's underground, the Batcave...

Dick walked in with Alfred through a secret entrance with bags. They were surprised to find someone already in the Batcave.

But this person wasn't tall or even male.

Clearly, it wasn't Batman who had returned.

It was a young red-haired girl wearing a bat-themed helmet and a tight-fitting black suit with a bat symbol on her chest.

She was looking for some information while she sat in front of the huge Batcomputer.

In some ways, she looked more like Batman's partner than the red, green, and yellow-cloaked Robin.

She was Batgirl, the new street hero who recently appeared in Gotham as the fourth member of the Bat Family.

To be honest, she didn't really like the name Batgirl.

She wanted to be called Batwoman, even though she had just turned eighteen two months ago.

But for some reason, when she first appeared in the newspaper, the media called her Batgirl.

"Hey Alfred, and little elf boots, you're back."

Seeing that Alfred and Dick had returned, Batgirl greeted them.

"Hey, we agreed not to call me 'elf boots'"

Dick was not happy with the nickname Batgirl used to call him, and he twitched.

"Is that so? I don't remember making any agreements with anyone. Maybe when you finally change those childish green boots, I'll think about it."

Batgirl spread her hands and said it with a smirk.

"Everyone in the circus wears these boots. I'm not changing them... Well, yeah, the shape is kind of funny, but that's its charm."

Dick raised an eyebrow.

"I'm glad to see you, Ms. Gordon."

Alfred smiled and said to Batgirl.

If the GCPD heard his name, they would definitely look at Batgirl carefully because their respected commissioner's last name was Gordon.

Moreover, Commissioner Gordon also had a daughter who had recently turned eighteen, the same age as Batgirl.

That's right, Batgirl's real identity was none other than Commissioner Gordon's daughter - Barbara Gordon.

"It seems like you two have been busy today. Would you like some late-night dinner?"

Looking at the thick files in the Batomputer in front of Batgirl, it was obvious that he would have to work for a long time, so Alfred suggested.

"Thank you so much, Alfred. Because of some jerk, I didn't even have time for dinner, and now I'm starving,"

A surprised expression appeared on Batgirl's face, and she said gratefully.

"No need to thank me. It's my pleasure,"

Alfred turned and headed towards the kitchen to prepare some food and coffee for Batgirl and Dick.

Meanwhile, Dick placed the bag in a corner against the wall.

There was a huge cabinet there with hundreds of small glass cases, each one protected by ultra-strong glass.

In the cabinet, there are many items stored, all of which are strange and rare things.

There were Two-Face's coins, Riddler's cane, Killer Croc's teeth, Scarecrow's mask, Harley Quinn's baseball bat, and many more.

These are all items that Batman and Robin have collected from different enemies.

Most of them were collected due to some strange collecting addiction, and a small number of special items were put into the GCPD evidence room because they were more dangerous.

Batman couldn't trust others to keep them safe, so he took them back himself.

Dick took out a white cloak from his handbag and placed it in an empty cabinet case.

Batgirl noticed his actions and asked curiously, "I heard you've been having a heated battle with that popular Phantom Thief recently. Is this his cloak?"

"What a strange word you used,"

Dick couldn't help but comment.

"I just heard from Alfred that you seem to have a good impression of Phantom Thief. Aren't you afraid Batman will get angry if he finds out?"

Batgirl shrugged. "You know he never likes us to judge criminals based on personal feelings."

"Haha!"

Dick gave a strange laugh.

"I used to believe that too until I learned about his history with Catwoman."

Batgirl was amused by what Dick said.

"You know what? I totally agree with you, but..."

Batgirl then turned to the Batcomputer, facing away from Dick.

"I can actually understand why Bruce would always be soft on Catwoman, especially after seeing her in person once. Wow, she's a smoking-hot beauty! As for Phantom Thief..."

The more he listened, the more uneasy Dick felt. He crossed his arms over his chest, and his face grew serious.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing. I'm just thinking, if I told your girlfriend at the Titan Tower about this, would she believe it?"

Batgirl smirked, making Dick's eyelids twitch.

"I'm just kidding. Don't take it seriously."

"By the way, did you run into any troublemakers today? Need my help?"

Dick asked suddenly.

"No need, I can handle it by myself. Honestly, I'm more worried if you need my help dealing with Phantom Thief."

Batgirl turned her head to look at the Batcomputer and said with her back to Dick.

"You've faced him twice already and still got no useful information. His real name, age, appearance, job, and life history are all blank. There's already one file on him in the Batcomputer's database, and we don't need a second one."

Batgirl said.

"That's because you haven't fought Phantom Thief yourself! If you have, you'll know how difficult he is to deal with."

Dick folded his hands on his chest, with a serious face, and said.

"He is very smart, maybe not as smart as Riddler, but he also doesn't have the obsessive-compulsive disorder that the Riddler likes to leave clues for the enemy. It's hard to figure out Phantom Thief's plans."

"Also, Phantom Thief's disguising techniques are very clever. If it weren't for the fact that I saw him tearing off the disguised mask of William with my own eyes, I might have thought he had shape-shifting powers like Clayface."

Dick explained.

"But Phantom Thief's acting is even better than Clayface. Unless you know every small detail of the person and can see his flaws, it's impossible to directly recognize his disguise."

"Phantom Thief is very cautious and knows all about the police's arrangements and monitoring systems. He doesn't leave any trace and can even avoid all the surrounding surveillance," Dick continued.

"The only clue we have is that Phantom Thief's identity might be a magician, but there are too many magicians in Gotham, and we don't even know his age. So it's impossible to identify him,"

Dick shook his head with a bitter smile.

"I once asked a professional magician to help investigate Phantom Thief's suspects based on his magical skills, and then I got twenty candidates. But after checking them one by one, I found that none of them could be Phantom Thief."

Batgirl slowly became interested as she listened to Dick's description.

"Is it really that difficult to deal with this Phantom Thief as you say?"

...

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