Chapter 5. Kingpin.  

It was night time.

A moonlit New York City.

Inside Kingpin's building in Manhattan, people could be seen everywhere, showing how heavily guarded it was.

As the king of the underworld, Kingpin was definitely more than what he appeared to be. He was also a criminal mastermind who hid behind his huge size.

With a large team of elites at his disposal, Kingpin had already deduced the exact contents of the letter left by Phantom Thief Kid.

He knew that the other party would come to steal his cane from him on the 4th of April, between 9.00 P.M. and 11.00 P.M.

Kingpin had no intention of going easy on the guy who had dared to offend him.

He had placed his own security detail on every floor of the building. As soon as the Phantom Thief dared to appear, he would beat him to a pulp.

　　...

And so, the minutes ticked by.

The rumored Phantom Thief didn't show up, and the guards who had been keeping watch inside the building began to relax.

"I think this Phantom Thief of whatever is too scared to show up tonight."

"After all, it's Kingpin. If I was the Phantom Thief, I wouldn't dream of coming here."

" Heh, how can a thief compare to Kingpin? "

On the top floor of the building.

The mood of the men didn't affect the situation here.

"It's time."

Silently watching the seconds take another lap around his watch, the man in black tights muttered. Around him, a group of heavily armed guards had gathered.

"It seems like the Phantom Thief won't be coming."

"In the end, the so-called Phantom Thief is just a coward with a fancy name?" Lowering his cane, Kingpin looked at the letter left by the Phantom Thief in front of him and smiled disdainfully before reaching out and crumpling it into a ball of scrap paper, "It seems that I've overestimated him."

Standing up, Kingpin looked at the men in front of him and opened his mouth to say something.

At that moment, the closed door was opened from the outside.

Then, a figure ran into the room in a flurry.

"Phantom Thief! The Phantom Thief Kid appeared!"

"What!?"

Among all the people, the man in black tights reacted the fastest. In the next second, when he heard the Phantom Thief appear, his eyes flashed, and he had already stepped forward.

Click--

However, it was at this point that darkness fell without warning.

"What happened?!"

"Damn, I can't believe the power went out at this time of night!"

"Fuck!"

The crowd inevitably panicked as they were suddenly plunged into darkness.

The originally powerful firearms in their hands had become too dangerous to use so casually in the darkened environment.

Only Kingpin, even in a dark environment, didn't look alarmed, "According to the building's power emergency log, it would only take 3 minutes to restore power to the building. Now, everyone, turn your guns to the door and shoot at the slightest signs of movement."

Kingpin coldly gave his orders and reached out to pick up the cane at hand.

Suddenly, I noticed the huge floor-to-ceiling window behind him, and the movement of his hand was instant. He immediately ordered, "Bullseye, window!"

Hearing the voice from Kingpin behind him, the man in black tights turned around almost without hesitation.

Crash --

Immediately afterwards, a figure in a white cape, suit and a tall-brimmed top hat was seen bursting in through the huge floor-to-ceiling window with a loud sound of shattering glass.

"Bingo!"

Almost as soon as Phantom Thief Kid appeared, the leotarded man named Bullseye swung his arm violently. An ordinary playing card in his hand was used as a sharp weapon and struck Phantom Thief Kid's figure with pinpoint accuracy.

Poof.

However, in the next second, the dull sound from the Phantom Thief made Bullseye frown.

As Kingpin said, the 3 minutes were up.

With the backup power restored, bright lights illuminate all corners of the room.

The crowd then got a good look at the Phantom Thief's figure that had broken into the office.

Impressively, it was just a doll dressed up as the Phantom Thief with a smiley face.

'I can't believe I was fooled by a doll.'

Bullseye's gaze was fixed dead on the poker card that was stuck to the doll's chest. The throwing ability that he was so proud of when placed on a doll's body was the biggest ridicule to him.

Kingpin tapped the shards of glass off his shoulder with a grimace and glanced down at the now missing cane from his side. Obviously, the Phantom Thief had fulfilled his promise to take away his cane. The fact that he was laughing at the other party for being useless before was ridiculous.

After a long silence, Kingpin scanned the men in front of him and suddenly spoke, "Who was that guy who broke in earlier?"

Earlier, the whole process happened so suddenly that everyone subconsciously ignored the person who burst in. Now, when they heard Kingpin's reminder, they suddenly realized it.

The whole thing was bizarre in every way. The other party broke in, and then the power immediately went off.

If it was a coincidence, it was too much of a coincidence.

Crucially, the other party had now mysteriously disappeared amongst the crowd.

"That man is the real Phantom Thief Kid!"

Bullseye reacted and looked at the people who were still staring at each other and nonchalantly said, "What are you waiting for? The other party is probably still in the building. Go after him!"

With Bullseye's command, the crowd sprang into action.

"Tell them to replace the windows for me by tomorrow."

Kingpin's eyes swept over everything in the room, finally stopping at the broken floor-to-ceiling window and turning to them to order.

"Understood, I'll arrange for it immediately."

With Kingpin as the last one to leave from the top floor, there seemed to be nothing more in the whole room than shards of glass all over the floor.

However, just a few minutes later, a pair of eyes suddenly emerged from the otherwise flat walls of the room, followed by the sight of a figure emerging from the wall.

'Almost exceeded the time limit of the item...'

Coming out of the wall, Ryan looked at Kingpin's cane in his hand. His expression was somewhat fearful.

The reason why he could integrate into the wall without being discovered by Kingpin and others was all thanks to the item Ryan drew from his previous treasure chest purchase.

[Chameleon tea: After drinking this chameleon tea, as long as you stick your body tightly to a tree or rock, you can not only change the color of your body, but even your body will turn into wood, stone or whatever substance it is. Although, the effect will only last 15 minutes.]

Ryan had drawn many such items. Although the system judged Chameleon Tea to be a useless item, in reality, it was surprisingly useful. Even Kingpin and others didn't think that Ryan would hide in plain sight, thinking that he left immediately after stealing the cane.