Movements on all Sides

Mathison was blissfully unaware that his teaser letter had been instantly deciphered by Batman so he was busy picking out his new base at the moment.

With 170 million dollars in hand, Mathison had decided to first forge a series of identification documents for some of his favorite disguises.

After that he headed to Wayne Real Estate, not by choice but because there was no way around it. It was hard to find anything in Gotham that Wayne Enterprises hadn't claimed already.

It reminded him of some quote in a game.

'You can't through a stone at a window in Gotham without smashing something that Wayne Enterprises owns' or something like that.

"Mr. DiCaprio, how can I help you?"

Mathison dressed up in a high-end suit that bought on the way and entered flashing his fake ID. The young agent knew at a glance that a big order might be coming in, and rushed over to talk to Mathison.

"I need a single-family home on a large lot with a quiet setting, preferably with little foot traffic. The price doesn't matter."

At these words the agent's opinion of the young man stagnated, she'd heard people make that same claim before. Usually they just got an inheritance and feel like they have it all only to realize that houses are really expensive and back out.

Even so, she did as asked and introduced the finest properties to Mathison one by one.

"Look at this villa, it covers a total of one thousand square meters, the villa is over six hundred square feet, located at the southeast end of the Diamond District and it's in a very quiet enviro-"

Without waiting for her to finish, Mathison interrupted, "Not in the Diamond District."

The agent deftly switched to another villa.

"How about this one? It has seven hundred and fifty square feet of land and five hundred square feet of villa space, located near the Robert Kane Memorial Bridge. Is it to your liking?"

'The Memorial Bridge, huh? There really aren't that many people around there…' Mathison thought about it for a moment before finally shaking his head.

The Memorial Bridge was on the East End, the most chaotic part of Gotham, where almost half of all crime took place.

Although the Memorial Bridge was on the edge of the East End, there was no guarantee that it would be bombarded one day.

Next, seven or eight villas were introduced in quick succession, all of which Mathison rejected.

The agent frowned; this customer was very picky for someone who said price doesn't matter.

"Sorry sir, we are down to the last villa that meets your requirements, but I wouldn't recommend this one."

"Oh? Let's see, a luxury villa estate, covering an area of seventeen hundred square meters, with a villa area of eight hundred and twenty square feet, four floors above and below, and a basement with a good amount of space, and a great overall decoration… To be honest, I like this one the best."

"But this estate is located in the Industrial district."

The largest industrial district –originally Old Gotham and sometimes called the Warehouse District- in Gotham, but no one dared to settle there now because rumors say that an accident at a factory the that had led to the birth of a villain.

The agent was in distress, she was ready to be rejected again, she hadn't been able to sell any of the houses today and it looked like she was going to have to live a hell of a month again.

"I'll take it!"

The villa is about fifteen kilometers west of the rumored chemical plant, and it is rare to see a human around the area.

It was on the west bank of the Gotham River, not far from the Westward Bridge, which gave direct access to the Berlin District. If you were brave enough, you could even cross to Arkham Island, where Arkham Asylum was located.

Unwillingly, the agent lady had to take Mathison on a tour of the house.

The villa was priced at just ten million dollars, whereas in the Diamond District, a villa of the same size would have gone for at least forty million.

Mathison was pleased with the setting, as the fence surrounding the estate was at least twice as high compared to any normal estate. He was told that it has been specially raised later, making it difficult even for him to climb over with his bare hands so it provided decent security.

The basement was built to serve as a nuclear-proof bunker - Mathison found this weird but rolled with it - and could be used as a good refuge.

Thus, the first base of Kaito Kid was selected.

The agent lady was shocked when Mathison swiped his credit card and paid it all without a distinct reaction.

The villa had been on sale for a long time, it was a kind of a burden in the hands of Wayne Real Estate. Still it was very expensive, mostly due to a nuclear bunker that someone decided to install.

Even so the documentation was processed very quickly and within a few hours, all was finished and Mathison was ready to move in.

It's been two days since the teaser letter was sent and the last day to step in, which means that Mathison only had one day to get ready for his heist.

Mathison had ordered a large batch of strange and unusual materials online – same day shipping is amazing – and had everything ready for practicing magic.

Red magic was a type of magic that relied heavily on external objects, with curses, blessings, divination, alchemy, and magic circles making up 90% of the content of red magic. Spells that relied solely on one's own magic power were rare.

From the time he got the Red Magic book, Mathison had been practising the spells written on it, with little results. The only magic he could use was Ignition, one of the few spells that did not require the use of physical materials to release.

Unfortunately, with his current magic power, lighting a candle was the best he could do.

A magic talisman that Koizumi Akako (the main and only named witch in the Kaito Kid universe last time Mathison checked, which was admittedly years ago) could easily make would take Mathison a whole day.

"It's better to just rely on the system's empowerment for now since it's a quick power up. After all, I don't think that I can directly use my magic power as it is now."

Now was not the time to think about this anyway. Once the gems are stolen, the rewards will naturally be known afterward.

Mathison burned a large cauldron in the basement, added countless exotic herbs to it, and dropped two sheets of paper into it.

He also had to refine some magic charms, just in case something went wrong.

While Mathison was concentrating on making magic charms of which he could barely pronounce, the GCPD received another anonymous message claiming to have deciphered Kid's teaser letter.

The anonymous message this time included the full contents of the decryption.

Gordon immediately ordered all the officers who were not on duty to move out and head for Daggett's private collection.

"Remember to call in three helicopters so his glider wings will be useless."

This time, he was determined to arrest Kaito Kid!

Both the police and Wayne were prepared to confront Kid, and naturally, Daggett, who was his prey, was ready as well.

"Stryver, did you contact her?"

Inside a luxurious presidential suite, Daggett asked his closest subordinate.

"Don't worry boss, she'll be here soon."

Stryver glanced at his watch before replying.

"That's right, I strive for punctually with my clients."

A woman had entered the room at some point and slowly appeared from the shadows.

"Catwoman."

Daggett's eyes narrowed.

"Oh, Mr. Daggett, isn't it lowly for a social celebrity like yourself to meet a petty thief like me?" Selina asked playfully.

"You're no petty thief, you're Gotham's thief master, so I'd like to entrust you with something, an issue that only you can help me with." Daggett said with a slight smile.

"Kaito Kid."

Catwoman blinked in recognition of the 'issue.'

"That's right, I'm sure as Gotham's number one thief, you don't want the rise of this weirdo above you."

Daggett said so.

"I have no interest this silly ranking system but I don't mind taking your commission be warned though, you'll have to pay a fair price."

"You will naturally like my reward, believe me, it is a reward that you would be able to never refuse."

"That thing you've been looking for it, I have."

Selina's face didn't betray any emotion; she'd been scammed before by people who said they had it so they could hire a master chief for cheap. Of course they got robbed blind afterwards but she couldn't do the same to Daggett.

"As far as I know, the only one who could possibly make that is Lykin Data." She asked cautiously.

"Right, that's why, I bought that company."

Selina bit her lip, knowing that Daggett held the most shares in Wayne Enterprises, buying Lykin Data was probably very simple.

With such big news as buying a company, one could find a lot of reports about it via a casual check on the internet, Daggett had no reason to lie.

"What do you want me to do?" Selina debated which it was worthwhile working for this dude, but realized it was her best chance right now.

"Protect my gems and make that Kid a joke."

"And surely," Daggett conutinued with a cruel smile, "If you can kill him, that would be even better."

"I am thief not a security guard, if wanted something protected you should've hired mercenaries." Selina pointed out.

Daggett while frowned -why didn't he think out that- Selina turned the tables and said, "But I would be more than happy to accept that latter proposition."

Catwoman's customer was very unhappy when they couldn't get the Adam's star that day.

«If it wasn't for the skill of my good hands, I'm afraid I could have died back then»

How could Selina not hold a grudge against Phantom Kid?

«If you continue with that high profile style, sooner or later, you're going to get into a lot of trouble. And there will be no place in Gotham that you can hide Kid.» Selina mocked in her mind.

At this point, Daggett and Selina came to an agreement, and Catwoman disappeared into the shadows.

Although Mathison had committed only one heist, the eyes all factions of Gotham were fixed on him.

As the day of the next caper drew steadily nearer, and the preparations finalizing on all sides, it was time for another magic show.