Chapter 53: March 10th

"If nobody cares to accept you and wants you in this world, accept yourself and you will see that you don't need them and their selfish ideas."

- Alibaba Saluja (Magi)

...

A week later.

March 10th.

For the Gotham Natural History Museum, this was a special day.

Because at midnight on this day, the Phantom Thief was going to come and steal the priceless 'Dragon's Egg Ruby Necklace.'

On this day, almost all of Gotham's media sent reporters and photographers to the Natural History Museum.

As long as they could get a close-up shot of Phantom Thief, this would increase their newspaper sales by ten times or more.

Since Vicki Vale's exclusive news about Phantom Thief, the Gotham Gazette has made a lot of money, and other media have been envious.

On the surface, the reporters put on a friendly smile, but secretly they were getting ready to compete with each other.

Everyone wanted to capture the perfect shot, and every reporter on the scene was a competitor.

They might even deliberately block each other's cameras.

Moreover, if they could get an exclusive interview with Phantom Thief, it would be an amazing opportunity for fame.

No reporter wanted to give up this chance to someone else.

The GCPD team also had a solemn aura and was firm in their eyes.

They had entered the museum earlier than everyone else to replace the night guards.

Since Barbara had solved the notice letter, there weren't many police officers guarding the museum between March 1st and 10th, probably around fifty.

But today, Jim brought more than four hundred guards and set up a tight security perimeter around the Necklace and Jungle Exhibition Halls, waiting for Phantom Thief to appear.

In order to ensure that Phantom Thief could be successfully captured this time, Jim did not hesitate to call in more than a dozen special police officers from the SWAT unit.

This unit force was one of the strongest armed forces in Gotham City and was usually only used to deal with especially difficult supervillains.

It can be seen from this that Jim is determined to catch Phantom Thief as soon as possible.

In addition to reporters and the police, the people of Gotham were also actively involved.

They were very interested in this high-profile thief, especially after the 'Pink Fantasy' money laundering incident was exposed.

For most citizens of Gotham, the fake diamond was not important at all because they couldn't afford it anyway.

But the nature of money laundering was different because black money could come from drug trafficking, the organ black market, arms smuggling, or even human trafficking.

As far as Gotham's environment is concerned, it is closely related to the lower class people, and it seriously endangers their personal safety.

Although Phantom Thief was a thief, he became an important figure in exposing the money laundering chain.

How could such a big difference not make people curious?

Especially the young people in the new era of Gotham.

They believed that the Phantom Thief was not just a simple criminal but even a hero, exposing the darkness of society in his own way and helping those who truly needed help.

Although, from a legal perspective, Phantom Thief was an actual criminal, not everyone believes that the laws are always correct.

In short, no matter how Phantom Thief is described, it will not change the fact that thousands of ordinary citizens gather at the museum at this moment just to see Phantom Thief with their own eyes.

Inside the museum's artifact exhibition hall, the 'Dragon's Egg Ruby Necklace' is covered by a transparent glass case and placed in the Center of the Exhibition Hall.

A three-meter radius around it is sealed off, making it impossible for anyone to approach.

The glass case that protects the necklace is made with the most advanced bulletproof glass technology in the world.

It is strong like titanium alloys and as hard as chromium.

However, it was not produced by Wayne Enterprises.

The company that manufactured this glass case was LexCorp.

The necklace's perimeter was only one meter wide before today, but on the day Phantom Thief revealed his plans, it increased to three meters.

Outside the sealed-off area, a dozen fully armed SWAT officers stood shoulder to shoulder in a tight circle, leaving no gaps; even the ceiling above had no ventilation openings.

Commissioner Gordon gave them strict orders that they could not leave without his personal command, no matter what happened, even if there was a power outage or a fire.

They have to make sure that at least two people are with each other at all times, even when going to the bathroom.

They are not allowed to trust any orders received through the walkie-talkie.

They can only follow his instructions if they make a good signal in front of him and confirm that it is not Jim pretending to be the Phantom Thief.

It is very important to make sure that no one can touch the necklace throughout the entire night.

"I just don't believe that Phantom Thief can steal the necklace with this kind of setup."

Harvey surveys the barricade around him with a sense of satisfaction.

"He would have to fight over a dozen heavily armed special forces if he wanted to get close to the necklace. Who can do this kind of thing except Batman?"

Yes, Harvey suggested to Commissioner Gordon this close protection strategy for the necklace.

At first, Jim felt that this was a bit too extreme and that the success rate was not high.

It was purely a fight for time with Phantom Thief.

But after thinking about it, the Phantom Thief is often played by his own rules, and using this direct and brute force might actually work.

After all, no matter what tricks the Phantom Thief tried, he would ultimately come to steal the necklace.

So Jim agreed with Harvey's proposal and even assigned the GCPD's multiple elite SWAT officers to provide close protection for the necklace.

"Do you really think this plan will work?"

At the same time, Dick looked at Harvey and the surrounding circle from the corner of the exhibition hall and whispered with one hand on the earphone.

In the Jungle Exhibition Hall, Barbara moved to a quieter spot and put her earpiece in to respond.

"You mean Harvey's plan to form a circle around the necklace? I can only say that if it were me, I would never use such a stupid plan."

"Why don't you tell your dad then? I remember you're currently acting as the temporary consultant for GCPD in this case, right?"

Dick asked.

"Oh, please, do you really think my dad would listen to me? And I didn't say the plan was bad. I just think it's too dumb. But who knows, it might actually work?"

Barbara retorted.

"Alright then, can you tell me what you've seen while monitoring Dean's house for all these days?"

"...Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing!"

"Really?"

Dick asked suspiciously.

"If you haven't found anything suspicious by now, doesn't that mean Dean is innocent? Why don't you go and get the surveillance cameras?"

Barbara hesitated and showed a conflicted expression on her face before finally saying, "It's the last day. Today is the last day! After Phantom Thief's incident is over, I'll go and get the cameras."

...

A/N: Guys, we reached 500 power stones, so i will release a additional chapter this day

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