In Gotham, Catwoman Selina used to be a thief specializing in stealing artwork and jewelry.
When Batman heard the leader in black mention that they had prepared two full years for this operation—even getting a job at the Metropolitan Museum for it—his first reaction was that this was just another group of artifact thieves.
But the tactical hand signals the leader made the moment he finished speaking, along with the professional window-breaching technique of the other two, immediately put Batman on alert.
Organized, premeditated; well-trained and prepared.
Batman narrowed his eyes slightly and followed them silently.
Part of this world's history was different from the world Batman came from. Although he had conducted a series of studies on it, he hadn't become an artifact expert of this world specifically for this purpose.
Therefore, even though he determined that this group was likely highly professional and goal-oriented thieves, Batman still couldn't judge within a very short time what exactly they wanted to steal.
Inside the pitch-black museum, the thieves moved rapidly in one direction, their footsteps barely audible.
They passed through the Indian artifact exhibit, went past the Egyptian exhibit—the largest and most important in the Metropolitan Museum—bypassed all surveillance and security systems along the way, and headed straight for the Roman exhibit.
Batman hung upside down above the thieves' heads as silently as a real bat. The white eyepieces of the Arkham suit were turned off, allowing Batman to remain hidden.
This should have been a tracking and stealth method Batman was well-acquainted with, but just as he hung from the ceiling, tracking the thieves through the grand pillared hall between the Egyptian and Roman wings, Batman's movements suddenly stopped.
His Spider-Sense didn't detect anything, nor did his hearing or smell find anything within the pillars, but Batman still halted his pursuit.
The Spider-Sense, specifically trained by Batman, not only sensed when danger was imminent but could also activate immediately upon any subtle change in the surrounding environment.
Combined with the sensory abilities of Peter Parker's body, even if Batman didn't use his eyes to look, there would be absolutely no blind spots in any direction.
Yet, precisely under this omnidirectional awareness with no blind spots, Batman felt a sensation of being watched.
Behind a certain pillar in the grand pillared hall, a gaze was quietly scrutinizing Batman.
That gaze shouldn't have existed. When Batman tracked the thieves into the pillared hall just moments ago, he was one hundred percent certain there was absolutely no one in that spot.
With the Arkham suit and the super-senses of this body, Batman should be able to hear faint heartbeats and breathing. No one could evade Batman's reconnaissance and stand there so openly.
But the current situation was that Batman heard neither a heartbeat nor breathing, yet the other party's gaze was upon him. That feeling of prickling on his back was so real.
In an instant, Batman immediately stopped his stalking, slowly turning his head to look toward that pillar.
There was nothing there. The pillar was just a pillar. In the grand hall, the thieves had already moved slowly into the distance; only Batman was there.
It was as if that feeling of being watched earlier was a hallucination.
Batman furrowed his brow, glanced at the group of thieves getting further away, and then looked again at the location where the gaze had come from.
Thinking for two seconds, Batman silently noted the location and continued to chase in the direction of the thieves, still hanging upside down from the ceiling.
As per Batman's previous judgment, this was a highly professional group of thieves.
Just because Batman had paused for a dozen seconds due to the gaze in the pillared hall, this group had already swiftly crossed the hall and arrived at the Roman Wing in the other direction.
The Roman Wing, fully named the Greek and Roman Art galleries, housed priceless treasures spanning thousands of years.
But the target of these thieves wasn't those expensive artifacts at all. Instead, they stopped beside a black medieval stone fragment, housed in a fish-tank-sized explosion-proof glass case on a display stand less than three square meters in size.
When Batman arrived, they had already carefully removed that medieval stone slab without triggering any alarms.
Batman didn't know much about the historical artifacts of this world, but he wasn't completely ignorant. At the very least, his current knowledge was enough to qualify him for a position as an archaeology professor at Empire State University.
Batman just hadn't reached the level of a world-class expert yet, much like how he understood gamma rays but wasn't at Dr. Banner's level.
But even so, Batman still determined that the stone fragment had nothing to do with the label "expensive" usually attached to artifacts.
Art or jewelry thieves fell into two categories: those like Catwoman Selina who stole for their private collections, and those who sought artifacts that could be quickly liquidated.
The former mostly targeted unique items existing in the world, such as Monet paintings. The latter focused more on items like jewelry and ancient coins, and wouldn't choose a world-class collection site like the Metropolitan Museum as their target.
Yet the target of this group was completely different from either type; they were actually stealing an unremarkable medieval stone fragment.
Even on the black market, this type of artifact was hard to liquidate and had low collection value.
"Success. Retreat."
It was the leader in black again who tucked the black stone fragment into his bosom, then signaled with a tactical hand gesture.
Aside from necessary communication, they remained silent throughout, not sparing a glance at the other, more expensive artifacts in the Roman Wing, moving swiftly along their retreat route like marching ants.
The inside of the museum was pitch black.
In reality, even late at night, the Metropolitan Museum had lights on, but they had been disabled by the leader in black, who had spent two years preparing for tonight's operation.
Darkness was their camouflage, but it was also the camouflage for a certain monster following them like a shadow.
Just as they were about to evacuate the Roman Wing, the leader in black froze.
He clearly saw, on his retreat route, a massive, inhuman silhouette hanging upside down in the air, quietly watching them.
Cold sweat instantly seeped from the black-clad man's back. He immediately raised a clenched fist in front of him—the tactical hand signal for 'halt'.
They didn't move, and that dark silhouette didn't move either, like a statue hanging in the air.
"Plan B." The leader in black stared fixedly at the dark silhouette, the words popping out in a low voice.
They were thieves; aside from the target stone fragment, they shouldn't interact with anyone or anything inside the Metropolitan Museum.
They had more than one retreat plan. Now blocked by the mysterious dark silhouette, the leader in black chose the second option without hesitation.
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