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Chapter 50: Phantom Thief Kid's New Notice
Near the Gotham coast, a figure sneaked onto the iron frame under the elevated bridge, holding binoculars to look at the dock marked with the Weathers Group logo.
A huge cruise ship was parked on the sea behind the dock.
"Weathers sealed off the small area of sea around the dock. To infiltrate from the front, I have to pass through the entire dock to get on the ship. And there's a distance I must walk from the inside; no way around it. A bit troublesome..."
Darren turned the binoculars left and right. "If I bypass the dock area and swim directly from the sea where the blockade is relatively weak, it will take a lot more effort and time, but this is the safest route."
After observing for a while, Darren finally decided to take the sea route.
Ring ring ring—
However, just then, his phone rang.
He took it out and saw the caller was Tim.
"Tim? He's not out fighting crime on the streets at this time; why is he calling me? Is he planning to make me give false testimony for him again?"
As soon as the call connected, Tim asked straight to the point.
"Hey, Darren, do you want to be in a movie?"
"Huh?"
Next, Tim told Darren about Jack getting the spots in the cast and expressed his desire to invite him along.
"...You just said you want to invite me to film a movie on the Weathers luxury cruise ship? Are you sure you're not teasing me?"
"I don't have the leisure or time to joke with you. The opportunity is only once. Just say if you're going or not."
"I'm going. Count me in."
Hanging up the phone, a flash of surprise passed through Darren's eyes.
Although he had the ability to swim onto the ship himself, doing so was truly time-consuming and laborious.
Darren came here now mainly to figure out the internal structure of the cruise ship before filming began, to facilitate planning the action route later.
By the day Kid actually acted, this cruise ship would definitely have set sail. If Darren couldn't get on before the ship departed, he would have to swim a much longer distance to catch up.
He couldn't live on the ship starting from today.
Originally, Darren was considering interviewing for an extra role, but he didn't expect Tim to call and deliver the ticket directly. Of course, he accepted readily.
After all, he didn't know the standards for extras. With so few spots, if he didn't pass, he would still have to find another way to stow away.
Better to just use the back door.
But then again, although the problem of how to board for the official operation was solved, the task of boarding early to scout the site still had to be done.
Some time later.
Darren, changed into a diving suit, swam desperately under the sea surface.
To ensure he could safely bypass the dock's cordon, he walked to a very far location before entering the water, swimming nearly two kilometers before reaching the vicinity of the Weathers luxury cruise ship.
Although this cruise ship was not yet in use, it wasn't empty. Security guards could be seen patrolling the deck from time to time.
Lights in several cabins were also lit.
However, compared to the cordon at the dock, there were far fewer guards here. Darren easily evaded the patrol personnel.
He attached a micro-camera to his chest, recording everything he passed along the way.
This way, he could reconstruct the internal structure of the cruise ship through the video to formulate an action plan. Before the official operation arrived, Darren wouldn't need to come a second time.
Iceberg Casino, inside a luxuriously decorated suite.
A man in his fifties sat upright on a chair, flanked by several expressionless men in black.
Opposite him, the Penguin sat with a smile on his face.
"Mr. Cobblepot, have I offended you somewhere in the past?"
The man asked tentatively.
"Offended me? No, no, no, of course not. Quite the opposite, I am actually your fan, Director James."
Penguin waved his hands with a smile.
That's right, the man in front of him was the great director James, who was about to film Macragge on the Weathers luxury cruise ship!
Not long ago, James had just reached an agreement with the people at Weathers Shipyard, obtaining temporary usage rights for the luxury cruise ship. The start time for filming was also finalized. He was preparing to return to the hotel to inform the crew of this good news.
As a result, halfway there, a black luxury car intercepted his vehicle. Then several cold-eyed men in black walked over, saying they wanted to invite him to a place; their boss wanted to see him.
James didn't actually remember clearly what happened after that.
He only remembered that when he came to, he was already in this room.
Only now did he know the person who "invited" him was Oswald Cobblepot.
The famous Penguin.
Even an outsider like James who rarely came to Gotham had heard of his reputation.
Just not as well as the locals.
"Mr. Cobblepot, what did you invite me here for?"
James asked warily.
Since just now, Penguin had been acting kind and amiable, completely harmless.
But James wouldn't be deceived by appearances. He worked in the film industry, after all, and had seen countless actors, so he saw through the hypocrisy of Penguin's expression at a glance.
Perhaps Penguin never thought to disguise it from the start.
"What I want is very simple. I just purely want to ask Director-sir for a favor."
Penguin said with a smile.
"What favor? I'm just a filmmaker. I'm afraid I don't have the ability to help you, sir."
"Relax, it's nothing difficult. You just need to nod your head—"
Speaking of this, Penguin glanced at the men in black on both sides of James.
"I want you to arrange for a few people to get on the ship..."
"Hey, say, when James really comes to the ship to film, do we have a chance to show our faces in front of the camera?"
In the corridor of the ship's cabin, a patrolling security guard asked his colleague beside him.
"I think it's unlikely. The filming site will definitely be isolated then. We probably won't even be able to watch, let alone appear. Besides, with your virtue, if you really got in front of the camera, I guarantee you wouldn't even dare to speak."
The colleague scolded him mercilessly.
"You speak as if you aren't the same."
The guard was dissatisfied.
"I am, which is why I don't dream that kind of dream... Hm? Why did you stop walking? Angry already?"
The colleague noticed the guard suddenly stopped, so he patted his shoulder.
Unexpectedly, the latter seemed not to feel it, still standing there blankly, staring dead in a certain direction.
"What are you looking at? So serious—Shit!"
The colleague followed the guard's gaze and turned pale with fright.
A white card was stuck on the window of the corridor. This card seemed to be pasted on the outside; nothing could be felt from the glass on this side.
Several lines of text were written on the card:
"Quartz, Fire, Ocean, Breeze,
In the 26 letters reversed head to tail,
Find the nineteenth day and night,
I will board the Pride of Macragge,
And personally pluck that cruel flower of hope.
—Phantom Thief Kid"
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