The footage of Kaitou Kid's superpowered feats caused a huge stir, and an online flame war broke out. But for now, Kid wasn't paying attention to any of that. After returning the plane safely to the ground and evacuating everyone from the World Trade Tower, he finally left with peace of mind.
He knew Batman had surely noticed everything and begun tracking Neo. This time, he couldn't afford to lag behind—Kid had to find Neo faster than Batman.
After only a quick search, Kid finally learned that Neo was the world's most formidable hacker—appearing and disappearing without a trace, an unbeatable force in cyberspace. "Neo? Do you really think you're the savior?"
But Kid soon realized Neo was terrifyingly good. There wasn't a single digital footprint of him anywhere. If Kid couldn't find him, he was certain Batman was running into the same wall.
Sure enough, Batman had deployed enormous manpower and resources to investigate, yet still came up empty. It was as if Neo only existed as a program inside the network, with nothing tangible to pursue.
Right now, Neo sat in his wheelchair, smiling. He'd succeeded—online doubts about Kid were getting louder. Many were calling him a mutant. The more extreme voices labeled him a hypocritical fraud.
Kid didn't care. Thief or con man—it was all the same to him.
"Kid, you should understand by now, right? This fake world isn't fit for people like us from the real world to live in." Neo lifted his hand toward the glow of the monitor, as if trying to grasp it. "Kid, take me to the real world. Let me break free from this fake body."
"Sir, you haven't rested in two days," Alfred said with concern. "Get some sleep. Isn't Kid out there? He'll find Neo."
"He won't," Batman replied flatly. When it came to Neo, even Batman had to admit it—he was impressed. "World's best. Number one. Truly formidable."
Batman rubbed his forehead, troubled. "If we don't find him, I'm afraid Gotham City will suffer another disaster like the World Trade Tower incident." Neo could take control of every electronic device. Thankfully, Kid had acted quickly and no one was hurt in any of the three attacks. Still, repairing the Tower cost a staggering 100 million—covered by the insurance company, unfortunately also owned by the Wayne family.
"Sir, please, get some rest."
Bruce wanted to keep going, but he'd already tried every method. There was no finding him. He nodded in defeat and let Alfred help him back to his room to sleep.
The Batcave fell quiet—until Kid showed up again, unannounced.
Like Batman, Kid had spent the past two days digging into Neo. He thoroughly investigated the systems involved in the World Trade Tower, the power substation, and the Airbus A380—doing everything he could to trace Neo. But it was all a bust. For the first time, Kid found himself truly stumped. He scratched his head—he'd known this world had plenty of capable people, but only now, facing one of them head-on, did he realize how ridiculously skilled they could be.
Liu A'dou had gone up against Batman, Joker, Bane, Iron Man, Flash, and Reverse Flash before—but this hacker was the trickiest yet. The problem was, Neo was hidden too well. You couldn't even find him to start a fight.
Still, even the slyest fox can't outwit a determined hunter. That's why Liu A'dou had come to the fully equipped Batcave—to borrow some gear.
Footage of Kid's back-to-back rescues was now everywhere. On TV, Kid flew about like Superman, without relying on any gadgets. Everyone who knew and liked him had gone quiet. And after the silence came the most intense wave of arguments yet. Supporters said that mutant or not, Kid's magic was genuine.
The haters—some out of spite—claimed his past illusions were just lies to hide his superpowers, all to chase fame and glory. They called him deceitful, his motives worthy of condemnation.
Supporters of Kid had become the minority. Many who once backed him did so because his methods seemed like something anyone could pull off, which gave them a sense of connection. But now, Kid had suddenly transformed—from a down-to-earth thief into an untouchable superpowered being. That shift made people feel deceived.
Insults and curses flooded the internet like a pot boiling over, the attacks on Kid filling every screen. People couldn't let it go, even if he had saved them at the World Trade Tower.
Still, there remained a small group who kept supporting him—like Maggie, the admin of the Kaitou fan site, one of Kid's most loyal backers. Maggie believed that no matter what happened, Kaitou Kid wouldn't change. During the Magic Thieves incident, he had wavered, but now he was firmly on Kid's side. In his eyes, Kid's feats weren't fake—his magic, his skill, and now even his superpowers were all real. Maggie refused to deny any part of Kid, though he was just as curious about why Kid was this strong.
To Maggie, Kid was like a rich man whose superpowers were his wealth. And there was no rule saying a rich man couldn't run a little shop. Kid was that wealthy man running a small store, and his string of magic tricks proved that even without superpowers, he was still exceptional. With powers, he could just do more—like Superman catching a plane.
Maggie even felt this was how a Kaitou should be. He wasn't purely a criminal—he had a strong sense of justice. Now, he was clearly using his abilities to help people. Joining the Justice League was proof enough. For Maggie, this kind of Kaitou didn't make him feel deceived—he felt proud, proud to have supported the right person.
As for why Kid hadn't shown his powers before, that was Kid's own business. Maggie thought, 'Kid isn't the fans' property. What's everyone so worked up about?' He stayed calm, but as time passed and the number of people cursing Kid kept growing—like someone was pushing it from behind—Maggie couldn't stay quiet anymore. He had to defend Kid's image.
But Maggie's voice was small, and he had little influence. That's when he remembered he still had the Kaitou fireworks. Maybe the only one who could end this chaos was Kid himself. If Kid came forward and explained, it would work.
With the internet's condemnation and boycott of Kid becoming overwhelming, even his supporters were starting to lose ground. It didn't matter that Kid had done so much—saving Gotham City, joining the Justice League, resisting the Kryptonian invasion—because in the heat of emotion, people ignored those deeds. Many cared only about their own feelings, dismissing others, even attacking them.
Thankfully, Kid wore a mask—otherwise, his former fans might have torn him apart online. In this battle, no one was physically hurt, but in a way, Neo had won. He'd achieved his goal: letting the world see Kaitou Kid's true strength. Kid's reputation had plummeted straight into the depths. In that sense, it was a complete loss.