"What is a phantom thief?" If someone asked that...
Everyone would give a different answer. But the image most deeply engraved in people's minds would be the elusive grace under moonlight, the noble elegance, and the wonder of magic. It would definitely not be what they were seeing now—a guy tanking an energy lightning bolt like Superman.
"What the hell is going on?" Kid glanced at the source of the lightning, confused. 'Was this the challenger's doing?' If it was, then this guy was terrifying.
'What the hell is going on?' The fans were wondering too. They didn't care what caused it—they only cared what was happening to Kid.
Their princely magician had suddenly turned into a Spartan warrior. That drastic shift from Moonlight Magician to Superman left them totally stunned. Their minds couldn't keep up.
But if Kid were just an ordinary person, he'd already be toast. The second bolt of energy lightning was coming.
Batman could now be sure—this wasn't an accident. It was man-made. But how was that even possible? Instead of Kid's usual amazing heist performance, what they saw now looked more like a supernatural phenomenon.
The fingertips of Kid's white gloves were scorched. He hadn't expected a second strike to follow so soon. But this time, he was ready. He wasn't just going to defend—he was going on the offensive. If lightning was what Neo wanted, then he'd show him some too.
Force Lightning!
Purple lightning shot out from both his hands, clashing head-on with the white lightning in the sky. The blazing storm lit up the city overhead.
'New move?' Batman thought. He'd known Kid could use Ripple before, but this? This was something new—and it looked way stronger than Ripple.
'This is insane. Either the world's gone crazy, or I have.'
A magician had turned into a mage.
The fans stood frozen, backlit by the glow, staring at the silhouette of Kaitou Kid—his cape billowing without wind, his figure standing tall as he fought back against terrifying lightning.
But even now, the fans couldn't accept this version of Kaitou Kid. And that's exactly what Neo had planned. These fake people in this fake world were just that—naive and pathetic. They'd never understand how great the real-world Kid truly was.
Neo watched the monitor, his eyes glowing. Success was within reach.
"Neo, I know it's you! Stop this now!" Kid shouted, his voice echoing down the skyscraper and into the streets below where confused crowds had gathered.
Batman heard him too. Neo?
He immediately had Alfred in the Batcave start digging up information. It didn't take long. Neo was the world's strongest hacker, with an endless record of cyber exploits. As Alfred read out Neo's list of achievements, even Batman couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath.
'How the hell did Kid manage to piss off someone like that?'
Everyone knew "Neo" as a codename. No one had ever found the real guy.
But Batman wasn't having it. If someone dared to cause trouble in Gotham City, then he would find them. No exceptions.
While Batman started launching his full investigative firepower, Kid had no choice but to face Neo's next move.
The lightning was just the first part.
Suddenly, the World Trade Tower sealed shut. All doors slammed tight. No one could get in or out.
Iselin stood frozen. She had never, ever known Liu A'dou had powers like this. She'd lived with him for a while and never once suspected he might be an alien.
No... Liu A'dou was definitely human.
Then... had he been a mutant from the start?
Was that why, after going to New York, he made all those pro-mutant films?
A whirlwind of thoughts tangled in Iselin's mind. She had no idea what was going on with Liu A'dou. It felt just like that time he told her he was actually Kaitou Kid—impossible to describe. She wouldn't call it deception, but there was this quiet sense of wrongness. 'Kaitou Kid isn't Kaitou Kid'—that's what it felt like.
Lightning against lightning, and Kid came out on top. His Force Lightning surged across 4 to 5 kilometers, burning out the power station's cables.
"Neo! What are you trying to do?!"
No answer came back, but the building began to shake. The entire tower's systems were controlled by computer, including the fire safety system. The sprinkler valves were all locked shut, but the main water tank had been activated. The pressure was now so high, the pipe joints were breaking. The rooftop had two floors of water storage, and tens of tons of water were about to pour down from the top, sweeping through the tower and drowning everyone locked inside.
'Neo?!' Liu A'dou immediately knew something was wrong just from the sound of the pipes creaking. At this height, with that much water falling from above, people would be seriously hurt or even killed. But he still couldn't figure out Neo's goal. Was it really just to kill people? Then why challenge him at all? If this was about the challenge, then all this death trap stuff was totally unnecessary.
Put together, it felt more like someone trying to expose Kaitou Kid's true identity.
Liu A'dou remembered Neo's first message to him: I know who you are!
But then, why not just expose "Kaitou Kid is Liu A'dou" to the public? Why go through all this trouble?
What Neo wanted wasn't just 'Kid is Liu A'dou' or 'Liu A'dou is Kid.' He wanted to prove that 'Kaitou Kid, Liu A'dou, is someone from the real world.' What Neo wanted wasn't truth—it was to confirm the identity he'd imagined.
So the first step was making Kid just as lonely as he was.
The high-pressure water had already begun blasting out. The pressure kept building. Pipes burst one after another. Water rose quickly.
"Showtime!" Neo started opening the building's internal doors, creating a channel to direct the water. The layered height of each floor stacked into kinetic force, creating a wave more powerful than any waterfall on the lower floors.
And the path Neo had planned? It was headed right where the most people were.
Evacuating the whole building was impossible now. Kid wasn't the Flash. The Flash's greatest rescue was during a nuclear blast when he saved an entire city—he was a walking bug in the system. Liu A'dou was fast, but his thought processing wasn't at Flash speed. He couldn't keep moving nonstop without hesitation.
So he went straight for the source.
He didn't hesitate. Smashed through the glass and dove inside. He activated the Force—but quickly realized it couldn't catch the water.
Actually, it wasn't that the Force couldn't work on liquid. It was just that Liu A'dou was used to wrapping Force around solid objects. Water was formless. He couldn't adapt fast enough.
But that was fine. Force wasn't all he had.
"Diamond Stardust Fist!!!"
He froze the water instead.
The rushing flood instantly transformed into a jagged wall of icy spears, stopping right in front of Liu A'dou.
"Another new ability?" The fans still hadn't accepted how overwhelming this version of Kid was, but Batman was definitely enjoying the show. Just how many powers did Kaitou Kid have?
The fans on the rooftop felt the temperature drop. And within a few minutes, it felt like they'd just ridden the wildest rollercoaster in the world.
"Master, I'm terribly sorry. We couldn't find any trace of Neo."
Even Alfred, the butler of butlers, had come up empty. Neo really was no joke—the world's number one hacker, through and through.