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Chapter 58: Phantom Thief Kid, In Full Swing
"July 19th, 2:00 AM. That is the time Phantom Thief Kid will strike to steal the Star of Hope."
After Oracle's explanation, Tim completely understood the content of Kid's notice.
"Less than two days left... Come to think of it, I haven't seen that actress named Elena on the ship yet. The Star of Hope is supposed to be on her."
"It's normal that you haven't seen her, Tim, because she isn't on the cruise," Oracle revealed a fact that surprised Tim.
"What did you say?"
"Two hours ago, Elena was recording a talk show in New York."
"...Right. Director James said the scenes requiring extras only need ten days to shoot, and the lead actress's scenes can be filmed later. Elena really doesn't need to board this early. Although, the arrangement of this shooting schedule is a bit odd."
Tim cupped his chin. "The Star of Hope is a treasure borrowed from the Smithsonian. It's unlikely they'd let an actress run around wearing it. Right now, it's either in the custody of the props department or with James himself."
"I actually wish it were with Elena. That way, Phantom Thief Kid would be destined to come up empty-handed on the cruise, and might not even show his face," Oracle said, sounding like she wished that were the case.
"I trust Phantom Thief Kid wouldn't make such a rookie mistake. Since he issued a notice on the cruise, he must have obtained intelligence through some channel that the Star of Hope is hidden on board. Besides, if the gem really isn't here, wouldn't I have come for nothing?"
"That's not necessarily true. Just treat it as giving yourself a ten-day vacation. You might even appear on the silver screen. You could consider becoming a movie star in the future."
"Ha-ha. I have no desire to live a life stalked by paparazzi day and night. Let someone else handle the job of showing their face to a worldwide audience." Tim laughed dryly.
"By the way, how has the situation in Gotham been the last two nights?"
"About the same as before. The GCPD is enough to maintain order. You can focus wholeheartedly on your own business for now," Oracle replied seriously.
"That relieves me. I really hope Gotham can stay like this forever."
Despite his words, a faint sense of unease lingered deep in Tim's heart.
This feeling had emerged half a month ago, when Gotham first entered this rare period of calm. Initially, Tim suspected someone was plotting a major event in the shadows and this was merely the calm before the storm. But after extensive investigation by him and Oracle, they found no suspicious points to support his theory.
More than half a month had passed, and it was still the same. Tim had no choice but to suppress his doubts.
"Anyway, that's all I have to tell you. Contact me anytime if something happens."
Oracle cut the connection.
Tim stood on the deck, gazing at the endless, pitch-black sea, his eyes unfocused, lost in thought.
...
Time flew by, and it was July 18th.
Filming had already begun. The shoot was not going smoothly; due to recruiting too many amateur extras, all sorts of minor errors cropped up endlessly. Almost every scene had to be NG'd multiple times, and the sound of the director yelling "Cut!" rang out from morning till night.
Despite such a terrible start, Director James showed no dissatisfaction. Instead, his face was full of smiles—though, of course, he switched to a demonic mask when scolding the actors.
Darren and Tim were quite interested in the filmmaking process and stood aside to watch. However, it didn't take long for them to feel that filming was much duller than they had imagined. It wasn't very interesting—just actors making mistakes, getting scolded by the director, and repeating the same process.
The first time might have been novel, but watching it for too long just made them sleepy.
"Tim, you keep watching. I'm going back to sleep," Darren yawned and said to Tim beside him.
With that, he left.
Tim remained where he was. He didn't really want to watch anymore either, but he had a more important mission and couldn't just rest whenever he wanted like Darren.
"Eight hours left until 2:00 AM on the 19th."
Tim calculated the time while keeping his eyes on the set.
"The most likely route for Phantom Thief Kid to infiltrate the ship is to blend in with the temporary extras. Maybe he's playing someone on the set right now..."
Unfortunately, Tim couldn't distinguish who Phantom Thief Kid was with the naked eye.
"I snuck into the prop warehouse last night to look. I didn't find the Star of Hope there. There's a high probability the legendary gem is being kept personally by Director James. I have to keep my eyes on him all day today."
With firm conviction, Tim continued his surveillance of James.
"Good! Cut—"
After an unknown amount of time, James shouted the final cut for the scene. He then gathered everyone together.
"Guys, today's shooting progress was too slow. At this rate, we won't be able to complete the original plan within ten days. So, I've decided to add an extra scene tonight. The time is set for around 1:30 AM," James announced.
"Try to get everyone on the ship present for this scene. Location: the Auction House on East Deck 7."
"What? An extra scene?"
Tim, watching from the sidelines, narrowed his eyes.
"Around 1:30 AM... exactly half an hour before Phantom Thief Kid's forecasted time of 2:00 AM. Is it a coincidence? Or..."
Just then, James suddenly walked toward him.
"Young man, if I remember correctly, you are Mr. Drake's child. Your name is—"
"Tim." Tim looked at James in surprise. "Is there a problem? Am I disturbing your shoot, Director James?"
"Of course not. I came over to ask you to notify Mr. Drake and your friend. If possible, it would be best not to miss the 1:30 AM shoot." James shook his head with a smile.
"No problem. I'll go tell them right now." Tim patted his chest and turned to leave the set.
What he didn't know was that the moment he turned around, James dropped his smile and stared at his back for a long time.
...
1:30 AM. East Deck 7, Auction House.
When Tim and his father, Jack, arrived at the venue, it was almost packed.
Darren did not come, as he stated he needed to sleep at 1:30 AM and had no time to be a background prop at the auction house. Tim wasn't surprised by Darren's answer in the slightest.
"I didn't expect so many people to show up at this hour. It's almost like the banquet on the first day," Jack remarked.
Tim nodded. Indeed, since the banquet on the first day, there hadn't been so many people gathered at the same time on the cruise.
Ratatatatatatatatatat!!!
Suddenly, a rapid and thunderous roar erupted from outside.
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