Chapter 31: Retaliation

The bomb incident had ended, but the outcome was unexpected. Harvey Dent became the only one injured, but of course, he was hurt while protecting Iselin. Liu A'dou and Iselin were both extremely grateful, and their relationship with Harvey had grown closer. The fact that Harvey had risked his life to protect others, even being blasted by the explosion, made him someone worthy of respect.

From that moment on, Liu A'dou and Harvey became official friends.

The witness protection apartment, rather than being a cozy home, was more like a prison. There was only one bedroom, and the living room was occupied by a police officer who was tasked with guarding them. Clearly, the Gotham City Police Department had limited funds and couldn't afford better accommodations.

The officer, a large and rather gruff man, was responsible for bringing their meals three times a day. The two of them weren't allowed to leave the apartment. They could use the internet and watch TV, but they couldn't go outside. It felt more like house arrest than protection.

What made things worse was the uncertainty of when the police would catch the killer and how long they would be stuck in this apartment.

"Liu, don't leave me."

Liu A'dou looked at the beautiful woman sleeping beside him. She had been haunted by nightmares for several nights and could only calm down when she held his hand. Clearly, the bomb incident had left a deep psychological scar on Iselin. During the day, she appeared fine, but as night fell, the nightmares would return.

Perhaps only when the killer was caught, and they were no longer under threat, would Iselin be able to heal.

Liu A'dou was determined to catch the killer. But first, he needed to hypnotize the police officer in the living room. He had a watch with a hidden tranquilizer needle—just like Conan's favorite gadget. Liu A'dou had one on his wrist, with a powerful needle that would be more than enough to knock out the fat cop.

Whoosh—

The police officer, who had been watching TV, collapsed onto the sofa with a loud snore.

"Iselin, I will catch the killer." Liu A'dou walked out the front door, not wearing his Kid uniform. He didn't like climbing through windows; he preferred to take the normal route.

This time, he wasn't going to his secret room. Instead, he was headed to another place, Kaitou Kid's other hideout, where he kept his stolen goods.

It was Liu A'dou's second base, a private warehouse located by the bay. Many families rented or bought such storage spaces when they had too many things and not enough room. The warehouse was a quiet place, with few people around at night and no nearby residential areas. It was so isolated, which was exactly why Liu A'dou had chosen it.

The automatic roll-up door made a "whoosh" sound as it lifted. Liu A'dou turned on the lights, and several high-powered lamps illuminated the entire warehouse, which was as large as three basketball courts.

Here, Liu A'dou kept many of his stolen goods, including the Batcycle. But now, he had repainted it with a white color scheme and orange-red lines, making it look completely different from the original black design. The white paint made it look more lively.

Of course, there was also a set of uniforms—white suits, nothing too extravagant.

In addition to the stolen goods, the warehouse also contained other items, such as various electronic components. These were too many and too disorganized, so Liu A'dou had stored them here before he started any modifications. It was clear that this warehouse also served as Liu A'dou's workshop.

Now, everything Liu A'dou had created in this warehouse over the past year would help him catch the killer hidden among Gotham's masses.

The Eye of God.

A computer program, a program capable of infiltrating all networks—through the Eye of God, Liu A'dou could control every online device in Gotham City. Mobile phones, security cameras, ATMs, everything. He could make the entire city as transparent as possible.

And all of this was stored on a tiny white USB drive.

During the twenty years when time had frozen in the world of Conan, technology had never stopped advancing. In fact, it had even surpassed the level of technology Liu A'dou had known before crossing over. Filled with black-tech innovations, Liu A'dou, as a traveler who knew the future trajectory of the world, had started learning computers at an early age, becoming an incredibly skilled hacker. The Eye of God was one of his creations, and it was his finest work. With the Eye of God, Liu A'dou could monitor the every move of anyone in the city at any time.

Liu A'dou knew that this program was too powerful, so he rarely used it. He had only used it once before when taking down the two major black-suited organizations, and this was only the second time he had decided to activate it.

Dressed in Kaitou Kid's white costume, it was time to take action. He inserted the USB drive into the computer and started it up.

Within moments, several computer screens were filled with various small images. These were bits of information gathered from all the devices in Gotham City, with both pictures and sounds.

Liu A'dou's ears could distinguish even the slightest difference in sound. As long as there was someone talking on the phone near the killer, he would hear it. Without the computer's recognition system, he had to rely on his hearing. This was going to be a long process, but Liu A'dou was patient, like a leopard hiding in the grass, waiting for the target.

The entire city was laid bare before him. Information from mobile phones, ATM cameras, surveillance systems, radio stations, and online platforms all converged, overwhelming in both quantity and complexity. But Liu A'dou, with precision, sifted through the data, peeling back the layers one by one without any mistakes.

This level of skill required years of training, and Liu A'dou was never short on time. Time had allowed him to evolve from an ordinary person into a phantom thief. Time had also honed his skills into extraordinary techniques.

Liu A'dou was a versatile phantom thief. In addition to stealing and fighting, he was also a programmer, a scientist, and a cameraman—his talents went far beyond these.

"...I'm sure they're dead. I need to see over seven figures in my account before dawn, or I'll blow you up too..."

Found it. Liu A'dou's eyes sparked with lightning. He would never mistake that voice. The information had come from a restaurant in Gotham City. Liu A'dou accessed all nearby cameras and finally found the killer's face through a young man's selfie camera.

It was a young, thin white male with short blonde hair, dark circles under his eyes—he looked every bit like a junkie. If people like this could become killers, it seemed Gotham City had very low entry requirements for criminals.

But now that he had found him, it was time for the killer to pay. Tonight, Kid would take his motorcycle for an "unofficial" ride.

The white motorcycle sped through the night, and Kaitou Kid wasn't concerned about being seen. The killer had to pay the price. He wasn't Batman, but if possible, he would kill the killer.

The white cape fluttered behind him as he rode. The wind was louder than the engine of Batman's custom motorcycle.

Kid followed the source of the sound directly, while the killer remained unaware. He wouldn't believe that his hideout had been exposed, so he had no idea that the white ghost was speeding towards him.