Phantom Kid in the World of American Comics

Chapter 108: Magic is Nothing but a Hoax

3/5 weekly chapter, enjoy.

“You seem to have forgotten one thing, Chief George.”

Tony replied defiantly, as he opened the helmet of his suit so that the other party could see the expression on his face. Although Tony tried to speak in a polite tone, his face was full of disgust and arrogance.

“This is my place, the decision I am to make is none of your business.”

Tony boastfully followed.

“On the contrary, you should do exactly as I say.”

“I hope you know what you are talking about.”

George grunted coldly.

No matter how angry he is, against a super-capitalist like Tony, the police really don’t have much power to oppose him.

If Tony is upset, a big share of “tax money” will be deducted.

“There is no need for me to come and deal with Phantom Kid, someone will deal with him.”

Tony looked at Phantom Kid in the distance, deeply gazing upon him. He had no idea what he was thinking.

“Boom… boom… boom”

Suddenly, there was a new sound of footsteps in the sky.

The people who heard the footsteps were instantly astonished because those were completely different from the ones Phantom Kid is making!

The footsteps of Phantom Kid are crisp, pleasant, steady, and light. The new footsteps sound heavy.

“Why am I hearing other footsteps? Are these really from the sky?”

Someone in the audience asked hurriedly.

“It should be, I heard it clearly.”

“That mean that there is another person walking in the sky besides Phantom Kid?”

“Has anyone cracked Kid’s tricks?”

“How can this be!”

“Where is that person?”

Countless spectators began to look around, hoping to find the second person who was walking in the air.

However, they saw nothing but darkness in the sky.

At this moment, a helicopter corresponding to Unit No. 7 suddenly turned on its searchlight. In an instant, the dazzling light illuminated a black figure below.

Batman!

The light absorption efficiency of the bat suit is very good, and it can be almost invisible in the dark, no wonder no one has spotted him.

Like everyone suspected, Batman did indeed levitate in the sky, walking forward, step by step.

Until he was completely facing Phantom Kid.

“This is Unit No. 12, a suspicious target was located… confirmed to be Batman. We are following him up. Over.”

Aboard Unit No. 12, Alfred reported to George solemnly.

“Batman again! Why did he come to New York? Could it be that he is spending a holiday with Phantom Kid?”

Hearing this, George frowned and was suddenly dissatisfied.

“Regardless of the unknown past between them, Batman and Phantom Kid are currently among the most wanted criminals, and I must not let them flee today!”

George ordered viciously.

“All helicopters, bring me closer to Phantom Kid and Batman.”

“The rest, immediately clear the street in front of the center exhibition hall and evacuate the crowd.”

“Since there is an order of ceasing fire, we can only surround them in a group, leaving not a single gap or allowing them to fall to the ground!”

“I don’t believe that Phantom Kid can still blend into the crowd by disguise in the sky!”

After George’s order was issued, his men responded in unison.

“Yes, sir!”

More and more helicopters were approaching their location. There were already quite a few helicopters circling around Phantom Kid, blocking almost every path of his potential retreat.

But the strange thing is that no matter how many helicopters gathered, and how much wind they were blowing at such high speed, Phantom Kid didn’t seem to be affected at all. 

The most amazing thing is that his cloak had still retained its original shape and was not blown by the wind!

In contrast to Batman, his black cloak had already been blown.

“Mathison, what are you going to do now?”

Facing this situation, Charlie asked Mathison, via a specially-made badge.

“Don’t worry, they can’t catch us.”

Mathison showed a smirk. Obviously, he always has a solid plan.

“Batman, I did think that you might crack my air walking technique, but what I didn’t expect even more is that you would perform exactly the same trick in front of me.”

As Phantom Kid and Batman gradually approached each other, and when they were only a few tens of meters apart, Mathison suddenly shouted at Batman, with a vaguely depressed tone.

“Before performing a trick, you must never reveal what is about to happen; you cannot perform the same magic trick twice in front of the same audience, at the same time, and at the same place.”

“These three famous magic trick principles, you broke two of them at once this time. Phantom Kid, perhaps you think you are genius enough to be a special case, but as a true magician, you don’t seem to have learned the basics.”

Batman’s deep magnetic voice responded to Phantom Kid.

“And by learning how to walk in the sky, I’m just proving to people that your airwalk is no miracle, and that anyone can actually do it with a bit of training.”

“All the so-called ‘miracles’ are actually nothing more than a hoax.”

Hearing this, Phantom Kid waved his hand.

“Wow, Batman, did you know that your current behavior is just smashing other people’s jobs?”

“You are a superhero, why are you studying the principles of magic tricks? Well, I must admit that I am tempted to challenge the guy who invented these principles, he seems to be a bit arrogant to me.”

“But there is one thing upon which I disagree with you.”

Suddenly, Kid’s frivolous tone became serious.

“I never thought of using ‘miracles’ as a hoax to deceive my audience, and there is no ulterior conspiracy.”

“Perhaps magic itself is a hoax, but in fact, every audience knows this very well, still, why are there many who like it? Because people who watch magic love to be deceived.”

Batman glanced at Kid, who was not far in front of him with a surprised expression. He didn’t expect him to say this.

However, Batman discovered a clue when he carefully observed Kid.

The distance between the two was too far before; so he couldn’t see many details clearly. However, now that there is only less than 30 meters between the two, Batman can naturally find many details that he couldn’t see before.

For example, the steel wire hoisted from Unit No. 7 doesn’t seem to be hung on Phantom Kid’s body…

Kid was indeed air walking, and was approaching Batman’s position step by step. Even the sound of his footsteps never stopped emerging from the loudspeaker.

Could it be a dummy?

No, even a dummy must be dangled with a wire. In addition to that, Batman already has a deep understanding of Kid’s dummies, and he can be sure that the man in front of him is not one of them.

Unless……

“Alfred, speed up and get closer to Unit No. 7, I’m want to confirm one thing.”

Batman urged Alfred on the helicopter.