Chapter 37: What Mathison is Unwilling to Accept

”I think that Phantom Kid does not steal gems for the sake of money.”, Roxy said.

”What for, then? You think he steals from the rich to fund the poor?”

”You think Phantom Kid wants to be Robin Hood?”

Eggsy asked, “Well, I admit he does dress like Robin and did help Pamela with the Cat’s Eye Emerald.”

”But, that was his second gem, what about the first, Adam’s Star?”

At his words, Roxy remained silent for a second, then started typing on the keyboard.

”After the Adam’s Star was stolen, only one piece of information has been found, which is that Wilson Fisk in New York bought it for an astronomical price of two hundred million dollars.”

”As for where he bought it from, it still remains a mystery to everyone. No one knows how Phantom Kid sold it to him.”

Here we have to praise Penguin’s rules. The Iceberg Exchange’s degree of secrecy is frighteningly high that not even the military’s transaction encryption is not as good as his.

This is why it is considered one of the largest black markets in the United States.

People will only suspect now that there is a secret deal between Phantom Kid and Fisk but never place any doubts on him.

Secretly and steadily, one could run deals and earn large loads of money, without bearing any responsibility.

If the Penguin decides to act on the deals by himself behind the buyers’ and sellers’ back, he could exploit some benefit. If he does this, he will not only risk offending his clients but also could cause the exposure of the Exchange. If he was such a fool, he wouldn’t have achieved such success today.

Most of the time, the villain is often more credible than the good guys.

Not because they are of good character, but because this leads to greater profit.

Good reputation and bad reputation depends on who can bring the most benefit. These qualities are the ones that choose to preserve whose reputation.

This is the wisdom of the Gotham mob bosses.

As for some people who doubt that the Penguin will take the initiative to exploit the transactions of the customers, they truly suffer from a low IQ level.

Therefore, no matter how much effort Roxy put into tracing the transaction records, she couldn’t find the slightest bit of information about the Iceberg Exchange.

”Two hundred million!”

Eggsy was shocked, “He sold it for such a high price, and you’re telling me that he is not doing this for money?”

”Let me ask you something: you suddenly earned a huge sum of $200 million, what would you use it for?”, Roxy asked.

”What else would I do? I will stop working and enjoy life!” 

   Eggsy said consciously.

”Then why did Phantom Kid continue to steal the second gem?” Eggsy froze.

”Just half a month after Fisk bought the Adam’s Star, all of Gotham’s old folks’ homes, orphanages, and schools received anonymous donations one after another, adding up to a total of over 130 million dollars. With anonymous messages coming from different sources, from all over the world, he still managed to use the same ID name.”

”This shows that Phantom Kid is a highly skilled hacker. Even with my skills, I still failed to find out where he was. I had to contact Merlin, he was only able to guarantee that Phantom Kid is in Gotham.”

At this point, everything Roxy wanted to say has been said.

”Merlin’s hacking skills are already considered the world’s top-notch. Even he couldn’t locate him. This leaves me afraid to say that there are not many people in the world who can crack this case.”

In fact, Mathison himself is not very skilled in this field, but he has Barbara, his childhood friend, more than ten years beside him. Breaking other people’s firewalls may be difficult, but hiding their IP addresses so they would not be found by others is not a big deal.

Mathison donated so much of the 170 million US dollars that he had exchanged from the Penguin for the Adam’s Star. After buying his villa, he only left 30 million US dollars in reserve.

   It was well thought out.

Phantom Kid on the surface may seem glamorous, dashing, and unrestrained, treating money like dirt. Still, Mathison didn’t know how hard it is to run such an errand until he actually tried it.

It is well known that Gotham is a seaside city with many inland rivers. The temperature difference between day and night varies a lot. To meet the requirements of achieving safe gliding, one must be at least forty to fifty meters above the ground.

As the old saying goes, “you can’t beat the cold at high places!”

When it is late at night, wearing such a thin white costume in the sky, while facing the blowing cold wind, could freeze one to death.

If you don’t believe me, try it yourself!

Phantom Kid really has a strong body, for that the last time he swam for more than an hour in the icy water, he was not even affected by it.

There is also the puzzle on the teaser letter, which is racking one’s brain all day. One wouldn’t know how many brain cells were killed for Kid to come up with that enigma. But if this continues, Mathison’s head will surely go bald.

There are many invisible pains that need to be endured by Mathison.

And all of this is for the sake of a pretence that lasts for ten minutes or so… in order to achieve a wonderful performance.

It is really a performance that risks his life. Mathison knows that the degree of danger present in the world of American comics is far above Conan’s world, they are incomparable. For example, no matter how irritated Nakamori officers are, they will not shoot Kid, but Gordon’s officers will not hesitate to shoot a provocative criminal.

Therefore, Mathison is very cautious. He never reveals himself before causing a commotion. But very often his dummies do the job, they attract enough attention.

Equipment and props were the biggest problem for Mathison. His family is not the Kuroba family and there isn’t any world-class magician who could guarantee a lot of wealth. Even the legacy left by his predecessor can only guarantee that Mathison won’t starve to death and the vast majority of that money has been assigned to pay his tuition fees.

If it had not been for the fact that orphans receive subsidies from the government, as well as Wayne Charity Fund grants, Mathison wouldn’t have even been able to afford the fabric of Kid’s costume.

In order not to be caught, Kid tailored his costume himself. After all, even buying a piece of white cloth was a bit suspicious.

It is worth mentioning that the government subsidy has only been granted to Mathison with the help of Gordon. Otherwise, he would have been just another helpless and weak orphan…

Special playing cards, poker guns, flashbangs, smoke bombs, gunpowder…

It would be nice to find a way to buy these items contraband, but the price would have to be doubled.

The most painful thing is the disguise of clothing. All kinds of clothing for men, women, and children must be prepared. High-end suits ranging from tens of thousands of dollars a piece to low-end two-piece welfare clothing of 9.9 US dollars must be ready for use. Additionally, he had to stock one or two pieces of each, in case of emergency…

He also has to go buy new clothes immediately according to his actual situation, and this is usually not cheap.

His stronghold was even more urgent. Hiding things at home is the most foolish behaviour to do. Thanks to Mathison’s fast transfer, he moved everything on time. Otherwise, by now, Barbara would have found it.

To conclude, Mathison is really poor, else, he wouldn’t have sold Adam’s Star…

If it weren’t for such a commemorative significance it held, he would really be looking down on this ugly big thing.

This reason is really tacky, not so compelling, and does not fit the identity of the Phantom Kid. Yet, Mathison struggled to achieve this business.

If he didn’t do this, he wouldn’t have got the system’s rewards, would have lost his only way to get stronger, and would have to hand his fate over to others in this world.

This is what Mathison is definitely unwilling to accept!

But then again, Mathison’s conscience is left to suffer a bit. This is why he left himself the 30 million dollars.

Time flies, the banquet is about to start.

Mathison and Barbara just left.

On the way, Barbara tightly tugged on Mathison’s hand, as if she was afraid that he would suddenly disappear.

Mathison couldn’t help but shake his head and laugh internally.

«Today is not the time to act. Why are you so nervous?»