Chapter 45: The Land of Prophecy

Robinson Park, under the central statue.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth gave her final speech before leaving, while countless people listened in silence.

Agent Bean and Tucker stood in the middle of the royal guard.

”Sir, there is no sign of Phantom Kid, is he really going to show up today?”

Tucker asked Agent Bean quietly.

”He’ll definitely show up!”

Agent Bean affirmed with a sneer.

”It’s half-past ten and we’re expected to take off at half-past twelve. If he waits any longer, I bet that it’ll be more than a little difficult for him to make his move.”

”Hell, he might even show up in the next ten seconds.”

Tucker was startled and started looking around warily.

”Take it easy Tucker, calmness is the quality that every agent should always maintain.”

”Sir, you mean to say that Phantom Kid might have disguised himself as one of the people present?”

Agent Bean nodded.

”Maybe, maybe… you are Phantom Kid.”

Agent Bean suddenly reached out and pinched Tucker’s face, but the mask wouldn’t come off.

”Sir!”

Tucker rubbed his reddened cheeks. He wanted to cry but soon pulled himself together.

”The Royal Guard has been operating collectively since we arrived in Gotham, and there’s no way Phantom Kid could have had the chance to disguise himself as any of us.”

”So it could only be someone from the GCPD or another civilian!”

Agent Bean agreed with Tucker’s words.

”Sir…”

Tucker’s sight fell on Barbara, she was not so far away, standing alongside Starling. The Queen had given special permission to several agents to enter the inner circle, including Commissioner Gordon.

”If I remember correctly, Barbara was with Mathison earlier, but now she’s the only one left and Mathison is nowhere to be found… Is it possible that Mathison is-“

At that, Agent Bean snorted out a laugh.

”Don’t worry, Tucker, I’m sure that Phantom Kid can never be him!”

”Although he denied he came from the Temple, I’m sure my senses can’t be wrong. He’s at least connected to it, and anyone related to that place can never be a bad guy!”

These categorical words and extremely confident look in his eyes made Mathison, hiding in the shadows, grateful.

”Sir, where exactly is that place?”

Tucker asked with a dumbfounded look on his face.

”It’s a sacred place, I can’t reveal too much information.”

Agent Bean smiled mysteriously, with a nostalgic expression on his face.

”Anyway, there’s no way that Mathison could be Phantom Kid, and with so many people here, it’s normal to get separated, there’s nothing really to suspect.”

Tucker nodded convincingly and stopped thinking about Mathison.

Soon half an hour had passed and eleven o’clock in the evening was approaching.

The Queen’s speech came to an end, but there was some dissatisfaction in her eyes.

”Why isn’t Charles here yet, I thought he knew the time and wouldn’t be late?”

”His Royal Highness the Prince has arrived!”

At that moment, there was a sudden commotion in the crowd, only to see Prince Charles walking in to tell the Queen with an apologetic face, “Your Majesty, there was some delay on my way which caused my late arrival.”

”Vital state of national affairs are missed whenever a leader of a nation, like yourself, arrives late, Charles. Your act today has disappointed me.”

The Queen’s faint tone implied a sense of authority.

As expected of the longest-reigning monarch of the United Kingdom, on the surface, she appears to be an amiable old grandmother, but when she gets serious, the Queen’s might could overwhelm people’s breath.

A look of guilt flashed across Charles’ face, only to see him bend his knees and kneel down in front of the Queen with a penitent face.

”Get up, Charles, this is not the UK. I don’t mean to be harsh on you, there is no need to blame yourself too much.”

Relieved by the Queen’s forgiveness, Charles stood up and walked by her side.

Next to Starling, Barbara was staring intently at the necklace around the Queen’s neck, checking her watch every now and then as she did so.

«What in the world is Mathison… Phantom Kid planning?»

«Damn it, I’m so useless for not being able to decipher the full contents of the teaser letter.»

Barbara clenched her fists, whether or not Phantom Kid was Mathison, she had to stop him.

In the shadows, where no one knew, Mathison was also watching the clock ticking.

Ten, fifty-nine minutes, and fifty-five seconds (10:29:25.pm)…

Fifty-six seconds… fifty-seven… fifty-eight… fifty-nine…

Eleven o’clock!

A triumphant glow bloomed in Mathison’s eyes and he quietly pressed the button in his hand.

*Click!*

There was a strange sound from above the statue, a slender black shadow fell to the ground in front of Her Majesty, making a loud *boom*, stirring up a cloud of dust.

In a full shock, the Queen took a few calm steps back to safety.

Based on the black shadow’s landing point, it was obvious that it had been carefully calculated not to hit anyone present.

”Report, unidentified object spotted falling from the statue by the third unit! Are there any casualties, please?”

A helicopter reported to Gordon.

”No casualties, keep watching the statue to see if there are any other unidentified objects present!”

”Yes!”

The dust cleared and the true face of the black shadow was revealed to the eyes of tens of thousands of people within the large square of the central statue.

It was… a sword!

A sword that had been plunged upside down into a four-sided stone on the ground!

Seeing this scene, Starling, Bob, Gordon, Tucker, Barbara and even Agent Bean’s faces changed. 

”So this is it, the true explanation of the ‘Land of Prophecy’!”

The sword in the stone that fell from the sky!

”Phantom Kid has made his move!”

Everyone realized this.

”Ladies~and~gentlemen!”

No one was seen, but the elegant tone was coming from all directions, none other than Phantom Kid’s voice.

”This guy… trying to play that trick again from last time?”

Gordon clenched his fists as he thought of the scene that day at the Daggett Private Exhibition Hall.

”Kid!”

”Kid!”

”Kid!”

However, unlike the policemen who were on the edge of their seats, Phantom Kid’s fans on the outside were all excited. They took out their glow sticks and signs while cheering and screaming loudly.

Those who didn’t know of the scene would have thought it was some superstar giving a concert.

”Anomaly detected by unit five: an unidentified flying object approaching in the west, it’s Phantom Kid!”

The walkie-talkie rang again, this time from the pilot of helicopter five.

Gordon looked towards the western sky and, sure enough, saw white glider wings.

He pulled out his binoculars, closely looked at Phantom Kid, and soon spotted the surprise.

”Unit five, that’s a dummy, fire directly at it and destroy it!”

Mathison watched everything with a quiet calculating smile as he put on his earplugs.

Unit five strafe Phantom Kid’s dummy with a machine gun, and the dummy held up for less than a second before exploding.

However, just as the dummy exploded, an ear-splitting grotesque loud sound emanated from inside the dummy’s body, spreading to every corner of Robinson Park…