Kaitou Kid was going to steal the nuclear bomb—everyone knew it.
Because Kaitou Kid had sent out a notice:
"On the night of peace, Kaitou Kid will take the nuclear bomb — signed, Kaitou Kid."
It was already December 21st, which meant that on the night of the 24th, Kid would strike at the stadium to steal the bomb.
This notice had been sent to both the newspapers and the TV stations.
The notice dominated the entire front page of the papers.
With chaos already unfolding in the city, the newspapers were so overwhelmed that they barely had the capacity to report anything else.
For the first time in a century, and probably the last, the only story in the paper was the Kaitou Kid notice.
Everyone was looking forward to the phantom thief's performance.
But if he was going to pull it off, Kid needed help.
"Hello, bosses of Gotham," Kaitou Kid said, standing in front of the city's underworld leaders.
Still as elegant as ever, he showed no fear.
That's right—he needed the help of the gangs.
In today's Gotham, the gangs were the only ones who could still organize a large force.
"Kaitou Kid? What do you want?"
The mob bosses all knew Kid planned to steal the nuclear bomb in a few days, but they hadn't expected him to show up here and now.
"Come on, show a little team spirit.
Right now, you're the only ones who can save Gotham City," Kid said boldly.
Only Kaitou Kid would have the guts to tell Gotham's gangsters they had to save the city.
The bosses exchanged glances.
Clearly, they all thought Kid was insane.
"You accepted my invitation to meet, so you must've been ready for this," Kid continued, his eyes sharp.
"Right now, you're the only ones who can rally a force of a thousand armed men.
So whatever grudges you've had before, drop them.
You make money because Gotham exists.
If Gotham falls, you'll be nothing.
You'll lose everything.
Right now, you have no other road to take.
But I'm offering you one—help me take back your city."
"How do you know Bane really plans to destroy Gotham? Maybe he'll just leave tomorrow," someone challenged.
"You're too naive," Kid said coldly.
"Bane came here to destroy Gotham.
He has only one goal—create chaos, then set off the bomb and wipe Gotham off the map."
"I'm sure of it.
Bane has a remote detonator, and he'll use it."
Liu A'dou knew the gangs would agree.
They had no choice.
With Gotham, they were kings.
Without Gotham, they were nothing.
Gotham wasn't just Batman's city—it was the gangsters' city too.
Sometimes, things really were this ironic.
Liu A'dou stood there, his mind wandering while the gangsters discussed.
Deep frowns etched their faces.
They knew there was only one choice, but still hesitated over the cost.
"Kaitou Kid, what's your plan?" they finally asked.
"The plan's simple.
You guys draw their fire.
I'll steal the bomb," Liu A'dou said.
The mobsters immediately blew up.
"You crazy? You want us to be cannon fodder?"
"You're welcome to say no," Liu A'dou shrugged, unbothered.
"But when the bomb goes off, you won't have a chance to regret it.
Bane's blockade means nothing to me.
I can leave Gotham anytime and start fresh somewhere else.
But you?
Your contacts, your resources, your families, your little empires—they're all here.
Sure, you can run, but when you leave, you'll have nothing."
And that was their soft spot.
Hatred boiled inside them.
Why did someone like Bane have to show up?
Why ruin everything?
Why destroy all their hard work?
Why devastate Gotham and ruin the lives they had painstakingly built?
Why?
The gangs agreed, but there was still one thing they needed to make clear.
"Are you sure you can steal the nuke? What if they detonate it remotely?"
"I'm Kaitou Kid," Kid said with a smile.
"There's no such thing as something I can't steal, only things I don't want to steal.
As for the remote detonator, I've already made preparations.
I'm not an idiot. I wouldn't gamble my life.
Trust me. I'll get that nuke."
Since Kid put it that way, the gang bosses finally showed some backbone.
"Alright, we're in. Let's kick Bane out of Gotham!"
"Yeah, Gotham is ours!"
"Let's do it, do it!"
"In Gotham, we call the shots. To hell with Bane!"
That's right.
It was time to show Bane the overwhelming sea of people's war.
Liu A'dou unfolded a detailed map of Gotham City and started assigning tasks.
All the gangs were fired up.
Even though they were criminals, they had their own codes.
Honor and loyalty were words they always had on their lips.
When the world was in chaos and right and wrong blurred, it was the gang bosses who stood up and rallied their men.
Of course, if Liu A'dou hadn't stepped in, they might have ended up as petty warlords, fighting for scraps in the ruins of Gotham, only to be vaporized by the nuclear blast.
But with Kaitou Kid leading them, calling on them to show their will and not bow to foreign terror, they were united.
Ada Wong was truly amazed by Liu A'dou's imagination.
To think he actually rallied the gangs to protect the city.
At the same time, she worried that the huge commotion would surely catch Bane's attention.
What if he struck first?
Liu A'dou grinned.
"Don't worry.
The plan is to force Bane to react.
The gangs are the bait.
Whether or not they can hold out doesn't matter.
What's important is exhausting Bane's forces.
As long as they remember the Sixteen-Character Tactic I gave them, they'll be fine."
The Sixteen-Character Tactic: "When the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy camps, we harass; when the enemy tires, we attack; when the enemy retreats, we pursue."
It was the classic guerrilla warfare strategy from a great leader's teachings.
Liu A'dou said, "All the dirty tricks are fair game.
Just show Bane's death squads exactly how bad Gotham's thugs can be."
Meanwhile, to gather full intel on Bane's forces across the city, Liu A'dou set up a command center inside the Batcave.
It was a location Bane knew nothing about.
With the Eye of God working at full capacity and magical pigeons scouting from the skies, intelligence flowed in continuously.
Intel was the foundation of warfare.
Bane had beaten Batman because he had better intel.
Now Liu A'dou would turn that same weapon against him.
Every confirmed location of Bane's men was relayed to the local gang squads, who would harass, ambush, and retreat.
Classic guerrilla warfare.
Bane quickly realized someone was resisting him.
But the thugs fired a few shots and ran, giving him no target to strike.
He was enraged, tempted more than once to detonate the bomb immediately.
And he knew exactly who was behind it—Kaitou Kid.
Bane hadn't expected that after Batman fell, Gotham would still have someone willing to stand up.
Furious, he decided he would personally kill Kaitou Kid on Christmas Eve, and set off the nuclear bomb on Christmas Day.
Merry Christmas.
Meanwhile, Liu A'dou and Ada Wong were deep into their preparations.
This time, there could be no mistakes.
This wasn't just another flashy Kaitou Kid performance—this was a life-or-death battle for the entire city.
Time was running out.
In the shortest possible time, Liu A'dou and Ada Wong completed all the arrangements.
For the first time ever, Kaitou Kid and his temporary assistant were about to officially team up and step onto the stage.