"If I had known you were a thief, I would've executed you back on Themyscira," Diana said.
"Diana, that's way too harsh—and kind of barbaric. This is the twenty-first century. Can't you be a little more rational?" Liu A'dou was startled. Right now, he was giving Flash and Diana a ride home.
"You should learn how we deal with thieves. We strip them down and hang them up."
"Don't be like that. I haven't really done anything bad. I just like seeing the look of surprise on people's faces." To put it simply, he liked showing off.
Flash chimed in, "Kaitou Kid actually has a great reputation. Sure, he steals things, but people see him as a superhero in the thief world. And he always returns what he steals. It's really more of a performance. Plus, he's done a lot of good—he's saved Gotham before, and even caught murderers."
That was just what the public knew. Kid added, "I've also saved Iron Man's life and helped out Batman."
Oh? Hearing that, Diana started to see him differently. "Still, what you do is deceitful. It's not right. You need to change."
But Kid had no intention of changing. Then he remembered something. "Ada is going to be stationed in Washington in a few days. She might come find you."
"Really?" Diana had chosen to explore the world on her own, but it was getting kind of boring. If Ada came, at least she'd have someone to talk to.
"Really. She got promoted." Ada was being transferred straight to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters as the Director of the Oversight Division. It was a real power position—she'd have the authority to monitor all S.H.I.E.L.D. operations and even challenge the director if needed.
The reason Ada was chosen was because she had spent the least amount of time working under Nick Fury. She was considered the most likely to be swayed. Promoting her was a way to test and break up Nick's power base—basically sending a message to his subordinates that leaving him might be the smarter move. Ada was just the lucky one.
After dropping Diana off, Liu A'dou and Flash returned to the Advanced Tech Research Institute, where Liu A'dou picked up Lin Long. This little girl really should be handed over to the state.
At the institute, since she couldn't use her inner strength and wasn't very strong physically, Lin Long could only act like a sweet, obedient kid. She totally had the two young researchers wrapped around her finger, constantly getting toys and snacks—she didn't seem like a prisoner at all.
Back home, Liu A'dou told Chu Yuxuan the whole story. Chu just nodded and said he understood. On the matter of how to deal with Lin Long, Chu made a statement: "I'll escort this Liangshan Outlaw back to the country. She'll be kept under strict watch and won't get another chance to hurt people." As for the smuggled artifacts from Liangshan, someone else would take over that investigation. And although the Colored Pottery Terracotta Warrior had been destroyed, it was understandable given the circumstances—no need to make Kid pay for it.
Hearing that, Liu A'dou nearly spat blood. He quickly kicked Chu Yuxuan and Lin Long out of his house.
Kaitou Kid Net was a fan-run site dedicated to everything about Kid. Every case he had taken on was listed there, and passionate fans constantly uploaded footage of his heists. The forums were full of people expressing admiration for Kid.
But today, a new post grabbed everyone's attention. It was a challenge.
Plenty of people had challenged Kid before, but this one was especially aggressive. The post called Kid the most hypocritical thief around. They claimed they had no respect for him. They called themselves the true Robin Hoods of the modern era and declared they were going to challenge Kid, defeat him, and take his crown as the master of magic theft.
Their name? The Four Horsemen.
They even left behind a public challenge: on the stage in Las Vegas, they would act on behalf of justice, surpass Kaitou Kid, and become the true modern Robin Hoods.
Kid wasn't really a Robin Hood. He never actually robbed the rich to help the poor. At most, he stole dirty money from criminals and kept it for himself. But Robin Hood gave everything he stole to the suffering people.
If The Four Horsemen really wanted to play Robin Hood, they had to give away everything they stole. That idea caught people's attention. Maybe they'd get something out of it.
So when the time came, lots of people who had seen the challenge online flocked to Las Vegas to watch this one-time-only magic show on the city's most glamorous stage.
Tickets were checked, and everyone took their assigned seats.
"Awesome. So many people! We're totally gonna outshine Kaitou Kid!" the young man Jack said, fired up. It was his first time performing on stage, and the massive crowd beat sneaking around alleys by a mile.
"Calm down. Kid isn't anything special. Starting tomorrow, we'll be the number one gentleman thieves. The crowd will cheer for us, worship us, admire us," said Daniel, the leader of The Four Horsemen and a magician himself. Ever since he saw Kaitou Kid perform over a year ago, he had made up his mind to become the next Kid. But the more he watched Kid, the more he felt disappointed. Kid had the power to change the world—so why return stolen goods to the rich? Why not give them to those who truly needed help?
Then Daniel met three others online who felt the same way: the escape artist Henley, the hypnosis expert Merritt, and the hacker thief Jack.
The four like-minded partners formed The Four Horsemen. Their one goal: to become modern-day Robin Hoods. Basically, a bunch of idealistic dreamers.
Now their debut show was about to begin.
"Let's get on stage. From now on, we'll act as the will of God, making this country truly fair and just. We are The Four Horsemen."
Applause broke out. But Kid's fans didn't clap. They were just here to see how impressive these so-called rivals really were.
In the center of the stage stood a strange door. The four magicians came out to perform. It was pretty ordinary—just some simple tricks.
Pretty boring, actually. Kid's fans weren't fooled. To beat Kaitou Kid, they'd need something way flashier and more unbelievable.
"The warm-up's over. Now let's get to the main act. But it's boring with just the four of us. I think we need a helper," Daniel said, hyping up the crowd like a seasoned showman. "Everyone who entered today got a ticket. We'll randomly pick one using the ticket numbers to choose a lucky volunteer."
"Each ticket has a row and seat number. We'll use two separate boxes to draw one from each—combine them to find the final spot."
The audience figured that sounded fair. They were just here for the fun, after all.
Jack and Henley—one guy, one girl—went into the crowd to let people draw numbers. But it wasn't random at all. The numbered balls the audience drew were secretly switched by the magicians to ones they had prepared in advance.
That's the thing with magic—it's all in the setup. Soon, the "lucky" audience member came on stage. He was someone The Four Horsemen had picked ahead of time.
The group's debut performance was about to begin.