"Shocking! Kaitou Kid's heist notice reappears, target aimed directly at the Hope Star!"
"Netizens urge Director James to choose another filming location to avoid Kaitou Kid's interference!"
"Kaitou Kid sends a notice. Another major diamond theft is imminent!"
Overnight, news of Kaitou Kid's new heist notice spread throughout Gotham like wildfire.
Originally, Director James filming The Maculage in Gotham was already a rare major headline. It involved a famous director, a luxury cruise ship, and a world-class film production. That alone was enough to draw attention.
Now, with Kaitou Kid suddenly throwing his name into the mix, the two events collided and instantly became the hottest topic of the moment.
For longtime Gotham residents, a famous movie director was far less interesting than the Riddler, Two-Face, or any of the city's other infamous criminals. In that sense, Kaitou Kid was far more appealing to them.
But for movie fans outside Gotham, across the country and even around the world, the situation was completely reversed.
They had no interest in Gotham's supervillains. They had no understanding of them either.
As a result, when they heard that a thief had openly sent a notice claiming he would steal the Hope Star, practically the world's most famous diamond, from a film crew, their first reaction was not concern for the crew's safety.
It was ridicule.
Comment sections filled up almost instantly.
"Are Gotham thieves always this arrogant? He even dares to set his sights on the Hope Star. If he's that brave, why doesn't he go steal from the Louvre?"
"Hahahaha, this is hilarious. Wanting to steal a diamond is one thing, but sending a dramatic heist notice? Does he think he's Arsène Lupin?"
"Honestly, I'd rather believe this 'Phantom Thief' stunt is just hype for the movie than believe someone this stupid actually exists."
"It's PR! PR!!"
"Kaitou Kid is nothing. If he's got the guts, come to Coast City. If he can still be hopping around the next day, I'll eat my words!"
"Man, if you folks in Coast City are already this arrogant, what about us in Metropolis? Superman would definitely take Kid down in one hit, okay."
"...Guys, I just looked up this Kaitou Kid's past exploits. Putting everything else aside, his close-up photos are actually pretty handsome. I strongly suggest Kaitou Kid come to London."
"Wait, London? What's wrong with you?"
The comments multiplied by the second.
Mockery.
Sarcasm.
Boasting.
And the occasional completely off-topic remark.
In a short time, every internet platform that reposted Kaitou Kid's new notice was flooded with similar voices.
Honest Gothamites, upon seeing these remarks, naturally engaged in what they called "friendly exchanges" with the outsiders.
They patiently explained, in great detail, why underestimating Kaitou Kid was a bad idea.
They listed past heists. They linked videos. They attached news reports.
They reminded people how many times Kid had escaped under impossible circumstances.
Sometimes, online comments were not enough to explain the situation clearly, so especially enthusiastic longtime Gotham residents even invited skeptical netizens to discuss it offline, complete with dates, screenshots, and timelines.
The internet descended into chaos.
Arguments overlapped.
Mockery met indignation.
The noise only grew louder.
Yet none of this affected the Batcave in the slightest.
Deep underground, far removed from the internet's clamor, Tim and Barbara were already focused on something else entirely.
From the moment they learned of Kid's heist notice, the two of them had immediately gathered to analyze it.
"So, do you have any leads?"
Tim asked Barbara with a serious expression as multiple screens glowed around them.
"A few, but not many."
Barbara replied after a brief pause.
"What about you?"
"To be honest, I'm not really sure."
Tim admitted. He pulled up the text of the heist notice again and read it carefully.
♦—Quartz, flame, ocean, breeze,
Among the twenty-six letters reversed from beginning to end,
Find the nineteenth day and night,
I shall board the glory of The Maculage,
And personally pluck that Cruel Flower of Hope.
Sincerely,
—Kaitou Kid—♦
"The last two lines are straightforward."
Tim gestured toward the screen.
"So let's set them aside for now. The key information lies in the first two lines."
Barbara nodded.
"What connection is there between these four seemingly unrelated things?"
Tim continued.
"Quartz, flame, ocean, and breeze."
He rested his chin on his hand.
"At first glance, they don't seem to share anything obvious. They aren't elements in the classical sense, and they don't line up with planets, gemstones, or standard symbols."
"And the phrase 'the twenty-six letters reversed from beginning to end'."
Barbara leaned forward slightly.
"That part seems very deliberate."
"Exactly."
Tim nodded.
"First of all, it clearly doesn't refer to the total number of letters in those four words."
He tapped a few keys.
"They only have twenty-two letters in total, and reversing them wouldn't give us anything meaningful."
"So I think it refers to the Atbash cipher."
Barbara's eyes lit up slightly.
"The substitution cipher."
"Right."
Tim confirmed.
"The Atbash cipher replaces each letter with its opposite in the alphabet. A becomes Z, B becomes Y, and so on. Z becomes A."
"It matches perfectly with 'twenty-six letters reversed from beginning to end'."
Barbara crossed her arms.
"That interpretation makes sense."
"But then a new problem arises."
Tim continued, his expression tightening slightly.
He typed rapidly, decoding each word.
"If we apply the Atbash cipher to quartz, flame, ocean, and breeze, we get the following."
The results appeared on screen.
"Quartz becomes fziga."
"Flame becomes oznv."
"Ocean becomes xvzm."
"Breeze becomes ivvav."
Barbara stared at the screen.
"Those don't look like words."
"They aren't."
Tim replied.
"They don't correspond to any known English words, abbreviations, or obvious codenames."
"And Kaitou Kid doesn't usually include meaningless filler in his notices."