Phantom Kid in the World of American Comics

Chapter 43: Robinson Park

Queen Elizabeth is expected to stay in Gotham for five days, and yesterday’s banquet was the first of them.

The rest of the days were scheduled for Queen Elizabeth to visit Gotham’s famous locations and monuments one by one.

The Queen is a queen after all, her guide is a high ranking official, the Mayor of Gotham.

Led by the Mayor, Queen Elizabeth visited the Wayne Memorial, the Knight’s Dome Sports Complex, the Statue of Justice, Cathedral Square…

Almost all Gotham’s monuments had been visited.

The last few days had been unusually quiet in Gotham. Phantom Kid caused only hype but never appeared.

Most people thought that Phantom Kid had mostly given up on the idea of stealing the ruby. After all, the Queen of the United Kingdom’s necklace was not that easy to get a hand on.

Even if he managed to steal it, it would not have been a good thing.

The Tamil Ruby Necklace is a treasure that cannot be sold, and whoever buys it will face the hostility of the entire United Kingdom.

The slightest misstep could spark a massive war.

Even a Yakuza emperor of the Oyabun would not dare to bear such an outcome.

And anyone with an average IQ would not believe that someone would really steal the Tamil Ruby.

To put it bluntly, sending letters threatening Her Majesty with some sort of assassination would be far more credible instead…

Unfortunately, minds such as the one of Phantom Kid are not meant to be understood by normal people.

At least, a small group of agents, including Gordon, Starling and Bob, did not believe that Phantom Kid would give up the operation.

Since the first day of the party, when several of them discussed the content of the teaser letter, they did not go through the issue again for the remaining days.

However, Bob and Starling had quite confident looks on their faces and looked like they should have deciphered quite a bit of information.

Gordon, on the other hand, was relatively deeply analysing it, one could not tell how much information he deciphered so far.

Only Johny, Agent Bean, was quite calm on the surface as if he had it all under control, however, he is the most confused fella out there.

Tucker, on the other hand, had been able to push out some useful information based on the names of the Knights of the Round Table and their biographies, but unfortunately, they could not be strung together to form a valid answer.

In Tucker’s mind, even he had deciphered quite a bit of information, so Johny must have deciphered the whole teaser letter long ago. As for the reason he didn’t say anything was that, firstly, he didn’t know who Phantom Kid had disguised himself as.

Secondly, it was to test his ability, «Agent English must have wanted me to solve the puzzle on my own… that must be it!»

Tucker thought so…

Time has quickly passed and they are approaching the last day.

Over the past few days, Barbara had always dragged Mathison around to the Queen on various excuses.

Incidentally, she familiarised him with a number of fancy places he hadn’t been to before, like the Knight Dome Sports Complex.

Mathison had no interest in sporting events and never felt the need to visit such places.

According to the plan announced today, Queen Elizabeth will head to Robinson Central Park for a final stop-by, before heading to the airport to conclude her visit.

And there will be live helicopter broadcasters from the air throughout their journey.

Robinson Park is a major landmark that has existed since the founding of Gotham and has been expanded over the centuries.

Even Gotham City has dedicated a park area to the development of this legendary monument.

”Her Majesty won’t be here until after dark, what are you dragging me over here now?”

Inside Robinson Central Park, Mathison grumbled with a bored look on his face as he followed behind Barbara.

”It’s such a nice place, why can’t we go shopping first, before the Queen comes?”

At the sound of her voice, Barbara turned back instantly and shot Mathison with a dangerous gaze.

”Ahahaha, you know what, it’s also nice to get some fresh air.”, Mathison faked laughter.

At his dry laughter, Barbara only regained her happy smile and continued to wander ahead.

«The longer I get to know Barbara, the more I think she is less and less like the Oracle in the original storyline… I don’t know if it’s just me.»

Mathison thought internally, always following Barbara’s lead.

Technically speaking, the park not only covers a huge area, but the scenery is also quite good, and both the Fingal and the Splendor rivers have streams running through the park.

A well-established ecosystem is formed, with abundant vegetation and an environment that can’t be beaten.

After all, even Gotham’s environmental villain, Poison Ivy, is fond of it, so it’s clear how good Robinson Park is.

The best part is that Robinson Park is open to the public all day long. You don’t need to buy an entrance ticket to visit it. It’s the perfect tourist destination.

But …

Mathison comes to this place at least three times a month!

After more than a decade, he could wander the entire park with his eyes closed without even bumping into a tree.

No matter how beautiful the view was, he had already got enough of it.

Barbara just couldn’t get tired of it, she always drags Mathison here two or three times every month.

Only on the last occasion did Mathison come here of his own accord.

He didn’t know why Barbara liked it so much here and neither wanted to hang out anyway. Wouldn’t it be a nicer option to go down to the beach to see the ladies in bikinis anyways?

But he just couldn’t resist Barbara and had to come along.

Whenever he asked Barbara what she really liked about this shitty park, she always laughed and didn’t say anything.

«Forget it, I always end up coming here anyway, just to see if my previous layout here went well…»

«Thinking about it, it’s almost time to use that secret weapon.»

Mathison thought darkly and quickly followed the distant figure of Barbara.

And so, the two of them spent the day wandering around the park, with Barbara unaware that Mathison had finished confirming all his arrangements.

As night fell, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth was about to arrive.

By this time, Mathison had only visited two-thirds of the park.

And for the sake of having a clear view of how big Robinson Park is, the two of them came here at eight o’clock in the morning.

The Queen, of course, has no time to wander, she is here for one purpose only: that is to be located in the very heart of Robinson Central Park.

A huge statue of Gotham’s first mayor, the man who founded Robinson Park!

This is the most monumental site in Gotham.

If Phantom Kid wanted to make a move, this and the airport were the only two places to do it. And so; Gordon concentrated all the police forces scattered throughout Gotham’s districts here.

A full escort for the Queen.

Only the highway from City Hall to Robinson Park was littered with police cars, with all 10,000 or so of GCPD officers out in force.

The GCPD’s police car configuration is constructed of two officers per car, so there were a whole lot more than 5,000 cars whizzing down the road with sirens blaring incessantly.

There were even a dozen police helicopters hovering in the sky.

Gordon mobilised all the forces he could.

Those who didn’t know what was going on might think that a war is going on after seeing this scene.

Amidst the countless black-and-white police cars, more than twenty all-black cars were parked. These were the Queen’s personal royal guard, with Her Majesty sitting in the bullet-proof car in the middle.

”Where’s Charles, hasn’t he set off yet?”

On her luxurious seat, the Queen asked in what appeared to be a disgruntled manner.

The maid on her side replied, “Your Majesty, we have contacted His Royal Highness Prince Charles, and His Highness said that he remembers the time and won’t be too late.”

At these words, the Queen nodded, and her face looked much better.

Although the Queen had stopped attending the banquet these days, Prince Charles had been invited to the banquet almost every night and had even drunk a lot of wine last night.

This made the Queen very unhappy…