Phantom Kid in the World of American Comics

”What did you say!”

After hearing George’s account, Bob jumped up in shock.

”Phantom Kid came to New York? And there was a teaser letter posted on the window of the NYPD?”

After getting an affirmative answer, Bob rubbed his chin and pondered.

”Well … the content of the teaser letter is indeed very much like his style.”

”You want to ask me to help crack the contents of the teaser letter, right? OK, I promise to help you with this. To be honest, I’m still salty about him playing with us last time.”

”OK, then I’ll leave it to you, Bob.”

”But George, you can’t just dump this on me and ignore it yourself.”

”You know what kind of person I am; solving mysteries like this is not for me, but I will go and have a good chat with the capitalists who are planning to exhibit the gems tomorrow, and see if I can deduce which one of them Phantom Kid has his eye on.”

”That’s really your style, George.”

Bob smiled and hung up the phone, then looked at the teaser letter that he had just extracted from listening to George’s description.

”The devil with a fake smile holds the Golden Fleece

Who knows that the punishment under the moon is coming

Avalanches, gales, riots, earthquakes, ulcers, sandstorms

When the six disasters come together

I will take back the badge of honor that does not belong to you

Sincerely, Phantom Kid”

”It’s kind of like the grammar used in drama…I don’t seem to have a clue at the first glance.”

Bob looked back and forth several times, “Kidd likes to use the content of a certain mythological system to compile a teaser letter, such as Greek mythology and Celtic mythology. This time he should also use other systems of mythological tropes.”

”So, the Golden Fleece should not refer to the wool of Chrysomallos. So, the other Golden Fleece in the world that would only be the… Order of the Golden Fleece?”

”The Order of the Golden Fleece can just as well correspond with the last badge of honor. Hmmm… yeah, it must be this.”

”The Order of the Golden Fleece originated in the Duchy of Burgundy but was later incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire. 

   And after the death of Charles V, the leader of the Order of the Golden Fleece, it fell into the hands of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty. 

   After the dynasty was extinct, both the Austrian Habsburgs and the Spanish Bourbons claimed lordship over the Order of the Golden Fleece.”

After thinking about the complex historical heritage of the Knights of the Golden Fleece, Bob got a headache.

”Totally can’t think of where the entry point is, forget it, let’s start with the most famous Roman mythology first.”

Bob moved all the books related to myths and legends from his study and flipped through them while comparing the six disasters mentioned in the teaser letter.

———–

Early the next morning, Wilson Building, the chairman’s office.

Fisk, who was two meters tall and wearing a light gray tailored suit, walked in.

At a glance, he saw the Kid’s card stuck straight on the desk. A large part of the card was embedded into the desk, and it looked impossible for the average person to pull the card out.

Kingpin expressionlessly walked to the table, effortlessly pinched the card up.

”Phantom Kid, you dare to sneak here? I will make your life worse than death!”

Kingpin wasn’t in the mood to solve any riddle, he crumpled the card into a ball and casually threw it into the trash.

He sat down as if nothing had happened, and then pressed a button on the corner of his desk.

Not so long later, a slim man wearing sunglasses with a solemn expression walked in.

”Get me a new desk, and …”

As soon as the man arrived, Kingpin gave the order.

”Phantom Kid infiltrated here last night, and also left a card on my desk trying to take my diamonds, and none of you actually noticed …”

Fisk’s face did not show the slightest sign of anger, but the slim man was in a cold sweat of fear.

”Boss, I’m going to check all the surveillance records in detail, and once again strengthen the night patrol!”

Seeing that Kingpin had no other orders, the man hurriedly walked out.

At the same time, Mathison was lying on the sofa. He mysteriously cracked a smile, with a pair of headphones plugged in his ears.

”How about it, did Kingpin make any moves?”

Charlie was lying on the other side of the sofa, and as soon as he saw this look on Mathison’s face, he knew what was probably going on.

Of course, Mathison could not simply send a teaser letter and then come back empty-handed. He hid his gum wiretap in the Wilson building ventilation ducts.

He wanted to avoid the unexpected.

”Oh, Kingpin reacted just as we thought, he really did not have the slightest thought of calling the police or notifying the media.”

”Commissioner George probably won’t make a big deal out of it either, but at least I can guarantee that the NYPD will intervene. Plus, there’s that Daredevil guy drawing fire from the sidelines, making it a lot less difficult to get a hit.”

Charlie’s little head nodded up and down, it agreed: “Hell’s Kitchen is a special situation, it is not suitable for a large number of civilians to go there; keeping the media out of this is the right thing to do.”

Since everything was going according to plan, Mathison took off his headphones. He had been listening to Kingpin in his office since the early morning. And now, as it is almost afternoon, his ears were already uncomfortable.

”The bug will not take long to be discovered by Kingpin, that his little brother has gone to check the surveillance records. Although I am confident that the speed of throwing out the card will not be captured by the monitor …”

Mathison continued: “But because of this, they will realize that I didn’t sneak in through normal means, and it is even more unlikely that I will be in the surveillance. It can be easily judged by the angle of the card on the table. It came out from the vent.”

”Then, he will certainly thoroughly check all the ventilation ducts of the building. I believe that it is impossible for Jin to even think of this. Now he does not realize that he just preconceived that I was sneaking in.”

Gotham’s summer is not known for its heat, but the hot air is still stopping many people from going out.

It is now the middle of August. Gotham University had already started its summer vacation. The previous election ceremony for exchange students was a special notice

When school starts on September 10th, Mathison and Barbara can go directly to New York University to report, without worrying about the interruption of Gotham University’s curriculum.

On the other hand, Barbara was also at home, only she chose to sit in front of the computer, gleaming at the unintelligible jumbled codes on the screen.

Suddenly, Barbara’s phone rang.

”Daisy?”

”Barbara, you’re not going to believe what I’m going to say next, but I swear to God that everything I say is true!”

”The Rainbow Bridge is real! Thor, the god of thunder, is real too!”

”What did you say?”

Perhaps Daisy spoke too quickly, or perhaps Barbara simply thought Daisy was joking.

”The other day, Jane and I went to a small town, and then our car hit a man who fell from the sky!”