"July 19th, 2:00 AM. That is when Kaitou Kid will move to steal the Star of Hope."
After Oracle's explanation, Tim completely understood the contents of Kid's notice.
"There's less than two days left... Speaking of which, I haven't seen that female star named Elena on the ship yet. The Star of Hope is supposedly worn by her."
"It's only natural you haven't seen her, Tim, because she isn't on the cruise ship."
Oracle stated a fact that surprised Tim.
"What did you say?"
"Two hours ago, Elena just finished recording a talk show in New York."
"...Right. Director James said the scenes requiring extras only take ten days to shoot, and the female lead's scenes can be filmed later without issue. Elena really doesn't need to be on board so early, though this shooting schedule arrangement is a bit strange."
Tim rested his chin on his hand. "The Star of Hope is a treasure borrowed from the Smithsonian Institution. It's unlikely they would let an actress run around with it on her person. Right now, it's either being kept by the props team or with James himself."
"I'd rather it be with Elena. That way, Kaitou Kid is destined to walk away empty-handed on this cruise, and might not even show up."
Oracle spoke in a tone that suggested it would be for the best if that were the case.
"I believe Kaitou Kid wouldn't make such a low-level mistake. Since he sent a notice on the cruise, he must have obtained information through some channel that the Star of Hope is hidden on the ship. Besides, if the gem really isn't here, wouldn't my trip be for nothing?"
"That's not necessarily true. Just treat it as a ten-day vacation for yourself. You might even appear on screen. You could consider becoming a movie star in the future."
"Ha ha, I don't want to live a life being followed by paparazzi day and night. Let someone else have the job of showing their face to audiences worldwide."
Tim gave two emotionless laughs.
"By the way, how has the situation in Gotham been these past two nights?"
"About the same as before. The GCPD alone is enough to maintain order. You can focus wholeheartedly on your own business for now."
Hearing this, Oracle answered seriously.
"Then I'm much more relieved. I really hope Gotham can always stay like this."
Despite saying so, a faint sense of unease lingered deep in Tim's heart.
This unease had existed since half a month ago, when Gotham first entered a rare period of tranquility.
At first, Tim speculated that someone might be secretly planning a major event, and this was just the calm before the storm.
But after he and Oracle conducted various investigations, they found no suspicious signs to support his hypothesis.
More than half a month had passed and things were still the same, so Tim had no choice but to suppress the doubts in his heart.
"Anyway, that's all I have to tell you. Contact me anytime if anything comes up."
Oracle cut the communication.
Tim stood on the deck, gazing at the endless dark sea, his eyes vacant as he fell into thought.
Time flew by, and it was now July 18th.
Filming for the movie had already begun, but it was not going very smoothly. Because they had recruited too many amateur extras, various minor mistakes kept appearing.
Almost every scene required multiple NGs, and the director's shout of "cut" could be heard from morning until night.
Despite such a terrible start, Director James showed no dissatisfaction. Instead, his face was full of smiles. Of course, when reprimanding the actors, he switched to a devilish expression.
Darren and Tim were quite interested in the filmmaking process and stood off to the side to watch.
However, before long, they realized that movie filming was far more tedious than they had imagined. It was not very interesting, consisting entirely of actors making mistakes, being scolded by the director, and then repeating the same process.
It might have been interesting at first, but after watching for a while, they only felt drowsy.
"Tim, you keep watching. I'm going back to sleep."
Darren said to Tim beside him with a yawn.
After saying that, he left.
Tim remained where he was.
He did not really want to keep watching either, but he had a more important mission to carry out and could not rest whenever he pleased like Darren.
"Eight hours left until 2:00 AM on the 19th."
Tim calculated the time while keeping an eye on the set.
"The most likely way for Kaitou Kid to sneak onto the ship would be to blend in with the temporarily recruited extras. Maybe he's playing someone on set right now..."
Unfortunately, Tim could not identify Kaitou Kid with the naked eye alone.
"I sneaked into the prop warehouse last night to take a look, but didn't find the Star of Hope. This legendary gem is most likely being kept by Director James personally. I have to keep an eye on him all day today."
With that firm resolve, Tim continued his surveillance of James.
"Good. Cut."
After an unknown amount of time, James called out the final "cut" for the scene.
Then he gathered everyone together.
"Guys, today's filming progress is too slow. At this rate, we won't be able to complete the original plan within ten days. So I've decided to add an extra scene tonight, scheduled for around 1:30 AM."
James announced.
"For this scene, I want as many people on the ship as possible to be present. The location is the auction house on East Deck 7."
"What? Adding an extra scene?"
Watching from the side, Tim's eyes flickered slightly.
"Around 1:30 AM, exactly half an hour before the 2:00 AM time Kaitou Kid predicted. Is it a coincidence? Or..."
Just then, James suddenly walked toward him.
"Young man, if I remember correctly, you are Mr. Drake's child. Your name is..."
"Tim."
Tim looked at James in surprise.
"Is there a problem, Director James? Am I affecting your filming by being here?"
"Of course not. I came over because I wanted to ask you to inform Mr. Drake and your friend. If possible, it would be best not to miss the 1:30 AM filming."
James shook his head with a smile.
"No problem. I'll go tell them right now."
Tim patted his chest and turned to leave the set.
What he did not know was that the moment he turned around, James's smile vanished, and he watched Tim's back for a long time.
...
1:30 AM, East Deck 7, Auction House.
When Tim and his father Jack arrived at the venue, it was almost full.
Darren did not come, because he said he would be sleeping at 1:30 AM and did not have time to be a background extra at the auction house.
Tim was not surprised by Darren's answer at all.
"I didn't expect so many people to show up at this hour. It's almost like the first day's banquet."
Jack remarked with emotion.
Tim nodded. Indeed, since the first day's banquet, so many people had not gathered at the same time on the cruise ship.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Suddenly, a series of rapid, loud roars rang out from outside.