Chapter Ninety-Two: Arriving on the Scene

The helicopter’s image came back through the live camera, and its thunderous roar rolled over the venue, shaking countless hearts as the countdown in the upper right corner of the giant screen ticked on. A few people had already guessed the way Leon would make his entrance.

Aerial arrival.

It was exactly the kind of spectacle audiences loved. As the seconds ran down, those with sharp eyes had already begun searching for clues. One of them was Daniel Cooper, who fixed his gaze on the stage’s human-sized “restroom.”

With the instincts of a former professional magician, he quickly formed a theory: the magician must have been hidden inside that restroom in advance, and what appeared on video was simply previously recorded footage. With a little acting polish, the effect could be astonishing.

The logic was obvious at a glance, yet Cooper still felt instinctively that it could not be that simple.

Leon had always taken the road less traveled, and that left a deep impression. A man like that, Cooper felt, would never bother with such child’s play that everyone could see through.

Sure enough, he saw Leon in the helicopter begin chatting with the bodyguard beside him, or rather the assisting performer. “Hey, Doug. What day is it today?”

“Today is the twenty-second, sir.”

“Any news about today?”

“I’ll check for you.”

Doug took out a tablet prepared in advance and searched the day’s headlines.

When the Google results appeared, the camera even cut in for a close-up of the time and date.

That instantly shattered the assumption that the video had been filmed beforehand.

Video footage could be faked, but surely today’s news could not be written in advance from the future?

That move silenced many who thought they had seen through the trick. Cooper among them nodded slowly. Yes, that was exactly the feeling: maddening, baffling, mysterious.

That was the sort of bearing his archenemy ought to have.

It stirred the blood all over again.

Inside the helicopter, checking the news was merely to confirm the date. Soon the aircraft passed over the city and came above the stadium. The camera swept downward: in the night, the arena blazed with light, and the stands were a seething mass of black.

The helicopter began circling high over the stadium. The audience below also looked up one after another; there really was a helicopter orbiting overhead, and on the giant screen the view had already switched to the cabin.

The pilot turned back and said, “Sir, your destination is below.”

“I know. We don’t have much time left.” Leon pointed at the watch on his wrist. The countdown on site had only thirty seconds remaining.

“I need to jump.”

“Okay. I’ll set you up with the angle.”

The crowd below erupted again in cheers—was he doing a low-altitude parachute jump from a helicopter?

The enormous screen and the superb surround sound gave the whole venue the thrilling sensation of a Hollywood blockbuster, worthy of such a vast stage and such a colossal audience.

Just as everyone was cheering, the image on the screen suddenly sent their emotions on a roller coaster.

Leon in the cabin opened the door, leaned out to look, and then leaped.

The camera cut back inside. Doug, the burly bodyguard, was holding a parachute pack, staring in blank disbelief.

“Oh, shit!”

They said it in unison.

A sea of spectators in the arena also reflexively blurted out the same word.

He forgot to wear the parachute?

“He doesn’t have a parachute yet! Damn it!” Doug’s horrified voice came through.

The camera swept back outside, but Leon had already vanished into the vast black night.

Everyone’s hearts rose to their throats.

Even knowing this was a show, the sight of Leon in a suit and tie on camera with no sign of a parachute on his back—then simply jumping—made it seem like he was surely done for.

The audience held its breath. The celebrity guests wore expressions of shock and confusion. Among the fervent fans, some even began to pray.

Chloe, the little fangirl who had seen his skill before, chewed gum and kept a composed face. “He scared me last time. This time, he definitely won’t!”

Yet the way she clutched her mother’s hand betrayed her inner panic.

The camera still could not find Leon, and no parachute could be seen opening in the sky.

On the television screen, only the brilliantly lit stadium remained against the night. The seconds of free fall vanished in an instant—either you saw a man, or you saw a corpse.

Truthfully, Leon himself was somewhat nervous too.

Because instant teleportation from high altitude to the ground exceeded the range of his spell.

That meant he had to free-fall for a stretch, and only when he was close enough to the ground could he teleport. If he acted too early, the distance would be insufficient; too late, and he might smash headfirst into the earth.

What’s more, the momentum of the sudden stop in a rapid descent required a formidable body to withstand it. So the performance was every bit as perilous for him.

But for the sake of artistic effect, let the brilliance bloom without restraint.

Boom.

Fireworks burst from the center stage of the stadium.

Flames and pyrotechnics erupted in a riot of brilliant color.

Then the “restroom” in the middle burst open, and Leon, in his suit and tie, made a dashing appearance. He waved to the camera, blowing kisses with lavish exuberance.

“Hello, everyone! Ladies and gentlemen! I’m fine!”

“Welcome to Leon’s Night of Magic! I’m Leon, and as you can see, I’m in New York, just off the plane—absolutely genuine, as advertised!”

The entire venue exploded into applause.

This move truly did not disappoint.

It was the kind of stunt one could only expect from a James Bond or Mission Impossible film, yet now they were witnessing it with their own eyes in reality, and so vividly at that.

No one knew how Leon had exchanged places. All they knew was that the man on the helicopter had leaped, and then an identical Leon appeared on stage.

You could call it twins, but how was anyone supposed to imitate that identical face, even that same way of speaking?

And there was that unmistakable, impossible flair that could be felt from hundreds of meters away—the sweep of the prop cape, the dramatic twist and snap, the beautiful assistant’s transformation into a living person, and the way he embraced beauties left and right on stage with shameless delight.

This was the Leon everyone remembered: that flamboyant, mischievous great magician.

Victoria was also present. Though she was not filming, she still habitually recorded her impressions.

“That one move just now was absolutely on the level of an Olympic opening ceremony.”

Little fangirl Chloe had already jumped up onto her chair, waving and shouting. “I knew it, I knew it was this guy! Ah! I love him to death!”

Her behavior did not seem out of place, because there were plenty of wildly enthusiastic fans in the front rows.

The celebrity friends who had come in support were all looking utterly astonished as well.

Leon had overturned expectations so many times.

You could never predict where he would break the rules. Just that one move had already swept away all doubts about whether this colossal show could hold together.

With a performance like this, there was no second in the world.

Every accusation and every suspicion vanished in that instant.

The production team was recording everything from multiple angles, and the NBC executives in attendance were all beaming with delight. With a blockbuster effect like this, turning it into a show would have to be a hit.

Traditional televised magic had always relied to some degree on editing and post-production, but Leon was performing live on site, witnessed by more than eighty thousand pairs of eyes. The authenticity was instantly off the charts.

The demands on performance and difficulty rose to a whole new level, and this scene slapped the faces of many who had doubted the decision.

Daniel Cooper simply set aside his thoughts. He chose to quietly savor the spectacle, because cracking it would not happen overnight. Right now, he just wanted to be a Muggle in the audience.

Why had Leon risen to explosive fame so quickly, becoming a top-tier superstar of magic?

Now they understood. This man was simply a living legend. Not only was he unparalleled in prop mastery, he was also first-rate in showmanship.

And tonight was only the beginning.

That move of Leon’s was not even the main event in his performance plan.