Chapter 785: Elf Prince Battles the Hobbit

This nightclub was famous throughout the Los Angeles area. As the night wore on, more and more Hollywood celebrities filed through the doors. Duke and Leonardo sipped their drinks, idly looking around. It had been a long time since Duke had visited a club like this.

At a table to his left, Michelle Rodriguez was drinking heavily with another woman, making no secret of her sexual orientation. To his right sat his two bodyguards, who had just rejected Justin Bieber's request to switch tables. Directly across from Duke, Orlando Bloom was chatting with an unfamiliar woman; it seemed he had already found a new flame after his divorce from Miranda Kerr.

Orlando noticed Duke as well and raised his glass in greeting. Duke gave him a slight nod and took a sip to return the silent toast.

"Hey, that kid's looking for trouble," Leonardo DiCaprio warned.

Hearing the warning, Duke quickly turned to his right. After the two bodyguards rejected his request to swap tables, the rising Canadian singer looked extremely displeased. He muttered something, but Duke's bodyguards remained completely unmoved, ignoring him entirely.

Justin Bieber wanted to say more, but a passing waiter murmured a reminder, and the singer glanced over in Duke's direction.

Duke couldn't be bothered with a brainless idiot like that. He simply continued chatting and laughing with Leonardo, not even sparing the pop star a second look.

Fortunately, while Justin Bieber's brain often short-circuited, he wasn't quite stupid enough to indiscriminately provoke the wrong people. He let out a drunken hiccup and happened to look straight ahead of Duke. His eyes lit up instantly. Like a belligerent rooster, he staggered over toward Orlando Bloom's table.

Leonardo set down his glass, shifted in his seat, and raised an eyebrow at the unfolding scene. "Looks like there's going to be a good show tonight," he said to Duke.

"A good show?" Duke asked, looking over with genuine interest.

"You don't know?" Seeing that Duke was truly out of the loop, Leonardo briefly explained. "The biggest gossip in Hollywood lately is that Orlando Bloom's ex-wife, Miranda Kerr, hooked up with Justin Bieber. Meanwhile, Orlando's last fling was with Selena Gomez—who happens to be Bieber's ex-girlfriend."

"Oh?" Duke said, his interest piqued. "That's a pretty messy web."

There were plenty of far messier relationships in Hollywood, and most of the people involved didn't care. But with someone like Justin Bieber in the mix, it was hard to say how things would play out.

Justin Bieber reached Orlando Bloom's table. The Elf Prince noticed him, but since Orlando was a relatively rational person, he didn't seem to have any intention of acknowledging the singer.

Duke and Leonardo both shut their mouths and pricked up their ears, eager to see exactly what would happen.

In truth, shortly after Justin Bieber's debut, a consensus had formed within Hollywood circles: trouble followed wherever the singer went. His agency and record label were still desperately trying to maintain his public image, so most of these incidents only circulated as industry rumors.

The pop star staggered up to Orlando Bloom's side, suddenly stopped, and reached out, wanting to shake his hand.

While the gossip and the on-again, off-again drama between Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr could fill two entire books—and Orlando himself had once been beaten up by one of Duke's merchandise distributors—that didn't mean Orlando would casually shake Justin Bieber's hand as if nothing was wrong.

He didn't even look at Justin Bieber, let alone shake his hand.

Seemingly provoked by Orlando's attitude, or perhaps intending to start a scene from the start, Justin Bieber raised his voice. Not only could Orlando Bloom hear him clearly, but the words carried all the way over to Duke and Leonardo.

"Miranda Kerr is really great!"

Hearing this, Duke knew immediately what was about to happen. Forget Orlando Bloom—no man would be able to swallow an insult like that, even if it was about his ex-wife.

Still, Duke couldn't understand why Justin Bieber would say such a thing. Did he actually think Orlando Bloom wouldn't resort to violence, and would instead calmly discuss whether Miranda Kerr or Selena Gomez was better?

"It's starting," Leonardo DiCaprio warned, pulling out his phone to record the scene.

At the exact same moment, Orlando Bloom sprang to his feet and threw a heavy right hook with lightning speed. Justin Bieber, having anticipated this, immediately dodged and prepared to strike back.

However, the pop star—whose brain operated on a completely different wavelength than a normal person's—had clearly overlooked one crucial detail. Orlando Bloom had only recently finished shooting The Hobbit trilogy. His body, conditioned by the production's rigorous training, was still in peak physical shape. The punch was fast and ruthless, completely impossible for the singer to avoid.

Justin Bieber only made it halfway through his dodge before the fist slammed heavily into his face.

"Cool!"

Leonardo cheered, making sure to capture the entire thing on his phone.

Perhaps due to the alcohol, Duke found himself shouting in approval. A massive welt was already swelling on Justin Bieber's face, blood and other fluids spraying from his nose. The singer looked completely dazed. He tried to retaliate, but before he could launch a counterattack, Orlando Bloom's second punch smashed into the other side of his face. Swaying like a boxer taking a knockout blow, Bieber crumpled limply to the floor.

"Nice hit!"

"Keep going, Orlando!"

"Beat the hell out of that bastard!"

The entire nightclub erupted instantly. As if the scene wasn't chaotic enough, the surrounding crowd began yelling and jeering. Orlando Bloom showed no intention of letting Justin Bieber off the hook and prepared to strike again.

However, the club's security guards had finally reacted and were already sprinting over.

Leonardo stopped recording on his phone and stood up to cheer loudly, "Good hit! Beautiful, Orlando!"

He pulled Duke to his feet. Duke stood and clapped as both of them gave Orlando Bloom a thumbs-up.

With the status Duke and Leonardo held, they had absolutely no reason to care about a minor celebrity like Justin Bieber.

Having downed a couple of drinks earlier, Duke clapped and called out, "Beautifully done, Orlando! All that training on set didn't go to waste!"

The security guards had finally managed to separate Orlando Bloom and Justin Bieber. Duke's shout drew more than a few stares from the crowd, but he ignored them completely. Everyone had their own biases. If he had to pick a side between the two brawlers, Duke was obviously going to choose Orlando Bloom, someone he had personally worked with.

The farce only officially came to an end when the Los Angeles Police arrived on the scene.

Unsurprisingly, dozens of paparazzi were swarming outside the nightclub. Photos of Justin Bieber with a bruised and swollen face were quickly snapped...

"It's the Elf Prince battling the hobbit!"

Duke made the offhand comment to Leonardo while they were pushing their way through the mob of paparazzi. Someone in the press must have overheard him, because the next day, countless websites ran stories about Justin Bieber and Orlando Bloom with the exact headline: "Elf Prince Battles the Hobbit!"

"What a shame!"

Sitting in front of the computer and browsing the related gossip on Warner's TMZ, Scarlett Johansson spoke with genuine regret. "If I had known, I would have gone to the game with you yesterday. Then I wouldn't have missed such a great show."

Duke rubbed his forehead and looked at Scarlett. "Hollywood puts on this kind of show every once in a while," he replied.

Physical altercations between Hollywood stars were nothing new. There were plenty of people willing to throw punches over petty jealousies.

On the other side of the room, Tina Fey's phone began to ring. She answered the call, then walked over to Duke. "That was the Los Angeles Police. According to Justin Bieber's statement, you and Leonardo were both eyewitnesses. The police are asking if you're willing to testify."

Hearing this, Duke shook his head without a second thought. "Make up an excuse. Tell them I don't have the time."

He didn't even need to ask to know that Leonardo wouldn't testify for Justin Bieber either. Out of all the witnesses in the club that night, probably very few were willing to step up for the pop star.

If the singer was simply messy in his private life, it wouldn't have been a big deal; Hollywood was full of people like that. But his habit of indiscriminately lashing out at people had definitely made him a pariah in the industry.

Much like Tom Cruise in the past, no one would say a word while someone like that was at the peak of their fame. But the moment their luck turned, everyone couldn't wait to kick them while they were down.

"Someone dropped another leak!"

Hearing the excitement in Scarlett's voice, Duke and Tina Fey grew curious and looked over at her. For people as busy as them, industry gossip served as a decent way to relax and be entertained.

Scarlett didn't keep them waiting. "According to the latest leak on TMZ, Justin Bieber dated Miranda Kerr, and Orlando Bloom had a fling with Selena Gomez..."

Duke had already heard all of this from Leonardo the night before. It was hardly news.

However, Scarlett continued, "Someone recognized the woman who was with Orlando Bloom last night. Her name is Erica Packer. She's the ex-wife of James Packer, the chairman of the Australian Crown Casino Group, and..."

Even accustomed to Hollywood's unbelievably chaotic relationship webs, Scarlett sounded a bit shocked as she finished, "James Packer is currently dating Orlando Bloom's ex-wife, Miranda Kerr."

Duke shook his head and took a sip of his coffee. That really was a mess.

He vaguely remembered reading an article once about two wealthy Australians who threw away decades of friendship to fight over Miranda Kerr, even getting into a physical brawl right out in the street...