My Dream Connects to 3000 Years in the Future

"Howard, you were looking for me? And this is...?" Chu Bamboo asked as he entered the high-end club, led by an attendant in a crisp suit.

The next moment, he saw the blond man beside Howard. Although Chu Bamboo’s expression remained unchanged, his mind was already racing. He knew what was going on.

"Let me introduce you!" Howard said with a smile. "This is my brother, James Raven. He’s a fan of yours, too! He never gets tired of listening to your songs..."

"Hello," James Raven said, rising to his feet. He had a warm, magnanimous smile and extended his hand to Chu Bamboo.

The sunglasses-wearing Attendant behind him felt his eyelid twitch. He had rarely seen James treat anyone with such warmth—not even high-ranking officials from the White House or world-renowned corporate titans.

Chu Bamboo coolly shook the tips of James’s fingers and quickly pulled his hand back. His tone was flat. "Just to be clear, I’m not interested in men."

"?" James’s expression froze for a second. He narrowed his eyes, and the atmosphere in the room instantly grew tense.

Unfazed, Chu Bamboo casually sat down across from them and simply stared at James with keen interest.

’My main reason for coming to the White-headed Eagle was for those three Artifacts, and now I have them. Even if things go south with James right here, right now, I don’t care. We were bound to have a falling-out eventually. It was just a matter of sooner or later...’

’If I can’t participate in the sports, so be it. It’s not important to me anymore, anyway!’

"Ahem!" Howard coughed, trying to smooth things over. "You might have the wrong idea! It’s true my brother has English citizenship... but actually! Well, never mind. That’s not important."

Feeling James’s death glare, Howard snapped back to reality. He silently wiped the cold sweat from his brow, not daring to ramble on any longer. He took a briefcase with a combination lock from his Attendant and placed it on the table. "Take a guess. What’s inside?"

Chu Bamboo said nothing. He simply crossed his arms and stared calmly at Howard.

"Hahaha!" Howard, not the least bit embarrassed, casually entered the code and opened the case. Inside was a cup—

Chu Bamboo glanced at it, estimating its height at roughly five or six centimeters and its diameter at about ten. It sat on a pure gold base inlaid with twenty-eight pearls, two rubies, and two emeralds. He could see a strange inscription carved into the base...

"Based on its appearance, you’ve probably guessed what it is, right?" Howard said with a touch of pride. "I saw you spending all that time looking at antiques, so I figured you must be curious about them! That’s why I went to great lengths to bring out this Holy Relic!"

"That’s right! This is the Holy Grail of Jesus!" Howard’s voice was filled with impassioned excitement. Then he noticed that Chu Bamboo’s expression was completely unfazed.

"...Aren’t you shocked? Or ecstatic?" Howard’s expression slowly froze. He stressed again, "This is the Holy Grail! *The* Holy Grail! From Jesus!"

"Wow, that’s just super," Chu Bamboo said in a deadpan tone, giving a few half-hearted claps. Seeing Howard’s growing disbelief, he added, "To be fair, if you put the He Shi Bi—the Divine Continent’s Heirloom Seal of the Realm—in front of me, then I might get excited. Of course, if you want to talk about Hong Xiuquan, I could go on all day about that, too."

"???" Howard looked completely lost. ’Who the hell is Hong Xiuquan?!’

"Stop being an idiot," James said, his face expressionless. "He’s from the East, after all."

"Kid," James said, sizing up Chu Bamboo, his voice laced with rudeness. "Put your hand on the cup. Touch it."

"You tell me to touch it, and I’m just supposed to touch it? Wouldn’t that be a little humiliating for me?" Chu Bamboo shot back, meeting him tit for tat. He knew exactly what they were planning, but he didn’t care.

’Perhaps a true friend would consider the circumstances and submit to their inspection, even with their hostile attitude.’

’But while I may be a friend, I’m no pushover!’

’My past experiences have already confirmed it: as long as I don’t reveal my true identity, there’s a ninety-nine percent chance the Golden Dawn will come after me. So what do I have to lose? Even if I *do* reveal my identity, they’d turn on me in a heartbeat! If it comes down to it, we can just fight right now...’

’If we really do throw down, James will be the first one to go!’

"..." James was silent for a long moment. He tugged at his collar, sat back down beside Howard, and said slowly, "It’s been a long time since anyone dared to speak to me like that."

Upon hearing this, the Attendant behind him silently unbuttoned his jacket, revealing the handgun tucked underneath.

Chu Bamboo watched this unfold quietly, without a trace of fear, as calm as a detached bystander.

However, the atmosphere in the room was growing stranger by the second...

"What are you doing! What do you think you’re doing?" Howard suddenly snapped.

He shot to his feet, glaring at the Attendant. "How did you bring a gun into this establishment?! I remember this place has a strict no-firearms policy! Who recommended you? Which security company? Give me your company’s name! And the name of the person who referred you! And another thing..."

Cold sweat broke out on the Attendant’s forehead. He instantly buttoned his jacket back up and lowered his head.

"..." James’s eye twitched. He stared at his younger brother for a long moment before finally saying, "A light punishment to serve as a warning. Dock his bonus for the month."

"Yes, sir." The Attendant breathed a sigh of relief and nodded quickly. He wasn’t resentful that James had docked his pay for acting on his unspoken command. He knew very well that James was just doing it to placate Howard.

James would surely make it up to him later in other ways. It was precisely because James had always paid him so handsomely that his heart was filled with nothing but loyalty.

"You’re the boss, big brother," Howard replied, a good-natured smile returning to his face.

"..." James stared at him for a while. "Sometimes, I really can’t tell if you’re being serious or if you’re just genuinely oblivious... To be this reckless... I guess you really live up to your title."

Tank.

"That just goes to show how well it suits me..." Howard said, not with shame, but with pride.

Then, Howard turned back to Chu Bamboo and tried to coax him gently. "Hey, just give it a touch! Think of it as a good luck charm. A blessing! Aren’t you about to release a new song?"

’In truth, he was groaning inwardly. If he didn’t genuinely consider Chu Bamboo a friend, he never would have put himself in even subtle opposition to his brother like this.’

’But, he thought, I could’ve sworn my brother’s temper wasn’t usually like this...’

"Playing good cop, bad cop, are we?" Chu Bamboo said, sizing up the two of them. He even had the presence of mind to explain the allusion from the Divine Continent.