Chapter 312 262: The Holy Grail and Pooled Blood

Instantly, both men fell silent. Good heavens... they really hadn't meant it that way!

"So, if you have something to say, just say it," Chu Bamboo said leisurely. "If not, I'll head back. Old Huo, if you guys aren't planning on hosting me anymore... just say the word. I can go back home!"

Chu Bamboo stretched and sighed. "I've been here for two days, and I'm still not quite used to it!"

Howard: "???"

'Don't tell me the only reason you're being so disrespectful is that you want to go home early... Who even does that?'

Howard felt his stomach turn. He had always thought of himself as reckless, but now he realized there was always someone more audacious.

"..." James frowned, looking Chu Bamboo right in the eye as a hundred different thoughts raced through his mind. He suddenly spoke, his attitude completely changed. "Let's make an Equivalent Exchange, sir! You place your hand on the Holy Grail and receive its blessing... In return, we will increase your promotional resources! By two... no, three times."

James held up three fingers, his tone serious. "Furthermore, I can leverage my connections in other regions... We'll give your songs a simultaneous release and promotional campaign in every region of the world, including the Divine Continent! We'll make you a global superstar in the shortest time possible."

After a brief pause, James tilted his head. "According to my information, even back home, you haven't managed a full-channel promotional push because you aren't well-acquainted with the local music distributors... am I wrong?"

"..." 'This is absurd,' Chu Bamboo thought. 'A White-headed Eagle person, telling me, a Shen Zhou person, that he's the real expert on music promotion in the Divine Continent!'

For some reason, Chu Bamboo thought of a meme he had seen recently and sighed, "Ah, capitalism!"

"Exactly!" James had no idea Chu Bamboo was referencing a popular meme in the Divine Continent about blaming capitalism for all of life's problems. Taking him at his word, he declared matter-of-factly, "That is indeed the power of capital! The power of wealth!"

"???" Howard was dumbfounded, staring at James in disbelief. 'Wait, why the huge change in attitude? What just happened?'

'And... three times the resources!'

'How could you say that with a straight face? Do you have any idea what the original promotional budget was?'

"See? It would've been a lot simpler if you'd just had this attitude from the start," Chu Bamboo said noncommittally. He was always one to respond to kindness, not coercion. Since the other man was finally being reasonable, it wouldn't hurt to play along.

He gently placed his palm on the Holy Grail. In the next instant, information from the Grail flooded his mind... just as described in his good brother's diary.

Chu Bamboo quickly withdrew his hand, with no intention of analyzing the Holy Grail's abilities. 'For one, I'm not strong enough yet. For another, while the Grail's power is certainly formidable... that requirement... the entire blood supply of an eight-year-old child... Heh.'

'But then again,' Chu Bamboo suddenly wondered, 'what if you took blood from one hundred eight-year-old children, drawing only one percent from each so it wouldn't harm them...'

'...and poured it all into the Holy Grail? Could that produce a dose of Holy Blood?'

'Hmm... If that works, would that count as crowdsourced blood?'

Chu Bamboo forcibly cleared the jumble of thoughts from his head and asked, "Is there anything else?"

"You can stay for a meal, if you'd like! But if you'd rather not, you're free to leave..." Before James could even finish his sentence, Chu Bamboo was on his feet, walking over to the Attendant. "What are you gawking at? Didn't you hear your master? Lead the way!"

The Attendant: "..."

Sweat beaded on the Attendant's brow. He shot a stiff glance toward Howard and James. To his surprise, Howard, who had been defending Chu Bamboo all along, now looked far more grim than James. He was staring at Chu Bamboo's departing back in disbelief, as if he couldn't believe his own ears.

Only after seeing James nod did the Attendant manage to force his legs to move. He was screaming internally. 'No, why me? He's not going to get back at me for this later, is he?'

'Is this because I flashed my gun at you? Is this your revenge? Are you serious? I was just trying to intimidate you! As if I'd ever actually fire a gun in a place like this!'

Howard watched them go. After a moment of silence, he made a gesture. The remaining attendants performed a European courtly bow and withdrew without making a single sound.

"...Big Bro." Howard placed his hand on the Holy Grail. A moment later, his face grew pale. He looked at James, unable to meet his eyes. "The final result is..."

"He's not the Saint, is he?" James asked. But Howard detected something odd in his tone. He hesitated. "Big Bro, you sound..."

"On the contrary," James said, a mocking smile playing on his lips. "I think the suspicion that this guy is the Saint has just increased dramatically. He's far more suspicious than your Guan Qianyu or Zhao Shao!"

"But..." Howard couldn't understand at all. To be honest, he hadn't been able to follow James's train of thought from the very beginning—it had been this way ever since the incident with the crows.

It was as if James was dead set on Chu Bamboo being suspicious, no matter what—even without a shred of evidence!

"Didn't you notice?" James said, flexing his wrists, his tone unreadable. "That kid... even though this was our first time meeting, he didn't seem to find me unfamiliar in the slightest."

"?" Howard froze, his expression growing grim. "That's impossible!"

He knew just how secret James's current identity was. Other than the top brass in the White House, the political establishment, and a few financial tycoons who had met him, any outsider digging around would only uncover the profile of a typical loser among the White-headed Eagle People: a man named James who, despite graduating from a top university, had failed in business time and time again.

"However, when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth," James said with a snap of his fingers.

"You mean...?" Howard's attitude was completely different now.

"I don't mean anything by it," James said, then paused. He glanced at Howard, and his expression softened. He sighed. "So stop looking so dejected. Don't beat yourself up thinking you misjudged him, or that you treated him like a friend and he wouldn't even give you the courtesy of staying for one meal... That guy isn't as unreasonable as he appears."

Howard's eyelid twitched. He gave James a strange look. "Big Bro, I never expected you to be giving me a pep talk... Honestly, I'm a little moved."