Beyond the Bloodline-Chapter 349: Barroom Confrontation

While Miranda was deep in discussion with the Supremes about selecting the races that would nominate candidates for the Main Entity Seats, Jamie was on a random Apex planet halfway across the universe, arm-wrestling in a rowdy bar packed with gruff-looking men.

The contrast between his neatly suited appearance and their ragged, messy looks was jarring. So much so that every newcomer who stepped through the door immediately took notice of him.

That was just how much he stood out.

Cheers and jeers erupted every few seconds, all focused on Jamie and his opponent, and when the tension hit its peak, Jamie slammed his opponent’s hand against the table with a dull thud.

"Ha ha ha ha! I win!"

His victorious shout contrasted with the pained grunt of his defeated opponent, who cursed under his breath.

"Damn it!"

The crowd around them grew even louder.

"Come on!" someone shouted. "This guy’s on a 10-win streak!"

"I want my money back!" another voice yelled.

A third, much angrier voice snapped, "You idiot! You said you’d win, so I bet on you!"

Jamie ignored the shouting as he turned to the betting table, where a stack of platinum coins glinted under the lights. He began stacking them with exaggerated care, piling the coins before slowly dragging the entire heap toward himself.

"Each plat’s worth a million credits. So that makes seventy-three million! I’m rich!!"

"Damn it," someone grumbled nearby. "Hope he dies in a ditch somewhere."

"Joke’s on you. I’m immortal." Jamie retorted instantly.

Then, turning his attention to the room, he scanned the crowd with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Who else wants to test their luck against the undefeatable?!"

Just then, the bar door opened, and another person stepped inside, raising their brows at the crowd clustered around one corner of the room.

The newcomer’s features brought to mind the phrase ’refined elegance’ at a single glance, his jet-black hair matching the dark hues of his clothing. He had heterochromia, his left eye gleaming with a noble shade of gold, while his right was a clear, striking blue.

He wore a tieless suit beneath a long black overcoat draped over his shoulders, with polished black leather shoes completing the ensemble.

At the sight of him, Jamie’s eyes widened in surprise as he called out,

"Richard?"

Indeed, it was none other than Richard Cathedral, one of the Six Hybrids and the first son of their creator.

"What the hell are you doing, Jamie?"

The man gave Jamie a deadpan look as he hugged his pile of platinum coins, and Jamie, after glancing at the stack, responded.

"As you can see... I’m making some good money."

"Good money?" Richard echoed, blinking in confusion.

’This guy could have decillions at his fingertips with a thought. So why the hell is he bothering with a few million?’

He didn’t dwell on it much, quickly shaking his head and brushing it off as Jamie just being himself.

Instead, he shifted to the actual reason he was here.

"Sarina said she’s done with her business."

"Huh? You met Sarina?" Jamie asked, a note of surprise in his voice, and Richard nodded.

"She’s the reason I came to this weird planet in the first place. I sensed her presence."

At that, Jamie’s eyes widened slightly again, before a pleased smile formed on his lips.

’The fact that he could detect Sarina, even when she’s actively suppressing her aura... he couldn’t do that before.’

Clearly, Miranda wasn’t the only Hybrid who was still growing stronger despite the cap on their Existence Realm.

"What were you doing in this corner of the universe anyway?" Jamie asked.

"I thought I’d found a remnant of that Anti-Organic Empire we busted about 700 cosmic cycles ago," Richard replied.

"Dude, you’re gonna have to be more specific. We’ve destroyed multiple Anti-Organic Empires... I have no idea which one you mean."

Richard nodded in understanding, then made his way to the seat opposite Jamie and replied,

"Of course, you don’t. Even I barely remembered them. Took me a while to jog my memory and recall how much of a threat they were back then."

As he sat down, he continued.

"Anyway, I found a trace that suggested someone had stumbled upon one of their old galactic engines we missed and tried to restart it, but it turned out to be a dud.

The engine was long dead. Just ended up wasting my time..."

Richard was visibly irritated, having spent months on a wild goose chase. He planned to return to the source and beat up whoever slipped him the useless information.

"Anyway, Sarina said she’s done, so you should head over to her."

At that, Jamie nodded and rose to his feet.

"Then it’s time I took my leave... with my money!"

He gathered all the platinum coins into a bag, slung it over his shoulder, and turned to walk away, only to be stopped by a voice from within the room.

"Where the hell do you think you’re going with all of our money?"

Jamie paused, turning to the man with a raised eyebrow. "What are you talking about? It’s my money."

At that, a few of them quickly moved toward the door, standing shoulder to shoulder in front of it to block his exit.

The man who had spoken earlier stood up, shaking his head as he replied.

"No, no, no. You’re not walking out of here with our money."

This prompted a sigh from Jamie. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"Last I checked... we made bets, and I won. So whatever was your money is now mine. It’s mine now. It’s now mine."

He said it thrice, as if stamping the words into their skulls.

However, they all burst into laughter, some even spilling their drinks in the process.

"Like that matters!"

"You’re not leaving with our money. Put it back on the table."

"Better put it down, or you won’t like what happens next."

Hearing that last bit, Jamie turned directly to the speaker and reminded him,

"Did you forget you just lost to me not even five minutes ago?"

The man’s brow twitched, his facial expression contorting as Jamie’s words brought his earlier defeat back to mind.

Slamming his beer jug down on the table, he barked out,

"That was just arm-wrestling! That doesn’t mean anything in a real fight!"

Jamie gave a nod of agreement.

"Fair enough."

Meanwhile, Richard, having finished skimming through the drink list and finding nothing that appealed to him, turned to Jamie with a question.

"Why are you even bothering to respond to these guys?"

Jamie shrugged nonchalantly, "Because they asked."

Richard shook his head in silence, then rose from his seat and said, "Let’s just get out of here."

But before anyone else in the bar could react, Jamie raised a hand to stop him.

"Hold on, Rich.

I just watched this movie that came out a couple of years ago. It was called Statesman, and there was a scene almost exactly like this. So... I’m kind of enjoying myself right now."

Noticing the playful grin stretched across Jamie’s face, Richard blinked once, then let out his third sigh of the night as he slowly sat back down.

"Great... he’s at it again."

It was clear they weren’t leaving anytime soon.

’Please come drag this idiot out of here, Sarina’

Richard silently sent that telepathic message to the other Hybrid on the far side of the planet.

Just then, the tavern doors slammed shut behind them, and the music that had been playing in the background abruptly stopped.

Jamie immediately turned toward the wall-mounted player, his brows furrowing as he spotted the man who had just unplugged it.

"Why’d you stop the music?" he asked, confused.

The man said nothing, simply tossing the cord aside and stepping in to join the growing group encircling Jamie and Richard.

"Your friend wants to leave," he said flatly. "So drop the money and walk out."

Jamie raised a brow, then leaned slightly forward, resting one hand on the table as he spoke.

"And if I don’t? What exactly are you going to do about it?"

No one responded, but more of them began rising to their feet, cracking their knuckles and rolling their shoulders.

Seeing this, Jamie chuckled.

At this, Jamie chuckled.

"Hm... this is really starting to look like that Statesman movie."

He glanced down at his own outfit, the smile on his face growing wider.

"And I’m even wearing a suit too. All that’s missing now is a pair of glasses..."

With a snap of his fingers, he teleported a pair of half-framed glasses from his pocket dimension and slid them onto his face.

"Perfect. Now I look just like the guy."

Watching this unfold, Richard shook his head yet again, quietly sending another message to the only person who could put a stop to Jamie’s antics.

’Sarina... please get here quickly.’

[...What exactly is going on over there?]

The other Hybrid, now beginning to grow concerned, replied.

Completely unaware of this silent exchange, Jamie placed the bag of coins on the table.

"Now, I’m going to set this bag down here. On this table."

It landed with a heavy thud, but he didn’t remove his hand from it.

"So you’re trying to take back money that I won in a fair bet... by force. And not one of you stopped to consider the fact that I walked in here alone, and I’m still not even remotely intimidated by your..."

He paused, sweeping his gaze over the men surrounding him before continuing.

"...whatever you call this formation.

Don’t you think there’s a reason for my confidence?"

But rather than take his words seriously, they burst into mocking laughter.