Chapter 432: SBR
[You galloped across the entire Metropolis, finally shaking off pursuit only after reaching Flushing. Along the way, a so-called "superhero" who called himself the Riddler tried to stop and arrest you—but you knocked him flying with a single punch. You've always hated riddlers!]
[In your past life, you'd once taken part in a Holy Grail War in Snowfield and Brooklyn. According to the memories from your time as a Heroic Spirit, the nearest Chinatown should have been around Flushing—but upon arriving in this parallel world, you discovered that wasn't the case at all. This "Metropolis" wasn't even the original New York, but a city nicknamed "Big Pineapple City," so called because a jazz singer once described it as a giant pineapple—a place overflowing with gold and opportunity.]
[There was no Statue of Liberty here. Instead, a colossal pineapple statue stood in the city center. The Flushing district was far more chaotic than you'd imagined—three major factions controlled the area: an English mafia, an Italian mafia, and a syndicate of East Asian immigrants. It was a modern-day Three Kingdoms.]
[You could have easily made your first fortune by robbing the gangs, but you had your principles. …Then again, forget those principles. After being mugged four times in three alleys, you'd already "earned" about $1,400. Your wallet was starting to feel pleasantly full. (Family Wealth +3.)]
[September 17, 1972 — You spent $400 renting a room in Flushing, territory of the British Quigg Gang. They had plenty of supervillains, but compared to the other two gangs, they were the weakest.]
[The first two days there were peaceful, but on the third, Quigg Gang retaliated. Their enforcers came knocking—but none of them were a match for you. To your surprise, one of them looked strikingly similar to you. He was a young man with blond hair, part Chinese, and he was also named Zhou Ning.]
[The two of you didn't end up fighting. Instead, you sat down and talked. He'd just arrived from Liverpool—his combat skills weren't impressive, but you could sense his ambition. He wasn't the type to remain under anyone for long.]
[Over time, you gradually came to understand this world. It was overflowing with superheroes and supervillains. In Metropolis alone, there were nearly seventy heroes and hundreds of villains—an utterly absurd number.]
[To avoid starving, you decided to find a job. But without a passport or an SSN (Social Security Number, the equivalent of an ID), finding legal work was impossible. Some film directors even offered you roles in kung fu movies—they thought you were perfect for it—but you had your dignity. You refused to sell out for money.]
[November 14, 1972 — While reading the newspaper, one headline caught your eye. A billionaire named Lex Luthor was organizing a massive transcontinental horse race spanning 6,000 kilometers across North America, with a total prize pool of $50 million. You were stunned. Wasn't this event practically made for you? It was the perfect chance to prove yourself!]
[There was only one registration site—located in Queens, New York. Brimming with confidence, you went to sign up… only to learn that the entry fee was $1,200, and an SSN was required. That made you anxious.]
[So you broke your principles once again. After director Hal Jordan promised to help you acquire an SSN and pay you afterward, your moral boundaries grew… flexible. You spent a month acting as Robin in a low-budget biopic titled Batman and Robin, with Oliver Queen playing Batman. The movie completely flopped. (You earned the achievement: Batman and Robin.)]
[Still, through that job you met some real superheroes. The Robin and Batman you played were, in fact, actual heroes in this world—along with another hero called Joker-Man, who fought alongside them to protect it.]
[December 20, 1972 — Just before the registration deadline, you finally received the promised SSN from Hal Jordan, giving you a legal identity in America. At the registration site, you ran into the British Zhou Ning again—this time registering under the name "Dio Brando." You also met a famous rock star with a ridiculously long name: Bruce Sweetlyander Wayne. Heaven knows why a rock legend would want to join a horse race.]
[When registration closed, a total of 8,753 contestants had signed up. The race was scheduled to begin on January 1, 1973, at 10 a.m., starting from San Diego Beach and ending at Trinity Church in Metropolis.]
[The champion's trophy would be encased in a massive block of Antarctic ice. The organizers would record the racers' arrival times in New York and then transport the ice by train to Metropolis. The exact moment the champion arrived, the ice would completely melt, symbolizing victory. The first to cross the final finish line would receive a $5 million prize—plus an additional $100 million sponsored by private donors!]
[Participants were strictly forbidden from changing horses; doing so meant immediate disqualification. Carrying firearms and other weapons was allowed, as was any act that didn't legally count as a "crime." Even actual crimes might go unpunished. You could already tell—this competition would be a blood-soaked struggle for fortune.]
[The full 6,000-kilometer course was divided into nine stages of varying length, each with a checkpoint to record position, time spent, and possible rule violations. There were also countless shortcuts across the land, though many of these "shortcuts" led into deserts or dead ends where riders might become lost forever.]
[Each stage winner would earn a "Time Bonus" — a deduction from their overall race time. The racer with the shortest total time upon reaching the final destination would be declared champion. To secure those bonuses, fierce battles would inevitably break out at every stage.]
[But you had a different view. As an experienced rider, you knew better than to chase every time bonus. If your horse exhausted itself too early, you'd collapse before the later stages. Even a mythical steed like your Snowstep Phantom wasn't immune to exhaustion.]
[Time soon flew to January 1, 1973. In San Diego, you met many other competitors. Among the five seeded riders were: the British prodigy Jonathan Joestar; the lightning-fast rancher and cowboy Barrett Allen; the rock star Bruce Wayne; the seasoned amateur racer Dr. Jonathan Brook; and, surprisingly, the famous superhero Joker-Man himself. Who knew what his reason for entering this race could be?]
---
[Thanks for reading! Support future releases and read more at patreøn.com/craxx_real.]