Old Friends Reunited

Song Niaoniao's agent said they were not there for Li Yu.

However, they were unwilling to reveal who had invited them.

This attitude led even other crew members to gradually realize that Song Niaoniao might have joined the crew suddenly in order to create a scandal with Li Yu.

Only Song Niaoniao knew very well why she had come.

As for what Li Yu thought, she didn't care at all.

Beside her, Tuanzi whispered, "Senior, do you think it might have been that boss who invited them?"

As she spoke, her gaze also drifted towards Qing Chen.

Sun Chuci thought for a moment and said, "Don't make wild guesses."

Tuanzi continued muttering, "Among the bigwigs in the film crew, isn't he the only one? Who else could it be?"

As she was speaking, Tuanzi looked up and saw Qing Chen turn around and smile at her, so she quickly shut her mouth.

For some reason, she always felt as if the other person could hear her.

The convoy continued northward, passing through Forbidden Zone 129, 046, and 091 along the way.

It is said that this place was formed just over a decade ago, and its scale is among the smallest of all the Forbidden Zone. It hasn't even formed a distinction between the 'edge' and the 'heartland' yet.

Generally, Forbidden Zone expand rapidly 28 years after their formation, at which point the difference between the periphery and the heartland will quickly emerge.

Therefore, the best time to explore the rules is when a Forbidden Zone is first formed.

Even if the rules are broken at this point, death is not guaranteed. If a C-Class expert is not bitten by a deadly poisonous insect, they can survive and escape.

The bounty for exploring Forbidden Zone No. 129 is now posted on various black markets, and quite a few people come to explore it.

At the beginning, when the convoy passed through Forbidden Zone No. 129.

The crew members exclaimed "Wow!" in amazement, looking as if they had never seen anything like it before...

Everyone can see the magic of the Forbidden Zone; the lush trees remain dense even in winter, and huge birds rise and fall in the sky above the Forbidden Zone.

In the evening, the film crew finally arrived at their first filming location, Liangwu Lake.

In winter, the area is shrouded in a thin mist, and there are traces of campsites and litter nearby.

In the distance, there were deer drinking water by the lake. They weren't very afraid when they saw people coming. They looked up at people curiously and then ran away after a while.

The rest of the crew went to enjoy the wilderness scenery, leaving the stagehands to set up tents at the temporary camp – a task they wouldn't do.

Surprisingly, Song Niaoniao came to join in the fun while the workers were setting up the tents.

She circled the tent with a curious look on her face and asked, "Can I try it out?"

Liu Liqun quickly said, "Please don't try it. What if you get hurt again? We can't bear that responsibility."

"I just won't do dangerous work," Song Niaoniao said with a smile.

Liu Liqun was puzzled. "What are you after?"

Song Niaoniao said with a smile, "I just wanted to see if the job of a stagehand was particularly interesting. I invited people to come to the studio to be artists, but none of them wanted to give up the job of a stagehand."

Liu Liqun: "..."

Qing Chen: "..."

This statement was clearly directed at Qing Chen.

The news of Song Niaoniao inviting Qing Chen gradually spread throughout the crew. However, what everyone cared about was not whether Qing Chen was suitable for acting, but whether Song Niaoniao was interested in the project.

Qing Chen was wondering what exactly the shadow had said to Song Niaoniao when he was impersonating him, that she was now acting so familiar with him...

Actually, there's a slight misalignment in the relationship between Qing Chen and Song Niaoniao.

Qing Chen had absolutely no relationship with Song Niaoniao; they had only had some misunderstandings.

But Song Niaoniao clearly didn't think so.

In fact, Song Niaoniao had always kept her distance from Qing Chen before this. Even when Qing Chen saved her, she didn't come up to him to express her gratitude.

Everyone remained strangers, with no connection whatsoever.

We weren't that close.

However, everything changed after Shadow, impersonating Qing Chen, extended the invitation to the other party...

Qing Chen could easily imagine the gloating look on Yingzi's face.

So, what exactly did Shadow say to Song Niaoniao?

What exactly did the pangolin say?

Just then, Li Yu's agent passed by and suddenly said, "What, to show that you're not here for Li Yu, you're starting to hang out with the stagehands?"

Song Niaoniao glanced at the other person, but said with a smile, "Even the stagehands are cleaner than your Li Yu."

Li Yu's agent's eyebrows shot up to the sky.

Song Niaoniao shouted to someone not far away, "Sis, come and get to work!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Song Niaoniao's agent got into action and rushed over, while Song Niaoniao leisurely returned to her car.

They acted like nothing had happened and weren't angry at all!

The next moment, Song Niaoniao's agent and Li Yu's agent started arguing again, almost grabbing each other's hair.

This scene stunned Qing Chen. They hadn't realized there were "proxy arguments"!

Is this what an agent does?

The key point is that Song Niaoniao has a bit of a personality too...

For some reason, Qing Chen felt a sense of familiarity with Song Niaoniao...

On the other side, Song Niaoniao's manager cursed, "My Niaoniao would never look at your Li Yu, even if she liked a stagehand. Stop trying to extort money from me."

Li Yu's agent. "Find a stagehand's outfit? Who would believe that!"

As they argued, the two walked away.

"What a great opportunity," Liu Liqun sighed as he looked at Qing Chen.

Qing Chen chuckled and said, "Alright, Liu, you've been sighing all the way here."

"Didn't you come to the film crew hoping for an opportunity? How come you couldn't seize it when it came?" Liu Liqun asked. "Do you know how many newcomers Song Niaoniao's studio has made famous?"

"I'm really here to work as a site laborer, not to look for an opportunity," Qing Chen laughed. "Can't I just do some hard labor in a down-to-earth manner?"

Liu Liqun suddenly felt that Qing Chen's statement that he only wanted to be a stagehand was so convincing, because the other party had just given up a really good opportunity.

But he just couldn't understand why he had to do manual labor when it was so much easier to be a star than to change his life.

However, Qing Chen just smiled and didn't say anything, seemingly uninterested in the matter. He continued to do hard labor with all the stagehands, never complaining about the hardship or fatigue.

Even when other workers were slacking off and taking a break, he still diligently finished his work.

They even did other people's work.

When Liu Liqun saw this scene, he exclaimed, "If you work with me for two or three years, you'll definitely become a foreman that every film crew loves."

Qing Chen was both amused and exasperated.

Sun Chuci and Tuanzi, who were standing nearby, looked at each other in bewilderment after hearing these words.

Just then, Li Yu's staff came over again to urge, "Hasn't the tent for my artist been set up yet?"

"Almost done," Liu Liqun said with a cheerful laugh. "Your tent is quite large, so it will take a little more work to hammer in the nails."

The staff member continued, grumbling, "Get to work! Don't let me see you chatting and slacking off. My artist is exhausted and needs to rest in the tent."

Qing Chen raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

Liu Liqun explained to the stagehands with a smile, "That's how the entertainment industry is. Everyone's a bully who takes advantage of their connections. When you're a popular celebrity, your staff can do whatever they want. And those artists and staff probably didn't go to school much. Once they gain power, they act like nouveau riche and you don't need to pay them any attention. They might collapse in a while."

After finishing his work, Qing Chen took a walk around the camp.

He frowned as he looked at the signs of camping and asked, "It seems like a lot of people have been here. Do Wilderness People come here often?"

Liu Liqun said, "Many film crews like to shoot here, about ten or so every year."

Qing Chen glanced around at the signs of encampment and suddenly sensed something was amiss.

The other signs of camping were very old, with only the remains of campfires washed away by rain and convenience food packaging bags remaining.

However, the place he noticed had only recently been abandoned, and there were animal bones and fish bones scattered all over the ground, as well as bullet casings that had recently fallen onto the shore by the lake.

The other side was clearly a small armed force.

Qing Chen called Sun Chuci over and whispered, "Strengthen security tonight. Inform everyone that no one should take off their clothes to sleep, and no one should sleep in their sleeping bags. Also, arrange for crew members to stand guard with you. I'll mark three locations for you; someone must be on duty at each of these three locations."

Sun Chuci nodded. "I understand... Is there any danger?"

Qing Chen glanced at him. "When you're out and about, it's always better to be careful."

Sun Chuci and went to negotiate with Director Wang, but they had barely exchanged a few words when a quarrel broke out. It was Li Yu's agent again, shouting at the top of her lungs, "Why can't we even use sleeping bags? We hired you here to protect everyone's safety, isn't that what you're paid for?"

Sun Chuci patiently explained, "We did receive payment to protect everyone's safety, but that doesn't mean we can solve all the problems. When you're in the wilderness, it's understandable that everyone wants to be cautious, right?"

Sun Chuci looked at Director Zhang: "What do you think?"

However, at that moment, the sound of vehicles suddenly came from outside the camp.

Sun Chuci was immediately on high alert. He rushed to his vehicle and took out the guns they were carrying from the trunk.

However, his first instinct wasn't to arm himself, but to throw the gun to Qing Chen...

Liu Liqun was slightly suspicious when he saw this. He looked at Qing Chen and saw that the other party did not check the gun. Instead, he picked it up and weighed it in his hand, looking like an amateur.

"That's strange," Liu Liqun thought to himself. "Why would these skilled wilderness hunters give guns to these field workers first? They probably don't think they have any fighting ability, do they?"

Sun Chuci knew that his actions would arouse suspicion, but his life was at stake, and he felt uneasy without a gun in Qing Chen's possession...

The sound of vehicles quickly approached, a grand and imposing procession.

Qing Chen spotted the markings on the vehicle from afar and put away his gun. "False alarm, it's a vehicle from the Federation Group Army."

Sun Chuci shouted to everyone, "Don't be nervous, it's the Federation Group Army."

But Qing Chen suddenly realized that when Director Zhang and the others heard it was the Federation Group Army, they became even more nervous...

It's not that Director Zhang and his team filmed anything illegal; rather, it's that people in the Outer World and Inner World have completely different attitudes toward their country's military.

Furthermore, this is not a war zone. The armies of Kamishiro and Kashima are further north. The forces that could appear here are most likely the troops of the Lee clan and the Kei clan.

Since it's the Li and Qing clan's troops, what does he have to worry about?

Seeing Song Niaoniao's agent urging her, "Hurry up, get in the car. You're too conspicuous. What if they get interested?"

On the other side, even Li Yu's agent was urging the male star to get in the car, which shows how wide range of hobbies the Federation Group Army has.

Sun Chuci: "..."

Qing Chen: "..."

Sun Chuci and the others were dumbfounded. So this was how people from the Inner World reacted when they encountered an army in the wilderness?

Even Wilderness People probably wouldn't be this panicked.

He subconsciously looked at Qing Chen, only to find that Qing Chen remained calm.

Qing Chen asked Liu Liqun, "Boss Liu, this is my first time in the wilderness with the film crew. Why is everyone so afraid of the Federation Group Army? What heinous things have they done?"

Liu Liqun said with a bitter face, "It's not that. It's mainly because the Federation Group Army acts like local tyrants in the wilderness. Although they won't really do anything to the performers, they will demand that they perform for them. It's inevitable that some officers will get physical with them. It's better in the Central Plains, but if they encounter the army of the Kamishiro Family in the north, the performers will be in big trouble. That's why the film crews don't go there anymore."

As they spoke, the Federation Group Army's drone swarm had already arrived over the camp, subtly enveloping everyone in the camp within its firing range.

The long convoy stopped, and a young officer jumped off an armored vehicle and slowly walked toward the camp.

The next moment, Li Yu jumped out of his car and looked at the officer with a look of surprise. "Commander Li Shu, it's me. We had dinner together in City No. 10."

Everyone realized that Li Yu had actually run into an acquaintance.

Anyone with a discerning eye would recognize the rank; this is a major in the Federation Group Army. Such a young major must be a close relative of a powerful conglomerate.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief; it was good to have someone they knew. Li Yu spoke with the officer named Li Shu, and the officer should stop bothering the film crew.

Surprisingly, the officer Li Shu ignored Li Yu, his gaze sweeping across the crowd...

He froze the moment he saw Qing Chen: "Sir?"