Brand-New Technology

[Compared to the videos leaked before, he was polite in private, but distant.]

[Now he... Xiao Ming, here I come!]

The director and producer behind the monitors were breaking out in cold sweats. Xiao Ming getting injured had already made the trending searches. Once this episode aired, wouldn't it blow up completely?

Usually, the remaining Acceleration Team members or the Acceleration King of each episode could be kept under control. The hunters' earpieces could broadcast the Acceleration Team members' locations in real time, but Xiao Ming's outrageous maneuver just now had been impossible to defend against.

It might not have been clear on-site, but the video showed it. Xiao Ming had initially leaned forward, which would have made it easier for the last hunter to touch him, but he changed his movement. That was also an important reason for his success.

Who would have thought that a racing variety show that mainly relied on physical strength would have someone using their brains too?

Xiao Ming had obtained three Revival Cards. Including the ones he already had, he now had four Revival Cards, increasing his chances of becoming the Acceleration King.

"You really are different, little brother. You completed the hardest one, and you still look so unfazed." Pang Ba teased Xiao Ming, whose face had remained blank ever since he came down.

Qu An, however, stepped closer. Seeing the redness spreading from Xiao Ming's ears all the way down his neck, as well as his vacant eyes, he knew Xiao Ming had drifted off again.

"Xiao Ming, you did it. You were amazing!"

Light gradually returned to those lifeless eyes, and his beautiful peach blossom eyes brightened.

"I did it!" Xiao Ming suddenly broke into a slightly silly smile, completely different from how he had looked moments ago.

Pang Ba was surprised as well. Why were these two acting with such a huge contrast today? She had thought Xiao Ming was the somewhat aloof type, but he was unexpectedly a little dazed and adorable.

Still, this kid Xiao Ming was much cuter than Qu An. Didn't Qu An's fans call him Anbao? Xiao Ming suited the word "bao" much better.

"Mm, amazing." Qu An looked at him, and all those tangled thoughts and everything else were temporarily pushed aside. Right now, there were only two kids happy over completing the mission.

"You sound like you're coaxing a child." Xiao Ming came back to himself.

"Oh? Then is this little kid happy?" Qu An couldn't help teasing him.

"This little kid looks pretty happy too." Xiao Ming shot back without any mercy, though even the corners of his eyes had turned red, softening the distant air around his face.

"Mingbao, you were so impressive." Pang Ba leaned close to Xiao Ming, shielding the microphone and praising him quietly.

Xiao Ming's face instantly flushed bright red. Then, looking dazed, he stammered, "Th... thank you, Sister Pang Ba."

It really made people want to tease him even more.

Qu An tugged Xiao Ming's hand and pulled him a little closer. "Sis, stop teasing him. He can't handle it."

"When did I?" Xiao Ming said shyly.

"How didn't you?" Qu An couldn't help firing back at him.

Pang Ba felt that the atmosphere between them looked increasingly strange. With the mindset of someone enjoying the show, she smiled and said, "Why do you two become so childish whenever you're together? Qu An, I remember you weren't like this before. What do your fans like to call you now again? Big brother?"

"No."

The expression on Qu An's face quickly withdrew. Facing Pang Ba, he became that seemingly flawless person again, his faint smile almost formulaic.

After he came of age, Zhu Fei had positioned him with the gentle big-brother persona. But due to the long-term influence of his "Nation's Son" title, coupled with the wide variety of roles Qu An had played, most people still saw him as a child.

Pang Ba's words deepened the coldness in Qu An's eyes. He had always seemed smiling and treated most people in the industry gently, but that was only because he did not care about them, so he found it irrelevant.

When someone rode his popularity, he would not do anything openly if it was not obvious, but once Zhu Fei found out, she would reduce all future collaborations with that person.

For those who rode his popularity or hyped up CP pairings, Zhu Fei would help him clarify things, and future collaborations would basically be out of the question.

Not caring was simply part of his personality, but he disliked anyone testing him, especially in emotional matters.

Qu An and Xiao Ming moved a little farther away from Zhong Ka and Pang Ba. He naturally covered Xiao Ming's microphone and temporarily removed his own as well.

Xiao Ming looked puzzled, blinking his beautiful eyes at Qu An, full of confusion. The latter suddenly felt a little uncomfortable, coughed, then turned his back to block the camera, eliminating any possibility of lip-reading.

"Didn't you say you didn't want to enter the entertainment industry? Um... there are some people you don't need to have too much contact with."

Pang Ba was famous in the industry for liking younger men, but her methods were aboveboard. If she dated someone, she dated them. If they went public, they went public. When they broke up, she explained it openly. She did not force anyone or string multiple people along.

Qu An felt that Xiao Ming was too innocent and easily deceived. Like just now—he had only been praised once, and it was as if his entire body was about to overheat.

"Ah..." Xiao Ming did not know why Qu An had suddenly said that, but he still agreed. "Okay."

Qu An would not harm him, after all, and Qu An understood the people in the industry better. Listening to him should not be a problem.

Qu An had not lowered his voice to avoid Pang Ba. After hearing him, the smile on her face became even brighter, and she moved closer to Xiao Ming.

"Little brother, don't listen to him. Big sister won't lie to you."

This time, Qu An did not reply immediately. He walked over and stood between them. "Sister Pang Ba has so many little brothers. Do you say that to every one of them?"

Pang Ba burst out laughing and stopped teasing them.

As for that segment... all that could be said was that Qu An had appeared on too few variety shows and did not understand the director's all-around, no-dead-angle filming.

Gu Wuping had not heard their roundabout conversation. After Xiao Ming succeeded, he enthusiastically went up to take on the challenge as well.

[Qu An, you brat, why did you take off the microphone too? Can't afford to play?]

[Guys, I heard they've only known each other for a month. Is that for real?]

[Doesn't look like they've known each other for a month. Looks like they've been dating for a month /bushi]

[Is the entertainment industry this wild? They've only known each other for a month and they're already like this...]

[Has anyone interpreted it?]

[I know a little lip-reading, but the director only showed a side angle, and they were a little far away, so I could barely make out something about some people, contact.]

[Ah, was he telling xmx to have more contact with him?]

[The show has only aired three episodes so far, and Xiao Ming wasn't even in one of them. In the first episode, they didn't seem familiar, just unexpectedly in sync. Why does the third episode feel like...]

[Hard to say. Really hard to say.]

[Is the Best Actor going to start doing that queerbaiting stuff too?]

[When Sister Pang Ba went over, Qu An seemed to go on high alert.]

[Feels like he was telling Xiao Ming to be careful around Pang Ba.]

[I'm dying, the beauty may like handsome younger guys, but she really wouldn't do anything to the kid.]

[What did our beauty do wrong? She just likes younger guys.]

[I can't stand some CP fans. This was just a senior reminding a junior.]

[No, if Qu An really said that about Pang Ba, wouldn't that count as disrespecting a senior?]

[Huh? Anyone with eyes can tell he was joking, right?]

Although they already had four Revival Cards, there was no such thing as having too many.

Besides, Gu Wuping wanted to give the challenge a try too.

Everything went smoothly at first. The obstacles moved slowly, and Gu Wuping could dodge them with just a few strides. But the farther he went, the faster the obstacles moved, and the difficulty of crossing them increased accordingly.

Moreover, by the later stages, people often had little strength left. Although the hunters had also expended a great deal of stamina, Gu Wuping was blocked by obstacles with completely unpredictable movements and was finding it hard to move even an inch.

The imagined scene of winning five Revival Cards in one go did not happen. Unfortunately, while dodging the final obstacle, Gu Wuping got stuck because he was too big.

"Ah... what a pity. I was so close."

"It's okay, Brother Wuping was already very impressive."

"That was amazing. You were only one step away."

"It was already really good."

Everyone spoke over one another to comfort him, but Gu Wuping did not seem very upset. "It's fine. Trying was enough."

They had obtained four Revival Cards in total.

"One goes to Guan Jun. We agreed on that earlier. He blocked the hunters for us," Qu An spoke first to settle one of them, since they had already said they would revive Guan Jun.

The remaining three were decided after discussion. Xiao Ming did not know who to choose, so he handed the decision over to the Acceleration Team members in the Pause Room.

"Danke too. He hasn't even started playing yet."

"Shange too."

"Shan Yi. He'd only been here for a little while."

After some discussion, they ultimately decided to revive Feng Danke, who had been caught shortly after the opening, along with Guan Jun, Shan Yi, and Lin Shange.

After the update, there were 8 Acceleration Team members remaining and 4 hunters.

Once the mission ended, they immediately found places to hide again.

This time, Qu An stayed close behind Xiao Ming, because he had noticed that Xiao Ming's hands were always clenched, or else tucked into his pockets.

"How's your hand?" Qu An asked Xiao Ming once they had hidden in a concealed spot. Their current hiding place was blocked from every direction, so the cameras could not film them at all and could at most pick up their voices.

Everything around them was tightly covered. Only faint slivers of light from a corner nearby allowed Xiao Ming to see Qu An's unconsciously furrowed brows from worry, while the gentle smile on his lips had long vanished.

"I'm really fine~ Don't worry. Didn't I just get three Revival Cards? I'm full of energy." Xiao Ming was trying to reassure Qu An, even deliberately making his tone sound lighter.

"Once filming ends, go to the hospital and get it checked first." Qu An was still worried.

"Okay~" Xiao Ming agreed readily.

While Qu An was worrying over Xiao Ming, the other Acceleration Team members had also hidden themselves. Meanwhile, Dong Yong, who had just helped the Acceleration Team members, and the leader of the Celestial Immortal Opera Troupe had hit it off immediately. One had found work, and the other had found an actor.

They struck a deal at once, and the show began.

The Heavenly Match was mainly set in two places: the mortal world and the heavens.

In the mortal world, Dong Yong was poor. After his father died, he sold himself into servitude to obtain money for the burial. In the heavens, the Heavenly Emperor's seven daughters played on the Magpie Bridge and looked down upon the mortal world.

The seventh daughter loathed the desolate loneliness of life in the heavenly palace. Her sympathy for Dong Yong turned into love, and disregarding the strict heavenly laws, she went alone to the mortal world. Beneath the pagoda tree, she met Dong Yong and confessed her feelings. The two became husband and wife.

Master Fu, Dong Yong's employer, used Dong Yong's newlywed status as a violation of their contract to threaten them. He demanded that the seventh daughter weave ten bolts of brocade overnight. If she succeeded, the term of labor would be shortened; if she failed, it would be doubled. The seventh daughter invited her sisters to help and completed it, changing three years of hard labor into one hundred days.

When the work was complete, the couple looked forward to their future and dreamed of happiness on their way home. Then they suddenly heard the Jade Emperor's decree ordering the seventh daughter to return to heaven at once, or disaster would befall Dong Yong. Helpless, she tearfully parted from him, swearing as they separated, "I fear not that your many heavenly laws will tear us apart. In heaven or on earth, our hearts are one." [Note: Content found online.]

Today, the opera venue was packed with people waiting mainly for the Magpie Bridge scene. The Celestial Immortal Opera Troupe had reworked every scene, incorporating modern elements to extend the performance time and enrich the content.

However, just as the opera was about to begin, all the lights in the venue suddenly went out. For the sake of the stage effects, the Celestial Immortal Opera Troupe was performing in a fully enclosed venue. Without lighting, their performance could not proceed, and the venue would also remain sealed, preventing the audience from leaving.

The opera troupe's staff discovered that the circuit had been cut. To restore the power, they needed to pull the switch and reconnect it, but opening the electrical box to pull the switch required a password. The password had been maliciously altered, so they could not open the electrical box.

"Why did the lights go out? I can't see anything."

"What's going on?"

Meanwhile, in the Interstellar Empire's high-level command room, A-Bai promptly discovered the situation. "Marshal, the Acceleration Energy on the Acceleration Team members' side has been frozen and cannot continue operating. We are currently investigating the cause."

The Marshal of the Interstellar Empire frowned. Just then, another subordinate came to report that the Space Pirates had launched another attack and had even sent over a video.

The pirate leader said, "Marshal, I hope you've been well. I've discovered your little scheme. What a pity, what a pity. You should prepare to become my prisoner."

The Marshal of the Interstellar Empire immediately realized that the pirate leader was behind all this.

"The projection channel from the Interstellar Universe to Earth has disappeared too." A-Bai sounded panicked. In the past, they had projected a scene from the Interstellar Universe onto Earth for the Acceleration Team members to complete missions in, but now their channel to that side had been severed.

The Marshal's brows knitted tightly before he finally made up his mind. "Activate that newest system program."

"But... Marshal, half of the regions where our empire's citizens' consciousness seas are projected share the same parent system as that program. If something goes wrong, the consequences would be unimaginable."

"We can't hesitate any longer. If we don't activate it now, our imperial citizens will face the risk of annihilation. The Space Pirates keep invading. If we cannot drive them back, they will continue to plague us afterward. As long as there is even a sliver of hope, we cannot give up."

The Imperial Marshal urgently configured the newest program, changing the original AR Interstellar Universe into a holographic system.

The newest holographic system combined VR and AR technology. It changed the scene experience that resembled 3D animation in VR, directly creating 3D human images through real human body structures, thereby incorporating AR technology.