Warm White, Cool White

Those were acting techniques that had nothing to do with Qu An, because he found it difficult to truly feel those emotions. He could only simulate them.

This segment mainly featured the Seven Fairies singing back and forth with the other six fairies, while Dong Yong worked and the squire oversaw the labor.

Offline, Lin Shange found the button and pressed it, then immediately hid among the densely packed audience. But before long, she was caught by the merciless hunters.

The two-minute online pause began counting down. The nearby NPCs paused as well, and Xiao Ming immediately snapped out of character.

He was still a little dazed after realizing what he had done. When he saw Qu An and Pang Ba heading toward the audience seats below the stage, he reined in his wandering thoughts and hurried down.

There were sixteen rows and twenty columns in total. Each of them checked roughly five columns.

The hunters nearby began searching as well. They hunched over as they examined each seat one by one. Avoiding the hunters while checking the information was truly not easy.

Pang Ba was locked onto by a hunter once in the middle of it, but she quickly escaped to another row and hid herself.

As soon as the two minutes were up, they were immediately transported back onto the stage.

They had now reached the part where Dong Yong dreamed of the Seven Fairies, and the Seven Fairies asked her sisters for help.

The surrounding NPCs made it easy for Xiao Ming to get into character. Though perhaps it was also because they were acting with their consciousness now, making their mental defenses relatively weak.

After pressing it twice more or less, Qu An and Pang Ba each found a password: Row Thirteen, Column Fourteen, and Row Five, Column Twenty.

Wow, what dramatic numbers.

Task Notification

There are two passwords among the seats in the Holographic World Theater, one correct and one incorrect. In the offline theater, the seat corresponding to the correct password is unoccupied. The online and offline Acceleration Team members must cooperate to obtain the correct password.

The offline team members had to help find the answer while avoiding the hunters. That was no easy task either.

The online and offline sides communicated directly by phone, but establishing the connection was troublesome. Linking brainwaves and electromagnetic waves required certain technical means, and holographic technology existed precisely to make such a connection possible.

Qu An said, "Starting from the front and counting from the left while facing the stage, the password for Row Thirteen, Column Fourteen is 7714, and the password for Row Five, Column Two is 2134. Only one of the two passwords is correct. The seat corresponding to the correct password is unoccupied."

Several seats offline were empty, but because of the lighting, only the stage offered a clear view of the entire venue. Exposing oneself onstage was as dangerous as directly exposing oneself to the hunters.

After receiving the message, Guan Jun began counting one by one. In the end, he found that the empty seat was Row Thirteen, Column Fourteen.

He had barely shouted, "It's 1314!" and tried to confirm the answer for Row Thirteen, Column Fourteen with the online teammates through electromagnetic waves and brainwaves when Guan Jun was caught by a hunter.

Zhong Ka had gotten there first and had been waiting near the electrical box. She could not hear Guan Jun, but after Xiao Ming's side learned the answer, they directly told her it was "7714."

Next came the input—success. The electrical box opened successfully, and Zhong Ka pulled down the switch. But when she tried to run off and hide afterward, she was caught by a hunter coming straight at her.

At that point, there were still over three minutes remaining. Four Acceleration Team members remained, and the number of hunters was restored to four.

What remained was the most important acceleration challenge!

Acceleration Team members, hurry and hide!

Xiao Ming and Qu An ran quickly, and they had been here before, so they were familiar with a nearby hiding spot. They found that place and hid according to the fully covered hiding method they had just used, quietly waiting for time to pass.

However, having just emerged from the Holographic Pods, both of them felt as if they had just woken up from a nap. They staggered while evading the hunters, then quickly came fully awake.

Meanwhile, Pang Ba and the carefree Shan Yi were separated, one on the lawn and the other on the main road. No one knew who would face the hunters head-on.

Shan Yi was caught. Xiao Ming and Qu An's phones rang, and in the darkness, the two hurriedly took out their phones and turned them off. Their fingers accidentally brushed against each other's. Qu An could feel a faint sheen of sweat in Xiao Ming's right palm.

It seemed Xiao Ming really wanted to be Acceleration King for once.

The hunters searched around Xiao Ming and Qu An's hiding place. They rushed over at the sound of the ringing, but because the two had not left even the slightest gap and were well concealed, they still failed to find them.

But the chief director was not satisfied with the scene. The variety show lacked dramatic effect, so he had another hunter head toward Xiao Ming and Qu An.

The two hunters patrolled back and forth, testing their psychological defenses while looking for loopholes.

With one minute remaining, Xiao Ming's phone suddenly sounded a one-minute alert, drawing both hunters over to surround the area beside them.

Xiao Ming suddenly wanted to curse. That idiotic stunt from the previous season had returned this season. From the hunters merely patrolling near them and this sudden notification, he knew the director was being a sore loser.

He refused to play along!

Xiao Ming moved a little closer to Qu An, eliminating every possibility of exposing either of them to the hunters.

Qu An felt the warmth pressed against his hand rub lightly against it. A vast blankness filled his mind, and his thoughts went offline.

Xiao Ming looked cool, but his body temperature was not low. In summer, he was more like a little furnace.

The countdown had reached ten seconds. Qu An did not move at all, and Xiao Ming simply assumed he was waiting out the final ten seconds too.

"Ten, nine, eight... three, two, one!"

Congratulations to the Acceleration Team members on successfully accelerating!

Xiao Ming had not fallen for the show's tricks, so for the first time ever, there were three Acceleration Kings.

"Woohoo! Congratulations, congratulations!" The Pause Room was filled with celebration. After all, three Acceleration Kings was genuinely surprising.

Especially those who had been there for the first episode or watched it knew that Xiao Ming and Qu An had nearly won Acceleration King in the first episode. Now, they felt it was entirely deserved.

However, the atmosphere between Qu An and Xiao Ming as they prepared to head to the Pause Room to receive the Acceleration King honor was somewhat heavy, completely lacking the playful feeling from before.

That was because Qu An noticed blood seeping from Xiao Ming's hand. He then felt terribly stifled and angry, emotions he had never experienced before.

Xiao Ming had gone onstage with an injured hand in order to complete the mission, causing the wound to split open. But Qu An was only Xiao Ming's friend, so he could not say much. Besides, he knew Xiao Ming truly wanted this, which made him feel stifled.

Naturally, he was angry because Xiao Ming did not care about his own condition at all. Qu An became quietly upset, bottling up his frustration alone.

Xiao Ming vaguely sensed Qu An's poor mood, but he was not very good at comforting people. More importantly, filming was not over yet.

Still, Qu An was worthy of being a child star and Best Actor. Before they reached the Pause Room, he had completely returned to normal, without a single flaw showing.

Qu An had the right to request that certain footage be cut. Moreover, he had still worn a faint smile just now, so at a glance, no one could tell he was angry. Thus, no one else noticed.

Qu An took the two Acceleration King medals from Yi Xiaoda. Once Xiao Ming came over, he personally put one around his neck.

"Congratulations." His tone was gentle, and his deep voice was soft.

"Thanks." Seeing that Qu An had not put his own on yet, Xiao Ming did not think much of it. He took the medal from Qu An's hand and moved to put it around his neck.

Qu An lowered his head along with the motion, obediently letting the other put the medal on him. The smile on his face became a little more genuine.

"Little brother, put one on me too?" Pang Ba spoke up.

Xiao Ming turned and saw that Pang Ba was already wearing her medal. He knew she was teasing him again, but he did not get angry. He merely gave a faint smile, then someone adjusted the ribbon around his neck.

Qu An still wore that gentle, gentlemanly expression. "It was a little crooked."

[Oh, oh, oh, it was a little crooked.]

[Oh, oh, oh, he lowered his head.]

[Qu An clearly did not say anything, but why does it feel like he's being a little scheming?]

[Who understands? He suddenly got all scheming.]

[They won Acceleration King together! Willows in Shadow, Flowers in Light, Another Village!]

[A new village, I'm crying.]

[What does village mean? I don't think I'm that out of touch.]

[When other CPs get a collaboration, people just call it a collaboration. But whenever these two have scenes together, work together, or have sweet moments, CP fans call it a "village." So their code phrase is, "Has a new village been built today?"]

This episode's hunter-perspective livestream continued filming for a little while after the four Acceleration Team members were revived, including but not limited to Xiao Ming and Qu An's rapidly retreating backs and Feng Danke briefly going online. Then it ended, since anything more would be spoilers!

At the end of this episode, the lights at the Heavenly Fairy Theater came back on, and the performance proceeded as scheduled. Dong Yong's many years of opera training had long since fused "Dong Yong" into his very being. Paired with innovative stage design, Huangmei Opera collided with modern art. The wondrous sparks swiftly ignited the internet, drawing more people's attention to the beauty of this intangible cultural heritage art, a feast for both the ears and the eyes.

"Wonderful, Marshal. This Acceleration Energy is enough for us to withstand this attack. The Acceleration Team members performed brilliantly. The Empire's future has hope." A-Bai said happily.

The Marshal of the Interstellar Empire nodded and handed the newly collected Acceleration Energy to his subordinates to fend off the enemy's attack.

"This proves our method is viable. Now that those pirates know of the Acceleration Team members' existence, collecting Acceleration Energy will inevitably become more difficult. We must be cautious in all matters. For the Empire's future, we will stop at nothing!"

The Marshal of the Interstellar Empire made a fist with his right hand and raised it before his left chest, five centimeters away, palm facing inward.

A-Bai made the same gesture. "For the Empire's future, we will stop at nothing!"

As for the guests who had finished recording, someone mentioned whether they should go have afternoon tea. The room instantly fell silent. They all remembered Jiang Yuefeng and Yuan Yangming's incident last time perfectly well, leaving everyone speechless.

Shan Yi also instantly remembered something and awkwardly shut his mouth.

After the chief director announced the end of filming, Qu An received a phone call. He said a few words, hung up, then went over to Gu Wuping and said something no one could make out.

Meanwhile, Xiao Ming was stopped by the chief director to discuss the livestream.

"Xiao Ming, here's the situation. Someone posted online about you continuing to record after getting injured. Then the show was... misunderstood by netizens. We'd like to ask you to do a livestream and explain things."

Only then did Xiao Ming realize that his competitive streak, if left unexplained, might cause trouble for the production crew. He readily agreed. "Sure. Where will I be streaming?"

"The lounge. It's already been arranged there." The chief director had someone take Xiao Ming over.

Xiao Ming followed without hesitation, but Qu An called out to him.

Xiao Ming stopped and watched Qu An walk over beside him. "Hm?"

"Your hand." Qu An was succinct.

"Ah..." Xiao Ming glanced at his hand, which was bleeding more heavily than before, and awkwardly rubbed his nose. "It's nothing serious. I still have a livestream. After it's done, I'll just go to the pharmacy and buy some medicine."

Qu An frowned, then relaxed slightly, seeming helpless. "I'll livestream with you. First, let's rebandage the wound. It has probably split open, and you still have to stream afterward." He then asked the director for a first-aid kit.

Xiao Ming suddenly understood. "You're so thoughtful." But he quickly noticed Qu An's words: "I'll livestream with you."

"You're streaming too?" He was somewhat confused.

Qu An nodded and led him indoors, away from the blazing sunlight. "Because I was with you the whole time afterward, the director thought explaining it together would be more reasonable." His hands began unwrapping the bloodstained bandage around Xiao Ming's hand.

"Ah, then what about Sister Pang Ba? Isn't she joining us?" Xiao Ming was so confused that he even forgot to pull his hand back and say he could handle it himself.

Qu An paused his movements, looked up at him, then lowered his gaze and continued. "Sister Pang Ba has something else to do afterward, right?" He added casually, "It seems her boyfriend came to Yellow City with her this time."

Xiao Ming gave an "Oh." Seeing that medical staff had appeared nearby, he began to drift off into thought.

He did not know how long the livestream would last. Would he still make it to the interview he had scheduled with someone at five? Maybe he should tell them he would be late.

A medical staff member was also waiting inside. Seeing Qu An's natural movements, they did not know where to start until Qu An finished removing the bandage and stepped aside.

Xiao Ming was not being stubborn when he said it was not serious. There were simply quite a few small cuts. After the medical staff member explained the situation, they prepared to apply medicine to his hand.

But the medical staff member suddenly received a call saying a crew member had fallen from a height, and the situation was rather serious.

The medical staff member was in a difficult position. Xiao Ming's injury would not take long and was simple enough to bandage himself, but the other side truly needed urgent help.

Seeing the situation, Qu An took over and said he could handle it, telling the medical staff member to check on the injured crew member first.

Xiao Ming had drifted off and did not catch the conversation between them. Only when a sharp sting in his hand brought him back did he see Qu An lowering his head, using a cotton ball to absorb the blood that continued to seep from his hand. Trauma medicine sat beside them.

From Xiao Ming's angle, he could see Qu An's sharp brows slightly furrowed. His beautiful eyes were lowered as he carefully examined the wound, his movements cautious as though he were handling something immensely important.

Xiao Ming subconsciously tried to pull his hand back, but a large hand firmly gripped his wrist. He was rather slim, and though he was a man, his wrist was slender. His skin was a warm white, yet against Qu An's cool white complexion, it somehow looked a little darker.