Ex Machina.
The air in the dark cellar was heavy.
Under an incandescent lamp that flickered on and off, a gang member was obviously a "captive". He was tied to a chair, with his head lowered, as if he was unconscious.
At this time, a mechanical sound sounded:
""Hans", 30271210, field 45, shot 4, take 2."
"Action."
Hans, Laura, Phoebe, Lexi, and Aru walked out of the darkness with serious expressions.
"Do it," Laura said softly.
Hans nodded, picked up a bucket of ice water, walked forward, and poured it on the "captive's" head.
"Well..." The prisoner slowly raised his head, looked around, and said hoarsely, "Where is this?"
Hans grabbed the prisoner's collar and said, "Stop talking nonsense, talk quickly!"
The prisoner's face darkened and he cursed, "Fuck you."
"Then don't blame me..." Hans straightened up, the upper half of his face was hidden in the darkness, a cold smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he stretched out his hand to one side.
Phoebe took two steps forward with a solemn expression and put something in Hans' hand.
Hans sneered and retracted his hand, looking down.
A towel.
Hans and the prisoner were stunned at the same time.
"..."
Hans turned his head slowly and winked.
"Oh, oh," Phoebe hurriedly took out a pack of cigarettes from her bag, raised it and shook it, "This?"
Pa~
Hans, Laura, Lexi and Aru put their hands on their foreheads at the same time.
The prisoner rolled his eyes and raised his chin toward the corner: "He wants that stick."
"Oh oh oh," Phoebe quickly picked up the stick and handed it over.
cough.
Hans took the stick, turned around, cleared his throat, and suppressed a "sneer": "Then don't blame me..."
The captive's enthusiasm was waning: "Hurry up, I'm in a hurry."
"ah------"
Hans shouted, swung his stick and struck it.
Boom!
After a crisp knocking sound, the prisoner's eyes widened, and a bump bulged on his forehead at a speed visible to the naked eye. It was red and blingbling.
"Hiss..." Laura grinned, "It hurts."
Phoebe: "Too violent."
Lexi: "It must hurt."
Aru: "Quickly, hit another one on the left."
Hans waved his hand to stop the whispers behind him, and asked in a low voice: "Say it or not."
The prisoner blinked, then opened his mouth and shouted: "Ah——————"
"ah------"
Hans shouted too.
Boom!
Another stick.
Ding~
Another bump grew on the prisoner's forehead, this time one on each side, blingbling.
Aru breathed a long sigh of relief: "I feel comfortable."
"ah----"
"ah----"
The prisoner shouted, and Hans followed suit and beat him with a stick.
moment.
The swollen prisoner suddenly closed his mouth, smiled, and nodded to Hans: "Okay, that's all."
Hans gasped: "Say it, say it quickly."
"Okay," the prisoner nodded.
"Say it."
"OK."
Hans was stunned for a moment, then raised his stick again and shouted: "Ah——"
"Ah————" the prisoner shouted, "You should ask————"
"Why?"
Hans froze in place, turned around and asked, "Didn't I ask?"
"It seems not," Laura asked Phoebe, "Have you asked?"
"Probably not," Phoebe asked Lexi, "Have you asked?"
"No?" Lexi said and looked at Aru. Aru shook his head and shrugged: "Nope."
"..."
Hans put down his stick, straightened the prisoner's collar, and said with a dry smile: "Sorry, brother, I forgot."
"No, I don't accept your apology," the prisoner said with tears in his eyes.
"Uh...brother...does it hurt?" Hans touched the shiny bump on the prisoner's head, "Hey...it should be quite painful."
The prisoner's lips trembled in grievance.
"Be good," Hans said with a kind face, "tell me where Mr. Whisper is, and I will take you to the hospital right away."
The prisoner's expression changed, he narrowed his eyes, and said slowly: "'Whisper'... Do you know who 'Whisper' is?"
Hans came closer and whispered: "The most powerful intelligence broker in the world?"
The prisoner smiled and said nothing.
The atmosphere suddenly became mysterious.
Laura, Phoebe, Lexi and Aru also came over, plus the prisoners, the six of them formed a circle head to head, all squinting their eyes and making eye contact with each other.
The prisoner took a deep breath, glanced at every face, and said enigmatically: "That's right."
"Hey~"
Everyone dispersed in a hurry.
Sudden.
A series of dense footsteps came from outside the door.
The prisoner struggled suddenly and laughed: "Hahahahaha, my people are here, you are finished, hahaha..."
Clang.
A pistol slipped from his pocket and fell to the ground.
Everyone was stunned, staring straight at the gun on the ground.
Hans leaned over and picked it up, looking confused.
"Hey, hey, what are you doing, you silly guy?" The prisoner turned sideways, "Quickly, put it back in my left trouser pocket."
Boom!
The cellar door was smashed hard.
Hans raised his gun and pointed it at the door, shouting: "I will protect everyone!"
Laura, Phoebe and Aru crawled and hid behind Hans. Lexi also wanted to hide in, but after squeezing a few times, he was pushed out, so he had to hide behind the captive and poke his head out.
Everyone held their breath and stared at the cellar door.
However.
There was no sound outside, as if those people had given up banging on the door.
Hans breathed a sigh of relief, turned around, shook the gun in his hand and was about to boast, when suddenly there was a loud bang, bang!
boom!
Hans trembled, and the gun in his hand went off. The sound of the gunshot made everyone shrink their necks in fright.
The next second, the five people hurriedly lowered their heads and groped their bodies, and then looked at each other in confusion.
"Pfft hahahahaha~~" the prisoner laughed, "I'm sorry, I'm a bunch of idiots..."
"Uh..." Laura cautiously approached the prisoner and pointed at his chest, "Well... you seem to have been shot."
The prisoner's smile froze on his face and he slowly lowered his head.
There was a bullet hole in his chest, and blood was gurgling.
Hans stepped forward, held his hand, and said sincerely: "Believe me, this was an accident."
The prisoner held Hans' hand with difficulty, his lips moved as if he had something to say, and Hans put his ear close to his mouth.
"I go…"
The voice stopped suddenly, and the prisoner's head tilted.
"Brother..." Hans looked sad, "Can you wait a while before you die? I really can't guess where you are going."
Boom!
The cellar door was knocked open.
A group of gang members wearing black windbreakers, round hats and holding submachine guns filed in.
Laura, Phoebe, Lexi and Aru all raised their hands in surrender.
"Humph, do you know who I am?" Hans stood up slowly, turned around gracefully, raised his head and raised his gun, and said word by word, "I am..."
Wow.
The black muzzle was pointed at him.
bass!
Hans immediately raised his hands: "I am a good citizen."
At this time.
The gang members made a way, and a man in a windbreaker walked quickly into the wine cellar with his head lowered and his mouth covered with a handkerchief. He walked up to Hans and coughed a few times. He still lowered his head and said in a hoarse voice: "Are you Xi'an people?"
"Well……"
"Joint meeting?"
"Well……"
"Order Bureau?"
"Well……"
"Gang?"
"Well……"
"Thank you," the man turned away and said casually, "Kill."
Wow.
A group of gang gunmen stood in a row, pointing their guns at five people.
"Wait a minute!" Lexi shouted: "We want to see the whispers, we know the secret of the Prophet of Revenge!"
"Card!"
Yuan Quan's roar came from a small drone flying in the air, "What's going on? How did the light work when the gang came in? I want a high-contrast lighting! What are you going to eat? I won't know if Lao Zhou is not around Are you working? Another one!"
this moment.
The expressions on the faces of the leading actors disappeared, and more than a dozen staff members swarmed over. Some were applying make-up to the actors, arranging their clothes, and some were hurriedly restoring the scenery.
Casey, who played Phoebe, spread out his arms and said impatiently: "Who, please fix the zipper in the back for me..."
The "prisoner" who was shot sat up and shouted: "Hurry up and untie the rope, it's too damn tight behind."
Hans waved to his assistant, took a bottle of wine and took a sip. He turned around and frowned: "Andy, why didn't you say something just now?"
"It doesn't feel right," Andrea squinted her eyes and spoke calmly, while the makeup artist was touching up her makeup.
Hans snorted, and threw the bottle of wine in his hand to the assistant with an expression that dared not speak out.
The lighting team urgently adjusted the light source, and the wine cellar was noisy. Photography drones flying in the air gathered together, waiting for instructions to rearrange.
"Take a rest first," Andrea clapped her hands and shouted, then passed through the Spades members who were acting as extras, walked up the stairs to the next floor, came to behind Yuan Quan, leaned over and asked, "What's the matter? Like, can the light problem be fixed using virtual light?"
Yuan Quan, who was surrounded by a group of staff, sat on the director's chair and said without looking back: "The shadows produced by the virtual light have no texture. What are you doing here? Add another one."
There were more than ten light screens in front of her, showing the lenses of different photography drones. There were two light screens closest to her hand, one showing the shot list, and the other showing the simulated film in real time.
Andrea straightened up and smiled helplessly at Li Liang standing aside.
"You performed well just now," Li Liang comforted.
Throughout the morning, he followed the crew and visited three places. He finally had a general understanding of the film and television shooting process. Compared with the final effect presented to the audience, the shooting process was much boring. Many times, a scene had to be reshot several times, and even more so. To his surprise, once he started working, Yuan Quan became a completely different person. He had a bad temper and was a tyrant on the set. He scolded Andrea mercilessly.
"Go down quickly," Yuan Quan adjusted his glasses and waved his hand, "Take another route."
Andrea shook her head and went back downstairs.
"Quiet!" Yuan Quan picked up the intercom and roared.
The images in more than a dozen light curtains change rapidly, and the drone is readjusting its lens angle.
After a moment, the mechanical sound sounded again: ""Hans", 30271210, field 45, shot 4, take 3."
"Action."
Li Liang immediately turned around and returned to the rest area on the other side of the room.
Cain closed his eyes and meditated on the recliner, while Mizuno sat upright, brewing kung fu tea in a leisurely manner.
K, who was nestled on the sofa, yawned and asked, "Why don't you watch it?"
"Well..." Li Liang lowered his voice, "It's so embarrassing, I feel like my toes are on the ground."
Phew~
Cain closed his eyes and laughed.
"Aren't you asleep?" Li Liang kicked the recliner, sat down in front of Mizuno, picked up the teacup, and looked at the bracelet.
11:45.
He thought for a moment and made a voice call.
"Brother Shui, how's it going?...Well, how...well?...Well, I understand."
After hanging up the communication, he said to himself: "Level 4..."
"What level four?" Cain sat up and asked curiously.
"In the morning, Brother Shui and Old Tang used Tifa Mi people's instruments to test the people who registered for the exam in Zhongjing and found a dozen of them who were inspired. There was also a girl among them who had reached level four. According to Tifa Mi people's classification method, Inspiration is divided into seven levels, level four, which is very promising.”
K frowned and said, "Should we control her first?"
"It's not necessary," Li Liang smiled, "send a few people to protect her secretly, and after the exam is over, throw her into the legion for some training."
——————————
12:40
The filming in the morning finally ended, and all the cast and crew took a short break on the first floor. The scene was chaotic and noisy. People kept running around carrying equipment, and some received lunch, gathering in twos and threes to eat.
Yuan Quan and several leading actors were sitting together, discussing the afternoon scene.
Only the rest area in the corner was slightly quiet, and no one dared to approach Li Liang and the others.
the other side.
A group of gang members belonging to the Spades are queuing up to have their makeup touched up. From last night to this morning, they have made several guest appearances, so they are quite familiar with it.
Filming is always easier than filming, and what's more, it's "Hans and His Friends" that they love so much.
While queuing, most of them looked at the leading actors not far away, looking in a daze, as if everything they were experiencing at this moment was too unreal.
Only one person looked anxious.
Dou Ming.
He looked towards the stairs from time to time, nervously sweating on his forehead.
Why hasn’t Brother Livi come yet?
Sudden.
A familiar figure appeared at the top of the stairs, tilting his head slightly.
Dou Ming immediately covered his stomach, pretending to have unbearable abdominal pain, and quickly left the team.
A few minutes later.
He followed Levi to the first floor and walked to the back door.
"Take it," Levi threw him a badge and said with a straight face, "Fuck, do you know how difficult this thing is? It's easy to handle when you go out, and be smart when you come in later."
"Thank you, Brother Liwei," Dou Ming hurriedly put the badge in his pocket and pretended as if nothing had happened.
moment.
The two approached the back door.
"I'm waiting for you here, go back quickly," Levi lowered his head, lit a cigarette, and shouted to a gang member guarding the door, "Hey, TG, fuck, why are you here, I've been looking for you you."
Taking advantage of Levi's approach, Dou Ming quickly rushed out of the back door. Under the watchful eyes of a large group of Yakuza members, he bypassed the floating boats parked here and there, passed through the cordon set up by the Order Bureau, and trotted all the way to another back door. lane.
"here!"
Tao Yiran poked his head out of the back door of the trash can.
"Of course," Dou Ming took out his name tag and waved it with a smile on his face, "it's done."
"Ah, is it true? I can go in?" Tao Yiran jumped up happily, gave him a big hug, grabbed the badge and looked at it, "Wow, General Affairs Team... Sound Effect 1, Wang Tie?"
"Uh..." Dou Ming scratched his head, "This is the only thing we can do."
"Well, from now on, I am Wang Tie," Tao Yiran said seriously as he put on his name badge.
Dou Ming grinned: "Brother Tie, let's go."
"Let's go!" Tao Yiran stood up and took a big step.
However, when she saw the police cordon of the Order Bureau and the gang members at Ex Machina's back door, she suddenly stopped, grabbed the corner of Dou Ming's clothes, and said hesitantly: "Why don't we forget it? Once you are found out, you will be in trouble..."
"It's okay, Ranran," Dou Ming said softly, "Brother Liwei is here to help us, and it doesn't matter even if he is discovered. I will explain it to the boss."
"cocoa……"
"Don't be afraid," he put his arm around Tao Yiran's shoulders.
The two of them arrived in front of the cordon unhurriedly.
"Stop." A detective reached out and put his hand on the holster on his waist, "Didn't you just go out? Why are you back again? Who is this bitch?"
"People from the crew," Dou Ming said calmly.
The detective approached, picked up the sign on Tao Yiran's chest and read: "Sound effect... Wang... Fuck, are you kidding me? Is there a woman named Wang Tie?"
This voice attracted the attention of the surrounding agents, and several agents even raised their guns.
Dou Ming opened his windbreaker and revealed the corner of a playing card from the inner pocket, the Ace of Spades.
"Whoever knows you are a spade, you can come in at any time." The detective tilted his head, "What I'm asking is, who is she?"
Sudden.
Levi's voice came: "Fuck, Dou Ming, what the hell are you doing? The boss is waiting for you."
The detective turned back slowly.
"Did the person the boss asked you to pick up get picked up?" Levi approached as if no one else was watching, and pushed away the detective who was blocking the way. "Is this the girl? Very good, come with me."
"Hey, what the hell..." The agent stared and drew his gun.
bass.
Levi took a quick step and stood in front of the detective. The tips of their noses were almost touching. His eyes were extremely gloomy and he asked word by word: "What did you say?"
The atmosphere instantly became tense.
At this time, an old agent pulled the two away, patted Levi's face, and said with a smile: "Young man, don't be so arrogant, the days are long."
Levi pointed to the detective who blocked the way before, turned around, led Dou Ming and Tao Yiran towards Ex Machina's back door.
The Yakuza members at the door had no intention of blocking them. Instead, many people who noticed the scene just whistled and booed, provoking the Bureau of Order agents.
After passing through the back door and walking all the way to a place with few people, Levi said angrily: "Why are you being cowardly? Next time you meet a dog from the Order Bureau, don't talk nonsense and just throw the cards in his face."
Dou Ming grinned: "I know."
"Thank you, Brother Liwei," Tao Yiran mumbled with a pale face.
Levi glanced at the girl's "shrunk" figure and patted Dou Ming on the shoulder: "You, your taste..."
Dou Ming giggled.
"Go down and be smart," Levi waved his hand impatiently.
Dou Ming took Tao Yiran's hand, followed a staff member carrying a light box, and slipped into the negative floor.
"Wow~" Tao Yiran looked around, "There are so many people."
Dou Ming pulled her to dodge left and right, squeezed through the crowd, found a corner where boxes were stacked, and squatted down. He searched for a moment and said in a low voice: "Look, over there, Hans and Andy."
"Wow..." Tao Yiran's eyes widened, "Andy himself is so pretty... Hans is so tall. Who is the one wearing glasses in the middle?"
"Director, my surname seems to be Yuan," Dou Ming quietly looked at the girl's side face, showing a gentle smile.
"Hey, hey, Phoebe, Phoebe, I like Phoebe the most," Tao Yiran shook Dou Ming's arm excitedly, "Are she and Lai Xi a couple off-screen?"
Dou Ming thought for a while: "It seems... their relationship is quite normal."
"ah?"
"Maybe I saw it wrong, maybe..."
"Hey, who are those four people over there?" Tao Yiran pointed to the rest area in the distance.
"Don't point, don't point," Dou Ming quickly pulled her hand down and lowered his voice, "Well, the guy in the suit is my boss, K."
"Wow...K is so handsome..." Tao Yiran couldn't take his eyes away, "That, that, who is wearing a kimono?"
"That one is even more powerful, Yakuza's younger brother-in-law, Queen Sonoya," Dou Ming swallowed, "Half of Ichiban Street belongs to her."
"Wow...then, where is the one with short blue hair? The one lying down."
"I don't know," Dou Ming shook his head, "We only know that her status is higher than K and Queen Sonoya."
"They are so beautiful..." Tao Yiran said, stunned for a moment, rubbed his eyes, and looked forward, "Ming, who is the man sitting opposite Mr. K?"
"Shh," Dou Ming looked around nervously to make sure no one was eavesdropping, then whispered, "That person is the most mysterious. Some people guess that he is the master of everyone."
"Everyone?"
"Yes, K, Queen Sonoya, the Bureau of Order, the Joint Meeting, everyone listens to him."
Tao Yiran nodded thoughtfully: "Oh."
"What's wrong with you?" Dou Ming noticed that the girl beside him said "Wow" without making a fuss.
"Let me tell you a secret," Tao Yiran said mysteriously, "I can sometimes see stars in the air. Once, I also saw a short stick that glowed in a person's backpack. It was very bright. .”
"Star?"
"Yes, sometimes and sometimes not, it's shiny," Tao Yiran pointed to the "mysterious man" in the distance, "That man, the 'master' you mentioned, seems to have a pillar of light above his head, which reaches into the sky, and I can feel that the light pillar is shrinking little by little. I guess the light pillar should have been very big..."
"Ah?" Dou Ming was confused, "What are you talking about?"
Tao Yiran curled his lips, seeming a little aggrieved: "I don't know why, I feel so sad."
"Tonight...why don't I take you to the hospital to check..."
"Oh, no need, I'm fine," Tao Yiran rubbed his eyes, "I had a physical examination this morning."
Dou Ming was stunned for a moment: "What physical examination?"
"Physical examination for the Civil Service Examination," Tao Yiran sat on the ground holding his knees, looking at the four "big men" in the distance, "Ming, we are so close to them, but they seem so far away."
"yes."
"What do you think they were talking about?"
"I don't know, big shots, they talk about big things."
"Are they bothered too?"
"Yes."
"Hey, have you ever thought that the 'master' and the blue-haired sister are a couple?"
"Why?"
"Fool."
"oh."
"Ming, do you think I can sit among them one day?"
"Well... when you pass the joint meeting, you will become a big shot in the future, you will definitely," Dou Ming slowly lowered his head, opened his mouth slightly, and wanted to breathe out, but found that his lungs felt like they were being held by a hand. It's tight, the breath is stuck in my throat, it hurts a little.
Phew~
A chuckle came.
He raised his head and met Tao Yiran's bright eyes.
"Are you stupid? How could I become a big shot? Haven't you always wanted to know what position I applied for? Hey, let me tell you quietly. Don't tell that fool named Dou Ming. I applied for... something Gu District Neighborhood Committee.”
"ah?"
Dou Ming was stunned, and the muscles on his face twitched.
"Humph, don't hold it in, just laugh if you want."
"No way~" Dou Ming turned his face.
"Hey, let me take a look," Tao Yiran tilted his head with a smirk, "Hey~ I can even see your back molars."
"No way~~"
"Still laughing, still laughing, right?"
In the busy set and the bustle of people, no one noticed that in this small corner, there were two souls who were close together and loved each other.
five minutes ago.
Li Liang, who was chatting with K, suddenly felt something and turned his head to look in a certain direction.
There were too many staff and extras coming and going, blocking his sight. For a moment, he finally looked through the gap and saw two people squatting by the box in the distance. They were cuddling together, a bit like a couple. The girl among them was lingering around him. It shows extraordinary inspiration.
"What's wrong?" K asked calmly.
"It's okay," Li Liang smiled, turned to Cain and said, "Have you thought about what to eat for lunch?"
