Chapter 118: A Melodramatic Script

"Boss, you're back?"

Zhu Lan just stepped out of the car, looking at Lan Tianxin with a puzzled expression. It was so late; shouldn't she have finished work long ago?

"Why are you still at the office?"

"There were some things that needed handling, so I'm a bit late!"

Zhu Lan shook his head helplessly.

"Boss, how did the sun effect turn out?"

"Not good enough. I've already asked Wu Ren to make revisions; it was too monotonous."

Lan Tianxin nodded. She had watched videos of the Yonshakudama fireworks several times before the super fireworks display, and she had even been watching the live stream earlier. It was indeed too monotonous; the perspective naturally changes depending on where one stands.

Lan Tianxin understood Zhu Lan better than anyone. She knew how to think from his perspective on many issues, and it was precisely this way of thinking that led Zhu Lan to entrust so many things to her. Because she understood his management style and rarely let him down, she remained one of the people Zhu Lan trusted most.

"However, Boss, dragging this out isn't a long-term solution, is it?"

Zhu Lan nodded. "You don't need to worry about this matter. Just make sure the preparations for Chenwen Port are handled well!"

Seeing this, Lan Tianxin nodded resignedly.

"It's late, head home!"

"Boss, then I'll be going!"

Zhu Lan nodded and waved, then walked toward the depths of Fantasy Technology with Kong Yan.

"Boss, the first draft has been revised!"

As soon as he sat down, Red Queen appeared beside him.

Zhu Lan was startled. Although he had already overestimated Red Queen, it seemed he had clearly underestimated her.

"Send it over for me to see!"

"Certainly, Boss. I have already transmitted it to your computer."

Zhu Lan nodded. He walked to the computer, opened the file, and read it word for word. He had to admit, Red Queen’s revisions were excellent.

She had made major adjustments to the overall structure, making certain elements more realistic, particularly the depictions of the military, the police system, and the presence of the God’s Domain Company, which were now much more nuanced. Furthermore, she had added emotional subplots to the original script.

The subplots Red Queen added were quite melodramatic, but in Zhu Lan’s view, they were very satisfying.

Zhu Lan’s original script had only provided a simple description of the events, but after Red Queen’s revisions, many characters were added. She also incorporated numerous action sequences.

Six key characters were added to the original plot: two from the Ministry of State Security, one from the Military Intelligence Bureau, and three senior security guards from the God’s Domain Company. The most peculiar thing was that these six people were former classmates who had all attended the Xi'an Military Academy. Two of them had been lovers in school, but after graduation, they drifted apart due to differing ideologies. Now, the former lovers had become enemies.

In the original script, Red Queen integrated emotional and action-combat systems into the first investigation by the Ministry of State Security. As an elite agent tasked with investigating the city, the male lead encounters his former first love—a senior guard at the God’s Domain Company. Due to the nature of their professions, they immediately grew suspicious of each other, yet both hesitated because of their past romance.

At this moment, another man who had loved the female guard appeared—a high-ranking executive at the God’s Domain Company. Upon seeing the Ministry of State Security agent, even without knowing his true identity, he was filled with rage, having pursued her for six years only to find her still pining for her first love.

Through this misunderstanding, the God’s Domain Company took action, directly ambushing the Ministry of State Security personnel. This triggered military intervention, exposing the God’s Domain Company to the scrutiny of the military. The death and disappearance of the elite agent prompted the Ministry of State Security to open a major case.

Within the base of the God’s Domain Company, the missing agent—the female guard’s first love—was being held captive. The "third party" intended to force the female guard to give up on her first love once and for all. However, she still cared for him, so she disabled the surveillance system and rescued him. Her actions directly cut the signal source of the spatial transmission experiment, which was at a critical stage, causing the experiment to fail and the device to malfunction. The moment they escaped the base, the out-of-control device connected to the Jurassic era, sixty million years ago, bringing dinosaurs into the present.

In this segment, Red Queen added many combat elements, including scenes similar to "Gun Fu." Both the Ministry of State Security agent and the female guard were top-tier fighters, having been evenly matched back at the military academy. They fought their way out, encountering various experts from the God’s Domain Company in a non-stop chain of combat.

In the original script, it was this female guard who provided the military with the information about the God’s Domain Company’s experiments. Her lingering feelings for her former lover led her to abandon the darkness for the light, revealing everything the company had done.

Zhu Lan couldn't help but feel that this female guard’s character design looked a lot like Alice from *Resident Evil*. The script was melodramatic, but to Zhu Lan, it was perfect.

"Red Queen!"

"Yes, Boss, what are your orders?"

"How is the second script coming along?"

"It cannot be completed in a short time. I am currently gathering global data to flesh out the plot of the second script. I’m afraid it won't be finished before the new year."

"Never mind. Print out the first script and the outline of the second. I’m heading to Yanjing tomorrow!"

"Understood!"

Zhu Lan waved for Red Queen to step back, turned off the computer, and lay down on his bed.

Although it was late, the internet was still buzzing. The entire process of the nine super fireworks had been live-streamed, and in just two hours, the video had been shared over a million times. It wasn't a weekend, so internet traffic wasn't at its peak, making this rate of dissemination truly astonishing.

The New Year’s celebration at Chenwen Port had already been a hot topic, but the live stream of the super fireworks had completely ignited the discussion, driven entirely by netizens. Unlike the Yonshakudama, which left the Chinese public feeling shocked yet bitter that their neighbors in the "Eleventh District" had set a record, this was different. Though people didn't know the name of these fireworks, one point was key: this super firework, which would soon replace the Yonshakudama, was made in China. On this point alone, many could proudly proclaim that China had created the largest fireworks in the world and that the Yonshakudama was far too small!

The next morning, the public discovered the latest news about Chenwen Port. Previously, people might have just been talking about it, but now that they had taken concrete action, more people were paying attention to the New Year’s gala. The more attention it received, the more shocking it became. Gradually, the number of stars participating in the Chenwen Port event had reached forty, including ten Japanese stars, with the rest being well-known figures from across the region. Three Asian divas and one superstar had already been confirmed, with others joining one after another.

At the S International Airport, Zhu Lan, accompanied by Kong Yan and Wang Sheng, boarded a flight to Yanjing.

Upon arriving in Yanjing, a dedicated car was waiting right by the plane to pick them up. Seeing such treatment, others realized that Zhu Lan was likely the child of a high-ranking official.

"Mr. Zhu, the General asked me to pick you up. Please, get in!"

"Thank you!"

Zhu Lan got into the car, while Kong Yan and Wang Sheng took another. Zhu Lan wasn't worried about being in a car with ulterior motives; those allowed into the Yanjing International Airport to pick people up weren't just anyone. Furthermore, Kong Yan had scanned the area; if there were any issues with the identity of the person picking them up, she would have alerted him immediately.

While Red Queen’s hacking capabilities weren't perfect, she could check identities. Aside from research bases protected by supercomputers, there were few places she couldn't access, including the databases of some military logistics centers. Although the military’s cyber units were strong, Red Queen could infiltrate without leaving a trace. Unless they utilized the power of a supercomputer to detect her, they would only perceive slight anomalies in the data that would be impossible to investigate thoroughly without a full-scale sweep—a time-consuming process no one would undertake without necessity. For daily routine checks, it was simple for Red Queen to evade detection.

The car left the airport and, after an hour, arrived at the Ministry of National Defense building in Yanjing. The vehicle had special credentials, and the guards at the gate let them pass immediately.

"Mr. Zhu, the General is waiting for you upstairs. Please follow me!" An officer opened the car door and spoke respectfully to Zhu Lan after he stepped out.

"Okay." Zhu Lan nodded and followed him into the Ministry of National Defense building.

The building looked simple—just an ordinary office block—but many foreign intelligence agencies knew it was merely a facade. The true Ministry of National Defense was located deep underground.

During the Cold War, when the Soviet-Chinese confrontation was at its peak, China realized it couldn't withstand the Soviet tank groups massed at the border, nor could it defend against their Backfire bombers. If war broke out, a place like the Ministry of National Defense would be a primary target. At that time, the central government initiated a policy of "digging deep tunnels and storing grain everywhere."

Beneath the city of Yanjing, no one knew exactly how deep China had dug. The Ministry of National Defense was just one of the key targets. Throughout the city, beneath the General Staff, the Logistics Department, the Armaments Department, the municipal government, and even many central agencies, there were facilities where work could shift underground if necessary. Experts once speculated that the network beneath Yanjing was likely the origin of China’s "Underground Great Wall," a massive military defense project that had been expanded nationwide.

(To be continued.)