The elven priest stood by and watched for a moment, the producer following in awe. A moment later, however, Char received a call. He read it for a few seconds, gave Wen Xingze a few more words of advice, and then left.

Wen Xingze finally freed himself from the horrific scene of the 'mother-in-law and daughter-in-law meeting' and focused his attention on the script.

Although the audition scene wasn't long, Wen Xingze wasn't particularly focused at first. He was so nervous that his mind was filled with all sorts of chaotic thoughts.

For example, why would Director Li Mingzhou take a liking to him? Although Wen Xingze initially guessed it was about an audition when he heard "Director Li wants to talk to you," who could have imagined it was for the lead role?

For example, why is Teacher Chi here?

For example, if I could really get this role...

But these wild thoughts only lasted a brief ten seconds. As he read the words on the audition script, Wen Xingze felt the world around him gradually quiet down, until it was completely still.

He seemed to have entered another undisturbed world, with only the characters gradually crushed and reassembled into his mind. He read at an astonishing speed, which is a state that can bring out the actor's potential to the extreme.

Five minutes passed in a flash.

Director Li said, "Have you read the audition script?"

Wen Xingze nodded.

Chi Yan: “Yeah.”

Li Mingzhou looked at Chi Yan and couldn't help saying, "You were clearly staring at Xiao Wen just now..." Besides, he hadn't given Chi Yan the document for this part. What he had given him before was the audition script for the young actor.

Chi Yan's expression remained unchanged. He took the script from Wen Xingze's hand, quickly scanned it from top to bottom, and then returned the script to Wen Xingze.

He repeated, "Yeah." and finished reading.

Everyone: “…”

Damn.

"Ahem," Li Mingzhou cleared his throat. "If there are no other questions, let's get started."

Everyone in the room stopped all actions and held their breath.

Many eyes were fixed on the two people, as if observing microorganisms through a microscope. It was hard to tell whether it was more of scrutiny or curiosity.

Chi Yan stood up from his seat and gently pressed Wen Xingze's forehead with his index finger.

When Chi Yan was teaching Wen Xingze how to act and acting opposite him, this action was the signal to start.

Chi Yan was a very strict teacher, and Wen Xingze got into the state almost reflexively, without even having time to feel nervous.

Then, Chi Yan sat down on the chair with his eyelashes drooping slightly.

Wen Xingze gathered his emotions, took two steps back, rolled up his shirt sleeves, and yawned as he walked lazily forward. When he passed Chi Yan, Wen Xingze paused, then turned around after a few seconds.

His skin was already fair, and his figure was thin and tall, somewhere between a teenager and a young man. Coupled with his tired and slightly sinister expression, he suddenly had a paleness that was almost sickly. "Hey."

There was a hint of hoarseness in the voice.

The director and screenwriter sat up straight.

Overnight, Xia Huai retired from the top of the society due to disability and fell to the bottom of society. He was no longer the favored child of heaven, but a grumpy, irritable and moody garbage recycling vendor.

Wen Xingze's stunning beauty, coupled with his personality, always makes him appear lovable and approachable. Even the evil Heng Zhi in "Meeting the Dragon Night" is a sharp character. In short, Wen Xingze is a person who has nothing to do with "mediocre" or "annoying".

But his performance at this time was unexpectedly good.

"……Hello."

When he said the second word, Chi Yan raised his eyes and looked at Wen Xingze.

Although it was hard to put a finger on it, in the blink of an eye, Chi Yan gave off a completely different vibe. Even the emotion in his eyes vanished completely, his gaze no longer focused, and his breathing and micro-movements became rhythmic and mechanical.

This was a completely clumsy, almost abandoned android. He smiled and said in a serious tone, "Hello, please give me your instructions."

Everyone was stunned. Chi Yan was Chi Yan, a movie star for nearly a decade. His skills were undeniable. They could almost hear the clacking of the springs, the dull, rotting wires and parts buried deep within the bionic man's bones and flesh...

At the same time, everyone began to worry about Wen Xingze. The pressure of acting with such a top actor was extremely great, and Chi Yan didn't care about restraining himself at all.

"I've seen you before," Wen Xingze said with an impatient look, his eyes fixed on Chi Yan. "On the third battlefield, during the emergency evacuation..."

Chi Yan seemed to only be able to repeat one sentence: "Hello, please give the order."

Wen Xingze gradually grew irritated. His light-colored eyes seemed cold, full of inquiry and nitpicking. "There's no garbage dump in the Alliance? Why did they dump you here? Or are you an undercover agent?"

"Hello, please give the order."

"Your remaining parts and core chips can be disassembled and sold for quite a bit of money, enough to keep B18 and I alive for a few more months." B18 was the little robot that depended on Xia Huai for survival, but due to a program malfunction, B18 had fallen into an indefinite hibernation. "I've already contacted the vendor at the recycling station. If you have any last words, tell them now."

"Hello, please give the order."

The android still smiled.

“…” Wen Xingze could no longer endure it.

He reached out and grabbed the android's collar, asking him to stand up. His voice was filled with anger: "Get up! Don't play dumb! You—"

At this point in the script, Xia Huai's sudden outburst scared everyone. He was a moody young man.

Wen Xingze's explosive power was clearly sufficient, even astonishing, and the director couldn't help but lean back slightly. There was still a gap in acting between Wen Xingze and Chi Yan, but when the two acted together, Wen Xingze didn't lose out; they were surprisingly evenly matched.

However……

The nearly 1.9-meter-tall bionic man followed Wen Xingze's movements and stood up. He lowered his eyes and looked at Wen Xingze meekly and confusedly: "Sorry, please repeat yourself, I didn't understand your instructions."

Wen Xingze, who was barely 1.8 meters tall, had to look up at him: "..."

Wen Xingze immediately backed off: "...Forget it, sit down."

The momentum was gone in an instant.

This time the android understood and sat down obediently.

The two of them sat in silence.

The scene was very embarrassing for a while.

"...Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!" Everyone present couldn't help laughing. This scene was not in the script. Wen Xingze improvised it according to the actual situation.

——It is indeed a bit out of place to raise your head and make threats, but this improvisation is very interesting. Not only is it funny, it also makes the character of Xia Huai seem more likable.

The goal of "Dust Planet" was to be both critically and commercially successful. It was not a purely art film that was too highbrow for the general public, so these interspersed jokes were essential.

“…”

This entire segment is a confrontation between Xia Huai and the bionic man. Xia Huai, who originally planned to dismantle the bionic man and sell its parts and chips immediately, changed his mind during this scene and decided to keep the bionic man in his home to observe the situation for a month and let the bionic man work for him.

The audition between Wen Xingze and Chi Yan was a brilliant back-and-forth. Everyone in the room was riveted, and for a few minutes they even forgot it was an audition, watching with the same rapt attention as if it were a movie.

And just when Li Mingzhou was already very satisfied, there was actually the finishing touch at the end.

At the end of this scene, Xia Huai and the android, each with their own ulterior motives, temporarily decided to live together, and Xia Huai immediately began to boss the android around arrogantly:

"Wash my clothes later. I want to eat tomato omelet rice for dinner. When I come back, there must be no dust on the floor at home... Oh, right—"

As Wen Xingze spoke, he made a gesture to push the door open and walk out. The bionic man followed him awkwardly and walked to the door.

Wen Xingze showed his impatience again, so the android stopped following him and went back to his chores. Wen Xingze closed the door with one hand, reaching out to turn off the light out of habit, but quickly realized he didn't need to.

Xia Huai's left hand is a prosthetic limb. Wen Xingze curled up his index finger awkwardly and withdrew his hand.

Wen Xingze looked back, and the indifference and hostility in his amber eyes gradually faded in these few brief seconds.

The sky was dim, and a few rays of light shone into his pupils, reminding people that he was only in his twenties. If he had not joined the army and there was no war, he would have been just a child.

For a full three hundred days before today, apart from the AI ​​vendors the recycling station could contact through the Star Network, there had been no small talk, no communication, not even an argument... For a full three hundred days, no one had spoken a single word to him.

And today is Xia Huai's birthday.

Wen Xingze maintained an expressionless face, but when he stepped out of the door, his eyes suddenly turned red.

“…”

Li Mingzhou almost clapped his hands in admiration!

This final scene has no dialogue or monologue, but Wen Xingze's control of body language and micro-expressions is superb, especially the fluctuations and changes in his eyes. It's not overly exaggerated, even a little restrained, but just right to let people grasp those subtle emotions.

Even without any narration or plot explanation, this pantomime-like scene alone is enough to make one's heart ache! Li Mingzhou can already imagine how this segment will be edited. Just simple rendering and background music are needed, and it can be a killing spree...

Because of the character setting, Xia Huai, the protagonist, is quite unlikable in the early stages before the plot unfolds. He seems less than outstanding, a bit petty, and has a bad temper, which makes it even more challenging for the actor to have a solid foundation and expressiveness.

This is also one of the reasons why Li Mingzhou has not decided on the candidate yet.

"...Good!" Li Mingzhou gave this evaluation, but due to his identity, he could not give more praise.

After watching this performance, everyone present had basically made a decision and judgment in their hearts. Li Mingzhou turned his head to talk to the assistant director and screenwriter for a few seconds, then waved to Wen Xingze and said:

"Xiao Wen, this audition was quite unexpected. Thank you for your hard work. Your expressiveness is indeed very strong. We would like to try another segment. Is that okay?"

Wen Xingze was slowly coming out of the role. Just now, his whole condition was incredibly good, almost back to the peak state when filming "Meeting the Dragon Night". Not to mention the bystanders, even he himself could not recover for a long time.

Wen Xingze was stunned when he heard Li Mingzhou's words as soon as he woke up. He had come here with the mentality of giving it a try, just as a practice, because he really didn't expect that the famous director Li Mingzhou would really take a fancy to him and give him the leading role directly.

But it looks like there's something going on...

Muse Empire, in the center of an asteroid belt.

This massive structure, its interior divided into four hundred and fifty small laboratories, like a honeycomb. Unlike the naturally occurring sky cities inhabited by the Feathered Tribe, this structure was entirely man-made. It hovered in the center of the universe, unaided by any starships, platforms, or space stations, and was one of the greatest marvels of space architecture.

It belonged to the great scientist of the dwarfs.

At this moment, the same sentence appeared on all four hundred and fifty floating translucent screens:

"The task of showing off your kids hasn't been completed yet, but you're just a little bit away from getting the reward. Parents, please keep working hard~"

Unlike the main and side quests they'd completed before, this hidden "Show Your Baby" quest didn't have a clear goal. Just now, from the moment the baby ate the lollipop to the audition, the progress bar indicating the completion of the quest had been moving forward, but it eventually got stuck at 99% and stopped.

According to their understanding, Char and the producer's introduction of the baby was obviously a "show-off", but other than that, the other criteria were unclear. Because they couldn't explain it clearly, they didn't know how to complete the task.

This made the parents feel puzzled and a little anxious.

The little robots moved dejectedly between the labs, repeatedly sounding prompts:

"Unfinished..."

"Mission unfinished, mission unfinished..."

At the heart of all the labs was a bedroom. It was filled with quilts. Expensive and rare soft fabrics served as quilts in every lab throughout the building, not just this one. These items seemed out of place in the technologically advanced labs, clearly not intended for the dwarfs, who had minimal sleep needs.

Many years ago, when His Majesty came here for an inspection and visit, he fell asleep because he was too sleepy to lean directly on the cold experimental equipment. Two red marks were left on his cheeks by the instruments, which looked pitiful and cute.

...It was also at that time that the great dwarf scientist who lived here finally realized how boring his research was for the kids.

Since then, bedding and quilts have been provided in every laboratory.

At this moment, a little boy emerged from the quilt in the middle of the bedroom. All the little robots immediately swarmed over, their anxious notifications chirping one after another:

"The mission is not completed" "Not completed" "The mission..."

"Shut up."

The boy finally murmured his first words.

The little robots fell silent immediately.

The boy wore a mask, revealing only a pair of displeased eyes. His black curly hair was tied back in a small tuft. Like all dwarfs, his skin was the pale color of years without seeing the sun, which made his emerald eyes almost terrifying.

"……waste."

The boy mumbled a second sentence.

This wasn't about the robot, of course, but the elf priest who loved to show off. He was so incompetent, so incompetent he couldn't even complete the task of showing off his baby. The boy thought, "Maybe I should go myself."

Of course he definitely didn't mean to be jealous.

The only good thing is that it looks like Zizi has basically gotten the character for "Dust Planet", which means that they can definitely get the extra rewards for the hidden missions...

"Hello," the boy called the elf that the dwarf hated directly, "Listen to me..."

Char hung up the call directly.

boy:"……"

"It's rude."

The boy continued to mumble listlessly.

In this case, he can only use his own method.

A light screen unfolded in front of the boy. His fingers were very tender, white, even chubby, but he wrote code more quickly than the most skilled programmer.

On other screens, scenes from the "Cub Development Program" unfolded. In the audition process for "Dust Planet", the additional test for the cubs had already begun.

Wen Xingze's performance in the audition pleased both the screenwriter and director. The additional audition was the final hurdle in determining whether he would ultimately secure the role. In other words, it was a further test of his compatibility with the character of Char, as well as Wen Xingze's other abilities, such as his adaptability and dialogue delivery.

“…”

Inside the crew office.

Model worker Chi Yan was called out again to watch the audition of the young actors.

"Does anyone have any suggestions for additional content for the test?" Li Mingzhou asked the screenwriter and producer, "It can't be a talent show, right?"

The screenwriter suddenly had an idea and asked Wen Xingze: "If you were Xia Huai, and you had an AI that depended on you for survival, how would you wake him up?"

Xia Huai's AI in "Dust Planet", who is the young actor found in this audition, is a very important part of the plot and theme.

Wen Xingze had never thought about this question.

He thought hard for several seconds, and under everyone's expectant gaze, he said: "...'Hey, Siri?'"

Everyone: “???”

And, the next second after Wen Xingze finished speaking.

Everyone in the office lit up their phone screens.

A childish voice rang out from all directions, its voice was childish, but its tone was like a parent's indulgence towards a child:

"Can I help you, cub?"

“…”

"Cub Development Plan".

All parents suddenly discovered that the progress bar of the task of showing off their children, which was stuck at 99%, finally moved forward one more step at this moment.

...Mission, successful?