146: Chapter 146 A Different Time and Space

Zhao Yang couldn't get anything out of him, so he let it go. He figured the person must be a supporting character from some drama. Just like when he first met Meimei, he thought she looked familiar. After knowing her for a while, he realized she was close friends with Guan Zhizhi. Then he remembered that Meimei was a member of the bridesmaid group in the scene where Guan Zhizhi and Zhou Shihui got their marriage certificates in the show.

Just as he thought of Meimei, she called, her voice trembling: "Brother Yang, I'm scared. I want to go abroad to hide for a while."

Zhao Yang was stunned. Tomorrow Culture was currently at its peak in the entertainment industry; what could possibly scare Meimei like this? He frowned: "What happened? Don't worry, take your time."

"Brother Yang! Did you forget? Today is the first part of the finale of 'spirit cage', and Ran Bing is going to shatter!"

Zhao Yang realized, then couldn't help but laugh out loud.

A knife! It's going to be a knife!

He had actually underestimated the difficulty of producing 'spirit cage'. Initially, he only thought the hardware foundation wouldn't be difficult for him, and costs and craftsmanship weren't issues either.

But once the hardware conditions were in place, he discovered that the real bottleneck was talent. When the project started in 2002, there weren't many people in the entire country who professionally made 3D animation, let alone using a completely new technical System.

Ark Animation, a subsidiary of Tomorrow Culture, could only resort to bluffing and deceiving a group of recent college graduates—some from fine arts, some from Computer Science, and others from hardware design. They also hired a few young people from Hollywood who were quick to accept new things, managing to cobble together a makeshift team. Starting from scratch, learning while doing, it took three years to barely finish 'spirit cage', and another year of polishing before it was broadcast.

The long development time had one benefit—a whole set of peripheral products, including figures and synchronized manga, were all prepared in advance and pushed to the market all at once this year.

Hard work paid off, and it became an instant hit.

The audience had never seen such exquisite visuals or such a mind-blowing plot. Manga books and figures also sold like crazy.

Then, as it aired, keen-eyed viewers noticed something was wrong.

The situation wasn't right; why was the plot sliding toward a tragedy?

Last year, Zhao Ling'er, played by Huang Yimei, had just died among the flowers. Now, only a few days into the new year, they were going to keep using the knife?

Mark has already turned into a monster; is Ran Bing going to die with him? Is this damn Ark Animation tired of living?

Send razor blades!

On the other end of the phone, Meimei's voice was almost tearful: "Brother Yang! Can we change the plot? Can we not let Mark absorb Ran Bing into stone? Or at least don't let Ran Bing be shattered by a single shot! Isn't that total annihilation of body and soul? Leaving not even a shred of hope?"

The corner of Zhao Yang's mouth quirked up: "Not a single bit can be changed. Don't worry, once Boss Bai appears in the second part of the finale, she will suppress all the nonsense. By the way, is Rose's synchronized Bai Yuekui MV finished?"

"It's finished."

"After the last episode airs, release it across the entire internet immediately."

"Okay... but Brother Yang, are you sure you won't reconsider? Actually, Ark secretly made three different endings."

"No. If you dare change the ending, I'll disband Ark tomorrow." Zhao Yang sneered. "If you don't break people's hearts, what do I need you for?"

Meimei sighed: "Then... alright."

Putting down his phone, Zhao Yang burst into laughter.

A knife? This is just the beginning. The second season has even sharper knives.

The next day, Zhao Yang went to the Party School for training in a pleasant mood. He hadn't watched a single minute of 'spirit cage' last night. He had been knifed once before; now that he had undergone Transmigration, seeking out heartbreak would just be masochistic.

Although he wasn't knifed, he was complained to by Gao Qilan, Huang Yimei, and Bai Xiaohe in turn. These three were all die-hard fans of 'spirit cage' and loved Ran Bing to death. When Ran Bing shattered, all three cried their eyes out. Zhao Yang spent over two hours on the phone coaxing them one by one before they finally settled down.

Perhaps because this little butterfly, Zhao Yang, kept flapping his wings, he gradually felt that the Dragon Country in this space-time was becoming more and more different from the original one. The hull of the varyag in the Dalian Shipyard had begun reconstruction after only being there for a few years. Judging by certain photos, he estimated that the big guy could be finished before the Olympics. This moved up the time for the Dragon Country to possess an aircraft carrier by several years.

Furthermore, the discussion of "eight J-8s for one F-22" never appeared on military forums.

Although "eight for one" showed a tragic determination not to give up, it wasn't actually realistic. The F-22 entered service in the second half of 2005, while in the original space-time's Dragon Country, the J-10 had officially entered service in 2004, and the J-11B had also begun entering the military. If they really had to fight the F-22, these two vanguards of third-generation fighters would be the ones to go; it would never be the turn of the J-8 II, the protagonist of "eight for one."

In this space-time, the J-10's service date was a full year earlier, and even the B-model is in service now. As for the Flanker series, there were a ton of them, all looking similar, and Zhao Yang couldn't tell them apart.

However, he had seen a few other blurry photos—that was a terrifying thing!

The forums all said it was fake, but Zhao Yang knew that thing was definitely real. If they were aggressive, it might even be officially revealed during the 2009 parade. When that thing flies over the Imperial Capital, whether it's the Dragon Country's military fans or the Bear Country's military fans, they'll likely all have expressions like they're constipated.

Thinking about these random things, Zhao Yang walked into the Party School and began his cross-departmental transfer training. Moving from the Public Security sector to the Procuratorate was equivalent to moving from a public institution to a government organ, so he had to relearn all the relevant laws and regulations. Fortunately, his talent for Photographic Memory was no joke, and combined with his 8 points of intelligence, learning was effortless; the few days of training felt like a relaxation.

The process at the NPC side was also going smoothly. It happened to coincide with a batch of cadres reaching their term limits, with some being promoted and others transferred. Zhao Yang's name was tucked in the middle, and without looking closely, one wouldn't notice anything special.

But city secretary Song Siming saw the clues. As a veteran secretary, he looked at things much more meticulously than others. After the meeting, he followed Mayor Zhang and asked in a low voice: "Mayor, was the cadre appointment list typed incorrectly?"

Mayor Zhang was taken aback: "How could such a thing be wrong?"

Song Siming pointed to Zhao Yang's name on the printed paper: "Look, Zhao Yang, age 29, Deputy Department level. Could the age column have a '3' typed as a '2'?"

Mayor Zhang couldn't help but laugh: "It's not a typo. Zhao Yang is 29, not 39."

Song Siming looked puzzled: "This... this age... he is..."

Seeing him stammer, Mayor Zhang laughed even more heartily: "You don't understand, do you? I won't spoil it. When you get off work, go check Zhao Yang's resume yourself. This Little Zhao is not simple."

After work, Song Siming began checking Zhao Yang's information with a head full of confusion. He had always followed the secretary path and was currently Mayor Zhang's dedicated secretary. Mayor Zhang focused on urban development and medical health, so he, as a secretary, didn't know much about the Public Security and Procuratorate Systems. If he hadn't noticed that Zhao Yang's age was unexpectedly young today, he wouldn't have paid much attention to the personnel changes in the Procuratorate's new institution.

Song Siming had always been regarded as a rising star in officialdom—42 years old, Deputy Department level, with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a very dignified air.

He always felt that even if he wasn't at the absolute ceiling for his age group, he was at least in the first tier. He didn't expect a 29-year-old Deputy Department level official to suddenly appear, and in a position of real power in the Procuratorate.

Who on earth was this Zhao Yang?