Am I really hallucinating?

Chapter 397 Rehearsal
"You scared me to death! When did you come out... By the way, is it okay for you to be here without protective clothing?" Zhang Xue jumped and put some distance between herself and the person who suddenly appeared next to her.

Shang Xia didn't pay much attention to her somewhat exaggerated behavior, but turned to look at Liu Qingcong: "How did it go?"

Liu Qingcong looked at the black branch in the container: "The chances of successfully tracking it using this thing are slim. This thing isn't part of the other party; it's just something they passed down. If left unattended, it might turn into another illusion in Dadu."

"Then it's yours to leave." Shang Xia's words were brief, and after receiving the reply, he did not question it and directly decided who should own it.

"I understand. What's next?" Liu Qingcong asked.

"Go to Nolan." Shang Xia turned around and walked straight out the door.

Liu Qingcong and Zhang Xue watched her retreating figure...

"Are you going to walk there?" Zhang Xue asked after considering it for a moment.

Shang Xia paused, then turned around: "Is that not allowed?"

"Do you know how far Jiangwen Street is from Nolan Street?" Zhang Xue noticed that this important figure from the core area seemed to lack common sense.

"I don't know, is it impossible to get there?" Shang Xia asked.

Zhang Xue looked at Liu Qingcong.

Liu Qingcong said, "What are you standing there for? Lead the way."

……

Nolan Street was flooded with people today, and the authorities and police were already busy before the show officially began.

They conducted intensive patrols for some time before and after the performance. In the current situation, even the smallest theft could land you in jail for several days.

This also made some people who were hoping for a lucky break realize that this time, the majority were serious.

Especially around the Nolan Street Central Stadium, a large number of people roam the area every day. To prevent criminals from installing anything dangerous there in advance, the stadium is inspected multiple times a day.

At first, the staff from various production companies in the stadium who were in charge of preparing for the performance wondered if this was a bit too paranoid.

As a result, more than 30 dangerous explosive devices were directly identified in one day. The combined yield might be difficult to blow up the stadium, but it would be more than enough to collapse half of it.

Now no one dared to criticize the arrangements made by the police and the handling department; they simply had to cooperate fully.

Meanwhile, small-scale frictions and conflicts have also occurred in places that many people have not noticed.

Some gangs' operations were exposed in advance and they were caught on the spot by the authorities. Of course, at such a critical time, they were mostly too lazy to detain them. After a brief interrogation, if they had a bad attitude, they were executed directly.

Detention? Detention is actually provided for people with less serious offenses.

If we were to arrest them all and execute them in the autumn, the workload would be enormous, and there might not be enough places to hold them.

However, these matters are handled very discreetly. In the eyes of ordinary residents, apart from the frequent sight of patrol personnel on the streets recently, the public security is excellent, and they can't help but think how wonderful it would be if it could remain like this in the future.

At this moment, the final rehearsal is underway in the central stadium.

The massive stadium, normally large enough to hold 100,000 people, added extra seating on this occasion to maximize the use of space. The seating was already divided into sections.

Although the performance is being held in the grey neighborhood, ticket sales will still need to protect the interests of grey neighborhood residents. Despite the ongoing online debate about the venue, if ticket sales were completely liberalized, the percentage of tickets ultimately ending up in the hands of grey neighborhood residents would be almost negligible.

The people in the white world are honest and upright, and they will definitely scramble for all the tickets, making scalpers in the white world a fortune.

A large portion of the tickets were reserved for randomly selected earthquake refugees, since the performance was originally intended for them.

The stadium's sound system resonated with rhythmic and exciting melodies. As the song ended, the members of the monastery band concluded their rehearsal.

The other musicians around looked at these young people, the oldest of whom were no more than twenty years old, with various expressions.

Although it was a joint performance, the Monastery Band was still the main performer, taking up almost half the time. To put it bluntly, while they were there to ride the wave of popularity, they were also there to support this emerging band.

"Was that a new song? I don't think I've heard it in their previous performances," a fair-skinned and beautiful female singer asked curiously.

“Yes, I heard they changed most of the setlist at the last minute,” a band nearby responded.

"This is outrageous! How many songs do they actually have? Just in these few performances over the past three months, they've come up with new songs every time. Apart from a few signature tracks, half of their songs have been changed to new ones for different performances. And the quality isn't low either, but this time it's going to be even more outrageous," a male singer who looked quite fashionable and trendy exclaimed, pinching his nose.

"It's normal for them to benefit from this wave of traffic," a middle-aged man said with a smile. He was well-maintained, and the slight wrinkles on his face made him look more mature.

Many people joined the Grey Street performance with trepidation. Apart from some who genuinely wanted to do something for the people in the disaster as musicians, most of them naturally wanted to ride the wave of popularity.

Finding out that you're just playing a supporting role can be quite disheartening.

But after spending the last few days in contact with the monastery orchestra about the performance, that feeling of jealousy and displeasure gradually faded.

There's not much to say. Even if the monastery band offered to switch their positions, no one else would dare to accept.

Long-term offline performances are physically demanding, not to mention the commitment to perform multiple new songs. Just look at that song they just performed – it was a high-energy, all-around technical showcase. If they were to perform several more of those at such a high intensity, most of them would probably be exhausted on stage.

But none of the five members of the monastery band blushed or broke a sweat.

They were all industry insiders, and they had already felt the terrifying strength of these young people.

"It's just one song now, don't let us break down and make us go up and fill in later." However, there were still some stubborn people.

"We'll see how things develop then. They're doing really well so far. There's been a steady stream of musicians emerging from the grey neighborhoods in recent years, which is a good thing," said the man who had praised the Monastery band earlier, his tone calm.

As a renowned veteran musician, he has long been semi-retired. He hasn't held a concert in a long time, and now he only participates in response to calls for action. He doesn't care much about popularity or anything like that. Instead, he's more interested in discovering talented younger musicians. At least after experiencing the Monastery Band's strength live, he has been captivated by these young people.

“I just can’t stand the people in the gray neighborhood,” someone muttered.

But no one around him responded to that, or rather, no one dared to respond.

Discrimination is unacceptable, especially in a performance setting like this.

If someone with ulterior motives records it and releases it, it will become a huge scandal.

Doris and her group sat down in a row below the stage, took the water handed to them by Tickman, and then watched the rest of the rehearsal.

"You're in good shape, but it would be even better if you could tell me about the bureau's matters earlier next time," Tickman said with a hint of helplessness.

What happened to being a music manager? Why is he suddenly being asked to meet with the authorities? What do you mean they might be planning something big during the concert?
"Excuse me. How's the setup at the venue?" Doris offered a small apology before turning to ask about other arrangements.

“The authorities don’t recommend you do this. They said they will guarantee the safety of the performance and that the stadium won’t be scratched in the slightest. I personally think it’s unnecessary,” Tickman said first.

Doris said, “No, it’s necessary. This is a performance to comfort refugees, and everyone who comes is an audience member, regardless of the form they take. Of course, some audience members are indeed too enthusiastic and restless. That’s why I hope to calm them down completely, and this is also for the fairness of all the audience members.”

Listening to Doris's seemingly casual yet subtly chilling words, Tickman felt a chill run down his spine.

Translated, doesn't that mean "she's going to personally deal with those who dare to cause trouble"?

No wonder he's the No. 1 from that monastery.

“I know, so we cooperated with them, and they cooperated with us. Even if it wasn’t necessary, they prepared according to our needs. I just didn’t expect them to be able to achieve such a complicated result,” Tickman added, finishing what he hadn’t said earlier.

"Yes, thank you for your help, Mr. Tickman."

“It’s nothing.” Tickman shrugged and took a sip of his water. “After all, in a sense, this performance is also for Biddock.”

Everyone watched the rehearsal performance on stage, ready to go.

(End of this chapter)