On my second playthrough, they were full of malice towards me.

The hearts and philosophical symbols aren't displaying, I'm so annoyed.

Chapter 286 The actresses you're referring to are them?

Welcome to the Magic City Morning News. Let's take a look at the latest news from Magic City yesterday.

The House of Representatives is drafting a bill on the legality of monster marriages. If passed, the bill could allow low-intelligence races such as slimes, goblins, and tentacle octopuses to become spouses and grant them citizenship rights. According to a preliminary vote, female citizens of the Demon City have a 61% approval rating.

The Demi-human Mutual Aid Association, founded by prominent demi-human senator Kami, announced a five-year donation and supplies assistance program for the "Sealed City." The Sealed City is the world's first city jointly governed by two countries, a collaboration between the Demon City and the Dragon Kingdom. This could be a landmark step in international cooperation and also represents a significant breakthrough in the demi-human liberation movement facilitated by the Demon City.

The Gomodo case entered its third trial, with the Senate upholding the second-instance verdict. This highly controversial outcome has sparked heated debate, raising the question of whether interracial homosexual acts performed by transgender individuals are legal.

[Keltech, a Fortune Global 100 company and a leading enterprise in the weapons and security industry, has officially declared bankruptcy and dissolution. At the same time, several companies and conglomerates within the Machine Alliance have announced that they will hand over more than 50% of their supply chain to the federal government for oversight. The Machine Alliance may be returning to the era of AI-driven government.]

[Lord Reina posted an update stating that she will be meeting with friends soon and will be taking a temporary leave of absence, no longer attending parliamentary or other administrative meetings. The mysterious "Lord's friend" quickly became the top trending topic among the Demon City's residents, with many expressing their heartbreak in the comments.]

[Last night, Magic City Media released a trailer for a new movie, adapted from the famous novel "The Enchanting Body" into a live-action series. However, according to a reporter's investigation, the film has a 86% "rotten strawberry" rating, indicating that Magic City Media's reputation may have completely collapsed. Many Hollywood stars have told their fans that their schedules are already full and they will not accept Magic City Media's filming invitations.]

The Demon City is far from the Mechanical Alliance; even with the high-speed aircraft of the Quess Group, it took them two days and two nights to arrive.

Liao Ji turned off the television and looked out the window of the aircraft at the enormous city below.

Unlike Dream City, a technologically advanced city with towering skyscrapers everywhere, resembling a steel forest, Demon City, in Liao Ji's opinion, felt more like the modern city he knew from Earth.

There are tall buildings, but not many. The sky is very clean, with no tracks or similar structures. You can also see what looks like a river running through the city and lots of greenery.

Of course, the most eye-catching thing is the towering, most prominent tower located in the very center of the city, which is also the core of the Demon City and where Lena resides—the Demon Tower.

Thanks to the connections with the Quess Group, Liao Ji and his group easily passed through security and entered the core area of ​​the Demon City.

Liao Ji skipped the usual activities like visiting the Magic City or having tea at the Quess Group. He and Luo Xiaoji, who were equally eager, headed straight for the Magic City Media's filming base.

Since all the arrangements had been made on board the aircraft, the filming process could be started immediately upon landing. All the relevant photographers, script supervisors, and directors were in place and ready to start filming at any time. After all, Luo Xiaoji was considered the son of the Kuis Group, so they had to give him some face.

However, judging from the demeanor of these media staff, many of them seemed listless and unenthusiastic, likely due to the public backlash. MoCheng Media's reputation was indeed in dire straits; not only the public but even its own staff had lost trust in it, adopting a perfunctory attitude that it would only produce bad films.

"Brother Luo, I've missed you so much! You just got off the plane, why don't you rest for a bit? I've arranged for you to get our favorite massage, the number three technician this time, the one who graduated from law school, Roger."

A sycophantic supervisor, upon seeing Luo Xiaoji, eagerly swarmed around her, rubbing his hands together and casting suggestive glances at her.

Upon hearing this, Luo Xiaoji blushed slightly, then scolded him sternly: "What are you doing! First of all, this is working time, you should call me Director Luo. Secondly, stop doing this nonsense in the future, we need to focus on filming!"

"Okay, okay, Brother Luo, oh no, look at my clumsy tongue, okay, Director Luo."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, seeing Luo Xiaoji's serious expression, the supervisor also became more composed. Since the topic of making a serious film had come up, a hint of worry appeared on his face, and he whispered to Luo Xiaoji:

"Director Luo, Director Mellon is also here. He came because of Chairman Diane. They're casting actors right now, but all the actors who came are third or fourth-tier ones. There aren't any big names. Even those we made famous before are now refusing us because of scheduling conflicts. They're really damned! These ingrates!"

Director Mellon is very famous in the film industry of Magic City. He has made many famous blockbusters and was even invited by the people of Dream City to participate in the production of Fantasy. The famous Fantasy "The Succubus's Bionic Hell" was assisted by Director Mellon.

But at this moment, the famous director of the magic city frowned and sighed repeatedly in front of the casting stage.

the reason is simple.

There were simply no suitable actors.

The novel "The Enchanted Body" is a science fiction novel based on the story of the Ash Emperor and his four bodyguards. Because of this, the requirements for the actors are quite high. After all, they are playing a "supreme" being, which requires extremely superb acting skills to barely be able to do it.

However, because of the poor reputation of Magic City Media, those talented and skilled actors didn't dare to come. As for the remaining third- and fourth-tier actors, Mellon watched them several times and could only say one word: terrible.

He didn't even pursue the actors' ability to portray the aura of an emperor's personal guard. As for acting skills, these young actors simply didn't meet his requirements.

"Down!", "Next!", "This one won't do!", "Change!"

After filtering out another batch of auditioning actors, director Mellon began to regret his decision. If he hadn't owed Chairman Diane a huge favor, he wouldn't have taken over this doomed project.

Filming hasn't even started yet, and just as he expected, they can't even find actors who fit the characters in the play.

Just then, footsteps came from outside the door. Director Mellon went over and saw Liao Ji and Luo Xiaoji's group arriving.

Upon seeing this playboy, Director Mellon didn't give Luo Xiaoji a warm welcome. Given his reputation and status, he really didn't need to. On the contrary, Luo Xiaoji was very excited and enthusiastic when he saw that his sister had actually invited such a famous director from Magic City to help him.

After a few polite exchanges, Luo Xiaoji got straight to the point and talked about the issue of actors.

"To be honest, Director Mei, I have already finalized the cast."

Director Mellon was stunned for a moment, wondering if he had misheard. After Luo Xiaoji repeated it, he frowned. He was probably in his forties, and his already somewhat wrinkled and weathered face now showed an even worse expression.

Finding actors is such a big deal, and it's only been less than two days, right?

If it were anyone else, Mellon would probably have slammed his fist on the table and stormed out. But this big director suppressed his anger. He didn't believe Luo Xiaoji at all, but he did believe Luo Xiaoji's sister, assuming that Diane had found another big-name foreign actress from somewhere.

“Xiao Ji, your sister helped me a lot when I was in my most difficult time, so now I treat you like my own apprentice. The casting for this drama is different from others. It has extremely high requirements for the actors. We have to consider many aspects, such as appearance, expression, temperament, and even the actor's personality. We can't be so hasty.”

"I know Director Mei. Just look at them and you'll see. They're just as I feel, absolutely perfect for each other!"

Seeing Luo Xiaoji's persistence, Mellon sighed inwardly and had no choice but to be more patient and see which celebrities Luo Xiaoji had invited.

however

The next moment, as Luo Xiaoji stepped aside, director Mellon noticed Liao Ji and the five "female assistants" behind him, and Mellon looked puzzled.

"You mean the actresses?"

Chapter 287 Fortunately, the female assistant beside Brother Liao was still a normal person.

"That's right! Director Mei, with my friend Liao and her girlfriend, cough cough, and female assistants around, we don't need to worry about those celebrities' moods. I think my friends are perfectly capable!"

Hearing this arrangement, which seemed like a joke, director Mellon was initially furious. Even if he didn't give Diane face, he still had to reprimand Luo Xiaoji, this rich kid.

However, when he really focused his gaze on Liao Ji and the others...

Mellon's inner thoughts underwent a subtle change.

He didn't pay much attention to Liao Ji, after all, the male lead in this drama was actually the easiest to play, since he wore a cloak the whole time and anyone could play the male lead.

The challenge lies in finding the leading ladies for Lu Lian. As for the five female assistants around Liao Ji, director Mellon was immediately struck by their beauty. He had seen quite a few actresses, but there were very few who could make him pause for a moment like this. Yet, three of the five were stunning.

They were indeed beautiful, but beauty was secondary. Director Mellon always felt that there was something indescribable about these three women.

As stunning as they were, Mellon, as a great director, quickly recovered. These actors recommended by Luo Xiaoji had passed the first hurdle of appearance, but the real core was their subsequent acting skills.

No matter how beautiful or elegant she is, it's useless if she can't portray the emperor's personal guards well and can't capture their essence.

It wasn't hard to tell which roles these people played. Director Mellon quickly focused his attention on Jiu You, whose most distinctive features were dragon horns on his head, clearly indicating that he was a demi-human.

The news from the Demon City reveals that it is a very inclusive, free, and diverse place. People of many different races from all over the continent can be seen in the Demon City, and even monsters can be found there. Therefore, although the dragon-human demi-humans are rare, they did not surprise director Mellon too much.

What he cared more about was whether the dragon-human demi-human in front of him could play the role of the emperor's dragon maiden bodyguard well in the drama.

"Your name is Xiao You, right?" Director Mellon flipped through Xiao You's resume and his lips twitched slightly when he saw that her acting experience was completely blank.

But that's alright, he quickly asked again: "First, tell me your own understanding of the character of the Dragon Girl in the play."

Seeing that Jiu You remained silent, Director Mellon assumed that the newcomer was nervous, so he comforted her by reminding her:

"Alright, let me start with you. Your resume says you're Dr. Liao Ji's female assistant, so you should at least have some knowledge of ancient studies. The Dragon Girl was once the Emperor's top combatant, possessing the strongest martial arts skills."

"Her role should be that of a bodyguard, so if I were to play her, I would portray her absolute loyalty to the Emperor, never leaving his side. At the same time, the character should also be cold and taciturn, so as to highlight her composure and single-mindedness, so that she would not be disturbed by any external things, making her the most qualified warrior."

"Alright, I've finished explaining my understanding of the Dragon Girl. Now it's your turn."

After Director Mellon patiently finished speaking, Jiu You remained silent, not even glancing at the renowned director.

Seeing this, Luo Xiaoji panicked a bit and quickly gave Liao Ji a look, urging him to keep an eye on his female assistant. Even if she wasn't talkative, he should at least give Director Mellon some face and show her some respect.

Liao Ji shook his head and did not intervene. After all, if even Jiu You felt that this so-called director Mellon was unsuitable, then Liao Ji thought that the director could get lost.

On the other hand, seeing that the dragon-human demi-human in front of him was not responding for a long time, even director Mellon, with his good temper, was starting to get angry.

"Miss Xiaoyou, I'll repeat myself, if you..."

Before Director Mellon could finish speaking in his less-than-friendly tone, Jiu You seemed to lose her patience, shifting her gaze and giving Director Mellon a cold glance with her pale purple dragon eyes.

All three women concealed their auras; otherwise, even an ordinary person would not be able to withstand a single glance from "Supreme." Yet, even so, the moment he truly met Jiu You's gaze, Director Mellon froze on the spot. In his eyes, it was as if a giant dragon with wings that blotted out the sky swept across his heart. The shocking and terrifying feeling was so intense that when he came to his senses, he found that his back was covered in cold sweat, his hands and feet were ice-cold, and he was even trembling uncontrollably.

Only Mellon himself could sense the tension in their eye contact. To outsiders, Mellon appeared to be trembling, as if he were being infuriated by Jiu You's aloof attitude.

Luo Xiaoji's heart sank, and he quickly went over with a forced smile to smooth things over.

"Director Mei, uh, calm down. She's a newcomer, and that's just her personality. I'll have Brother Liao talk to Xiao You more. Let's..."

Before Luo Xiaoji could finish speaking, director Mellon interrupted him, his voice slightly incoherent with excitement, and said:

"Perfect! Absolutely perfect!"

"That's it, that's the feeling, it's amazing! Absolutely amazing!"

"Huh?" Luo Xiaoji was a little dumbfounded.

As a result, director Mellon shoved Luo Xiaoji aside, then rushed to Jiu You with a look of surprise, as if he had discovered a "treasure".

"Xiao You, congratulations! You've been hired!"

"Hold on, you absolutely must maintain this feeling! The character of the Dragon Girl is practically designed just for you!"

Seeing how much Director Mellon praised Jiu You, Luo Xiaoji was bewildered. He had only felt that they clicked, but he never expected that Liao Ji's Xiao You would receive such high praise from Director Mellon.

Meanwhile, Ling, standing beside Liao Ji, couldn't help but speak up at the sight:

"Dr. Liao Ji, this human director doesn't seem very bright. I doubt whether he can meet your filming needs."

Although Zero was speaking to Liao Ji, he did not deliberately lower his voice, and almost everyone present could hear him.

Daring to say that director Mellon wasn't very smart, and mocking the most famous director in Magic City, many people in Magic City Media gasped, as did Luo Xiaoji, whose heart, which had just relaxed, immediately jumped back up.

Luo Xiaoji was now incredibly frustrated. What were these female assistants working for Liao Ji all like? One was extremely cold and aloof, and now there was another one who was constantly sarcastic and sarcastic. This was going to be difficult...

Is this going to be difficult?

Director Mellon was indeed distracted by Zero's words, and when he met Zero's gaze, the way Zero looked at him like trash, the feeling of a foolish carbon-based life form, instantly shocked Director Mellon once again.

Like.

so similar!

The mechanical maid who is utterly useless except for the emperor was portrayed to the fullest extent.

"Great! That's fantastic! You've been accepted too! We've secured two roles right away, leaving only the last and simplest one: the nun. Compared to the other two, this role is much simpler, with less complicated character traits. If we're really going to have to find someone to play it, it's not a bad idea. We might even be able to start filming today! Great, fantastic!"

No more.