After a while, the two who had nearly come to blows were pulled apart by the troupe members. Only after earnest persuasion did they sit back down at the same table.
"Actually, I think the waltz isn't suitable for performance at the Carnevale."
Brant's statement immediately drew agreement from Roccia and Noah. Carlotta huffed, crossing her arms and turning her head away, which counted as tacit acceptance.
"Then what should we perform?"
Roccia, sitting on Pero's lap, counted on her fingers and cautiously spoke up:
"We need a performance that is novel enough to capture the public's attention."
Brant lowered his head in thought and offered his opinion:
"It can't resemble any existing performances in Ragunna. It would be best if it's a form of performance that Ragunna has never seen before."
Carlotta also fell into thought, carefully considering before speaking:
"If this performance comes from the outside world, that would be even better. It can arouse the people's longing for the outside world, which would benefit the family's private terminal sales."
As they spoke, the three's gazes turned toward Noah in unison.
"Why are you looking at me?"
Noah leaned back sharply, nearly flipping his chair over:
"My hometown does have many excellent entertainment works, but I can't bring those things here—I don't even have a phone!"
Wait—
A flash of inspiration struck Noah's mind.
It seems... it's not impossible.
Switch character—Encore!
He pressed his palms together, his brain frantically imagining the shapes of Blue Star creations:
MP3, MP4, MP5...
Phone, computer, generator...
QQ Music, KuGou Music, NetEase Cloud Music...
Microphone, speakers, DJ turntable...
Stopping the imagination, Noah looked at the large pile of Blue Star technological creations that had appeared out of thin air on the table, and his spirits immediately lifted!
Hold on, since it's already like this, why not go further?
He closed his eyes again, outlining the images of various powerful characters in his mind:
Cartethyia with six chains! Augusta with six chains! Iuno with six chains! Galbrena with six chains! Chisa with six chains! Qiuyuan with six chains!
[Detected illegal cheat invasion, performing self-check.]
[Lost illegally obtained six-chain Cartethyia, Augusta, Iuno...]
[Character "Encore" has been banned for using cheats and illegal plugins. Remaining time: 6 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes.]
"Stingy cheat system."
Forced to interrupt his thoughts, Noah opened the panel and, sure enough, found an attachment in his mailbox: a cheat compensation email with 1600 Astrite.
Accepting the email, he tugged at the corner of his mouth:
"Fine, happy cheating every day."
Pulling his attention back from the panel, everyone at the table looked in surprise as they cautiously picked up the various finely crafted technological items.
Carlotta picked up a small square device:
"Tall Chestnut, what is this?"
"MP3."
Roccia picked up a slightly larger square device with a screen:
"Then what is this?"
"MP4."
Brant picked up an assault rifle and quickly answered:
"I know, I know—this one's an MP5, right?"
"Good guess. No more guessing next time."
Noah's eyelid twitched as he hurriedly put the gun back into his backpack, a confident smile spreading across his face:
"The laureate is ours! I said it—even the Sentinel can't stop us!"
If he, with access to the entire Blue Star entertainment treasury, couldn't win the laureate at a small Carnevale, he might as well smash his head on a block of tofu.
He opened his phone—no internet.
He opened his computer—no internet.
Noah's breathing suddenly quickened, his blood pressure soaring. He bought a batch of tofu from the panel shop and, without a word, started slapping it on his head.
"Hey, hey! Tall Chestnut, what are you doing?"
"Brother, what shocked you?!"
"Doctor Noah, don't do this."
In the ensuing chaos, the box's Tacet Discord—Pero—accidentally stepped on the MP4's button, and a cheerful rhythm instantly blared through the speakers, echoing throughout the entire underground cavern.
"A congratulations, it's a celebration. Party all day, I know you've been waitin~"
"A congratulations, it's a celebration. I just wanna tell you that I think that you're amazing~"
In just a few short seconds, everyone who had been in a panicked mess froze in unison.
Noah: "Do MP4s come with a built-in music library these days?"
Carlotta: "This is the entertainment work from Jinzhou's side? Worthy of being a product from the outside world."
Brant: "Unlike the heavy sound of instruments, it has an indescribable joy and cheerfulness! Completely different from all the music in Ragunna!"
Roccia: "Just a short prelude alone captures everyone's full attention, making one unable to help but listen intently."
Pero: "Pero pero."
The four in unison: "It's in the bag! The laureate is in the bag!"
Brant tightly grasped Noah's hand, his eyes filled with irrepressible ecstasy and excitement:
"Brother Noah, with such beautiful and absolute music entering Ragunna—"
"Really, I don't even know how we could lose!"
"You guy, you always surprise people."
...
===✧✦✧===
Penitent's End.
Petals of Red Spider Lily drifted in the wind.
"Hm?"
A puzzled nasal sound came from within a petal. Phrolova, controlling the petals from within the Red Spider Lily, couldn't help but slightly furrow her beautiful brows.
"Why are there so few Tacet Discords here? Where did the sighing ancient dragon go?"
After searching several times without success, the petals fell silent, as if lost in thought.
Another gust of wind rose, and the Red Spider Lily petals slowly drifted up again, heading straight toward Fool's Elysium.
As the distance closed, the originally faint sound became clearer and more audible.
"This is... singing? What a beautiful and relaxing prelude."
Phrolova's furrowed brows smoothed under the music, and she couldn't help but hum along lightly, completely captivated on the spot.
Is the Troupe of Fools rehearsing some program? Whatever, let's go take a look.
Thinking this, the petals' flying speed suddenly increased. The sound coming from the paradise finally became clearly recognizable.
"The sky seems to be raining~ I really want to live next door to you~"
"Lifting my head downstairs at your place~ counting the dark clouds~"
"If a piano appears in the scene, I'll sing a song for you~ even if many basins of water pour down~"
The light, cheerful male voice's lyrics, in just a few lines, tightly gripped Phrolova's heartstrings, leaving her stunned in place:
"Clear, clean... so beautiful!"
She never expected the Troupe of Fools to have such musical talent—it even moved her, a violin genius.
She couldn't help but want to get closer, to listen more carefully, until she finally saw the figure in the center of Fool's Elysium holding a microphone and rehearsing.
That figure suddenly frowned, stopped singing, and swept his gaze over the entire Troupe of Fools.
At the same time, Phrolova hurriedly cut off her control over the Red Spider Lily petal, avoiding drawing further unusual attention from Noah.
"Damn it, his perception is still so sharp. To find me, he actually interrupted such a beautiful melody—what a heartless person."
Phrolova in the Red Spider Lily clenched her silver teeth tightly.
The petal whose control was interrupted couldn't be recovered, so she had to release another handful of Red Spider Lily petals, controlling them to fly at full speed toward Fool's Elysium.
She had never felt the usually long and tedious time—which tormented her—become so urgent in this moment, urgent to the point where she couldn't bear to miss even a single second.
Finally, the petals flew into Fool's Elysium, hiding her small figure in a dark, secluded corner.
She gazed from afar at the center of the stage, but the music there had already stopped, leaving only a cold desolation like the regretful dust after fireworks fade.
"Sigh."
Phrolova let out a faint sigh, patiently waiting for a long time, but the stage never resumed its music.
The high-hanging moonlight outside the window cast a faint glow, as if reminding her that it was late and that person had likely begun resting—no more performance was possible.
"Sigh."
Another sigh gently landed in Phrolova's heart. Her hands unconsciously raised the violin she always carried.
Soon, in this quiet and secluded small Red Spider Lily space, the mournful melody she had played countless times resounded again—each note heavy with suppressed sorrow, making it hard to breathe.
Joy and peace only flow to those who lack no love, while someone lonely like her—even just secretly peeking at others' happiness from afar—feels like a shadowy rat sneaking around.