Chapter 100: Chapter 100: No Place to Hide

Cang Hong sat down at the drum kit.

Trant, holding a bass, and Yina, with a guitar, stood at the front.

Chu Rou was the keyboardist.

And Hugh, holding a saxophone, stood at the far left.

The electric guitar and bass rang out in unison, kicking off a thrilling intro. The drums joined in soon after…

That intro alone was enough to get everyone fired up.

A single thought surfaced in everyone’s mind: ’Now *this* is a real band!’

How could a band not have instruments?

That was why even Jones, who had only used simplified instruments, received bonus points for fitting the theme!

But now, hearing the live sound of these old-world instruments, they finally understood the massive gap between real instruments and synthesized audio.

“In the ocean of people, there’s you and there’s me

We meet, we learn, we size each other up

In the ocean of people, it’s both you and me

Putting on a righteous face, a smile for all to see…”

The moment Hugh’s slightly wild, raspy voice rang out, the band’s vibe finally felt truly authentic!

Trant took over for the second verse.

“You don’t need to say too much, you’re clear yourself

What is it that you and I really want to do

No need to care about so much, and no need to be sad

One day, you’ll finally understand me…”

Cang Hong took the third verse, his raw, guttural vocals paired with the thunderous drums sending the entire venue into a frenzy!!

During the second repetition of the lyrics, in a section with a lower melody, Chu Rou took the lead:

“In the ocean of people, I see you again

Just as charming, just as beautiful

Slowly relax, slowly cast it all away…”

The raspy female vocals were just as cool, carrying a different kind of charm than the male voices.

Yina’s voice had its own distinct qualities. It was smoky, yet she could hit high notes, and her screams harmonized perfectly with Hugh’s own screaming vocals.

The middle of the song also featured a saxophone solo from Hugh.

The entire stage performance was a mix of wildness and elegance.

It was like the Beast from a fairytale, full of power yet not lacking in grace.

A song that featured screaming without the vocals breaking, it pioneered an entirely new genre in the Interstellar music scene!!

Forget the viewers on the livestream; the live audience could no longer contain themselves and erupted into screams and cheers.

To hell with watching the show quietly.

To hell with staying calm!

It was impossible to stay quiet!

“Hugh!!! You’re so handsome!!”

“Wooo~ Yina, you’re absolutely killing it tonight!”

“Trant, my charming Trant! Such a wild and romantic man! I want to marry you!!”

“Cang Hong! Cang Hong!!”

“The fallen diva remade into the star of the band! Jiang Qin, how many more surprises do you have that this empress doesn’t know about?”

“Jiang Qin, my goddess!!”

“Miss Jiang Qin, I want to have your babies! If you won’t have them, I’m willing to have them for your brothers and uncles!”

Beta seized every moment, snapping photo after photo. A flood of stunning pictures was in the making.

The Jiang Fans in the audience were just as frantic. Their rainbow-colored signs were nearly snatched away by the newly converted, zealous fans next to them.

“Hey girl, give me the sign! I’m strong, I can wave it so fast it’ll look like a streak of light!”

“Gimme, gimme! I want Jiang Qin to see me! From this day on, I’m a Jiang Tang!”

Wen Jiaqi clutched her rainbow light stick for dear life, terrified someone would snatch it away.

She… she… she really couldn’t wave it fast enough to create a streak of light…

But no one was going to take away her proof of fandom.

The atmosphere was so electric that even Jiang Qin was getting a little carried away.

’Tsk, tsk. If I’d had Hugh and Trant douse themselves with an Inhibitor and flash their abs, these fans would have gone even wilder.’

Of course, that was just a passing thought.

The males of the Interstellar era were very concerned with their ’masculine virtue’.

In their three days of collaboration, none of the three men had ever been alone with her. They were always mindful of keeping a respectable distance whenever they communicated.

…

Unsurprisingly, “No Place to Hide” received the highest score of the night from the Mastermind AI: 93 points.

The points deducted were due to issues with the vocalists.

Their rapid preparation had its flaws. Even though they were all singers with exceptional musical talent who had practiced diligently, their inexperience was still exposed in the details.

The song itself was worth more than a perfect score, but the scale only went up to 100. After deductions for their shortcomings, the final score of 93 was already considered very high.

If the song hadn’t been so good, their score would have likely been even lower.

In fact, Jiang Qin had initially considered many different band songs.

After all, Earth had plenty of rock bands, and the music library in her system’s store was so vast she doubted she could ever buy it all.

For example, there was Beyond and a number of other famous international bands.

However, Cang Hong and the others didn’t speak those other languages, and many in the current Interstellar era wouldn’t have understood them either.

Few people in the Federation could understand them, to say nothing of those from the Empire or the Myriad Races.

That’s why she chose to use the Federation’s common tongue—the national language of old.

And when she thought of that, the first thing that came to mind was the Black Panther Band, especially their song, “No Place to Hide.”

It was a huge hit back in its day.

’If I’d been born in that era, I probably would have been a rock-loving girl, too!’

There were just so many incredible bands back then!

***

Uncontested, Jiang Qin once again took first place.

It seemed nothing could halt her ascent.

Unless, of course, she encountered a theme she wasn’t skilled in.

The problem was, no one knew what she *wasn’t* good at. Even the greatest composers had weaknesses among the themes presented so far.

Only she had delivered a perfect performance in every round, and her scores were consistently high.

Even her rival composers couldn’t bring themselves to say anything out of jealousy. They could only applaud in silent congratulations.

It’s human nature to admire the strong.

The host quickly announced the top three: first place was Jiang Qin, second was Jones, and third, in a case of being the best of a lackluster bunch, was Finland.

Master Karl had suffered a major setback this round, falling all the way to tenth place.

The Federation’s Antonio advanced in 20th place.

Xini placed 23rd and was unfortunately eliminated.

Star Entertainment was completely wiped out.

The Federation’s elimination rate was higher this year than in the past. The band theme had nearly wiped out their entire contingent, leaving only Jiang Qin.

The people of the Federation breathed a collective sigh of relief:

[I can’t believe it. I need to go support Tianwen Entertainment some more.]

[I can’t even imagine how humiliating it would have been for the Federation this year if they had replaced Jiang Qin.]

[We probably would’ve been the Empire’s laughingstock for another three years.]

[Haha, three years, and then another three years. How many more three-year cycles can we take?]

[There are no ’ifs’! We should be celebrating! Congratulations to Jiang Qin for taking first again! Let’s get the copypasta rolling!]

[Congratulations to Jiang Qin for taking first again!]

…

Onstage, Jiang Qin smiled faintly.

She never seemed to show any particularly strong emotions, as if she was perpetually radiating a calm, well-prepared confidence.

Lan Yuyan gently reached out, his fingers tracing her face on the light screen from afar.

Tonight, she seemed to burn with a fiery passion.

It was a stark contrast to her usual appearance, which often evoked a sense of pity.

Like the sun and the moon—two opposite faces of the same coin.

’In the end, which one is the real you?’

Lan Yuyan felt he was losing control. At first, he had only felt admiration for Jiang Qin.

But somewhere along the way, he had started to think about her constantly. ’What is she doing? Is she okay? Will this theme be too difficult for her?’

’If she doesn’t win, will she be upset?’

Perhaps from the moment he had started paying attention to her, his gaze had become fixed, never to look away…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep