The protagonist, Qin Yi, wasn't a naive child overflowing with sympathy, but a clear-headed, stone-hearted soldier.

Influenced by the Zerg hive mind, he naturally felt a sense of closeness and sympathy towards the Zerg, yet he could use his reason to resist and reject this closeness. He unhesitatingly deceived the Zerg and ordered the extermination of the entire Zerg race. This was the behavior a protagonist should exhibit from a Chinese perspective.

Of course, this made the final ending even more ironic.

If it were a saintly protagonist who advocated peaceful coexistence with the Zerg, the audience would only see him as a "traitor to humanity," a fool, and would have no goodwill towards him.

But Qin Yi was precisely someone who stood entirely on the side of humanity, yet was betrayed and forced to become the master of the Zerg due to a series of unfortunate events. This made it difficult for the audience to feel disgusted with him.

So, if Lu Zhiyao were to evaluate this film, he would think it had three particularly special aspects.

First, it reinterpreted a classic science fiction theme from a Chinese cultural perspective. For domestic audiences, it was a story that resonated with their values.

Second, the huge investment and massive amount of special effects pushed domestic science fiction films to a new peak. Whether its box office made money or lost money, it would at least leave a significant mark on the history of domestic science fiction film development.

Finally, its unique form of expression was distinctly different from other films, making it a very novel attempt.

The entire film had only one main actor, Lu Zhiyao. If his acting collapsed, the film would collapse as well. But if his acting could support the entire film, then a performance lasting more than an hour, with multiple emotional shifts, would become a classic in film history.

No location shooting, only green screens, greatly increased production costs, but it was also a way to play to strengths and avoid weaknesses.

Currently in China, there were many companies that did game special effects and had good technology, but few companies that did film special effects and had poor technology. Moreover, Tengda Group itself had more technical reserves in gaming.

Therefore, deliberately avoiding so many real-world scenes, using only a spaceship cabin and a circle of green screens, and using special effects for all the combat scenes could maximize the quality.

In addition, Lu Zhiyao vaguely felt that this film had inextricable links with the gameplay of the game "Mission and Choice."

However, Lu Zhiyao himself wasn't a hardcore gamer and only had a superficial understanding of games. He knew nothing about the details of the game "Mission and Choice," so he could only wait for the game to be released and the movie to be screened before he could figure out the connection between the two.

After reading the last part of the script, Lu Zhiyao was even more certain that he had accepted the right film.

Come to think of it, could President Pei's films have any problems? Every one of them must be a classic!

If the previous "A Better Tomorrow" was a film that wore the skin of science fiction but actually talked about human nature and social systems, then "Mission and Choice" was a proper science fiction film.

Moreover, this science fiction film placed even higher demands on Lu Zhiyao's acting skills. If he could perform well, then Lu Zhiyao would definitely take another step forward on the road to becoming an actor!

Thinking of this, Lu Zhiyao felt full of energy and continued to hone his acting skills in front of the mirror.

...

...

February 6th, Monday.

After getting up and eating breakfast, Pei Qian took a car straight to Thrill House.

Today was the Lantern Festival, but the Lantern Festival wasn't a statutory holiday, so there was no holiday. However, Pei Qian specifically told Moyu Takeaway to add yuanxiao (sweet dumplings) to the employees' work meals, which was a special form of holiday care.

Pei Qian went to Thrill House today to hand over a big project to Chen Kangtuo.

Thrill House was completed in July of last year, with three projects: Survival in Despair, Haunted House Nightmare, and Ultimate Horror.

After its opening, CEO Li and others conducted a wave of publicity in Jingzhou and even Handong Province, Zhang Wang conducted a wave of publicity through shared phone booths across the country, various UP masters' videos also conducted a wave of publicity, and after "President Pei's Lifestyle" became popular, many people came to Jingzhou admiringly to challenge this thrilling project.

In short, as a haunted house, Thrill House was already famous throughout the country. In Jingzhou and even the entire Handong Province, when people mentioned haunted houses, their first reaction was Thrill House. Many young people also came from other cities specifically to experience it.

But half a year had passed, and the number of visitors to Thrill House had also decreased, and there was still a long way to go before recovering the initial investment in construction costs.

The most fundamental reason was that it hadn't formed a cluster effect.

Large amusement parks often had dozens of projects, not only haunted houses, but also extreme and stimulating projects such as roller coasters and pendulum rides, as well as relatively relaxing projects such as carousels, which were suitable for children.

These large amusement parks were suitable for all ages and catered to all age groups, and people could play many projects in one visit, attracting more tourists.

Although the projects at Thrill House were very fun, and compared to other haunted houses, they also had a certain degree of replayability, the first wave of horror enthusiasts would get tired after three or four visits at most, and wouldn't come every day.

Therefore, the popularity naturally declined.

Pei Qian felt that this was a good sign.

Looking back at the Thrill House project half a year after its opening, although it was currently making money, it was still a long way off from recovering the initial investment costs, which could take several years, decades, or even longer.

Now Pei Qian had more and more system funds on hand, which was almost enough to continue large-scale construction at Thrill House and burn a lot of money again.

...

Pei Qian arrived at the office in the Thrill House park and met Chen Kangtuo and Hao Qiong.

It was Monday morning, and there weren't many tourists in the entire Thrill House park. Chen Kangtuo and Hao Qiong were in the office, busy handling some routine matters.

After becoming the person in charge of Thrill House, Chen Kangtuo didn't spend every day in the haunted house. In addition to maintaining the normal operation of Thrill House and handling some emergencies, his main energy was focused on continuing to improve the tourist experience.

Although the completion of these three projects was already very high, there was still room for improvement in some details, and there was still room for further improvement in some buildings and decorations in the venue.

Chen Kangtuo stayed in Thrill House all day long and was as familiar with it as his own backyard. When he had nothing to do, he would propose some small-scale renovation plans.

So far, the experience Thrill House gave to tourists was much better than when it first opened.

Seeing President Pei, Chen Kangtuo and Hao Qiong were a little excited.

President Pei hasn't forgotten us!

Since the official opening of Thrill House, President Pei hadn't been here for half a year. If it weren't for the huge investment in this place, Chen Kangtuo and Hao Qiong would have almost thought they were President Pei's abandoned children.

Now that President Pei had finally come, it was clear that there was a new task!

Pei Qian sat down on the sofa in the office, took a sip of tea, and didn't intend to beat around the bush, going straight to the point.

"I didn't come for anything special today, just to arrange a new project for you."

"I'm giving you 100 million in funding and a year to build a new project here at Thrill House."

Chen Kangtuo and Hao Qiong were stunned for a moment.

What the heck?

100 million in funding?

Both of them were at a loss.

Because the funds Tengda Group had invested in Thrill House so far were only 50 to 60 million, and that was with three projects!

The three projects, Survival in Despair, Haunted House Nightmare, and Ultimate Horror, including the Golden Labyrinth and Maid Cafe in the park, all used the original factory buildings, so the main focus was on renovating and decorating the factory buildings.

Tens of millions were enough to create a very top-notch horror effect.

As for the supporting facilities around the three projects, those were all paid for by CEO Li and the others.

Before, three projects cost 50 to 60 million, but now one project was going to cost 100 million?

The cost and construction period of this one project were much higher than the previous three projects!

What kind of project would this be?

Chen Kangtuo tentatively asked, "President Pei, is this still going to be a haunted house?"

Pei Qian shook his head: "No."

Pei Qian's decision to build a haunted house in the first place was mainly for two purposes: to lose money and to scare Ruan Guangjian.

But Thrill House in its current state hadn't achieved either goal!

The second goal was especially a failure. Not only was Ruan Guangjian not scared, but he was having a great time in "Ultimate Horror."

If he built another new haunted house, wouldn't he just be benefiting this kid?

Moreover, the more money invested in haunted houses, the more likely they were to attract horror enthusiasts from all over the world.

Thrill House was already somewhat famous among horror enthusiasts. If he invested another 100 million to build a new haunted house project, its scale would probably be on par with a super-large haunted house like Mist Mountain Psychiatric Hospital, becoming the largest haunted house project in the country in one fell swoop, and the consequences would be disastrous.

Therefore, after comprehensive consideration, Pei Qian decided to put the haunted house project on hold for now and spend this 100 million on other projects.

The reason for setting such a high budget was mainly because of the long construction period.

This project would span two cycles, almost a year. Who knew how much money he would make in this year? Setting the budget higher would prevent him from rushing to spend money in a panic when the time came.

Hearing President Pei say that it wasn't a haunted house project, Chen Kangtuo breathed a slight sigh of relief.

That's good!

Because designing these three haunted house projects for Thrill House had almost drained all the ideas from him and Hao Qiong. Spending another 100 million to build a haunted house would at most make it a large haunted house like Mist Mountain Psychiatric Hospital, and there might not be anything new.

Doing other projects would also enrich the entertainment options at Thrill House.

Chen Kangtuo asked, "President Pei, what specific project are we going to do this time?"

Pei Qian had already thought about it and immediately replied, "A roller coaster, but not a traditional roller coaster."

Chen Kangtuo and Hao Qiong were completely confused and continued to listen carefully.