Lu Zhiyao was very speechless.

The script for *Mission and Choice* was originally given in segments. Director Zhu Xiaoce euphemistically called it letting Lu Zhiyao "carefully ponder each segment of the plot, so that knowing the ending in advance doesn't affect your current performance."

Director Zhu Xiaoce's goal was achieved, more or less.

When Lu Zhiyao acted in each segment of the plot, he really immersed himself in the role of Captain Qin Yi, completely unaware of what would happen in the future. So, his acting was closer to Qin Yi's real state in the drama.

But this also brought a problem: Lu Zhiyao was cut off to the point of ecstasy.

Each script was only a small segment, and the plot development was particularly tortuous. Every time Lu Zhiyao wanted to know the next segment of the plot, sorry, cut.

Now that he finally got the script for the end of the movie, he never expected that it was still cut off! The subsequent plot was still missing!

This made Lu Zhiyao feel very collapsed and hopeless.

Of course, he also understood in his heart that, based on the current content alone, the entire story was already complete. It had a beginning, development, turning point, and conclusion. As the content of a movie, it was already more than enough.

The subsequent plot was probably not even figured out by Huang Sibao and Director Zhu Xiaoce. It was purely leaving a tail to create suspense for the next series of works.

But even if Lu Zhiyao was very clear about this principle, he couldn't help but curse "chapter-breaking dog" a few times.

After calming down, Lu Zhiyao began to re-examine this last segment of the plot.

Before, his acting skills had been tested in all aspects without dead ends. He originally thought that he was battle-hardened and fearless.

But after seeing this last script, Lu Zhiyao realized that the real difficulty was at the end!

The final ending still had multiple reversals. Qin Yi's emotions first went from despair to collapse, then he found a glimmer of hope in despair. Then, through a passionate speech, he inspired the morale of all the soldiers, successfully making humanity see the dawn of victory.

If the script ended here, then it would be a standard popcorn movie, a very orthodox and passionate ending.

But just as Qin Yi was about to see the dawn of victory, the plot took a sharp turn.

After falling into a coma, Qin Yi discovered that he possessed the Zerg hive mind. The hive mind naturally made him think from the perspective of the Zerg, giving him empathy for the Zerg. Qin Yi realized that humans were the first to attack the Zerg. Strictly speaking, the Zerg were the ones being invaded.

After waking up, Qin Yi issued a ceasefire order to all soldiers, forcibly stopping the already heated war between humans and the Zerg.

If the script ended here, with humans and the Zerg shaking hands and making peace to build a better universe together, then it would be a standard Western politically correct ending.

But Qin Yi didn't want to shake hands and make peace with the Zerg. Instead, he deceived the Zerg while using the hive mind to find the location of the Zerg Queen and all the secondary Queens, and continued to carry out the decapitation strike.

Qin Yi deceived the Zerg for the sake of humanity, but he himself was also deceived and abandoned. In the end, because all the Zerg Queens and secondary Queens were annihilated, Qin Yi accidentally became the leader of all the Zerg, carried by the Leviathan beast, drifting into the endless space of the universe.

In this segment of the plot, Qin Yi's emotions still had very drastic changes.

There was the exciting passion, the surprise of learning the truth, the cold-bloodedness of deceiving the Zerg, the fury of being betrayed...

Especially the last shot, when Qin Yi woke up in the hatching pool inside the Leviathan beast, there would be a close-up, and Lu Zhiyao had to use one look to express Qin Yi's various complex emotions.

Obviously, this segment of the plot was even more difficult for Lu Zhiyao to perform than the previous scripts!

And, just as Lu Zhiyao knew from the beginning, the reason why the role of Qin Yi tested acting skills and was difficult to perform was because his character was set as a staunch soldier.

In most cases, Qin Yi has no emotions, and even if he does, they are very subtle and restrained.

But in this script, Qin Yi's fate was too tortuous, always facing extreme despair or extreme pain. This made it difficult for Lu Zhiyao to find a balance.

If he used too much force, Qin Yi's character would easily collapse. A staunch warrior flying into a rage or having a mental breakdown would not fit the character; but if the force was insufficient, the audience would think that Lu Zhiyao had no acting skills and that his expression of emotions was not in place.

In comparison, young roles are easier to play, because this type of role's emotions are often very simple. Happy is happy, angry is angry, not so complex, and the degree of freedom is very wide.

On the contrary, it is most difficult to bring out the emotions of someone like Captain Qin Yi, who has a strong will.

Lu Zhiyao sighed softly. It seemed that he would be busy again for the next period of time.

He had to continue to stay in his hotel room, carefully pondering the plot in front of the mirror, adjusting his acting skills and expressions, and perfectly expressing this last segment of the plot.

But before that, Lu Zhiyao first took all the scripts he had so far and read them from beginning to end, analyzing the story from his own perspective.

The deepest impression this story left on Lu Zhiyao was its "cultural perspective."

As an actor, Lu Zhiyao had of course seen many movies, movies from various countries and on various topics.

If *Mission and Choice*'s story was broken down separately, focusing on a small plot, it was not particularly special compared to many traditional science fiction movies.

Of course, this was also normal.

After all, the "Zerg" theme has existed in science fiction movies for decades. Various predecessors have elaborated on many different concepts from various angles and in various ways, leaving little room for innovation for later generations.

With so many classic works ahead, it is impossible for every plot point in the story to subvert tradition.

But in Lu Zhiyao's view, the biggest breakthrough in *Mission and Choice* was actually the combination of the Chinese cultural perspective and the science fiction theme, which had never been done before.

In China, science fiction movies are very rare. Because science fiction movies require too much investment, a large number of professional props, special effects, and staff are needed. Without accumulation, it is easy to make something that is neither fish nor fowl.

Therefore, even in the domestic film market, when it comes to science fiction movies, people often think of those European and American science fiction epics first.

The problem that arises from this is that almost all the popular science fiction works that can be seen are interpreted from a Western cultural perspective.

This has led many domestic audiences to question and feel disconnected from the values and value orientations in these science fiction movies. Things that are taken for granted by Westerners are completely unacceptable to domestic audiences.

The idea for the story of *Mission and Choice* was actually written by a famous foreign science fiction writer as early as 1985, and it won the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award. It is a timeless science fiction classic.

But in that story, the commander is a child. After he destroys the Zerg, he feels very guilty, so he takes the young Zerg Queen to the universe to find a new home, hoping to atone for himself.

This is standard Western thinking, just like many people in Western animal protection organizations who advocate that humans should be vegetarians and that animals should have the same rights as humans...

For people living in a Western cultural background, this may be a natural political correctness and kindness.

But for people living in a Chinese cultural background, this is utter stupidity and hypocrisy, a manifestation of excessive saintliness.

Westerners shout politically correct slogans and even fight for the rights of animals, ultimately because their lives are too affluent and too comfortable. Because resources are so abundant, they have the ability to spread their excess compassion while squandering and wasting them.

The root of Westerners' affluent and comfortable lives is the exploitation, plunder, and bloody slaughter that their ancestors carried out against the entire world hundreds of years ago.

While Westerners are shouting "animals have rights," they never look back at the indigenous people who were slaughtered by their ancestors; they never think about why they can obtain such rich material wealth with a casual wave of their hands, because their countries are plundering and exploiting other countries in the world.

While these Westerners are overflowing with compassion and seeking rights for animals, their countries are bullying, oppressing, and exploiting other countries in the world, constantly spreading war, famine, and disease there, leaving their human compatriots to live in a living hell.

Therefore, from a Chinese cultural perspective, it is very stupid and hypocritical for humans to sympathize with the Zerg.

If Westerners spent half the compassion they have for animals on treating the people of other races and other countries in the world, the world would be a much better place.

In the setting, the Zerg are a race that poses an extreme threat to all life in the universe. They have a strong collective consciousness, the ability to share information efficiently, and a powerful ability to mutate. The only purpose of the existence of this race is to constantly expand and reproduce in the universe, eliminating all other races.

Even if this Zerg Queen really has the idea of peaceful coexistence with humans, their race is still an extreme threat to human survival in terms of life form.

And for humans to sympathize with the Zerg and let them go is actually fostering a viper. How can we judge that the Zerg Queen is not lying? How can we judge whether the Zerg Queen's future thoughts will change?

In this case, the most rational decision for humanity is to completely exterminate the Zerg.

And sympathizing with the Zerg and protecting the Zerg is putting humans in great danger.

*Mission and Choice* completely adopts the Chinese cultural perspective on this theme.