After settling the "entry point" concerning audience information, William headed straight back to the Magic Area, coincidentally bumping into Jian in the corridor.
"William, why are you back from outside? It seems you have some other thoughts about the temporary formal performance arrangements?"
"One day’s time is simply too short. Conventional preparations are just not feasible.
Even though I have already thought of a scene design that could be used for the formal performance, setting it up temporarily now would surely not achieve the desired effect. It’s better to think of some other method.
Senior Jian, could you give tomorrow’s performance schedule to me?"
With a flick, Jian produced a white paper from the sleeve of his robe.
With the four chiefs as the principal performers, the show is mainly divided into four large programs,
interspersed with small acts like Assistant Clown Catherine, Long-legged Mozander and others, creating an undulating flow throughout the performance.
William tentatively asked, "My performance should be able to take place during any of the halftime breaks, right?"
"I have already chosen!"
Without much deliberation, or rather having already made his decision, William’s finger quickly landed on a gap between two programs, causing Jian to frown.
At least in Jian’s view, such a choice was unwise.
"Are you sure? You want to put your halftime performance right after the acrobatic troupe’s show?
Mr. Rabbit’s standards are even higher than mine, and the acrobatic troupe he leads is not something that newcomer Mozander can compare with.
In previous shows, the average fear collection by the acrobatic troupe is the highest.
Which means that after watching the acrobatic troupe’s performance, most of the audience are in a state of absolute immersion, drained or even brain dead.
Your temporary performance will be very difficult to be effective at this time.
My advice is to place it after Catherine’s nightmare act. The impact of the dream fades quickly upon waking, and that’s the easiest time to perform."
"My performance must be placed here, otherwise the success rate will be greatly reduced."
Gazing into William’s resolute eyes, Jian nodded, "Then let’s submit it this way, do you need to borrow some manpower from me?"
"No need, I alone will suffice, there’s no time for training. Even if I forced other assistants to follow this newcomer, they would probably be very resistant internally, making it hard to achieve the effect I want.
Mr. Jian, I’ll go busy myself with other matters now."
William swiftly waved goodbye in a hurry. Instead of returning to his own Magic House, he planned to head to another area.
Such unusual behavior naturally piqued Jian’s curiosity. Since the magic act rehearsals were already complete, he stealthily followed William.
Circling the underground crossroads of the circus, William unexpectedly headed back towards the banquet hall, touching a hidden door switch in the corridor that opened a secret passage to the kitchen.
"Hmm? The kitchen... What in the world is William planning to do?"
Jian held back his curiosity from following further, considering the answer would be revealed in two days.
Since the Magic Banquet had just concluded, the entire kitchen was undergoing a major cleanup.
To William, who had won second place at the Magic Banquet and was favored by the boss, even the poker-faced cleaners were quite polite and didn’t ask too many questions.
Upon arriving, William did nothing but sit on the chopping board, quietly thinking and waiting,
About half an hour passed,
By the time he had calculated in his head the type of dishes, quantities, and ingredients required, footsteps came from the direction of the incinerator.
Timi, the chief chef covered in tongues, returned. He had just finished injecting the boss’s medicine below and was quite surprised to see William sitting in the kitchen.
"William, what are you doing here? You should hurry up and prepare for the day after tomorrow’s performance."
"I came here for the performance. Chef Timi, can you give me these ingredients now?"
William spoke as he wrote, handing over a detailed list that he had prepared.
Timi frowned upon seeing the extensive list of ingredients, "What do you need all these things for? This isn’t a free warehouse you can just take from... The ingredients cultivated in the back kitchen are all top-notch."
"They’re for tomorrow’s performance, can we put the cost on an account for now? I will pay it back slowly once I’ve collected enough Fear liquid from the performance, and I can accept if interest is added."
If it were anyone else, the chief would have refused without hesitation, as there was no precedent for credit in the back kitchen.
But considering William’s stunning performance at the Magician’s Banquet, and the boss’s rare smile during the gathering, Timi made an unusual compromise.
"Seeing as you’re planning to use our back kitchen’s dishes for your performance, I’ll reluctantly lend them to you~ There’s no need for interest, as long as you pay it all back within a year.
However, ’Boss Meat’ is off limits."
Seeing chef Timi nodding in agreement, William followed up with another request:
"Chef, could I also borrow a few people to help process the ingredients and assist with cooking? I might not manage it alone. Personnel costs can also go on the account and I’ll pay it all back later."
"You... Okay, how many people do you need?"
"I need all of the Poker Faces currently cleaning,
and I might also modify some kitchen equipment, such as splicing some Physical fry pans together to create a larger caliber pan to increase the efficiency of serving dishes."
"Do you have any more requests?"