No matter how unconvinced everyone was, the competition continued.

After the singer for composer number two finished their song, the device gave a score of 29...

The furious composer number two proceeded to smash everything in his small workstation to smithereens.

"Fuck, is there something wrong with you Mechanical Clan? Are you deliberately messing with us??"

My compositions have been purchased by the state before, and you dare give me 29 points?

Damn it, open this door! I’m done playing with you morons."

Facing his fury, the Mechanical Clan member expressionlessly asked again, "Are you sure you wish to withdraw from the competition?"

"That’s right! I’m withdrawing!"

"Very well. We’ll have someone escort you out."

Naturally, matters like contract termination fees and compensation wouldn’t be discussed during the livestream.

[What? He just left like that?]

[So impulsive. If he’d stayed, he might’ve been able to turn things around. But he just up and quit. Now isn’t everyone just going to remember his score of 29?]

[He’s so thin-skinned, so easily triggered. Even Benn didn’t quit.]

[But the Mechanical Clan really went too far this time. The scores they’re giving out are just absurd.]

[I still can’t accept Benn’s score.]

...

Some of the composers scheduled for later hesitated for a moment before also requesting to withdraw.

They didn’t think they were any better than the two masters who had just performed. It was better to pull out early than risk the humiliation of an even lower score.

After all, they had just seen a clear cautionary tale.

’As long as we run fast enough, the low scores can’t catch us!!’

However, most of the others remained defiant.

Tiffany even gloated to the livestream viewers, "Hmph, I’ve known it for years. A lot of these people’s skills are just hype."

"Back then, there was so little entertainment that even a song composed by a pig would find an audience."

"Just watch. Things are different now. People whose skills aren’t the real deal can’t survive in a setting like this."

[Oh for crying out loud, will you just shut up? You offend a whole group of people every time you open your mouth.]

[It’s over, it’s over. I have a feeling Tiffany is going to get beaten up after this competition.]

[What feeling? It’s a guarantee she’s gonna get beaten up.]

[Seriously, how does she dare? To publicly declare that those old masters were just overhyped in front of hundreds of millions of viewers...]

[Probably because she has absolutely zero emotional intelligence...]

Jiang Qin, of course, heard all the commotion outside.

Although she was a bit worried about not getting a high score, she wasn’t about to run away from the challenge.

She just couldn’t figure out what on earth that machine was basing its scores on.

She genuinely thought the last two songs were good; at the very least, they were better than the synthesized tracks on the Star Network.

And yet, songs like that couldn’t even get a passing grade.

Once the composers who wanted to withdraw had left, the show resumed.

The scores for the following songs all fluctuated between 20 and 60. By the time it was Jiang Qin’s turn, no one had managed to break 70.

On stage, the chosen female singer closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Who’s afraid of a woman becoming an Ambitionist

To dream, to chase, to ask one question

How am I different from a man

...

They bind my body, hold up signs, and tell me to lie low in the dust..."

Jiang Qin felt that this song, "Ambitionist," was perfect for this kind of competition, both in its lyrical concept and its melody.

’Besides, everyone’s just feeling their way through this right now. It’s the perfect time to experiment with different styles.’

When the song ended, everyone stared nervously at the scoring device.

On its screen, a number slowly materialized...

"Wait a minute, on what grounds did she get a 78?"

"Where’s the staff?! Where the hell did you all go? Get out here and explain this to me! Now!

Why did this song get 78 points, while mine only got 23?

Am I really worse than some junior in the music world?"

She could grudgingly accept being surpassed by a junior; after all, times were always changing.

But a gap that wide was just too much, wasn’t it?

’Is the Mechanical Clan deliberately propping someone up? Did they dangle bait to lure us old-timers out here just to humiliate us and turn us into stepping stones for someone else?

And in the end, the person they’re promoting gets both fame and fortune, and they can even take back the bait they used to lure us in?!’

’Damn them! This is outrageous!!’

The exasperated host once again explained solemnly, "This competition is absolutely fair, impartial, and transparent!

There are no shady dealings, and certainly no ’star-making’ agenda. To avoid any suspicion, no composers or singers from our Mechanical Clan are participating."

’I really don’t want to explain this again.’

’This machine has very high standards for audio. It’s just a machine, after all; you can’t expect it to have any artistic appreciation.’

’What we want is something useful.’

’If we just wanted pleasant-sounding songs, there are plenty of those on the Star Network. We would have had no reason to invite these composers here.’

’So we don’t want what’s pleasant to the ear; we want what’s *useful*.’

’We of the Mechanical Clan are different from many other races. Our bodies are only a small part flesh and blood; the vast majority is machinery.’

’Once, we were just an ordinary alien race in the cosmos. But a thousand years ago, our species was on the brink of extinction.’

’We were physically weak, and our birth rate was low.’

’But while we were physically weak, our cerebral development was formidable. We have the most complex brains in the entire Interstellar space.’

’Many great inventions were created by our people.’

’That includes the research that led to the combining of human and animal Genes on the mother planet.’

’So, to change our race’s destiny—to be more than just strategists and advisors, to finally become Generals—our ancestors undertook a monumental research project.’

’They decided to preserve our brains and implant them into mechanized bodies.’

’This would not only grant us immortality, but also powerful physical forms.’

’However, in doing so, we would also lose a great deal.’

’The five senses were among the first things to go.’

’People smell with their noses; we analyze scents with an odor-capture system.’

’Absolutely everything became data.’

’But the most terrifying part is that our brains are now degenerating.’

’The longer we live, the more mechanized our lives become, and the faster our brains atrophy.’

’If we don’t solve this problem soon, then in the years to come, the Mechanical Clan will become a race of fools.’

’This is an outcome we cannot bear.’

’But it’s impossible for us to go back to what we were before, to stop being the Mechanical Clan.’

’Because we abandoned our physical forms, our clan’s "newborns" are all simply manufactured mechanical bodies, into which a clan member’s brain is then implanted.’

’In other words, our race has long since stopped reproducing.’

’Once the brains of our preserved clan members all degenerate into imbecility, our sapient race will vanish completely from the universe.’

’So, all the research we are conducting now is focused on one problem: how to stop this brain degeneration.’

’And sonic waves are one of our proposed solutions—one with a high probability of success.’