Huayu 05, our science fiction movie universe

Chapter 638 The Wallfacer 1 (End)
"Taylor is dead."

When Luo Ji re-entered the room, Radiaz, who was smoking a cigar, looked at him and asked casually.

Although it was a question, the tone was more like stating a fact.

Taylor is dead!

Luo Ji nodded, his expression complex.

"He seems to be having a harder time than any of us."

"That's because he has a more difficult path to choose from."

Radiaz gave a soft snort.

There's an old Western saying that goes, "All of God's gifts come with a price tag attached."

When he first acquired the rights of the Wallfacers, he never considered how heavy the responsibility behind those rights would be.

Of course, this is also a chronic problem of capitalist society. In the model of "big market, small government, and light organization", the so-called democracy and freedom are nothing more than de-accountability achieved through laws, regulations, and various lofty concepts.

Rights are meant to be enjoyed, but responsibilities are not meant to be borne. How can the "Facing the Wall" program be managed well when working with such people and the country?

Therefore, he never thought about truly settling down and doing things properly.

Sacrifice? Ha! All they do is yell "Charge!" What kind of sacrifice is that?

“The man is dead, Mr. Diaz.”

Luo Ji's face burned with embarrassment, feeling that the other party was making veiled attacks and insinuations, and he quickly reminded them:
"He died here, which is a huge problem for you."

"This is a real problem, that stupid guy!"

Radiaz continued humming.

"His death shattered the halo surrounding the Wallfacers, eliminated our influence, and made the people realize that the Wallfacers were just ordinary people like them."

This will only create greater obstacles for our subsequent plans.

By the way, Dr. Luo Ji, you really don't have any plans?

"no!"

Luo Ji spoke decisively, while a smile that he himself loathed appeared on his face as he looked at Radiaz.

And Rediaz, sitting opposite him, responded with the same smile.

"That's good. You shouldn't stay here anymore."

I heard you're looking for a secluded place to live?

Luo Ji nodded. "It's just a dream. Whether that kind of place even exists is another matter."

"Dreams, who knows, they might just come true."

Radiaz slowly exhaled a smoke ring.

"I also have a vacation spot in Northern Europe, the environment is very nice, you might like it."

"Thank you then."

"You're welcome."

Luo Ji got up and walked out, but just as he was about to step out the door, he heard Rediaz's last piece of advice from behind.

"Doctor, remember this: there is only one kind of heroism in this world, and that is to see the truth of life and still love it!"

Luo Ji stopped in his tracks.

"I'm sorry, sir, I'm not a hero, just an ordinary person."

Having said that, he strode away without looking back.

Behind him, watching Luo Ji's retreating figure, Radiaz murmured:
"An ordinary person? Being an ordinary person is great!"

After leaving Venezuela, Luo Ji did not return to China. Instead, he went to the manor that Rediaz had mentioned, following the directions provided by Rediaz.

This was also the first time in his life that he experienced the feeling of his dream coming true.

Luo Ji initially thought that Rediaz's promise was just boasting. After all, how much of a good estate could a leader of a South American country like him buy in Europe?
Perhaps the other party can indeed find a pristine and beautiful place, but it will definitely be very different from the place he imagined.

But when Luo Ji stepped off the helicopter, it felt like he had stepped into his own dream.

The snow-capped mountains that pierce the clouds in the distance, the tranquil blue lake in front of him, the emerald green grasslands and rolling forests on the lakeside—even the location was exactly as he had imagined.

The purity of this place, in particular, was something that a petty-bourgeois intellectual like him, born and raised in the city and in a modern society, could hardly imagine.

Everything seemed to have just stepped out of a fairy tale, with a faint sweet scent in the fresh air.

Even the sun in the sky seemed to be carefully casting the softest and most beautiful part of its light onto this place, splashing fine golden light on the lake surface.

However, what's most appealing is that there really is a small estate centered around a villa by the lake.

Looking at the information she had collected, Qin Yanni, who was traveling with her, said that the building was built in the mid-19th century and was originally the property of a nobleman.

However, upon closer inspection, one can see that these buildings appear to be older, and the vicissitudes of time have allowed them to blend seamlessly with their surroundings.

"Are there any residents here?" Luo Ji asked curiously.

“There aren’t any within a five-kilometer radius, but there are some small villages further out,” Qin Yanni replied.

They entered the manor villa, and in the spacious European-style living room, Luo Ji immediately took a liking to the fireplace.

The flames in the fireplace were burning brightly, and neatly arranged around them were pieces of fruitwood for starting the fire, emitting a pleasant fragrance.

"Rediaz is really generous."

Qin Yanni flipped through the documents in her hand, and then she told Luo Ji that in addition to all the requests he had made being met, there was much more to the manor.

A stable with ten horses, a tennis court and a golf course, a wine cellar filled with fine wines, a motorboat and several small sailboats on the lake...

This was the first time Luo Ji had ever received such treatment. Despite the villa's old-fashioned exterior, the interior was quite modern.

Each room in the villa is equipped with a computer, broadband internet, and satellite TV, and there is also a digital movie screening room and karaoke equipment in the basement.

In addition, Luo Ji also noticed that the helicopter landing pad outside was obviously not a temporary structure.

“Rediaz must have made a lot of money for himself when he was president.”

Luo Ji chuckled and teased, and Qin Yanni, who was arranging for her subordinates to take over the security of the villa, nodded in agreement.

"Indeed, it's more than just money; this land is incredibly valuable, and Mr. Rediaz gifted it to you directly."

Of course, he took all his own belongings, but he still gave you quite a few things from the villa, such as the wines in the cellar, which are probably quite valuable.

Luo Ji began to wander around the villa alone, inspecting each room.

It's clear that although Regiaz behaves quite crudely, she actually has excellent taste, and the arrangement of each room gives people a sense of elegant tranquility.

The books in the study are mostly old Latin editions, and the paintings on the walls are of various styles, but none of them seem out of place in this classically themed room.

He also noticed that there didn't seem to be a single landscape painting here. Indeed, the villa was situated in such a beautiful natural environment, with stunning views right outside the windows; hanging landscape paintings? That would be completely unnecessary.

After exploring the first floor and basement, Luo Ji returned to the living room and sat down in the comfortable rocking chair in front of the fireplace. He reached out and touched an antique-looking European-style pipe on the small table next to him.

“This is life!”

He looked at the white squares on the wall, imagining what the paintings that had been taken away were, and enjoyed this rare moment of tranquility.

Just then, Luo Ji seemed to catch a glimpse of a shadow flash by out of the corner of his eye.

He looked up at the second floor, climbed the stairs, turned a corner, and found himself in front of a corridor leading to the second-floor balcony. The door was ajar, with a crack in the door.

Knowing that Qin Yanni's men had already cleared out the entire villa, Luo Ji wasn't afraid and confidently pushed open the door and went inside.

As he walked down the corridor, a soft instrumental melody and chanting began to play. The camera first showed Luo Ji looking down from the side, then switched back to show the direction he was looking.

That's the wall on the right, where the painting that Radiaz didn't take is hanging.

The portrait is of Karl Marx!
Then the camera pans forward, and amidst the gradually rising chanting, portraits of Engels, Lenin, Stalin, and others appear one by one on the big screen, and in front of all the viewers, as Luo Ji walks.

This was the first time these viewers had seen these portraits on the big screen. Although their portraits were not prohibited items, they were always subconsciously ignored in cultural works.

But what comes after these portraits?

The portrait abruptly ends at the fourth image, first showing a shot of Luo Ji's stopped footsteps, then a close-up shot of his face with a Hitchcockian zoom.

At that moment, Luo Ji's pupils dilated rapidly, and a look of shock appeared on his face.

As Zhou Shen's "Floating Light" played as background music, the camera panned from behind Luo Ji, encompassing the fifth painting hanging on the wall, positioned in the very center of the big screen.

The setting sun shone through the window on the other side of the corridor, bathing the portrait in a golden-red hue.

"..."

A phantom shadow appeared behind the portrait, uttering impassioned words in a warm accent that sent shivers down one's spine, making one's soul feel as if it were being electrocuted.

Luo Ji unconsciously took a few steps back, seemingly overwhelmed by the surging power in the portrait, then tripped over the threshold and stumbled to the ground.

You are insects...

The phantom characters created by the Trisolaran civilization's sophons appeared before Luo Ji's eyes, as if a silent mockery, but were shattered by an invisible force the next second.

All Luo Ji could see was that portrait.

Just then, a woman's hand grabbed his arm and pulled him up from the ground.

It's Qin Yanni.

She glanced at the painting on the wall, her expression solemn and serious. She didn't say anything, but simply patted Luo Ji on the shoulder and pointed to the portrait.

Luo Ji saw Qin Yanni's lips move. Although his overloaded brain subconsciously blocked out what she was saying, the audience could still see what she was saying through the subtitles.

Luo Ji wore an expression that was a mix of crying and laughing. He shoved Qin Yanni's hand away and ran out of the villa without looking back.

The security personnel did not follow him, allowing Luo Ji to run into the woods.

The afterglow of the setting sun dyed the jungle a fiery red. When Luo Ji, panting, stopped and stood on a cliff, a bright red sun shone brightly in the open view before him.

In a daze, Luo Ji seemed to hear countless shouts, and the jungle under the red sun seemed to have transformed into a different scene.

Luo Ji seemed to be struck by this scene and immediately turned and ran.

On the grassland, with the continuous snow-capped mountains as a backdrop, the huge red sun occupies the most conspicuous central position in the sky.

Luo Ji ran with long strides under the setting sun, letting out a silent shout, while Zhou Shen's "Floating Light" played again as background music.

Your eyes are filled with time.

Behind you are countless stories.

"Life is like a dream, I wish to count the years that have passed."

"Writing together with you, through the changing times."

"Fleeting glimpses, amidst towering mountains and colorful clouds."

"Your foreshadowing spans thousands of years."

"Life is but a fleeting thirty thousand days."

"In this vast world, I linger and yearn for more."

Luo Ji finally got tired of running. He stood on the grass, bathed in the fiery red sunlight, and shouted loudly at the sky.

"Screw the Wall-Facing Project!"

The film "The Wallfacer" thus came to a close amidst a sea of ​​red.

Even the Japanese people of different nationalities and backgrounds in the screening room were still deeply moved after watching the film.

But that's not all. After the main feature, there's the usual post-credits scene from the [Galaxy Cinematic Universe].

The first Easter egg contained a bomb.

Snow covered the ground, and the cold wind howled.

In the vast polar region, during the daytime, the camera pans across the boundless white snow, landing on a snow-covered hill. Passing through the thick snow, a hidden world unfolds beneath the hill: various rooms filled with equipment are connected by tunnels, and some mysterious figures in white coats hurry about.

Following the figure of a middle-aged man, we walked forward. His fingertips pointed in front of us, and a virtual screen was playing news about the United Government announcing the "Wallfacer Project".

A middle-aged man in a white coat took an elevator down to the ground, passed through a series of gates, and finally arrived at a huge underground space.

Above his head was a layer of ice that had never melted for millennia, and the white light shining on it refracted a bluish glow.

Beneath his feet was a long walkway made of steel grilles, spanning the deep, cold pool of the cave.

The middle-aged man walked steadily up the corridor, the cool blue light shining on him and illuminating the water below.

With the help of the camera's overhead view, viewers can see what appears to be a blurry, huge black shadow floating and swaying in the pool of water beneath the person's feet.

At this moment, the news on the virtual projection screen was coming to an end. The Secretary-General of the United Government loudly proclaimed the positive significance of the "Wallfacer Project" and expounded on the greatness of the "Wallfacers".

The middle-aged man finally stopped, shook his head, and chuckled twice.

The camera pans to the front of him, capturing the face of the middle-aged man.

That face is extremely familiar to everyone; it belongs to Dr. Chen Ang, a very memorable villain in the [Galaxy Cinematic Universe].

"Wallfacers? Wallfacers can't save this world."

But it's time to put some pressure on them.

As he spoke, the huge black shadow in the cold pool beneath his feet gradually disappeared.

The post-credits scene featured the highly distinctive villain, Dr. Chen Ang, but the audience was still reeling from the main story, resulting in a lukewarm response.

Immediately following the end credits, the second post-credits scene began playing.

(End of this chapter)