Huayu 05, our science fiction movie universe

Chapter 644 "The Mechanic 2"

The final episode of "Candle in the Tomb 4" caused a huge stir on the internet.

Based on the world background of the Galaxy Cinematic Universe, the new "Dragon and Phoenix Calamity", "War of the Lich Kings", and "Ten Suns Era" organically combine science fiction, Chinese mythology, and historical legends, which is the first time in the domestic film and television industry.

Although China has had ancient mythological works like "Investiture of the Gods" in the past that were neither entirely Chinese nor entirely Western, it is clear to anyone with discerning eyes that they were merely a clumsy fusion, far less logically consistent than the theory Huang Ji proposed based on the "Classic of Mountains and Seas".

The only downside is that the storyline only exists verbally; Galaxy Pictures has not produced it into a movie or TV series.

[Hurry up and make this movie, I want to see it!]

Director Wong, when are you going to film "The Dragon and Phoenix Catastrophe"?

I think the plot of "The Lich Wars" might be more interesting.

[This is truly a stroke of genius; the ending of "Ghost Blows Out the Light 4" expands the entire StarCraft cinematic universe's worldview significantly forward along the timeline.]

[These elements have actually been shown in previous works of the cinematic universe, such as the Easter egg in Source Code, the ghost cave in Jingjue Kingdom in The Great Wall, and the early Ghost Blows Out the Light books. But I never expected that these clues would be connected in such a way. It's absolutely brilliant.]

Similar comments were heard frequently on various internet forums and websites.

But that wasn't all. Soon after, Xinghai Comics, a subsidiary of Xinghe Group, followed suit and launched "The Great Calamity of Dragon and Phoenix," a fan comic derived from the movie universe. It features the Yellow Emperor, the first of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors of ancient times, as the protagonist and tells that special historical story.

The comic also adopted a Chinese-style art style, and it immediately gained great popularity as soon as it was released, almost catching up with Xinghe Comics' top work, "Under One Person".

Furthermore, in addition to Xinghai Comics, Xinghe Group's Xinghe Park also announced that it will add a unique "Chinese Mythology Theme Zone" to the second phase of the park's construction, perfectly blending science fiction with ancient Chinese mythology.

Netizens commented that they hadn't even been to the first phase of the project, let alone the second phase.

There's no way around it, it's just too popular, it's incredibly popular.

Since the opening of Galaxy Park in September, tickets for this theme park have been in high demand and short supply every day.

Even though it's November now, and it's cold outside, and some rides in the park are closed due to the temperature, it still can't dampen the enthusiasm of tourists.

On the one hand, this is because the prices at Galaxy Park, whether for tickets, dining, or merchandise, are lower than those at comparable parks like Disneyland and Universal Studios.

On the other hand, many of the attractions and activities within [Galaxy Park] have continuity.

For example, if you obtain the Special Affairs Department Agent ID card in [Star River Paradise] for the first time, when you visit [Star River Paradise] a second time, the ticket price will be discounted according to your agent ID level. In addition, you can continue to complete missions in the park with this ID to upgrade your ID level.

Different ranks and statuses will have different tasks.

This model, much like the second and third playthroughs in a single-player game, can be said to greatly increase visitor engagement and ticket repurchase rates.

Moreover, [Galaxy Paradise] offers more than just the virtual identity of [Special Affairs Department Agent]. There are also identities such as [Scientist Researcher], [Paleontologist], and [Wolf Fang Special Forces Soldier], so there's bound to be one that suits you.

Sometimes, there are even mysterious hidden identities such as the "High Table Killer" and the "ETO Organization Member".

With so many ways to play, plus the support of the Star River Cinematic Universe IP itself, it's no wonder that Star River Park is a huge hit.

Because of the extreme difficulty in obtaining tickets, even with various measures taken by Xinghe Park to restrict and crack down on scalpers, the existence of scalpers cannot be stopped.

Seeing the immense popularity of [Xinghe Paradise], coupled with the boost this theme park brings to local tourism, culture, and economy, leaders from TZ District and BJ City made several trips to the Xinghe Building, eagerly pushing for the implementation of the second phase of the [Xinghe Paradise] project, almost without Xinghe Group even asking.

What? The first phase of the project hasn't even recouped its costs yet?
Don't worry, the government provides interest-free loans, extends tax relief periods, and offers various preferential policies.

In short, the key is to capitalize on this momentum and produce tangible results.

In response, Xinghe Group not only held several internal meetings to discuss the matter, but also organized several meetings with the investors of Xinghe Paradise to explore it together.

Ultimately, Xinghe Group's response to the local government was that construction would resume in March or April after the winter.

After all, the Spring Festival is just around the corner, and the low winter temperatures and heavy snow make construction inconvenient.

Moreover, Xinghe Paradise has only been in operation for two months. The company needs to collect more operational data to understand the problems that have arisen in the operation of the theme park, so as to optimize and adjust the design of the second phase project.

The local government could not say anything about this, since Xinghe Group's reasons were reasonable and well-founded.

Just as everyone at Xinghe Group was busy preparing for the second phase of the Xinghe Paradise project and handling various important matters at the end of the year.

Mechanic 2, a co-production between Star River Pictures and Universal Pictures, was released worldwide in early December.

Yes, the partner is Universal Pictures, not Sony Pictures.

In fact, as a globally renowned film and television IP, Galaxy Group has established cooperative relationships with several film and television companies in Hollywood over the years through the major project of "Galaxy Cinematic Universe," moving away from its previous deep-rooted relationship with Sony Pictures.

Such actions naturally provoked dissatisfaction from Sony Pictures, but in a capitalist society, business is business, and there's no room for sentimentality.

If selling out Galaxy Pictures would bring huge profits, Sony Pictures would probably not hesitate.

Therefore, Galaxy Group has also brought together many Hollywood production, distribution, advertising, and streaming companies, including Universal, Fox, and Legendary Pictures.

With this, coupled with TikTok already operating overseas, it may not have a huge influence in North America, but it has initially established its own base and a loose community of interests.

This allows Galaxy Group to maintain relatively unaffected business operations even when conflicts arise between the two parties due to trade issues.

As for the movie "Mechanic 2", as the last film of the [Galaxy Cinematic Universe] in 2018, its storyline is not very complicated because it needs to cater to overseas audiences, especially those in Europe and America.

As a sequel to The Mechanic, Mechanic 2: Resurrection still stars Jason Statham as Arthur Bishop, a top assassin at the High Table who is skilled in assassination techniques and adept at disguising murders as "accidents".

The film continues the "precise, calm, and traceless" assassin setting of the previous work, while adding more complex conspiracies and emotional storylines, and incidentally introducing a new power organization, the "Illuminati," which is hidden in the Western upper class.

In the film, Arthur Bishop, who faked his death at the end of the first movie, lives a low-key, secluded life in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, far away from the killing.

With his superb mechanical and combat skills, he made a living repairing boats in the area, trying to completely leave behind his dark past.

However, his peaceful life did not last long. He was approached by Crain (Sam Hazelding), the leader of a mysterious organization.

Crane was an old acquaintance of Arthur, and had also worked as an assassin at the High Table. He had carried out missions with Arthur and knew his abilities well.

However, Krein later left the High Table and joined a more powerful force.

He is now approaching Arthur because the world has undergone tremendous changes since the Three-Body Crisis. Governments around the world have united under pressure from aliens. Although they still have their own agendas, the overall political landscape has changed, which has compressed the survival space of this mysterious organization.

They needed fresh blood and men to develop their power, so Arthur's useful black glove naturally caught their eye.

According to Crane, this is a great opportunity for Arthur.

Arthur, who was lying down, did not want to return to his former life, but his refusal was obviously useless.

After realizing that he couldn't win Arthur over with money or power, Crane decided to resort to force. He kidnapped Gina (Jessica Alba), a woman Arthur had met by chance and developed feelings for, and used her to blackmail Arthur into returning to the workforce and carrying out three high-difficulty assassination missions for him.

In order to rescue Gina, Arthur is forced to accept the mission.

His targets are all highly inaccessible figures worldwide, and his methods once again demonstrate the "mechanic's" extreme professionalism:
First, there was arms dealer Francisco Alvarez, who was being held in a heavily guarded floating prison in Thailand, surrounded by terrifying man-eating sharks.

Arthur infiltrated the prison disguised as a prisoner and, taking advantage of Alvarez's identity as a voodoo believer, deliberately gained his trust before mixing a mixture of incense poisons into the tools used in his voodoo rituals.

This poison is harmless when used alone, but when combined with another alcoholic beverage, it produces a deadly toxin similar to snake venom, making Alvarez's death appear to be caused by poisoning from eating snakes.

As for the second billionaire, Ricky Wayne, he was a financial fraudster, but he has long since gone bankrupt and now lives in Australia with a high level of security.

However, Arthur discovers that Wayne has a huge glass swimming pool suspended on the rooftop of a penthouse apartment in the city center.

Almost every week, Wayne would go swimming in that pool twice to experience the feeling of "looking down on all the mountains".

Arthur took advantage of this, renting a floor below Wayne's mansion and then using special equipment to climb over the exterior wall to Wayne's glass rooftop pool. He drilled a small hole in the glass and injected a special gel.

When Wayne came to swim in the pool, Arthur directly irradiated the gel with special ultraviolet rays, causing it to expand rapidly. This eventually led to the glass at the bottom of the pool shattering, and Wayne died from an accidental fall.

As for the third assassination target, dictator Benjamin Adams, he commanded an army and had been hiding for years in an underwater fortress built in a volcano crater in Bulgaria.

The fortress has a very strong defense system; its thick walls can even withstand missile attacks, and its internal security system is also very tight.

Furthermore, there is a submarine base inside the fortress, so Adams can escape by submarine if things go wrong.

However, Arthur discovered a security loophole in the fortress. He hid in a medical helicopter, landed on the helipad at the top of the fortress, and then sneaked in from above, avoiding the large number of security personnel gathered below.

However, being threatened was not Arthur's style. After sitting down in front of Benjamin Adams with the money, Arthur not only did not kill him, but also started doing business with him.

The two formed an initial alliance, and Benjamin Adams also took the opportunity to reveal more information to Arthur about Crane and the organization behind him.

It turns out that behind this Klein is a mysterious organization called the "Illuminati".

This organization, which identifies itself as the "All-Knowing Eye," exists among the elite of Western society. Its members are all social elites who control almost half of the wealth in Western society.

Even Clayne was actually just an outer member of the Illuminati, a black glove who did all the dirty and hard work.

His goal this time was to wrap up some of the Illuminati's actions before the "Three-Body Crisis," which was part of the organization's strategic contraction.

If he can successfully complete the mission, Krein may have a chance to become a formal member of the Illuminati.

However, Benjamin Adams smiled as he looked at Arthur sitting in front of him.

"Now that he's messed with you, it seems his goal is unlikely to be achieved."

Arthur and Benjamin Adams then reached an agreement, since Arthur knew that Clay would definitely not let him go after the mission was completed.

So he first faked Benjamin Adams' death, which lowered Crane's guard and also caused the other side to mobilize its armed forces.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Arthur used Benjamin Adams' submarine to infiltrate the enemy ship, preparing to carry out a decapitation strike.

What Arthur didn't expect was that after joining the Illuminati, Klein was no longer the person he once knew.

Although he was only an outer member of the Illuminati, even a small amount of information that the organization casually let slip was enough to greatly enhance Krein's strength.

When Arthur arrived in front of Krein alone with a gun, he was taken aback by the steel-like muscles beneath the man's ripped suit and the obvious signs of mechanical modification.

When Krein revealed his true strength, he made Arthur suffer even more.

The implanted subcutaneous armor gave Krein's skin enough defense to withstand bullets.

The high-energy bio-batteries implanted in his body provide a large amount of energy to the power devices of his limbs, allowing Klein to not only deliver powerful punches and kicks, but also to move at speeds far exceeding those of ordinary people.

In addition to a special photonic neural beam and an electronic prosthetic eye integrated with various sensing devices, Krein is almost flawless, making him the most powerful humanoid killing machine.

Fortunately, although Arthur was in a sorry state, he was a meticulous person by nature. After learning about the power of the Illuminati from Benjamin Adams, he couldn't have been unprepared.

While he was being overwhelmed by Krein, Arthur used himself as bait to lure the enemy to the target location.

So, at the stern of the cruise ship, as Crane cruelly broke Arthur's arm, a bullet from a thousand miles away struck Crane in the head from his blind spot.

Those were the gold coins Arthur used on the high table from "The Jackal" (Eddie Redmayne), an assassin hired by the organization.

The sniper bullet fired by this sharpshooter was so powerful that even with steel armor implanted in Krein's skull, it couldn't withstand the immense kinetic energy, and his entire head was dented and blown away.

At the end of the story, the high-energy bio-battery inside Crane's body exploded after his death, igniting the entire cruise ship.

Fortunately, Arthur successfully rescued Gina, and the two boarded the lifeboat together. Against the backdrop of the explosion's flames, they disappeared into the vast ocean, embarking once again on their path of retirement.

(End of this chapter)