Huayu 05, our science fiction movie universe

Chapter 662 Operation Red Sea: The Long Voyage
"Colonel Chu, is the mission complete?"

"How did it go, Colonel Chu?"

As Chu Yan, dressed in military uniform, walked through the base square in the drizzle, everyone who saw him along the way greeted him with a smile.

The emergence of heavy mechs not only became a powerful weapon against sea monsters, but also boosted public confidence.

At the same time, mechs are a unique kind of romance for men, especially since the "Jiaolong" mech is even more beautiful than the "Xingtian" mech. Therefore, the special forces soldiers who pilot the "Jiaolong" mech are like stars in the entire base.

Even in some of the countries that it rescued, the "Jiaolong" mecha has gained great fame and a large number of fans due to its missions.

"Okay, it went pretty smoothly."

"It's over."

"Good job, brothers."

Chu Yan greeted these people politely and amicably, and strolled to a base dock where a double-decker ferry was already moored.

As the largest military base of the United Government's Maritime Defence Force in the Asia-Pacific region, Peshawar is not just one military base.

He walked to the last row on the second floor of the ferry, took off his military cap, leaned back on the sofa, and began to close his eyes to rest.

As the ferry starts moving, the camera continues to follow, its perspective low and flat, sailing through the crisscrossing waterways. Tall, cold military buildings of various colors flash by on both sides, like ants crawling in a forest.

The ferry arrived at Gate 7, at which point the camera suddenly zoomed out, giving a wide panoramic view.

On the semi-circular breakwater, there are also several locks. Various warships and ferries are either setting off or just returning, leaving trails of white waves on the azure sea.

As the gates opened, ferries filed out, and the camera, using the ship as an axis, made a 180-degree rotation and then zoomed out again, finally allowing the audience to see the overall layout of the military base in the Zhongsha Islands.

"Fuck!"

In the movie theater, someone couldn't help but swear. "Big Eyes Watching Movies" heard it clearly, but he had no intention of condemning the person who suddenly spoke, because he felt the same way about that person at that moment.

Before him, on that giant screen, a massive ring of islands, formed by man-made and natural islands and covered with mangroves, completely enveloped the entire military base.

The interior of the island chain is a vast expanse of water enclosed by an inland sea, with docks, ports, and countless man-made oyster reefs.

These oyster reefs float with the rising tide, helping to cushion the waves, while filter feeders such as shellfish also help clean the harbor.

Meanwhile, oyster reefs and shoals divide the inland sea into several large areas, connected by floodgates as entrances and exits.

Further inside the oyster reef is a circular flood control dike.

Inside the dam lies a war base constructed from countless military buildings and factories, including a long airstrip.

As the camera pans in, the audience's gaze gradually delves into the core of "Operation Red Sea":
Those huge fan-shaped sluice gates, the opening and closing shells on the oyster reefs, the shallows that appear and disappear, the mangroves on the island rustling in the sea breeze...

The creators are using a meticulous, traditional Chinese painting style to present this new world to everyone.

This is arguably the first time the Zhongsha Islands have appeared in such a clear form. Although many viewers may have heard that China's disputes in the South China Sea are over these islands, they are not clear about what these islands actually look like.

The crew of "Operation Red Sea" made a special trip to the Zhongsha Islands for location shooting, with approval from higher authorities.

Of course, the real Zhongsha Islands are definitely different from this, and the production team added architectural special effects on this basis in post-production.

Even so, when this scene appeared, almost all the audience members, like one particular audience member, couldn't help but shout:
"Fuck!"

"Big Eyes" felt his hair stand on end and his whole body tremble with excitement.

He could hardly believe that he could see such a magnificent and grand spectacle in a domestic film.

This feeling is like when Chinese audiences in another world first saw "The Wandering Earth" and witnessed the two teenagers taking an elevator out of the underground city and into the transport vehicle. The scene was constantly zoomed out and magnified, presenting a scene of icy apocalypse and heavy metal machinery, a magnificent shot that could be recorded in the history of Chinese cinema.

It's that feeling of "I've finally seen this in a domestic film!" or "Is this something I can watch for 60 or 70 yuan?"

"Big Eyes" even reminisced about whether there were any comparable shots in the previous "Star Trek" series.

But after thinking about it, the closest one should be the giant tornado connecting heaven and earth at the end of "Ball Lightning," but that is the power of nature.

There's also the Martian base and Martian environment in "The Martian," but while both are technically equally sophisticated, "Operation Red Sea" surpasses it in terms of sheer scale and grandeur.

As for the "humanity's stars shining brightly" segment at the end of "The Wallfacer 1", in "Big Eyes'" view, these two are not on the same level and are not comparable at all.

So, is this a new style?

"Big Eyes" shook his head again. He had a certain level of knowledge about movies and had seen almost the entire Galaxy Cinematic Universe series.

Rather than attributing this to Zhang Yang's new film style, "Big Eyes" senses that it might be a stylistic advancement resulting from the long production and development of the "galaxy" science fiction film.

As can be seen from the [Galaxy Cinematic Universe] series, there is a consistent thread running through it all.

In the past, Galaxy Pictures, from directors to behind-the-scenes staff, almost always imitated and learned from Hollywood.

Now, they seem to have fully absorbed the Hollywood formula and are trying to forge a new path.

This scene from "Operation Red Sea" may be one such attempt, and it will surely become a classic shot etched in the history of Chinese cinema.

On the big screen, after the scenes that shocked countless viewers, the movie's plot continues to move forward.

After the tense and exciting plot in the early stages came to an end, the story entered a rare period of calm.

Chu Yan left the military area and came to the living area inside the island reef on the other side, to enjoy a short rest and relax his tense mind caused by the battle.

Get together with three or five buddies, have some barbecue, drink some beer, take a nap, get up, wash up, exercise, and warm up your arms and legs in the boxing ring...

Besides that, during the day, he would stand on the beach with a can of Coke, looking at the distant sea.

At the horizon, a vertical black line could be vaguely seen extending upwards.

That was a project jointly built by China, Japan, Southeast Asia, Australia, and other countries, and it is one of only two super projects on Earth at present – ​​the "Sky Ladder Project".

Chu Yan's wife is currently working there as an engineer, so their work must be very busy.

Because Chu Yan would also look at the distant sea and take out his phone to make a WeChat video call, but there was absolutely no answer.

Compared to similar projects in Africa on the other side of the world, which are collaborations between European and American countries, China has truly demonstrated what it means to be an infrastructure powerhouse. The construction speed, far exceeding that of similar projects in Europe and America, is the result of the tireless efforts and hard work of Chu Yan's wife and countless workers, day and night.

So it wasn't until evening that Chu Yan finally managed to get through on the phone with his wife, Zhao Shulei (played by Zhao Liying).

Looking at his wife's tired and sleepy face, Chu Yan, who had originally wanted to talk about his own affairs, swallowed his words and only showed concern for his wife.

Men should just shoulder whatever problems they have themselves.

The three-day rest period quickly came to an end, and the "Jiaolong" team, now full of energy and spirit, arrived at the mecha factory in the logistics area, ready to take their "little wives" home.

According to their internal jokes, this mecha is more precious than any luxury car; they cherish it as much as their wives.

After three days of intensive repairs, maintenance, and upkeep, the "Jiaolong" mech, which had suffered various damages and looked quite disheveled in the battle with the "Rhombus-backed Turtle," is now completely renewed.

Meanwhile, the film's camera followed the "Jiaolong" team deep into the mecha factory, giving them a real eye-opener.

It should be noted that this joint government maritime defense force is composed of elite naval forces drawn from countries around the world.

This military base in the Sands Cotai Strip is not home to just China.

Although they are the strongest, the most numerous, and hold absolute sway, there are still soldiers from countries such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Australia among them.

Similarly, within this mecha factory, there are naturally not only "Jiaolong" mechas from China.

As the camera moved, viewers also saw many mechs with their own national styles and flag paint schemes.

For example, the one equipped with a giant samurai sword is clearly a Japanese mecha.

Of course, those are not the main characters in "Operation Red Sea", so the movie only briefly shows them, which can be considered as enriching the world view.

As for the "Jiaolong" squad, after the personnel finished their rest and the mechs were repaired and maintained, they were naturally loaded onto the transport ship along with the mechs and set off with the fleet to the reconnaissance location designated at the previous meeting.

What follows is a fast-paced fleet scene.

Because of the increasing number of sea monsters in the ocean, human ships are now increasingly rare on the open sea.

However, Chu Yan and his group had a smooth journey, and the fleet did not even encounter any attacks from sea monsters.

The fleet successfully reached the vicinity of the target, but after patrolling the area, neither sonar nor radar detected anything unusual.

The sky was overcast and gloomy.

But that's only because of the monsoon; a hurricane is currently brewing in this area.

However, returning directly to the starting point is, of course, impossible.

So the fleet quickly turned to Saipan, which belongs to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. It is the largest island in the area and the location of its capital, with an area of ​​185 square kilometers.

The island was occupied by the Spanish in 1565 and named after their queen, Mariana.

The island later passed through the hands of Germany and Japan before finally coming under the jurisdiction of the United States.

Of course, that was before. Since the frequent occurrence of sea monster attacks, island cities like Saipan, which are deep in the ocean, have become the hardest hit areas for sea monster attacks.

Although the U.S. Navy also has a presence on this island, since the Trisolaran crisis and the establishment of the United Government, the U.S. military, which was originally deployed globally, has gradually reduced military spending and reduced its military forces deployed overseas.

Island nations like the Northern Mariana Islands, with their high risks and low returns, were naturally abandoned by the United States.

It is said that when the US military withdrew, they even abandoned the island's inhabitants.

Most of the capable people on the island chose to leave for the United States, but there are still some on the island who are unable to leave and can only fend for themselves.

Since then, no one has been able to say for sure what the situation was like on the island.

When Chu Yan and his group arrived near Saipan, they discovered that the island no longer had a port where warships could dock.

Those bases that were originally occupied by the US military are now ruins, and judging from the damage, they are clearly the work of a sea monster.

As for the city on the island, it originally had a permanent population of 40,000 to 50,000, who made a living by fishing, aquaculture, and tourism. It was usually crowded with tourists and had relatively complete facilities.

But when Chu Yan and the others landed in their "Jiaolong" mechs, they found that the city had already been ravaged beyond recognition.

The cement road surface was dilapidated, and you could still see the huge footprints of the sea monster, as well as abandoned vehicles on both sides of the road.

The beaches, once a popular tourist destination, are now littered with broken branches and marine debris.

Several mechs maintained their battle formation and began heading into the city. After a short while, they arrived at the central area of ​​Saipan.

There are post offices, government buildings, parks, hotels, police stations, etc., but all the buildings are abandoned, and traces of chaotic conflict can still be clearly seen on site.

"Search separately, and remember to stay in touch!"

As the team leader, Chu Yan gave the order, and the six "Jiaolong" mechs dispersed and headed in different directions along the street.

Fortunately, this place is only the size of a small town. According to Chu Yan's estimate, they can complete the task in less than two hours.

Of course, that's assuming no unforeseen circumstances.

But as a movie, that's definitely impossible.

So soon, one of the search team members ran into trouble at a luxury hotel.

When the gunshot rang out, Chu Yan, as the team leader, rushed over almost immediately and saw that his teammates had already dealt with the trouble.

It was a large octopus, nearly five meters long, trapped in a specially made composite material net.

It has large compound eyes, sharp mouthparts, and 12 long arms.

Perhaps because it had lived on land for a long time, this octopus's body was no longer slimy like its kind; instead, it had dry, rough skin that resembled tree bark.

However, the octopus has now turned a dangerous deep purple and is struggling to break free of its restraints in order to attack the metal lump in front of it.

Unfortunately, with the arrival of another mech equipped with a flamethrower, the octopus's fate was almost predictable.

(End of this chapter)