Chapter 364: 364 Oh My God!

3845 theaters, crammed to full capacity, screen “Firefly” to an audience utterly captivated by the Serenity’s interstellar journey, one filled with curiosity and mystique, surging with excitement and peril.

“Whoosh—” The roaring sound of Serenity landing, as it arrives on the outskirts of Canton town, on yet another small terrestrial planet at the edge of a new star system, ready for a cash heist.

Because Captain Malcolm insisted on bringing the super-fighter River, Simon was very worried and puzzled; what could the few of them possibly rob? In the ship’s cargo hold, as everyone prepared to head out, they casually revealed bits of the world set up; the Alliance’s force was still weak at the edge of the new star system, without enough manpower to maintain peace in every place on every planet. Thus, they hired private companies to handle these security jobs, which preferred cash payments. Hence, the Alliance made a lump-sum payment in cash each month, which happened to be today in Canton.

The private company being robbed could only grit its teeth and swallow blood because if they reported it to the Alliance, it would reveal their weakness and incompetence, possibly losing them their contract. Malcolm and his crew were exploiting just this, robbing the security company of its payroll.

“River, stay hidden behind others, and if a battle breaks out, jump down and run!” Simon, giving instructions to his sister before they left, glanced at Mal and whispered, “Remember, it’s okay to ignore them, let them die if they have to.” Mal assured him not to worry, cheerfully saying, “If River dies, I’d definitely be sad, might even shed a tear.” As they watched several people drive the hover mule away, Kaylee consoled Simon, “They’ll be back before you can spit—and I’m not talking about the spitting kind of spit…”

“Hahaha!” The humorous dialogue elicited waves of light laughter from the audience. As Mal, Jayne, Zoe, and River drove off in a Mule hover car, dashing over the grasslands, the audience once again witnessed the superb cinematography, the expansive framing, the beauty of light and color, and the realism of the visual effects included in these delicate scenes, making even Robert Zemeckis wonder what defines a vast perspective, what is refined and unique—this was it.

“Firefly” inevitably represented a subversion and innovation of the western genre, yet it retained some typical flavors of a western, for example, Canton town was quite distinct from the previously seen Barto city, with a stronger cowboy atmosphere in its streets complete with horseback cowboys; the Eastern elements, however, were relatively subdued, though Chinese characters still consistently appeared.

“Let’s start being the bad guys now!” Mal and his crew arrived at the town’s security agency, and as soon as they jumped off the mule, they swiftly controlled the scene, coolly and effortlessly pulling off the robbery, with no need for River to intervene. Yet she became very agitated; at that moment, two raider ships descended from the sky, their ferocious-looking raiders sliding down ropes. While the residents of Canton town panicked—the adults screamed, and the children cried in chaos—Mal and his crew had no intention of saving anyone.

“The raiders are inhumane; no one knows where they come from. If you encounter them, run or kill yourself,” Zoe explained to River. It was simply too much to handle; their combat ability was no match for the brutal raiders who were encroaching on the worlds at the edge of the star system. Whoever was captured by them either died a horrific death, possibly even getting eaten, or could be turned into one of them by some unknown method since the raiders’ roaming range was becoming wider.

Mal instructed the already robbed security staff to lock up as many people as they could in the basement for hiding; they then hurriedly drove the mule to escape, almost leaving behind the reluctant River. But they’d barely gotten out of the security agency when they saw their mule blown to bits by the raider ships. They were forced to stay and fight.

“Wow! Oh wow!” Accompanying the stirring suspenseful music, the booming and explosive echoes of combat filled the theater with gasps and exclamations. As they watched the thrilling and spectacular fight scenes unfold on the big screen, the adrenaline rush made it impossible for the audience to look away. Action movie fans couldn’t help but clench their fists and sway with the motion, experiencing once more the explosive martial arts style of Yang! Witnessing River’s fierce and stunning figure and seeing that Mal, Jayne, and Zoe were far from helpless in battle.

This battle was even more heart-wrenching and blood-boiling than the previous quick kills, not only had the scale escalated, but the enemies were fierce raiders unafraid of death, scum who killed and set fires! The combat also involved face-offs and threats, watching Jayne get injured in the calf, Mal take a bullet in the arm, and River’s perilous fight against nearly a dozen raiders, many viewers couldn’t help but hold their breath. Andre Gromyko from “Chicago Reader” silently added to tomorrow’s film review, “Firefly” undoubtedly has the best commercial prowess.

“Wow, yes! Just like that, wow!” In AMC-CityWalk cinema, Wang Yang was also very excited, enjoying the visual impact of the IMAX giant screen while gently waving his hands in his lap. Witnessing these scenes, Jessica felt a surge of emotions; her previous hardships were so worth it! What did lying down sick, thinking she was going to die, matter? Look at now! How proud she felt! He was proud of her! Jessica curled her lip slightly and turned to look at him. How was Top-Captain doing? This was her first time watching “Firefly,” but it must have been mesmerizing!

Natalie Portman also had the same thought. She was so drawn to the screen that she threw punches and kicks: “Why do they only cast me as a quirky girl? Don’t they know I can be fierce and a good fighter?” And she wondered, how was Top-Captain doing? The fight scene she was most looking forward to tonight.

“Boom!!” On the big screen, the Serenity, which had been called earlier, finally arrived, launching a surprise bomb attack, one of the raider ships was blown up in the air, and the injured Mal on the ground cursed, “I knew Kaylee had done something!” Then the camera cut away, and River grabbed a huge ax from one of the raiders, executing a beautiful spin and killing by rotation, her astonishing flexibility and sexy curves on full display as she turned several circles, and the raiders surrounding her all fell to the ground. Another ship, which was not badly hit, crashed to the ground, facing Mal, who was standing on the street. He raised his handgun and shot the raider pilot in the cockpit dead.

Robbers turned into heroes! No raider emerged from the fallen ship again, and thus the intense and suspenseful fight scene came to a close, with Mal and the others surviving. Implausibly, with the breakout of superweapon River, they had defeated two raider ships!

“Oh!” “Oh!” The close-up shots panned over the dazed, panting Mal and his group, and the silent town street suddenly erupted into cheers, the civilians who hadn’t had time to take cover were jubilant, and all around were smiling faces. The audience in front of the big screen also sported a range of grins, as laughter and cheers echoed through theaters everywhere. Suddenly, a raider who was thought to be dead leaped up from the ground and lunged at Mal, startling the audience. As Evelyn screamed, “Ahhh—”, Mal in the movie quickly spun around and shot the raider dead with a gunshot, “Bang!”

The street was quiet for a few seconds, and then the stunned civilians erupted into cheers again: “Oh!” “Oh!”

It seemed as though the director, screenwriter, and editor didn’t want the audience to enjoy the moment for too long, as the parallel montage cut back to the earlier spaceship repair yard in the city of Barto. The once bustling yard was now quiet, with only a man dressed in a black greatcoat and blue gloves fiddling with a computer. The audience knew that the repair yard boss, who had haggled with Mal before, and the sweaty repair workers had been cleaned out by the blue-gloved hands tracking them down.

Finding the Serenity here wasn’t difficult, and a few shots later, the blue-gloved man’s multifunctional glasses emitted a holographic image of Captain Mal. He looked cool and untamed, glaring at the recording camera, with data flowing beside him: “Malcolm Reynolds, a former independent faction soldier, served as a captain in the Battle of Serenity Valley, criminal records…” The blue-gloved man muttered softly, “Captain Mal.” He revealed a smile and slowly pounded his virtual holographic image of Mal: “Nice-To-Meet-You.”

“Legendary!” The movie fans were praising their favorite Heath Ledger for what felt like the umpteenth time tonight. What did the magical combination of Yang & Ledger equal? A genius partnership was born! One was 25, the other 26; both so young. It seemed that there would be many more spectacular collaborations to come.

But Michael Pitt’s film criticism fans also declared today a day of celebration. Following their second collaboration after “Juno,” without the previous freshness, a doctor with a rakish air was born! On screen, Simon was performing surgery on Jayne’s injured calf, while the character concept art leaped to life on the screen before them. Holding surgical scissors and with an unlit cigarette in his mouth, he claimed it was “his habit,” according to his reply to Kaylee. Whether there was any revenge involved was uncertain, but under the close-up shot, Jane was in such pain he was sweating profusely. Simon let out an “I-Am-Sorry,” his cool and brash demeanor thrilling the fans. Mal, who was waiting in line, frowned, and Kaylee, always fangirling, continued to gush.

“Hehe.” “Haha!” On the big screen, another warm scene appeared. To celebrate getting through the ordeal, the residents of Canton held a bonfire party in the town square. The especially large and bright full moon brought an oriental atmosphere to the black night sky. There were children frolicking, young couples dancing hand in hand, elders strumming guitars, and the residents all laughing and talking. They sang a ballad praising heroes that had spread across the fringe of the star system. Under the melodious and lingering singing, the elderly town mayor announced publicly, also informing Mal and the others, that Canton would erect statues of the seven of them in the square, all heroes of Canton!

Watching the injured heroes, Mal and Jayne, being nudged out by the residents, reluctantly dancing clumsily together, the audience in front of the screen couldn’t help but laugh, either with a smile or a burst of hearty laughter! What joy! Such a great feeling! Yet Evelyn’s brow twitched suddenly, recalling what Wang Yang had mentioned about “a touch of sadness,” and also the murderer with blue gloves. Could he have been planning to kill everyone in Canton? A sudden cold sweat broke out on her, and she cried out involuntarily, “NO!!” Both friends and strangers around her seat turned to look at her.

“Probably there’ll be no more of these warm moments now…” Nancy Reno, stealing a moment from her busy schedule, glanced at her watch. The screening of “Firefly” was already halfway through; the blue gloves had traced them to the Serenity, the reavers made a brutal appearance, and the warm bonfire made River’s absent-mindedness even more eerie. The movie was probably moving into its tense, critical phase.

Clearly, “Firefly” could be described as a well-structured, outstanding commercial sci-fi movie. It didn’t falter at all in its pacing, and as expected, the atmosphere began to grow increasingly tense. River’s symptoms of madness intensified, speaking words that no one inside or outside the screen could understand. The day after the bonfire party, Serenity received a contact signal from the blue-gloved man, and a conversation ensued as Mal woke up.

The blue-gloved man’s purpose was straightforward; he demanded they hand over the Tam siblings. Was Simon, the pretty-faced boy, a Grade S wanted criminal? Mal didn’t believe that the blue gloves was just a regular police officer and, guessing something else, was certain it had to do with the neurotic River! Why was the Alliance so interested in her? Was she someone important? Did she have access to some secrets?

“Captain Mal, there’s something you need to know.” Listening to Mal’s barrage of questions and confident guesses, the expressionless face of the blue-gloved man in the comm screen cracked a smile, like an old friend. He said, “She’s a very dangerous person, holding onto some secrets that you shouldn’t know.” His deep voice carried tension and pressure, he paused, then his face returned to its expressionless state, “Secrets that could lead to Serenity’s demise.”

In the captain’s cabin, a standing Mal also showed a smile, radiating the untamed air of a rogue. His tone, however, carried a hint of seriousness, “Are you talking about the reavers?” The blue glove answered, “I’m talking about what you shouldn’t know.” The cop-and-robber dialogue was getting denser, and Mal asked again, “How do I know that if I hand River over, you won’t just kill us all? Don’t treat me like a child; this is how you operate.” The camera cut back to the blue-gloved man tightening his fist, but he simply stated, “If you cooperate, I won’t.”

“Oh.” Mal nodded a few times, seemingly weighing his options. He suddenly spoke with disdain, “Forgot to tell you, I hate being threatened, cop. Go back whence you came!” Before the comm screen turned to black, the blue-gloved man gave Mal a deep look.

The acting collision between Robert Downey Jr. and Heath Ledger was a sight to behold! The audience was dazzled, as were the critics, with a typically mundane exchange becoming fascinating thanks to their performance, undoubtedly linked to their burst of charisma! Today’s Peter Howell from the Toronto Star couldn’t stop praising Heath Ledger, saying this guy had a wonderful element about him that could react strongly with this and equally with that, which is the essence of talent and skill; something also found in tonight’s Robert Downey Jr.

“Behave yourself!” In the big screen, Mal sternly said a phrase in Chinese to Simon. Although he hadn’t agreed to the blue gloves’ demands, he ordered that River be restrained again with handcuffs and that Simon be tied to a chair for interrogation, to find out what the deal was. What did River know? Under Mal’s menacing look, Kaylee’s anxiety and Zoe and Wash’s gazes, Simon kept saying “I don’t know.” It turned out his sister had been selected by the Alliance for education and training due to her exceptional talent, with contact made only on major holidays each year.

However, they suddenly lost contact two years ago. Under Mal’s pressing questions, everyone confirmed that River’s disappearance coincided almost exactly with the first appearance of the reavers! There had to be a connection. Simon continued to confess that he had recently come to know a high-ranking Alliance official, and inadvertently learned of her whereabouts. River was undergoing some unknown experiment, and only because he was a highly-ranked official neurosurgeon was he able to access River, control her with a secret phrase, and escape with her against all odds.

As the camera gave a close-up of a pensive Mal, suddenly, there was a flashback scene on the big screen. The view zoomed out from slicing steak to a luxurious dining hall with a long table filled with distinguished guests, their identities evident. The middle-aged official carving the steak sat in the seat of honor, happily laughing about how he met many young talents lately… The camera swept across the smiling faces of the beautiful blonde girl and others on the left, and on the right, the elegantly-behaved blue-gloved man wiped his mouth with a napkin, pulled out a pair of blue gloves from his pocket, and put them on, commenting, “Dinner was sumptuous.”

The official was all smiles one second, and the next, exploded into blue light shards. Everybody was stunned. The blue-gloved man, with his fist raised and with an elegant smile, said, “Thank you.”

The camera immediately returned to Serenity, it was unclear whether this was a flashback, parallel action, or just Mal’s imagination. However, the audience, taking deep breaths, knew that the man with the blue gloves was not only a demon who slaughtered civilians but also one who wantonly killed senior Alliance officials. without saying, all those officers and nobility at the table were doomed to die! Evelyn muttered, “Oh my God!” and Natalie Portman also whispered, “Oh my God!” What kind of person was he!

Brilliant! Film critics were pleased with Firefly’s editing thus far, featuring tension and relaxation, fluid naturalness, contrastive echo, and balanced symmetry, just as beautiful as the film’s composition; under such circumstances, even the most critical couldn’t easily find fault. It was indeed mature and exquisite, the montage skills required for the flashback sequences were high, this series of flashbacks revealed another facet of the blue-gloved villain, making the character even more complex, and placed additional psychological pressure on the audience, while underlining River’s significance and confidentiality, intensifying the audience’s urgency to know the truth.

As the big screen returned to Serenity, the atmosphere suddenly tensed. The bound River erupted once more, taking down her guard, Jayne, and after getting the key, she disappeared into the ship. Mal and the others began their search and later found her in the cockpit, operating the star map screen, River said, “Miranda.” Miranda again? Many female viewers were momentarily taken aback, puzzled and amused, but the Miranda River spoke of was not the fashionable “Monster,” but a planet. She sensed its call; everything would be answered once they arrived at Miranda.

Miranda, a planet? Mal and the others hadn’t heard much about this planet, but upon closer inspection, they found official records describing it as a failed terraforming project, a “black rock” unsuitable for human habitation. Mal didn’t believe it, “Half the written history is to cover up the truth.” Yet he was reluctant to explore it further because, although the marauders had no base of operations, being a fleet of ships that wandered, venturing to Miranda would mean passing through a space zone where they often roamed and waited on standby.

In truth, Mal was just posturing, he wanted to know the secrets of the Alliance more than anyone, so when River threatened with violence, he smoothly agreed to this unknown adventure; even the mercenary Jayne had no objections, saying, “If Mal dies, I’m the captain.” However, they weren’t about to rashly court death; Kaylee took some parts from a downed marauder’s ship, repairing and modifying Serenity to give the Firefly-class vessel a marauder’s touch.

“Whoosh whoosh—”, with the roaring noise of its takeoff, and with the residents’ farewell, Serenity left Canton to head for Miranda.

The big screen shifted back to the vast blackness of space. The atmosphere in the movie had shifted from tense to solemn, and in Firefly screenings across North America, no laughter had been heard for quite a while. The audience was engrossed and anxious, their breathing unwittingly becoming shallower. Interior monologues began to appear, River, sitting on the deck with her knees bent, twirled a paper flower in her hand, her gaze vacant, her profile incomparably beautiful; in the captain’s quarters, Mal intently watched a digital frame, the valley grass under the blue sky swaying…

Paper flower? Serenity Valley? Suddenly the film critics realized, “Serenity Valley” was a significant prop that represented something. What exactly was Top-Captain trying to convey? What was the entire Firefly series trying to say? Perhaps they would find out soon!

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PS: Wow, I sincerely hope everyone welcomes the climax with monthly tickets. Let’s work hard for February tomorrow! Thank you^0^! (