69novels Chapter 83 The Vanished 0.02 Millimeters
Chapter 83 The Vanished 0.02 Millimeters
The heavy wooden door of screening room number three was pushed open by the police, and the creaking sound of the hinges turning pierced the eardrums.
Marco stood in the front aisle, a few conspicuous yellow scraps of paper stuck to the cuffs of his black suit—remnants of seals that had been violently torn open.
Lu Haiming moved his foot off a roll of loose film.
The leather soles rolled over the celluloid material, producing a harsh, screeching sound.
"Chen, the surveillance cameras in the film archive captured Henry's men."
Marco's voice was deep as he slammed the broken seal against the back of the chair.
"Someone wanted to use this box of so-called '1991 works' to exchange for the main copy of 'Thunder'."
Two Italian policemen stood at the door, their hands on their gun holsters, blocking all the exits.
Lu Haiming tightened his grip on the silver leather suitcase.
He straightened up, adjusted his Windsor knot, and maintained his usual calm expression.
"Mr. Marco, you may have misunderstood."
Lu Haiming placed the suitcase horizontally on the swivel chair in the first row and fiddled with the metal lock with his fingers.
"I am here to assist the organizing committee in weeding out the bad apples. This box of negatives contains the truth of history."
With a "snap".
The suitcase popped open.
Six rolls of undeveloped film were neatly stacked, with Kodak production batch labels from 1991 clearly affixed to the side edges. The red lettering had been artificially aged, giving it a musty, historical feel.
"Director Chen just said this is a model."
Lu Haiming turned his head and stared at Chen Yan, who emerged from the darkness.
"But the receipts, customs permits, and even the production serial numbers of these negatives all match up in the archives from 1991. Director Chen, how do you plan to explain your work appearing in a box from nine years ago?"
Chen Yan stopped in his tracks.
He stood three steps away from Lu Haiming.
"Mr. Lu, you really went to a lot of trouble to collect these 3.3 kilometers of old film."
Chen Yan reached into the suitcase and picked up the end of a piece of film.
His fingernails brushed against the edge of the film, making a very soft sound.
He ignored Lu Haiming and looked at Marco instead.
"Mr. Marco, the committee's technical laboratory should be equipped with a precision micrometer."
Marco's brows furrowed.
"You doubt the thickness of the film?"
"The Kodak 5247 series in 1991 was a period of recognized instability in coating technology. In order to prevent the coating from peeling off when the silver content exceeded the standard, the manufacturer had to thicken the film base for support. At that time, the standard thickness was 0.17 millimeters."
Chen Yan's fingertips slowly caressed the film, feeling the sensation brought about by the different chemical composition.
"The film in Mr. Lu's box is only 0.15 millimeters thick. This is a new technology that only came into use after 2000. In other words, this is a box of 'premature babies' labeled as being born in 1991."
Chen Yan loosened his grip.
The film struck the metal edge of the suitcase with a harsh sound.
Lu Haiming's face darkened.
"This kind of physical error doesn't explain anything. The humidity is high by the sea in Venice, and the storage environment may cause dehydration and shrinkage."
"If dehydration can reduce the physical thickness by 10%, the film will crumble into powder after three rotations on the projector."
Chen Yan interrupted him.
He walked past Lu Haiming and went straight to the control panel in the projection room.
He pressed the green button on the control panel.
"Mr. Marco, please look at the screen."
The beam of light was reprojected.
The image freezes on the skyscraper in the rain, its glass curtain wall gleaming coldly in the rainy night.
Look here.
Chen Yan's finger touched a shadow at the edge of the picture.
That was due to a logical flaw caused by digital editing in post-production.
At the top of the building, where a lightning rod is located, there is a very thin, faintly greenish edge.
"That's color overflow from the digital keying process that wasn't properly processed. The printing technology of 1991 could only adjust the color temperature using chemical solutions. It absolutely couldn't produce this kind of vertical color shift that only occurs in digital modeling, which is 0.3 degrees off the horizon."
Marco strode down to the screen.
The veteran of the film industry, who had been immersed in it for forty years, squinted and stared intently at the green outline.
He pulled a miniature magnifying glass from his pocket and held it up to the screen.
A brief, deathly silence fell over the air.
"This is digital forgery."
Marco turned around, his voice trembling slightly with anger.
"Mr. Lu, at the Venice Film Festival, falsifying competition entries and interfering with the judging process are serious crimes. You are desecrating the honor of this city."
Lu Haiming's breathing became erratic.
He watched as the Italian police officers gradually approached, and his right hand instinctively reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket.
"Chen Yan, you think this is the end?"
Lu Haiming took a step forward and whispered in Chen Yan's ear.
"All your files are in my hands. All those shady things you did in Yanjing, I can make sure you never win an award in China again. Only I can save that future you who drank yourself to death in the garbage dump."
Chen Yan stood still, without retreating an inch.
He could smell the mixture of tobacco and cold sweat on Lu Haiming.
"That future has just been swallowed up by the shredder."
Chen Yan's voice was very low, only the two of them could hear it.
"Lu Haiming, you're a believer in capital. But I only believe in the camera."
"The camera never lies; only people can lie."
Chen Yan took out a one-cent coin from his pocket and casually stuffed it into Lu Haiming's suit pocket.
"Keep this money safe; consider it my repatriation fee."
Marco waved his hand.
Two police officers immediately stepped forward and grabbed Lu Haiming's shoulders, one on each side.
The suitcase fell onto the carpet in the struggle, its lid flipped open.
The film roll inside rolled out, spreading out on the floor as a large, messy expanse of black strips.
Lu Haiming was dragged to the door by the police.
He kept turning his head back, staring at Chen Yan, and repeatedly muttering a year.
"2025...impossible...2025..."
The door closed again, keeping Lu Haiming's curses out.
Screening Room No. 3 returned to its initial quiet.
Chen Yan returned to the projector and turned off the light source.
The skyscrapers on the screen vanished instantly, plunging the entire theater into a cold, hard darkness.
Only the sound of Su Wan's footsteps as she pushed open the door and entered could be heard.
Her high heels tapped rapidly on the floor, each sound exceptionally clear.
Su Wan walked to Chen Yan's side and handed him a stack of Frankfurt notarized documents that still felt warm.
"Director Chen, Wu Gang caught Henry in the drainage ditch at the back gate."
Su Wan's forehead was covered in sweat, and her black suit was soaked through by the rain.
"Henry confessed everything. Lu Haiming had someone in Tianjin do the digital transfer, and even used his money laundering accounts at the construction company. This is a copy of the audit report that was just sent to me."
Chen Yan accepted the notarized document.
Marco walked up to the two men and sat down in a chair, looking somewhat dejected.
"Chen. The blockade against 'Thunder' will be lifted immediately."
Marco looked at the fake film reels scattered on the ground.
"Your premiere will proceed as scheduled at 8 a.m. tomorrow. But you need to give the media an explanation before the screening, outlining the origins of those futuristic buildings."
"I don't need to explain."
Chen Yan looked at the huge curtain in front of him.
"Tomorrow morning, I will let this screen speak for me."
Chen Yan turned his head and gave instructions to Su Wan.
"Contact Vincent. Have him reissue the announcement."
"The title is—'Thunder': Let everyone witness the true future."
His hand rested on the metal body of the projector.
The outer shell is cold.
At that moment, the sound of rain outside the theater suddenly intensified.
A beam of light pierced through the ventilation window high up, leaving a crack in the wall.
Immediately afterwards, thunder rolled overhead.
The entire palace trembled slightly from the shock.
Chen Yan took the scissors and cleanly cut off the section of film with the moiré pattern.
Throw it in the trash can.