In his heart, Chen Mo quietly laid out four tests for the "Reach-Into-Movie" ability.
First: Is there a time limit when reaching into a movie?
Second: Can he retrieve more than one item at a time?
Third: Why only a hand? Could the whole body enter the movie?
Fourth: Is it possible to bring a person out of the movie?
Fifth: If he alters the movie's plot while inside, how does the story progress after he withdraws?
These five questions were the result of Chen Mo's careful consideration, but they had not yet been tested, so he couldn't confirm their validity. Now he finally had the chance to experiment.
As Chen Mo felt his right hand fully extended into the movie, a strange and wonderful sensation washed over him. It felt like having an almighty hand capable of manipulating everything—an exhilarating feeling.
He temporarily set aside the first test (time limit), since it could be tracked in parallel.
He began with the second test: can he retrieve two items at once?
Chen Mo first placed his right hand on the exoskeleton armor. Immediately, a retinal prompt appeared, asking if he wanted to retrieve the exoskeleton armor from The Wandering Earth.
He ignored it.
Then he reached for a walkie-talkie in another soldier's hand. Another identical prompt appeared, asking if he wanted to retrieve the device.
He ignored that too.
Then, gripping both items at once, he tried to pull them out of the screen. But it failed. It was as if an enormous force held them back—his hand couldn't extract either.
At the same time, a light blue retinal prompt appeared:
[Current ability is in a basic phase. Unable to retrieve multiple items simultaneously.]
Sigh...
Seeing this, Chen Mo gave a helpless sigh. As expected, trying to cheat didn't work. One use of the ability allowed only one item to be retrieved.
...
Next came the third test: Why only the hand? Could the body enter the movie too?
Chen Mo began to test it slowly.
He extended his hand completely inside, then tried squeezing his body through, inch by inch.
But the body wasn't like the hand.
The hand could easily pass through the screen.
The body, however, was repelled, like hitting a wall between dimensions.
A warning prompt popped up on his retina:
[Currently only the hand can enter the movie. Body entry is prohibited. Please do not attempt it, or unpredictable danger may occur.]
Well then.
Seeing the prompt, Chen Mo let out a sigh. As expected, only the hand could enter the movie. The body was excluded.
He composed himself and moved on to the fourth test: Could he bring out a person from the movie? Like a stunning beauty?
He moved his hand toward Han Duoduo, one of the few female characters in The Wandering Earth, and the only remotely attractive one.
He had no other choice, so she was his test subject.
Spreading his fingers wide like a five-fingered mountain, he covered Han Duoduo and tried to grab her and pull her into the real world.
However—
The instant he entertained that thought, a sudden sense of dread gripped him, like his life would be in serious danger if he proceeded.
He immediately gave up.
Clearly, bringing people out of movies was forbidden. At least for now, he had no way of doing so.
Chen Mo made a mental note of that.
Just as he was preparing for the fifth test, a warning window flashed in his retina:
[Due to prolonged inactivity, this opportunity will expire in 30 seconds. Please retrieve an item from the movie as soon as possible.]
Chen Mo glanced at the computer clock. It had been 9 minutes and 30 seconds since he activated the ability—meaning he had a maximum of 10 minutes in the movie.
He had to make his decision now.
In the last 30 seconds, he first grabbed the protagonist Liu Qi and moved him far away—placing him in a remote area, far from the planetary engine and plot developments.
If this alteration succeeded…
Then Liu Qi wouldn't be able to activate the engine or ignite Jupiter. After leaving the movie, Chen Mo could verify whether the plot continued as scripted, thus testing his fifth hypothesis.
With that done…
With 10 seconds left, he placed his hand on one of the soldiers' exoskeleton suits. A prompt appeared:
[Item detected: Powered Exoskeleton Armor from The Wandering Earth. Since this item closely matches real-world technology, both the physical item and its manufacturing blueprint can be retrieved. Retrieve now?]
"Yes!"
In the final second, Chen Mo shouted and yanked his hand back—pulling the exoskeleton armor from The Wandering Earth.
[Congratulations, host has successfully obtained a Powered Exoskeleton Armor sample.]
[Congratulations, host has successfully obtained the manufacturing technology for the armor.]
[The Wandering Earth movie world has been closed.]
[Host can use this ability again after recharging to full energy.]
Huff! That felt good!
Chen Mo shouted excitedly. As the blue glow faded from his hand, the armor he was holding rapidly expanded and returned to its full size.
The exoskeleton armor was black, with a strong metallic finish, resembling an astronaut's suit—complete with a large glass visor.
Chen Mo looked down at his chest, where a faint blue circle glowed—his nanotech suit from the Iron Man world.
Compared to that...
The armor from The Wandering Earth was laughably primitive.
But—
Chen Mo had no regrets about retrieving it, because it was his way of gaining the military's trust.
As long as he could produce exoskeleton armor that significantly enhanced combat ability, and since no one else could replicate it…
The government would have no choice but to grant him a military license.
That was the priority.
Black Domain Technologies urgently needed a weapons development license to pivot into the arms industry, reboot bio-research, and resume work on the T-virus.
That was the real endgame.