Marlon, filled with unease, feigned casualness and entered Truman's house under the guise of visiting a friend, heading straight for the basement.
However, the sight before him instantly froze him in place—the basement was empty, Truman had vanished without a trace!
He widened his eyes, looking around incredulously, a bad feeling rising in his heart: Truman had successfully escaped through the blind spots of the cameras!
This news was like a bombshell, instantly causing an uproar within the entire Truman Show production team.
Upon learning of the matter, the director's composure instantly vanished, replaced by panic and anxiety. He issued commands in a hoarse voice, every word carrying an undeniable urgency: "Everyone, get out into the streets immediately and search for Truman's whereabouts without any blind spots; don't miss a single corner!"
In an instant, Peach Blossom Town, which had been shrouded in night, was illuminated by intense lights. The giant prop light, "sun," was quickly raised, lighting up the entire town as if it were daytime.
Peach Blossom Town seemed to have been injected with a frantic element; everyone was caught in a tense search. For one person, the entire fabricated world was in an uproar.
The staff scurried around the town like headless chickens, their eyes not missing a single corner. However, after searching every street and every house, Truman had vanished as if he had evaporated, leaving no trace.
The audience in the movie also held their breath, their hearts suspended, all guessing in their minds: Where did Truman go?
How could a living person disappear into thin air in this massive studio filled with cameras?
Just as the staff and extras were as anxious as ants on a hot pan, the director of The Truman Show, in his "moon" director's room, suddenly had a flash of inspiration, a thought crossing his mind. He slammed his hand on the table and shouted loudly: "Quick, switch the camera to the sea!"
As the creator of The Truman Show, the director understood Truman far better than ordinary people. He knew of Truman's deep desire for freedom and guessed Truman's possible escape direction.
The camera quickly switched, and on the seemingly endless sea, a small sailboat slowly came into view. Truman was tightly gripping the rudder, controlling it as he strenuously moved away from the land.
His gaze was firm and fervent, as if he had long known that on the other side of the sea lay the answer he had dreamed of—his yearning for the real world.
"How do we stop him?" The staff in the director's room anxiously looked at the director, awaiting instructions.
The director merely gave him a cold glance, his eyes seeming to say: "You still need to ask about something like this?"
The staff member instantly understood.
In an instant, the sea, which had been as calm as a mirror, became like an enraged beast, instantly raising monstrous waves. Strong winds, accompanied by torrential rain, shot down onto the sea bed like bullets.
In this artificially controlled Peach Blossom Town studio, the crew was the "God" who controlled everything. Sunrise and sunset, clear skies, and rain were all at the director's whim. They only needed to pay a tiny production cost, negligible compared to the revenue.
However, these sudden huge waves and torrential rain were extremely cruel to Truman.
Everyone knew that ever since his "father" drowned, the sea had become his deepest fear.
This time, the psychological barrier he overcame to muster the courage to get on the boat and escape was unimaginable.
But the director intended to exploit this, attempting to make Truman retreat in the face of fear and return to the false life he had meticulously arranged.
After all, The Truman Show had been a hit for thirty years, and he could not accept it ending so easily.
As the camera zoomed in, everyone saw Truman's stubbornness and struggle on the small boat.
The wind howled, and giant waves repeatedly slapped the small boat. His body appeared so small yet so resolute in the wind and rain.
What if he had to be an enemy to the entire Peach Blossom Town?
His eyes showed determination; he was determined to break free from the shackles of this false world and seek a real life.
As the sea underwent dramatic changes, the audience in the movie let out gasps and screams, their hearts in their throats.
The small boat, swaying precariously in the wind and rain, could be swallowed by the surging waves at any moment, and Truman, who could not swim, was very likely to perish in the sea.
"He'll be scared, and then he'll turn back!"
On screen, Hao Ren, playing the director, muttered to himself, his voice filled with a blind confidence, as if he truly was the person who understood Truman best, convinced that Truman would succumb to fear.
At this moment, he and the entire crew were waiting for Truman to make what they considered the "correct" choice.
However, this time, the director completely underestimated Truman's resolve.
Under the relentless assault of the wind and rain, there was no trace of retreat or timidity on Truman's face; instead, his gaze grew even firmer.
He was indeed afraid of water, but he feared this suffocatingly false world even more.
Even if death lay ahead, he would escape from here to embrace true freedom.
Seeing that Truman did not retreat as he had expected, the director's expression grew even darker. He completely lost patience and began frantically ordering an increase in "difficulty": "Lightning!" "More lightning!"
Bolts of lightning, like sharp swords, tore through the dark sky and struck the sea bed. One of them directly hit the sail, and flames instantly shot up.
The already precarious small sailboat was now even more in danger, capable of being swallowed by the terrifying giant waves at any moment.
But the scene of Truman's surrender, which the director anticipated, never appeared. Exasperated, he turned the power of the disaster to the maximum level under the stunned gaze of the staff.
Sure enough, the next moment, the small boat was completely swallowed by the endless sea, and Truman's figure also disappeared in the waves.
Had the directing team gone mad? Were they actually going to kill Truman in front of all the viewers?
The audience in the movie was terrified, their eyes fixed on the screen, not daring to look away for a moment, afraid of missing any slight turn of events.
And the audience in reality was also enveloped by this oppressive atmosphere, their hearts filled with despair: a false studio, yet it could imprison a person for ten years—what a tragedy!
"Stop it, the whole world is watching; you can't let him die in public!" The staff member nervously looked at the director, reminding him anxiously.
"He was born in public..." The director's words were cut short as Truman's figure suddenly reappeared on screen.
Truman did not sink to the sea bed!
With his tenacious will and astonishing courage, he overcame his fear of the sea and laboriously climbed onto a floating wooden board.
Only then did everyone realize that Truman had a thick rope tied around him. It turned out he wasn't acting recklessly but had made every possible preparation he could think of for himself.
He succeeded, successfully enduring this contest with fate!
"You can do it, push harder!"
"Come on! Truman, you can do it!"
"Truman, you can do it, come on!"
Upon seeing this scene, the audience in the movie instantly erupted. They cheered and encouraged Truman in various postures. At this moment, they eagerly hoped Truman could defeat the "evil" production team and gain ultimate freedom.
However, they seemed to have long forgotten that it was precisely these viewers, who were keen on prying into others' privacy and lives, who allowed this reality show to continue filming for ten years. Such a scene was full of irony.
On the sea, the strong winds and torrential rain finally gradually ceased, and the small sailboat stabilized in the waves.
Sunlight pierced through the clouds, scattering on the sea bed, sparkling.
Truman sat back on the boat, his body and mind exhausted, his heavy gasps clearly audible. But everyone understood that he had won this battle, and no one could stop him from embracing the real world anymore.
The Truman Show, which had been broadcast live for ten years, might also reach its finale today.
Truman calmed himself, propping up his tired body, and re-raised the tattered sail.
The small boat slowly sailed into the distance. At this moment, Truman, sitting on the boat, displayed a smile so clean and bright, just as innocent as every time he greeted someone during those ten years of the reality show.
The "sea" was not as vast as imagined. "Bang!" After a short period of drifting, a dull collision sound came, and Truman's small boat abruptly stopped.
He focused his gaze and saw that the bow of the boat had crashed into a giant painting. The painting depicted blue skies and white clouds, the true appearance of the real world that he had once gazed at from the shore but could never clearly see.
The next moment, Truman looked up and laughed silently. In that laughter, there was excitement, relief, and even self-mockery.
He gripped the railing tightly with one hand and frantically pounded on the wall that had confined him for ten years with the other. Everyone could see that he was laughing through tears in the scene.
It turned out that the boundary of Peach Blossom Town was so close, and it was ridiculous that he had always been bound by fear, not daring to take that courageous step.