Reborn Action Star: Starting in Hollywood

"Bang!"

The SUV door opened, and Meng Tao and the others jumped out.

"Fantastic! This sandboarding scene is sure to become another classic in film history! It will definitely be watched repeatedly by many people, and may even spark a global craze for dune bashing!" Director Miller exclaimed excitedly.

"Shouldn't we take on some ads for sports brands? That could generate a lot of revenue!"

"Haha, why don't we just invest in Nike and discuss a partnership? Instead of just taking on advertising, why not jump in and get a piece of the pie?" Meng Tao was also very excited.

No wonder the two were so excited; Lin Yuan's performance gliding across the sand was just too cool!

This is extremely rare in Lin Yuan's past action scenes, and its commercial expansion is second to none.

Most of Lin Yuan's action scenes are undoubtedly spectacular. Whether it's the earth-shattering explosion in the fiery tornado, his body passing through the rain clouds, or his leap into the raging Hukou Waterfall, countless iconic scenes have become milestones in action dramas.

However, these action scenes mainly emphasize thrills and excitement, but they don't involve any cool aesthetics at all.

This sand surfing scene is definitely one of the most visually appealing action scenes in Lin Yuan's filmography.

While thrilling and exciting, it also possesses an extreme and cool aesthetic, which will bring the audience a brand-new visual experience.

At the same time, dune bashing allows ordinary people to try out the challenge.

After all, it's impossible for everyone to follow Lin Yuan's example and climb airplanes or Burj Khalifa, but finding a sand dune to surf is perfectly fine.

This accessibility means that once the film is released, it will definitely spark a global trend of desert safari.

GAKKI, the assistant standing to the side, clearly agreed with this view. She took out her notebook, ready to write down Lin Yuan's opinion and then carry it out.

"Why are you considering Nike? Do you have a problem with Adidas?" Lin Yuan didn't answer directly, but instead complained about Meng Tao.

"Maybe I just prefer hooks?"

"..."

"Should I choose Adidas or Nike?"

“I won’t choose either, Gakki…” Lin Yuan said, “Let’s contact Anta Group in China. This company has great potential and is just missing an opportunity to enter the international market.”

“I understand.” GAKKI nodded.

She didn't know why Lin Yuan chose this company, but she told him not to ask too many questions and to just focus on carrying out the plan.

"Then let's finalize the filming plan. The weather forecast says there will be a severe thunderstorm the night after tomorrow. We'll see how you perform then," Meng Tao said with a smile.

"Wait, the shooting plan needs to be revised."

"Huh? Isn't this already great? What else do you plan to change?"

Meng Tao sensed something was wrong; this feeling was all too familiar, appearing every time Lin Yuan did something drastic.

"Is there a way to accurately guide the lightning strike location?" Lin Yuan asked.

"..." Meng Tao fell into deep thought.

When filming the scene where they drive through a minefield, the crew did indeed plant a lot of lightning rods.

However, this is not a precise guidance of lightning strikes, but rather multiple points, increasing the success rate of guidance.

Even if lightning is successfully drawn down, there's no guarantee that it will strike the exact spot.

Although it looked a bit rough, it was enough for the filming of that scene.

Originally, all that was needed was for the lightning to strike continuously, serving as a cool backdrop.

Lin Yuan now proposes that precise guidance is needed to pinpoint the location of lightning strikes.

Meng Tao knew, of course, that Lin Yuan was about to do something reckless again, but he wouldn't refuse immediately. Instead, he carefully searched his mind for any possible solutions.

After thinking for a moment, Meng Tao said, "Okay! But we don't have enough equipment on hand..."

"What equipment do you need? As long as it achieves the goal, it's not a problem." Lin Yuan immediately said, "I'll have Taylor Swift airlift it to the nearest airport, and then bring it in by helicopter."

"How high a level of guidance precision is required?" Meng Tao asked very meticulously.

"It's best to be within 5 meters, otherwise the risk is too high," Lin Yuan replied immediately.

Director Miller, standing nearby, was completely bewildered. He could understand every single word of their conversation, but put it all together, he had no idea what Lin Yuan was trying to do.

GAKKI-chan smiled and gestured to the director not to worry, saying she would explain it to him in a moment.

“Five meters is possible, but it requires a combination of various devices,” Meng Tao said after a moment’s hesitation.

"Tell me, what do you need?" Lin Yuan said.

Meng Tao said, "Teramobile laser system and ion cloud high-altitude seeding agent."

Lin Yuan: "Huh? What are all these things?"

"Are you aware that European and American countries have been conducting research on weather weapons?" Meng Tao asked.

"I've only heard a little about it, I don't know the specifics," Lin Yuan answered honestly, admitting that he truly didn't know.

"It's a weapon that uses natural weather phenomena to attack the enemy, and the use of thunderstorms is one research direction," Meng Tao explained.

"Can lightning be used as a weapon?" Director Miller asked curiously.

Sure enough, men are boys at heart until the end; upon hearing about such a cool weapon, he couldn't help but ask.

“I often see lightning and thunder in the city, and it seems like a lightning strike wouldn’t do much damage. Can it really be used as a weapon?” Director Miller added, worried that his statement was inaccurate.

This question is indeed very typical. Most people only see the destructive power of lightning as striking a large tree on a rainy day, which may not even be able to knock it down, and it doesn't seem to have much power.

Is it really necessary to go to such great lengths to study how lightning can be used as a weapon?

Meng Tao explained, "The energy difference between different lightning bolts is enormous. Ordinary small lightning bolts are naturally of no use. But super lightning bolts with enormous energy, if they can be utilized, will have an absolutely astonishing power."

Seeing that director Miller seemed unconvinced, Meng Tao could only continue:

"Let me give you an example. The super lightning that once happened in Brazil released 88 billion joules of energy in a short period of 30 microseconds. That's equivalent to the effect of 30 155mm howitzer shells hitting the same spot."

Director Miller: "...Is it really that outrageous?"

Lin Yuan understood this perfectly. Having filmed so many action scenes, he knew all too well the destructive power of the 155mm howitzer, known as the "King of War."

A single 155mm howitzer shell can have a kill zone larger than two-thirds of a football field, and the explosion center can create a crater 2 to 3 meters deep.

Super Lightning, in an extremely short time of 30 microseconds, can release the total explosive energy equivalent to 30 155mm howitzer shells.

This is on a completely different scale from the weak lightning that I remember, which couldn't even split a tree in two.

Meng Tao continued, "The United States has monitored a super lightning bolt that stretched 780 kilometers and had a total energy of an astonishing 120 billion joules, almost equivalent to 40 artillery shells. But this is by no means the upper limit of lightning; perhaps one day we will see an even more terrifying display of divine power."

Lin Yuan nodded: "I understand. From this perspective, researching weather weapons does indeed have some practical value. Tell me, how do your devices guide lightning? What are that Teramobile laser system and the ion cloud high-altitude seeding agent?"

Meng Tao said, "This is a device from the EU's Laser Lightning Guidance (LLR) project. It uses lasers to ionize air and create a low-resistance plasma channel. Currently, it can achieve an error of about 5 meters."

"That sounds amazing! Although I still don't quite understand the principle, isn't achieving an error of 5 meters already enough to meet my requirements?" Lin Yuan asked.

Reminded by Meng Tao, Lin Yuan suddenly remembered that he seemed to have seen something similar on the internet before his rebirth in his previous life. China also had a similar scientific research project called the "Thunder Project," which had already achieved an accuracy of about 2 meters.

But this was in 2005, and there was certainly no such equipment available in China at that time.

Meng Tao said, "There must always be a margin for error. I am not confident in relying solely on the Teramobile laser system. Only by combining it with ion cloud high-altitude seeding agent can the success rate be further increased."

Lin Yuan nodded: "Let me introduce you."

"This is a rather simple and direct approach: spray a mixture of sodium chloride and silver nitrate aerosols with a particle size of 0.1-1μm at the designated location and above the entire passage, along with a suspension of carbon nanotubes."

"This can increase the conductivity of the area tenfold, which can reduce the breakdown voltage by 30% within a 300m space, thus increasing the probability of lightning striking the designated location," Meng Tao replied.

Lin Yuan: "..."

Director Miller: "..."

Compared to the previous Teramobile laser system, this one appears rather rudimentary.

It doesn't sound sophisticated at all, but it's surprisingly effective.

Using both methods together will inevitably increase the probability exponentially, achieving Lin Yuan's goal of keeping the lightning strike error within 5 meters.

"Alright, I've finished explaining the plan. Now you can tell me how you plan to do it," Meng Tao said.

Lin Yuan didn't speak, but waved his hand, signaling him to come closer.

When Meng Tao walked to Lin Yuan's side, Lin Yuan put his arm around his shoulder and walked to the side.

Director Miller: "..."

I felt like I was being ostracized.

Director Miller was certain it was extremely dangerous, so Lin Yuan kept it from him until he persuaded Meng Tao and reached a consensus, after which Lin Yuan would leave Meng Tao with no way to object and would have no choice but to obey.

"It's really unnecessary. If you insist on taking the risk, how can I possibly stop you?" Director Miller thought to himself.

At this moment, Meng Tao, who was not far away, jumped up, but still kept his voice down: "Are you crazy! What if the lightning energy is too high? You'll be reduced to ashes!"

Lin Yuan grabbed him and said, "No, I know what I'm doing. Do as I say, and when you explain to the director later, don't tell him everything."

He's getting on in years and has several underlying health conditions; I'm worried his body won't be able to handle the stress.

"Okay, okay, I can never refuse you anyway. I hope you have good luck the day after tomorrow." Meng Tao shrugged helplessly: "I really don't know where you get your confidence from."

Lin Yuan smiled but said nothing.

His confidence was certainly based on reason, but he couldn't tell Meng Tao.

At this moment, a line of golden information appeared on Lin Yuan's retina:

[The danger level of this action scene is S-class; the host's success rate in completing the challenge is 78%]

We've finally reached S-level; it seems the changes to the plan were indeed effective.

The 78% success rate proves that there is still a considerable risk of fatal failure, but the success rate is enough to make Lin Yuan willing to take the gamble.

Mad Max: Fury Road is great, but it's not enough at the moment.

Without a truly impressive and heartfelt action sequence, audiences going to the cinema won't be satisfied.

Moreover, Lin Yuan also needs the attribute reward from this S-level action scene to complete the last piece of his attribute enhancement puzzle.

He knew that once all three attributes reached their maximum of 30 points, his body would undergo another qualitative change.

Lin Yuan didn't know what kind of qualitative change it would bring, but he was full of anticipation.

"Let's go! Let's go back and explain to the director, but don't let anything slip." Lin Yuan patted Meng Tao on the shoulder and led him back.

"Have you already planned how to fool me?" Director Miller asked plaintively.

"..."*2
……

……

The working hour hand flew by in the hourglass, and in the blink of an eye, the wheel of the third day and night had turned to the hour of Hai (9-11 PM).

At exactly nine o'clock, the desert lost the daytime's ferocity, and the north wind, carrying fine sand grains, swept across the steel frame, emitting a mournful sound like a bone flute.

Above the sky, even more dangerous signs were gathering—lead-gray thunderclouds pressed down like inverted mountains, with occasional bluish-purple pulses flashing between the clouds.

That was no ordinary cumulonimbus cloud, but a thunderstorm cell with obvious lightning characteristics. Each silent cloud discharge caused the surface of the sandy land within a ten-mile radius to shimmer with an eerie electrostatic fluorescence.

The world seen through the night vision goggles was even more horrifying; the entire northwestern quadrant of the sky was stained a spiderweb-like blood red by ionization channels, and the latest weather data flickered on the terminal screen:

Cloud-to-ground potential difference: 1.2 million volts

Lightning leader height from ground: <300 meters

First lightning strike expected: 17 minutes to go
The cables of the windproof tent suddenly vibrated violently, not because of the wind, but because the surge of static electricity in the air was pulling on the metal parts.

Lin Yuan took off his gloves and found that all the hairs on the back of his hands stood up straight, like some kind of primitive lightning warning system.

He looked up at the rolling thunderclouds in the sky, where dark blue plasma kept flashing, and his heart was filled with emotion.

This wasn't his first time dealing with thunderstorms; his experience filming "The King of Spies" was truly unforgettable.

Last time he jumped down from above a thunderstorm cloud, but this time he will receive the most violent baptism from below.

Lin Yuan had a vague premonition that the excitement of tonight's filming would exceed his expectations.

Just then, Meng Tao's voice came through the earpiece: "Lin Yuan, the meteorological bureau has adjusted the thunderstorm warning level to the highest level. Judging from the weather, the intensity is probably much higher than previously estimated. Should we consider canceling tonight's filming schedule?"

"Think it over carefully. Don't force it if it's not feasible," Director Miller said over the communication channel.

"If we miss tonight, how many more days will we have to wait?" Lin Yuan asked.

"..." Director Miller remained silent.

"I don't know when the next thunderstorm will be," Meng Tao said.

"Isn't the answer obvious? Let's just do it!" Lin Yuan said. "Get ready, there are about 13 minutes left."

"Good luck!" (End of Chapter)