Reborn Action Star: Starting in Hollywood

"Director, it's almost time," Meng Tao said, looking up at the overcast sky.

"All departments, get ready." Director Miller nodded and picked up the walkie-talkie.

"Camera vehicle number 1, get ready!"

"Camera vehicle number 2, get ready!"

"The filming drone has been launched!"

"Medical team, prepare!"

……

Three off-road vehicles were used in this filming.

Lin Yuan was driving one of the cars, while the other two were filming vehicles.

At the same time, four drones made of plastic composite material, designed for thunderstorms, were launched to minimize the uncertainty caused by lightning strikes.

It can be said that the preparations were quite thorough; now it all depends on whether God will be on their side during filming.

After confirming that all departments were ready, director Miller decisively issued the order to begin filming:

"Action!"

"boom!"

"boom!"

"boom!"

At the director's command, the engines of the three off-road vehicles started simultaneously, speeding towards the desolate desert.

In January, the temperature in the Taklamakan Desert drops sharply to minus twenty degrees Celsius at night.

Lin Yuan's fingers rested steadily on the steering wheel, his knuckles slightly protruding.

Tonight is a full moon night, but sand and thunderclouds are rolling and tangled, swallowing up the entire night sky and obscuring the bright moonlight.

Lin Yuan's vehicle sped along, kicking up clouds of yellow dust. The two camera cars were positioned to his east.

Filming vehicle No. 1 was driving alongside him, while filming vehicle No. 2 was slightly ahead by 5 meters, forming an angle that allowed them to film the front of Lin Yuan's vehicle and Lin Yuan inside the driver's seat.

“Lin…Lin Yuan…Ready…” Suddenly, a broken voice came from the car radio.

Meanwhile, the GPS screen kept flashing, and the car compass was spinning wildly.

Lin Yuan knew that this was electromagnetic interference brought by winter thunderstorms, but he didn't expect it to have such a big impact.
Is the thunderstorm a bit too strong tonight?
But he didn't have time to think about it anymore, because it meant that the discharge channel had been formed and the first wave of lightning was about to strike.

Suddenly, the whole world exploded in a blinding white light before my eyes.

Lin Yuan's eyelids closed reflexively, but the afterimage of that lightning bolt was already imprinted on his retina.

In a fraction of a second of intense light, the entire Taklamakan Desert seemed frozen in time, as if by a flash of light.

Ahead, on the sand dunes, a grove of dead poplar trees stood frozen in that moment, its twisted form the dry branches like countless ghostly hands reaching upwards, casting menacing shadows on the sand.

The lightning bolt struck so close it was breathtaking.

Lin Yuan quickly estimated the distance: no more than two hundred meters, maybe even closer.

He could even clearly see the veins of the lightning's main trunk branching out, like an inverted, luminous giant tree, with the thickest branch directly striking a poplar tree that would take three people to encircle.

"boom!"

Before the persistence of vision had faded, the sound of an explosion could be heard.

The ancient tree, thousands of years old, instantly vaporized at a temperature of 10,000 degrees Celsius, and the shockwave hurled burning wood fragments in all directions in a radial pattern.

Several sparking fragments hit the windshield with a sickening crackling sound.

Lin Yuan's nostrils twitched slightly. Two distinct smells filled the air: the acrid smell of burning wood and the pungent ozone produced by high-voltage discharge.

This mixed scent acts like a primal warning, instantly sending an adrenaline spike in the average person.

But Lin Yuan's fingers remained firmly on the steering wheel, and the cold-looking needle on the dashboard stayed steadily at 80 km/h without even the slightest tremor.

Outside the car window, burning wood chips danced in the air currents, like a strange fire and snow.

"Boom!"

After Lin Yuan silently counted to 13.7 seconds in his mind, the real thunder finally reached his ears.

It was a huge, explosive sound that could shatter eardrums, accompanied by a low-frequency boom that made one feel extremely uncomfortable inside, all mixed together making one feel nauseous as if there was a loss of pressure.

The steel frame of the SUV made a dangerous creaking sound, and the windows vibrated at a high frequency in the sound waves, as if they would shatter into dust at any moment.

Lin Yuan glanced at the car communicator; the screen displayed chaotic waveforms, and the speaker continuously emitted a white noise-like "buzzing" sound.

This was at least two orders of magnitude stronger than he had anticipated—either the first lightning strike had generated an unusually strong electromagnetic pulse, or...
He looked up at the rolling thunderclouds, his pupils contracting slightly.

The blue-purple lightning bolts that were flashing between the clouds were flickering at an unnatural frequency.

This is a sign that a secondary discharge is about to occur, and it is very likely to be a more powerful cloud-to-ground lightning.

"It's more exciting than I expected!" Lin Yuan murmured to himself.

He pressed the red button on the center console with his right thumb, and the SUV chassis emitted a "humming" sound as the hydraulic system pressurized.

When the green light indicating that the lightning protection device was activated came on, the second lightning bolt had already torn the night sky apart.

……

At this time, the filming location was noisy and bustling with people.

"All communication equipment is malfunctioning!" the assistant director yelled at the top of his lungs, the walkie-talkie in his hand emitting a piercing static noise, like a drill shoving directly into his eardrums.

He had to move the equipment further away, but then he clung to it tightly as if it were a lifeline, because it was their only connection with Lin Yuan.

Suddenly, all four monitors on the camera van were filled with static. Technical coordinator Mark slammed his fist on the equipment: "Damn it! The magnetic interference level is off the charts!"

His voice trembled as his fingers flew across the control panel, producing only more chaotic ripples in response.

Director Miller abruptly stood up from his chair, the leather seat creaking in protest.

He paced back and forth anxiously, his custom-made leather shoes leaving a trail of messy marks on the sand.

Every few seconds, he would look up towards the center of the thunderstorm, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

In contrast, Meng Tao appeared unusually calm.

He leaned against the equipment box, his fingers rhythmically tapping the thermos cup, the stainless steel body reflecting the flashing lightning in the distance.

"It's just a temporary communication interruption; the filming system has its own power supply and shielding." Meng Tao's voice wasn't loud, but it miraculously quieted the restless crowd: "Besides—"

He pointed to the forming super thunderstorm in the distance: "Lightning of this magnitude might not be captured on camera even once a year globally."

Director Miller stopped in his tracks: "Are you sure this is Super Lightning?"

Meng Tao smiled helplessly, "I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but according to the radar echo, the discharge energy definitely reached the level of super lightning, even exceeding the benchmark by more than five times."

He paused, then continued, "This energy level... has exceeded our contingency plan. But I bet Lin Yuan doesn't want to call a halt; he's even hoping to capture an even more stunning scene." Just then, a bolt of lightning, enough to be recorded in meteorological history, cleaved the night sky.

The blinding white light, like a flashing magnesium spotlight, illuminated every detail within a ten-kilometer radius.

The faces of the crew members appeared eerily pale under the bright light, and everyone's pupils shrank to the size of pinpoints.

"Ah!" Emma, ​​the young female script supervisor, screamed and crouched down, clutching her head, dropping the clapperboard to the sand.

Visual effects supervisor Tom gaped, exclaiming, "God!"

He has worked in the industry for twenty years and participated in the production of countless special effects blockbusters, but the scene in front of him made all the computer effects seem pale and laughable.

The most primal forces of nature are putting on a most awe-inspiring performance, far exceeding the insignificant imagination of humankind.

The dark clouds resembled a boiling black ocean, with lightning flashing and accompanied by a deep rumble of thunder.

The scene was both magnificent and terrifying, making one involuntarily hold their breath.

"The monitor is back online!" the technician suddenly shouted.

Everyone immediately rushed to the monitor.

In the footage, Lin Yuan's modified off-road vehicle is accelerating, with the speedometer needle already approaching 100 kilometers per hour.

Directly in front of the vehicle, the metal wreckage of abandoned drilling equipment gleamed coldly in the lightning.

"That's a pre-designated minefield!" Director Miller shouted, grabbing the walkie-talkie, his voice hoarse with tension. "Lin! Go around it! It's too dangerous!"

But the SUV showed no sign of turning and instead continued to accelerate.

Just at this moment...

"boom!"

A blue-white lightning bolt struck the metal pile precisely, and the resulting fireball shot into the air.

In the surveillance footage, everyone could clearly see a twisted steel plate spinning and flying toward Lin Yuan's car window.

"God!" More than a dozen people exclaimed at the same time.

At the last second, the SUV dodged a fatal blow with a textbook-perfect drift.

The steel plate scraped against the roof of the car, and the metallic scraping sound gave everyone present goosebumps.

"Perfect!" Director Miller exclaimed excitedly, slapping his thigh. "This shot deserves an Oscar!"

He then shook his head with a wry smile—Lin Yuan's films were no longer eligible for any awards.

The thought stirred a pang of sadness within him, but he was quickly overwhelmed by the sight before him and had no time to dwell on it.

A giant lightning bolt, over two meters in diameter, descended from the sky, like the thunderbolt thrown by Zeus in Greek mythology, and pierced directly through the roof of the off-road vehicle.

In an instant, the entire car transformed into a glowing blue energy body, with countless arcs of electricity dancing wildly across its surface, resembling an energy shield from a science fiction movie.

In the monitor footage, Lin Yuan's figure turned into a black silhouette, maintaining a standard driving posture even in the bright light, with not even a slight change in the angle of his fingers.

An eerie silence fell over the entire crew.

Emma, ​​the female production supervisor, slumped to the ground, her lips trembling but unable to utter a word;
The photographer instinctively pressed the shutter, only to find that he couldn't even hold the camera steady.
Director Miller opened his mouth, making meaningless gurgling sounds from his throat.

Three seconds...

Three long seconds.

When the lightning finally dissipated, to everyone's disbelief, the charred SUV was still moving forward, its exhaust pipe still emitting exhaust fumes normally.

The plumes of smoke rising from the vehicle traced an eerie path across the desert night sky.

"Lin Yuan! Are you fucking alright?!" Director Miller's roar pierced through the radio static, his voice trembling noticeably.

Inside the SUV, Lin Yuan's hands remained firmly gripping the steering wheel. He simply said, "I'm fine, continue filming."

His voice was steady, as if he were discussing tomorrow's breakfast menu, but only he knew the slight tremor in his fingertips.

Although the team had simulated the protective effect of the "Faraday cage effect" hundreds of times using computers during the preparation stage, Lin Yuan still felt the most primal fear of life when the two-meter-diameter lightning actually pierced through the roof of the car.

The memory of that moment is as clear as a brand:

Blinding blue light burst forth from every metal seam, turning the entire carriage into a glowing blue crystal box.

The gauges on the dashboard swung wildly, and tiny sparks flew from the center console.

Countless electric arcs moved across the car's exterior like living things, and the air was filled with the acrid smell of ionized metal, reminding him of the burnt smell he had smelled when he was a child welding.

In a split second, he did consider—what if the calculations were off? What if the grounding resistance wasn't up to standard? What if there were hidden cracks in the metal frame?

But science ultimately triumphed over instinct.

The current flows along a carefully designed conduction path, and the potential difference inside the vehicle is always kept within a safe range.

When the lightning subsided, apart from the smoke rising from the car's exterior, he wasn't even a hair on his head while sitting inside.

"Third lightning strike statistics." Lin Yuan glanced at the counter on the dashboard, his voice still calm: "Interval 47 seconds, estimated intensity 6.9 million volts."

This data caused him to furrow his brow almost imperceptibly—it was nearly three times higher than the weather forecast.

Ordinary thunderstorms are no longer a threat, but tonight's lightning has clearly crossed the threshold of "super lightning."

This means that the danger is no longer limited to direct lightning strikes, but is more deadly due to the accompanying physical effects.

The scene from earlier flashed before Lin Yuan's eyes: the pile of metal struck by lightning twisted and disintegrated like a toy, and a palm-sized metal fragment was embedded directly into the rock strata thirty meters away.

If his reaction had been 0.3 seconds slower, there would probably only be a corpse riddled with metal shards in the driver's seat now.

"Watch out for the sand dunes to the east!" Meng Tao's voice suddenly pierced the radio static, unusually urgent: "Radar shows a new charged cloud is forming, and the energy readings are off the charts!"

Lin Yuan's pupils contracted sharply. The scene reflected in the rearview mirror sent a jolt of electricity through his spine—the clouds in the east were forming a strange vortex, with morbid purplish-red lightning surging beneath them.

The spiderweb-like forked lightning didn't strike vertically, but spread horizontally, like a death web being woven.

"Lightning storm..." Lin Yuan's Adam's apple bobbed. This extreme phenomenon, which only existed in theory in meteorology textbooks, was now materializing before his eyes.

The next lightning strikes will no longer be single, but rather a series of "lightning chains," with dozens potentially falling every second.

He slammed down the communication button, his voice laced with suppressed excitement: "Attention everyone, a cinematic miracle is about to happen! Execute Plan B! The camera truck must immediately retreat to a safe distance, allowing the drone to get close and film!"

"You lunatic!" Meng Tao roared into the walkie-talkie, "You want to charge into the eye of the lightning storm?!"

"The safe distance is set at 200 meters," Lin Yuan insisted. "I want you to clearly capture the trajectory of every single lightning bolt."

After saying that, Lin Yuan stepped on the gas.

The modified off-road vehicle's twelve-cylinder engine roared deafeningly, and the moment the nitrous oxide acceleration system was activated, everyone saw a ghostly blue flame shoot out from the rear of the vehicle.

What happened next is forever etched on the retinas of every witness:

The off-road vehicle shot towards the eye of the storm like an arrow, and the dust it kicked up behind it transformed into a churning golden dragon under the illumination of the lightning.

The first wave of lightning struck at that very moment!
Seven streaks of blue-purple lightning radiated down, the closest one less than ten meters from the front of the vehicle, melting the sand into a deep, glassy crater. (End of Chapter)