Reborn Action Star: Starting in Hollywood

Chapter 590 A Difficult Journey into the Underground Cave

"Abyss? This name is terrible." Lin Yuan complained.

"Just like the 'Deep Pool', there are no random names in the cave. After passing the abyss, there are five difficult points ahead: the Chimney, the Birth Canal, the Knee Tearing Point, the Painful Road and the Marathon Passage," said Henry.

After hearing Henry's explanation, Lin Yuan's imagination had already begun to imagine the difficulties ahead.

It sounds so hopeless. A claustrophobic person probably wouldn't survive a minute here.

No wonder it took ten days to rebuild a new camp after the fifth camp was flooded by underground water. At first, Lin Yuan thought that the rescue workers did not try their best.

Now it seems that the rescue team is probably burning their lives to speed up.

"Okay, let's talk about the difficulties later. How do we get down into this 'abyss' now?" Lin Yuan asked, pointing at the black bottomless abyss.

"Here, there is a fixed rope." Henry led Lin Yuan around the cave entrance to the other side.

On a huge rock at the entrance of the cave, there are two steel ropes fixed on top.

Henry pointed to the two ropes and said, "The red rope is for going down, and the blue rope is for going up. Be careful not to get them mixed up."

"Just a rope?" Lin Yuan asked in surprise.

As far as he knows, this is called single rope descent in outdoor sports, and the technology used is SRT single rope technology:
That is, you can only rely on a rope to ascend or descend without any support during the process.

The descent might be okay, but the ascent is extremely exhausting.

You must use the ascender and foot pedals on your chest. Otherwise, if you only rely on your arms and legs to wrap around the rope to generate force, an ordinary person will run out of energy after climbing more than ten meters.

The height of this abyss is obviously not something that can be climbed by human power.

Henry said, "In your backpack are the descender, ascender, and pedals. Use the descender when you go down, and the ascender and pedals when you come back. Don't lose them."

Lin Yuan nodded: "How big is the vertical drop?"

Henry said: "It's 180 meters. There is an area in the middle that passes through an underground waterfall. Pay attention to the seal of the waterproof suit. Don't let water seep in, or you will get hypothermia."

After hearing Henry's explanation, Lin Yuan couldn't help but sigh that this was only the first hurdle in the safest first stage, and it was already so troublesome and dangerous.

The vertical drop of 180 meters is almost the height of a 60-story building, and you slide down only by hanging in the air with a thin rope.

Perhaps for a "superman" like Lin Yuan, there is no need to worry too much.

But it is definitely a huge challenge for ordinary people both physically and mentally.

From this, Lin Yuan can see the determination of director Johnston and Meng Tao to make this movie well.

Lin Yuan knew that Meng Tao had a similar concern as Director Nolan:
That is, they feel that most of the success of the movies they collaborated with Lin Yuan should be attributed to Lin Yuan, and they have never been able to prove themselves.

This time, Meng Tao will cooperate with director Johnston to shoot this movie, probably to prove himself once.

Sighing inwardly, Lin Yuan began to install the descender on the rope.

"I'll go down first. You follow me down a minute after I leave." Henry took the lead.

Lin Yuan nodded: "No problem, see you later."

Time was running out, so the two of them didn't say much, and Henry slid down from the cave first.

Lin Yuan looked down at Henry's headlamp, which gradually disappeared into the depths of the dark cave, as if it had been completely swallowed by a giant beast.

He raised his hand, looked at the outdoor sports watch on his wrist, and counted the time.

As soon as one minute was up, Lin Yuan decisively tightened the descender and slid down the rope.

The descender was fixed on his chest, and the straps provided support from the chest and waist, allowing Lin Yuan to descend more effortlessly.

As the altitude continued to decrease, the surroundings became increasingly dark, and it was completely pitch dark. Lin Yuan felt as if he was in a nightmare.

If he ignored the downward pull of gravity, he wouldn't even be able to tell which way was which.

He knew this was because humans rely heavily on vision to sense direction.

Before entering the "abyss", the passage was also dark.

However, because the passage was relatively narrow, the reflection of the headlamp light on the stone wall made the visibility not too bad.

But when Lin Yuan followed the rope into the abyss, he realized that this was a huge underground cavity.

The light from the headlamp on his helmet began to diverge after a short distance, and it was unable to reflect on the rock wall, making the surroundings feel absolutely dark and terrifying.

This feeling made Lin Yuan feel that he was not in a cave, but in the pitch-black sea, and an indescribable giant beast could swim by at any time and swallow him up.

I have to say, this instinctive trembling from the depths of the soul is really terrible.

So Lin Yuan sped up his descent, wanting to reach the bottom as soon as possible.

When he was about to speed up, the rope suddenly began to shake violently.

You know, this is a 180-meter-long rope, hanging vertically in the air. Once someone makes a more intense movement, it will inevitably shake violently.

Did something happen to Henry down there?

Lin Yuan couldn't help but speed up his descent.

As the altitude continued to decrease, Lin Yuan felt that the temperature around him was getting lower and lower, and the air was getting more and more humid.

If he had not been wearing waterproof clothing, his clothes would have become wet and sticky by now, losing their ability to retain heat. In the low temperature environment of 2 to 4 degrees Celsius in the cave, it would have easily caused hypothermia.

"Wow~"

Suddenly he heard the sound of water.

Lin Yuan couldn't see, but he could clearly hear the sound of water not far away from him.

Is this the underground seepage waterfall Henry mentioned?

He continued to go down, and suddenly felt a series of "crackling" sounds coming from his helmet.

Along with the knocking sounds, the splashing water, illuminated by the headlights, emitted star-like flashes, like broken gems.

The waterfall formed by underground seepage is not big, nor does it have the rapid impact of a river waterfall. It feels like someone is pouring water on his helmet with a ladle.

Therefore, the biggest threat from seepage waterfalls is not the impact of the water flow, but the fact that the cold groundwater may wet clothes and cause hypothermia.

Fortunately, Lin Yuan had made sufficient waterproof preparations and was well protected from head to toe.

After descending an unknown distance, two bright spots suddenly appeared below and the rope began to shake more violently.

One of them should be Henry's headlamp, where is the other one?

"What happened?" Lin Yuan shouted below.

"Lin Yuan, come and help!" Henry's voice came from below.

Lin Yuan quickly descended the rope and came to Henry's side.

Henry, who was fixed on the red rope, was shaking a figure hanging on the blue ascending rope opposite him with both hands.

Lin Yuan shone his headlamp over and saw a white man with red hair, about 20 years old. His lips were purple, his eyes were dull, his whole body was trembling, and he couldn't utter a word.

Henry was pulling hard at his rope, trying to help him.

"What's wrong?" Lin Yuan asked.

"This is Kemi, the youngest guy in the rescue team. His waterproof suit seems to have been damaged, causing his clothes to be soaked and he to suffer from hypothermia, and he was trapped in the upward climb. If I had come later, he might have been in danger." Henry said.

After hearing Henry's words, Lin Yuan finally understood why the rope was shaking so violently just now.

It turned out that Henry wanted to help Kimi, who was frozen stiff. It was obviously impossible to bring Kimi up at this time, so he could only untie the ascender and footrests hanging on his body, replace them with a descender, and then take him to the bottom of the cave and place him there.

It was obviously not easy for Henry, who was hanging in the air, to complete this operation by himself.

So Lin Yuan hurriedly descended to Kimi's side. He and Henry worked together, first hanging the descender on Henry's body, then unhooking the ascender and foot pedals, and then slowly sliding him down together.

About 10 minutes later, the three finally reached the bottom of the cave.

This was a huge, empty rock cave. Lin Yuan picked up Kami and went to a dry place with Henry to put him down.

Lin Yuan quickly checked Kemi's condition and then reported the current situation:

"The body temperature is around 33.8 degrees Celsius, the patient is shaking violently, the face is pale, and the lips and ears are turning purple. These are typical symptoms of the second stage of hypothermia."

Henry was stunned to see Lin Yuan's quick and professional response: "Mr. Lin, I didn't expect you to be so professional."

"You also know my job. I have to deal with extreme situations all year round. This is nothing." Lin Yuan said as he took off Kimi's wet coat and wiped it dry, then took out a down sleeping bag from his backpack and stuffed him into it.

"Fortunately, it's only the second stage of hypothermia. As long as we provide adequate warmth, he will slowly recover." Lin Yuan said.

"Luckily you're here, otherwise it would have been difficult for me to save him alone." Henry said with emotion: "I knew you were amazing when I watched movies before. This time, participating in the rescue operation with you, I feel your greatness even more."

Facing the fans' enthusiastic praise, Lin Yuan smiled and expressed his gratitude, but he quickly raised another concern: "As one of the rescue team commanders, you must also fully consider the safety of the rescuers. You can't let a few people die before Meng Tao is rescued."

"I didn't do my job well, and mainly because I didn't expect Kimi to work so hard. He's simply risking his life. He has been working for many days without a rest." Henry said.

"Why is he working so hard?" Lin Yuan asked.

"He is your fan and has always liked Meng Tao. He heard that Meng Tao had an accident in the cave, so he has been working hard to transport supplies back and forth these days." Henry said.

After hearing Henry's explanation, Lin Yuan couldn't help but feel moved.

This rescue operation was really arduous. It took 4 to 5 days one way to reach one or two kilometers underground. We had to overcome various difficulties along the way and carry supplies like ants.

It is not possible to motivate rescue workers simply by giving them money.

Even if you offer a large sum of money as an incentive, there is no guarantee that someone will take the money and slack off.

After all, with such a long distance and such a harsh environment, you have no way of telling whether the rescuers are slacking off.

But from Kimi's condition, it can be seen that the entire rescue team is working hard, and this is obviously not because of the rescue fees given by Lin Yuan.

Although Lin Yuan definitely gave enough money, everyone was working so hard, most likely out of their love for him and Meng Tao, which was why they were trying so hard to speed up the rescue progress.

From the tattered waterproof suit taken off from Kimi, it can be seen that many of the scratches were not caused by one go, but by repeated entries into the cave, which eventually wore it out and caused it to lose its waterproof ability, almost leading to an accident.

Lin Yuan looked at Kami who was sleeping beside him. He was no longer trembling and his lips were slowly regaining their color.

"Let's rest here for a while and wait for other rescue team members to pass by. After we let them take care of Kimi, we will continue on our way?" Henry said.

"Well, let's take a short break." Lin Yuan nodded and sat down.

Over 80 rescuers entered the cave, some transporting supplies, others laying telephone lines for communications. While this might seem like a large number, after four or five days of travel, the density was actually quite low.

Under normal circumstances, rescuers do not act alone, but will work in groups of 2 to 3 people.

Kimi should just be walking faster, and his teammates should be not far behind him. We will meet them if we wait for a while.

Lin Yuan and Henry waited for more than ten minutes, and then they heard the sound of conversation in the distance.

"I'm Henry! Come here quickly!" Henry stood up and shouted.

Hearing Henry's words, two young rescuers trotted over from a distance.

"You and Kami are in the same group, right?" Henry said.

"Yes! What happened to Kimi?" someone asked.

"His waterproof suit was damaged. When he was climbing the 'Abyss' just now, he was soaked by water on the ascending rope and suffered from hypothermia." Henry said.

"Ah! Is he okay?" asked another rescuer.

"It's okay. Fortunately, Mr. Lin Yuan is here and saved him." Henry said.

After hearing Henry's words, the two rescue team members noticed that the person standing next to Henry was actually Lin Yuan.

"Wow! I actually saw a living Lin Yuan!"

"Can you talk? This should be called Lin Yuan Zhenren. Idol, can you give me an autograph?"

"You only want an autograph? This is such a great opportunity, I definitely want a photo so I can hang it right in the center of my living room wall."

"Are you stupid? How can you take pictures in this dark cave?"

These are two more fans who seem to be super fanatical fans wherever they go, which makes Lin Yuan feel quite interesting.

He smiled and said, "Signing is fine, taking photos is fine, but please wait until the rescue is over and we return to the ground for supplies."

The two rescuers said excitedly: "No problem, it should be done, it should be done!"

"My idol, you actually came into the Kalonos Cave. Are you here to save Coach Meng Tao?"

Lin Yuan nodded. "Meng Tao is my brother. I must find a way to get him out. Now I'll leave Kemi to your care. Captain Henry and I will continue on our journey. Is that alright?"

"Of course no problem! We will take good care of Kimi, come on!"

"My idol, you are a superman. With your arrival, Coach Meng Tao is saved. We are waiting for your good news!"

"If Meng Tao can be rescued, it must be the result of our joint efforts. Thank you for your efforts." Lin Yuan expressed his sincere gratitude.

If it weren't for the efforts of the rescue team, it would have been impossible for Meng Tao to be rescued by himself this time.

After saying goodbye to the three members of the rescue team, Lin Yuan and Henry continued on their way.

"The road ahead is called the 'Passage of Pain'. It's only about 50 centimeters high, and you have to crawl on the ground to move forward. There are a lot of densely packed sharp stones on the ground, hence the name," Henry explained.

As expected, there is no random name for any location in the cave.

The ground is full of spikes and you have to crawl through it. No wonder it is called the "Tunnel of Pain". It is really a torture.

Lin Yuan also knew why Kimi's waterproof suit was damaged.

"Okay, I got it. I'll go ahead later." Lin Yuan said.

"Don't you want me to lead the way?" Henry asked.

"No need, I can crawl faster. A short pain is worse than a long one." Lin Yuan said.

Henry: (A`a;)
After walking along the undulating rock wall for more than 30 minutes, Lin Yuan went from being able to walk with his back straight to gradually having to lower his head, and then to bending over and kneeling to move forward, and finally came to a cave entrance about 50 centimeters high.

This should be the starting point of the Passage of Pain, right?
Lin Yuan was the first to lie down and crawl forward on the ground using his elbows and knees.

As he entered the passage, the passage in front of him began to narrow continuously, and more and more sharp stone spikes began to appear on the ground.

Looking at the durian-like surface, Lin Yuan sighed. If it weren't for the knee pads, elbow pads and other protective gear to resist the sharp thorns, he would probably be covered in blood after climbing this distance. It was a truly "painful journey".

With the unity of body and mind and his extraordinary intuition talent activated, Lin Yuan quickly found the best route forward and he moved forward quickly.

Henry, who was following behind him, stared in amazement as Lin Yuan crawled among the spikes at high speed with ease like a nimble gecko, and soon disappeared from his sight.

Now Henry finally understood why Lin Yuan was ahead of him.

If he had such skills and speed, he would not be willing to follow others and slowly endure the torture of the painful passage.

It took more than 30 minutes for Henry to crawl out of the painful tunnel, gasping for breath, and Lin Yuan had been sitting on the ground waiting for him for a long time.

"Idol?"

"What do you want to ask? Tell me."

"Tell me the truth, how long did it take you to get through the Passage of Pain? I just want to know, with your skills, how fast can you go?"

"About 5 minutes."

"..."

Henry suddenly felt very tired and didn't want to communicate with Lin Yuan anymore.

I knew you were awesome, but I didn’t expect you to be this awesome!
You are so awesome that I look like a loser!

Henry suddenly realized how desperate those action actors who were on the same track as Lin Yuan were.

He suddenly understood why the four major ball leagues in North America would enthusiastically support Lin Yuan every time his movie was released, as if they were afraid that Lin Yuan would not make a good movie, so they came to play games with them.

But Henry does not have such psychological burden. For cave exploration enthusiasts, the stronger Lin Yuan is, the happier he is, which means the higher the success rate of this rescue operation.

So Henry silently modified the rescue itinerary in his mind.

"Shall we go to Camp 3 and rest today? That way, we might be able to reach the 'Deep Pool' by tomorrow afternoon," said Henry.

"Is it too late?" Lin Yuan asked.

Lin Yuan was a little surprised by the new itinerary proposed by Henry.

Under normal circumstances, explorers who enter the Kalonos Cave will rest and spend the night at Camp 370, which is 1 meters underground, on the first day.

According to the original plan, Lin Yuan and Henry would cross Camp 1 and spend the night at Camp 760, which is 2 meters underground.

In this way, they can shorten the journey from three days to the deep pool to about two and a half days.

But now Henry proposed a plan to go directly to Camp No. 1130, which is located 3 meters underground, to rest.

This means that it will only take them less than a day and a half to reach the deep pool.

Lin Yuan definitely agreed with this suggestion. The earlier Meng Tao arrived, the more hope he would have of survival.

His only worry was whether he would make it in time.

Henry nodded confidently and said, "If I were bringing someone else, the limit would be to spend the night at Camp 2. But judging by your skills, reaching Camp 3 tonight should be no problem at all."

"Then let's hurry up and set off." Lin Yuan immediately stood up and took the lead to walk forward.

In the following time, Lin Yuan and Henry met many rescue team members who were returning with supplies along the way.

Each team greeted Lin Yuan enthusiastically. After seeing Lin Yuan, their originally tired bodies seemed to be injected with infinite energy, and their morale instantly boosted.

Almost every one of them is a fan of Lin Yuan. After seeing their idol join the rescue operation and run with them in the underground passage, the rescuers' sense of pride in working together was ignited.

Henry understood this feeling very well, so this is how he felt at the moment.

I have to say that the power of role models is really great.

The brief conversation with the rescue team did not slow down the two people's journey. They quickly passed three difficult sections in turn: the knee tearing point, the marathon road and the chimney.

The knee tearing point is a passage that requires continuous up and down S-shaped crawling, which causes severe wear and tear on the knees.

The marathon road is a 748-meter-long winding passage where you can't straighten your back and can only look forward.

The chimney, as the name suggests, is narrow and straight, like a rat crawling into a water pipe.

After passing these three difficult sections, Lin Yuan and Henry finally arrived at Camp 3.

It is called a camp, but it is actually just a simple canvas tent in an open area.

The tent is stocked with some easily storable food such as canned food, as well as spare important tools in case of emergency.

You cannot make a fire in the underground cave, and you can only use a headlamp for lighting.

Lin Yuan took out some food and held it in his hand.

"Stab~"

He opened a can of luncheon meat and handed it to Henry: "Want some? Have one."

"Forget it, this stuff tastes like zombie meat. Just give me a sausage." Henry said with disgust.

In fact, after a whole day of high-intensity marching, the two men were already starving, and anything they ate would taste delicious.

The two of them wolfed down their dinner and discussed their itinerary for tomorrow.

"After arriving at the new Camp 5 under construction tomorrow, I will try to go into the water," said Lin Yuan.

"It's too dangerous. Let's let the professional divers go into the water first?" Henry said.

"It's too late. By the time they re-lay the guide rope, Meng Tao will probably be dead." Lin Yuan shook his head and refused.

"There is mud and sand underwater. When you swim, the mud and sand will be stirred up, and your visibility will become quite poor. Under such conditions, you have to take into account both diving and laying the guide rope, and even find and connect the previous guide rope. If you are not careful, an accident will happen." Henry advised.

"Idol, I know you're very strong on the ground. Even deep underground, your skills still amazed me today. But it's really different in the water, especially a deep dive like this." Henry was obviously very worried and kept persuading her.

Lin Yuan sighed and said, "Actually, we all know that if we want to rescue Meng Tao, we can't wait until Camp No. 5 is built. Time waits for no one."

Hearing Lin Yuan's words, Henry nodded.

It took 10 days to build the new Camp No. , mainly because it was necessary to gather a large number of oxygen cylinders and various diving equipment needed for the first batch of divers to dive and rescue.

But after 10 days, when we slowly lay the guide rope, I'm afraid we will just have to collect the bodies.

So Lin Yuan said seriously: "Let me go down alone and try it first. I will consume less resources if I go alone."

(End of this chapter)