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Chapter 13: Gravitational Slingshot
But there was no time to think.
The truck’s cargo compartment emitted a heavy groan under the strain, and the cab lurched violently back and forth. Li Xingyuan turned to look behind him through the observation window. This was a truck, not an aircraft—it wasn’t designed to fly. Two ascents had pushed the metal to its stress limit; what was once rigid now bent like rubber. The rear section sagged precariously, on the verge of snapping and plummeting from the sky.
—But it wouldn’t fall.
Li Xingyuan suddenly realized this.
Gravity didn’t work that way, at least not now. Once the connection broke, the anomalous gravitational pull would continue dragging both the lighter cargo compartment and the cab upward. With such a drastic reduction in mass, the detached section would shoot skyward with incredible speed, like an arrow fired into the heavens.
But their goal wasn’t to soar higher—they needed to return to the ground. If they simply crashed straight down, even if the current altitude wasn’t lethal, they could still be crushed by other debris falling from above.
Li Xingyuan glanced again at the tow rope. It was taut, like a coiled spring brimming with potential energy.
“Old Liu,” Li Xingyuan’s voice trembled, startled even by his own audacious plan. Still, he forced himself to speak clearly, knowing every word might determine their fate. “I have a plan.”
Old Liu stared at him, blood-soaked eyes reflecting an almost manic intensity. Yet Old Liu didn’t question him. Instead, he waited silently, his gaze prompting Li Xingyuan to continue. He was accustomed to following orders—it was all he’d ever done.
“If the cargo compartment breaks off, we’ll rise even higher. When gravity eventually fails, the chances of us dying from the fall will increase exponentially.”
Old Liu said nothing, but his pupils contracted slightly, indicating he understood.
Li Xingyuan raised his hand, gesturing as he explained: “But that rope—it’s a spring loaded with elastic potential energy.”
Old Liu seemed to grasp what Li Xingyuan intended, yet he still waited, lips trembling faintly as if unable to believe such a reckless idea had crossed Li Xingyuan’s mind.
“We can’t wait for it to snap naturally. If it does, we’ll be launched straight up.” Li Xingyuan’s brain raced despite the hypoxia and pressure, his mortal body performing astonishingly well under duress. Each word landed in Old Liu’s ears like chiseled steel: “At the moment the compartment detaches, gravity will yank us upward. If we can seize that precise instant and cut the tow rope…”
“When the cab’s mass decreases and it begins accelerating upward, the combined force of the upward pull and the elastic potential energy will turn us into a slingshot, flinging us sideways out of here.”
Li Xingyuan extended his hand again, pointing toward the distant sky. “Old Liu, look over there!”
Old Liu squinted, but darkness still cloaked the surroundings. The faint glimmers came from raindrops refracting starlight—he saw nothing unusual.
“Do you see it? An arc!” Li Xingyuan’s excitement grew, his eyes shining brighter. “The rain is spreading outward, tracing an arc. Do you know what that means, Old Liu? It means we’re at the epicenter of this gravitational anomaly! The gravitational source is directly above us!”
“No wonder we haven’t seen many vehicles along the way, but suddenly encountered so many wrecked cars here. They were drawn from all directions!” Li Xingyuan licked his lips. “This is the peak of the gravitational anomaly, with us at its center. The farther away from here, the weaker the anomaly becomes. That’s why the rain forms an arc extending outward from our position!”
“As long as we’re flung far enough to escape the influence of this gravitational source, Earth’s increasing gravitational pull will smoothly bring us back to the ground. We’re saved! Old Liu, we’re saved!”
Old Liu may not have fully understood Li Xingyuan’s explanation, but he trusted him implicitly.
“Just tell me what to do,” Old Liu said, his voice quivering slightly.
“First, we need to get Lin Song over here. Otherwise, he’s dead for sure.”
In this plan, the military jeep acted as the hand holding the slingshot. Its mass was too great compared to the truck cab—it wouldn’t be flung away. If Lin Song stayed in the jeep, death was inevitable.
They could leave Lin Song behind in the jeep; in fact, the heavier the jeep, the lighter the cab, and the more likely Li Xingyuan’s plan would succeed. But neither Li Xingyuan nor Old Liu would ever consider such a decision.
And they had to act fast.
No one knew how much longer the cargo compartment could hold. They had only one chance. If they missed it, the gravitational slingshot would be lost forever, leaving them to await certain death.
Old Liu nodded and immediately began shouting for Lin Song. There was no time to explain the plan—he simply instructed Lin Song to cross over using the tow rope.
Lin Song hesitated briefly. Li Xingyuan couldn’t guess what he was thinking, only hearing the increasingly violent creaks from where the cargo compartment connected to the cab. He prayed silently for Lin Song to hurry.
Fortunately, Lin Song soon pushed open the jeep’s door, his red-rimmed eyes betraying his determination. Gripping the suspended tow rope, he muttered something unintelligible from afar. Wrapping the strap of his rifle twice around his shoulder, he tentatively began climbing across the rope toward the truck.
It was a harrowing journey. Compared to either the jeep or the truck, Lin Song’s weight was negligible. Like a climber without footholds, he relied solely on the rope to pull himself forward. Should he fail, he wouldn’t fall to the ground but instead drift into the void of space.
Even more terrifying was the tow rope itself—the linchpin of Li Xingyuan’s plan. If it snapped prematurely, the stored elastic energy would dissipate uselessly.
Li Xingyuan’s eyes locked onto the rope, his nerves tightening with each oscillation.
It mustn’t break.
He whispered a plea softer than prayer, nearly begging.
Don’t break.
He heard Old Liu’s lips moving faintly, his gaze fixed intently on the rope, silently praying the same thing.
Lin Song’s body swayed left and right as he drew closer. Now, Li Xingyuan could see his face, streaked with blood like Old Liu’s. His expression contorted, mouth repeatedly mouthing something—
Li Xingyuan couldn’t hear what Lin Song was saying, but he read his lips clearly.
“I want to go home.”
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