Mastering the Sword Manual, sweeping across the globe

CNN's Jack Thompson, Associated Press's Maria Sanchez, Reuters' David Brown, AFP's Sophie Dubois, and also DPA, Kyodo News, TASS...

Everyone looked up at him.

“Charlie,” Jack waved at him, “you’re late.”

“That’s impossible…” Charlie shrugged: “If I’m late for this interview, headquarters won’t even bother sending me a termination letter; they’ll just send me a ghostwriter.”

"Is it also 2 PM to pick someone up?" Jack asked.

"Correct."

The two looked at each other and then remained silent.

Twenty minutes later, a staff member walked in.

"Dear journalists, welcome aboard this special plane. The plane will take off in fifteen minutes, with an estimated flight time of two hours and fifteen minutes. Our destination is Linjiang City Airport—the closest civilian airport to Qianyuan County. Upon arrival, we will split into two buses and first travel to Qianyuan County for a visit. We will stay overnight in Qianyuan County… Afterwards, you journalists are free to arrange your own itinerary. Those who wish to remain in Qianyuan City are free to conduct interviews. Those who wish to travel to Y City, please communicate with our staff in a timely manner. We will return to Linjiang City together the next day and fly to Y City to visit the Yunmengze Wetland Park."

After takeoff, Charlie kept looking out the window.

About an hour and a half later, Maria, who was sitting next to him, suddenly exclaimed.

"God……"

She didn't need to shout; Charlie had been waiting for this moment!

The camera was ready long ago.

The camera was already pointed out the window, and my finger was on the shutter button.

Below are rolling mountains.

Of course, it's not those things that attract attention.

On the mountain ridge, there is a mark that is so obvious even when viewed from 10,000 meters above the ground!

A straight line that cuts through the mountains.

Just like being cleaved in two by a sword.

Both sides are neat and clean cross-sections, their fresh earthy color gleaming in the sunlight.

Beside the cross-section, the original mountain ridge—that winding, natural ridge sculpted by time over hundreds of millions of years—lies side by side.

One is curved, the other is straight.

One is hundreds of millions of years.

One is ten seconds.

Click click click click click—

The sound of camera shutters clicking filled the cabin.

Dozens of cameras fired simultaneously, the sound as dense as machine gun fire.

Charlie's finger never left the shutter button.

The camera is top-of-the-line, capable of taking twenty shots per second, but at this moment it still feels too slow.

The straight line in the lens cuts in from one mountain, passes through a valley, passes through another mountain, and extends all the way to the horizon—he wanted to capture every single frame.

Beside him, CNN's Jack had already stood up, leaning half his body into the aisle, his camera almost pressed against the window.

His assistant shouted from behind, "Jack, watch out!" but he didn't hear him at all.

Reuters' David Brown was filming when he muttered something, which Charlie didn't catch, but the shock in his tone was universal.

AFP's Sophie Du Bois is recording a video with her phone in one hand and a camera in the other, muttering something that sounds like a prayer or an insult.

Maria Sanchez had finished one round of shooting and was looking down at the photos she had just taken when she suddenly looked up and took another round looking out the window.

No one was speaking in the cabin.

Only the sound of the shutter.

Click click click click click—

Charlie took pictures for a full three minutes, until the camera buffer was almost full, before he stopped to catch his breath.

He glanced down at the photo he had just taken.

On the screen, the straight marks gleamed in the sunlight, the cross-sections on both sides were neat and clean, and the ridges beside them were winding and covered with vegetation. The contrast between the two was even more striking than what the naked eye could see.

He looked up at the window again.

The plane had begun its descent, and the trail was gradually being obscured by the mountains.

Charlie glanced down at his watch.

It has been about one hour and fifty minutes since takeoff.

Half an hour later, the plane landed at Linjiang City Airport.

Two blue and white buses were already waiting on the tarmac.

Staff members stood beside the car door, holding signs with the names of various media outlets.

Charlie found his name and boarded the first bus.

The seats were spacious, and each seat had a brochure bag next to it—a tourist map of Qianyuan County, an introduction, a bottle of water, and a bag of local specialty mountain walnuts.

The bus started, drove out of the airport, passed through Linjiang City, and turned onto the highway leading to the mountains.

After an hour and a half of winding mountain roads, Charlie started to feel a bit carsick.

The bus turned into a temporary parking lot.

The car door opened, and a staff member boarded the vehicle with a megaphone.

"Dear journalists, we have arrived at the starting point of the Sky Road. Please get off the bus and follow the guide. You will have forty minutes for taking photos."

Charlie got off the bus with the crowd.

Charlie was stunned at first glance.

Eight kilometers!

You can see right through it!

At this moment, he was standing at the starting point of the road, a straight road that started from his feet and stretched all the way to the small village at the end of his vision.

Eight kilometers, no bends, no slopes, no undulations, and no obstructions!

It's just a straight line!

Charlie stood still, motionless.

In his fifteen years in the industry, Charlie has walked countless roads.

Mountain roads, dirt roads, highways, city streets—none of them have ever been like this…so sharp and uncompromising!

At the end of the road, there was a small village, with about a dozen households, earthen walls and black tiles, with wisps of smoke rising from the chimneys.

Turning around, you see the direction of Qianyuan County.

More than 20 kilometers away, the high-rise buildings of the county town can be vaguely seen—a dozen or so residential buildings, several office buildings, and a TV tower.

Busy and ancient.

Tension and relaxation.

Originally, it was separated by several mountains.

Now, it's a straight line.

--------

The reporters were also granted the privilege of live streaming.

CNN assistants have already set up portable live streaming equipment.

This palm-sized device comes with a built-in camera and satellite transmission module, a standard feature of CNN, specifically designed for situations where "there may be no internet but a live broadcast is needed."

Jack casually pulled out his phone, glanced at it, and chuckled to himself.

All the documents that required the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' involvement have been taken care of... Why bother with the signal?

Full signal strength on the edge of the mountains!

A few minutes later.

[CNN Live Broadcast]

Jack Thompson's camera is focused on the villagers of Lijia'ao.

A seven or eight-year-old boy stood at the front of the crowd, wearing an old T-shirt that was a size too big, with dust still on his face.

Jack handed him the microphone.

"Sir, was it you who contacted that... uh, that gentleman yesterday?"

The little boy nodded vigorously, his two front teeth missing, but his smile was as bright as the sun in the mountains.

"I said it in the live stream! I said the roads in our village are too difficult to travel on, and asked if he could help repair one!"

"and then?"

"And then he came!" the little boy gestured, "whoosh—he flew down from the sky and landed in my yard!"

"what did he say?"

He said, 'point'.

--------

The BBC has a more complete set of equipment – ​​in addition to satellite broadcasting equipment, it also has a small drone.

The person in charge skillfully connected and debugged the drone, and a few minutes later, the drone took off, with the footage being transmitted back to London simultaneously.

A few minutes later.

[BBC Live Broadcast]

"Dear viewers, we are now located in Panlongling, Qianyuan County, China." Standing in front of the camera, Charlie showed the eight-kilometer-long Sky Road stretching straight behind him.

The camera zooms out, and a drone aerial shot cuts in.

"As you can see, this road—if it can still be called a 'road'—has clean cross-sections...there are no signs of blasting, no signs of mechanical work."

Studio:

"Were those villagers' live streams yesterday real?!"

"The BBC has finally started reporting real news!"

"China's Superman, strike with heavy sword!"

--------

Reuters Live Room

David Brown squatted by the roadside, holding a measuring tape he always carried with him.

He unfolded the measuring tape and stuck it on the road.

The camera zooms in.

The measuring tape shows: 0 error.

David stood up and said to the camera:

“We randomly selected three points for measurement. The first point had a flatness error of 0.3 mm; the second point had an error of 0.2 mm; and the third point had an error of 0 mm.”

"It should be noted that the smallest division on my measuring tape is 1 millimeter. 0 millimeters means that within a 1-millimeter precision range, this point is flat."

"And this road is 8.3 kilometers long, with no hills or undulations as far as the eye can see."

"If this was built by humans—please tell me what technology, equipment, and construction team were used."

"If this was done by that gentleman—then there's nothing more to say."

Studio:

Reuters is up to its old tricks again!

"Where's the classic horror filter?!"

"Dare you?"