High in the air, Luke was laser-focused, cutting through the tempered glass.
With each flicker of the laser, sparks flew, and a smooth, arc-shaped crack formed in the glass.
As the cut neared completion, a faint smile crept onto Luke's face, his tense expression finally easing.
Crack!
Suddenly, the laser cutter in his hand sparked violently and exploded!
Instinctively, Luke shielded his face with both hands, loosened his legs, and tumbled from the dizzying height.
"Oh my God!"
Even though this was a carefully choreographed action scene, the crew couldn't help but gasp.
Yuffie bit her lip, silent but tense.
Luke plummeted, the world spinning around him.
Images blurred past his eyes, wind rushing into his mouth, and all he could hear was the roaring in his ears.
A wave of vertigo hit him like a tidal surge, his heart pounding from the intense weightlessness.
Thump! Thump!
His heartbeat was so loud he could hear it himself.
He'd filmed plenty of high-stakes action scenes before, but free-falling from hundreds of meters up still triggered primal fear.
Luke fought to stay calm, his mind racing through the planned movements.
Even in this chaos, he stuck to the choreography, his right hand shooting out like lightning to grab the aluminum window frame.
The preset camera captured his move perfectly.
But the next moment, the massive impact overwhelmed his grip. His hand slipped, and he slammed into the glass, then plunged downward, head first, at an even faster speed.
Damn it! The worst possible falling position!
Thud!
Bob slammed his fist on the table nearby.
In this position, grabbing anything would be nearly impossible. Could Luke still manage to catch the anchor point and stop his fall?
To make matters worse, a sudden gust of wind hit, forcing Bob to squeeze his eyes shut.
Damn! That's gotta be a Force 10 gust!
A second later, Bob forced his eyes open, anxiously scanning for Luke.
The wind had blown Luke off course by two or three meters!
That small deviation was a world of difference for Luke.
There was no anchor point at that spot for him to grab!
Even if he could overcome the terrible falling position, without something to hold onto, it was hopeless.
Bob could already picture the scene failing.
His only hope now was that the safety rope would hold without issue and that Luke's head wouldn't take a hit.
He raised his hand, signaling the safety team to prepare to tighten the rope.
But just when it seemed all was lost, Bob saw Luke kick out with lightning speed, slamming his foot against the window frame.
Thud! The kick reverberated like it hit everyone's hearts.
Using the recoil, Luke's body shot sideways, soaring several meters through the air, correcting his off-course trajectory!
The anchor point was right in front of him!
Luke reached out with precision, grabbing it firmly.
He held on with such force, like a drowning man clutching a lifeline, leaving nothing to chance.
The preset camera captured it all: under the immense impact, Luke's thumb and middle finger nails tore off, blood gushing out and staining his hand red.
Yet, having nailed the scene, Luke turned his head, flashed a relaxed smile, and raised his left thumb.
"Cut!"
Director Cohen snapped out of his shock and called out.
As Luke was pulled back inside by the safety rope, the crew swarmed him, buzzing with excitement:
"Source God! How'd you pull that off? I couldn't even dream of being that badass!"
"Come on, admit it—you're not from Earth, right? No way a human could do that!"
"After this movie's done, I'm keeping that safety rope. It's gonna be worth a fortune someday!"
"No way, that rope's mine!"
Depp rushed forward, dropping to one knee dramatically. "Please, take my knee! It's the only way to show my respect!"
Director Cohen smiled but didn't join the chaos. Instead, he carefully reviewed the footage, determined not to let Luke's effort go to waste.
Luke laughed, responding to the crew's playful cheers one by one.
Truth be told, this scene had been insanely close.
When he realized the wind had thrown him off course, he thought it was over.
But in a split second, he'd found a way to turn it around and pulled it off.
Even now, Luke felt a rush of relief. If he hadn't broken through his attribute limit last night and boosted his agility by one point, today's outcome could've been totally different.
Yuffie approached with gauze and iodine. "Let me see your hand."
Her eyes were slightly red.
Luke shook his head. "It's stopped bleeding. We've got another scene to shoot soon, and bandaging it would show on camera."
"Can't we take a break and shoot tomorrow?" she asked softly.
Luke replied, "I'm in top form today. We need to knock this out while I'm in the zone. If we wait until tomorrow, I might not be able to tap into this same energy."
He was being honest. Action actors relied on being in the right headspace.
Today, Luke was clearly on fire, and he wanted to capitalize on it.
Seeing his determination, Yuffie didn't push back. She just held his right arm and carefully disinfected it with iodine.
His arm nestled in her embrace felt soft, and he couldn't resist moving it a little.
Sensing his mischief, Yuffie shot him a look but kept disinfecting with focus.
When she finished, she said, "Alright, go crush it. Good luck on the next scene."
Luke nodded. "You're in this one too. Just relax, don't stress."
They shared a quick hug before parting to prep.
By now, Van Diesel had his safety rope on and approached. "I'm kinda freaking out. Make sure you stretch that leg out far enough later."
Luke clapped his shoulder with a grin. "Don't sweat it. Lean out a bit more, and we've got this!"
"This scene is the craziest thing I've ever done!" Van Diesel groaned.
"When you're old and gray, you'll be proud of this day!" Luke shot back.