Chapter 26: Chapter 25: Gravitational Turbulence (Please Vote for Recommendation, Bookmark)_1
The situation in the sky changed abruptly, as a sun and two flying stars disintegrated.
In the sky, the most dazzling was still the original sun the size of a truck tire, while the two former flying stars had changed their appearance—one had become the size of a washbowl, the other had grown even larger than before.
The crowd immediately grew somewhat panicked. Cao Cao evidently had never relaxed his vigilance towards the sky; he took Jiang Yu, Yang Dong, Zhuge Liang, and others aboard a helicopter.
They quickly reached a nearby airport and boarded an extremely large airliner.
It was only then that Cao Cao finally breathed a sigh of relief, "No matter what changes occur on the ground, as long as we're in the sky, we can be at ease."
The plane's takeoff went very smoothly, ascending into the sky after only half the usual runway distance required for takeoff.
Jiang Yu looked out of the window, the world on the ground seemed unchanged, but the air was filled with an uneasy mood.
It seemed as if a sixth sense was making people feel that the world had changed from what it used to be, with many having chosen dehydration.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently, and the "Climate Air Conditioning" resembling hills crumbled like falling blocks in just a few seconds before the eyes of Jiang Yu and the others.
Next, red fissures opened up in the earth as scorching lava spewed forth. Those who had dehydrated, as well as those who hadn't managed to escape, were engulfed by the wave-like lava, burned to nothingness.
Turbulence also appeared in the sky, and the captain took quite an effort to stabilize the plane.
Jiang Yu asked everyone, "What's happening?"
The three suns in the sky hadn't undergone sudden drastic changes in size, either expanding or shrinking rapidly, but maintained their large, medium, and small patterning.
Logically speaking, without drastic changes, there shouldn't be such catastrophic disasters!
Yang Dong had some clues, "The stable orbiting pattern of the three stars is now broken, their tidal forces forming a 'Gravitational Turbulence.'
"Unfortunately, we are now in the midst of this 'turbulence'! The whole planet is spinning faster like a lost top due to the gravitational impact.
"The disasters occurring on the ground are due to the sudden acceleration of the planet's crust, mantle, and core not being in sync, creating immense friction."
Jiang Yu nodded, "I feel lighter; is it because gravity has become chaotic?"
"No!" Yang Dong said, looking at the scene outside the window, "The 'Gravitational Turbulence' has accelerated the planet's rotation speed, increasing the centrifugal force, which is why you feel lighter."
Jiang Yu smiled, "It's a strange feeling."
What used to be a day of twenty-four hours, now lasted merely a dozen hours.
Zhuge Liang, watching the "Climate Air Conditioning" collapse one after another on the ground, said in distress, "How could this happen? How could this be?"
"The direction you sought for the planet's escape is completely wrong!" Jiang Yu said, "The biggest enemy of this world has always been those three suns.
"It's not that once you've become better, the enemy will stop attacking you."
He leaned back in his seat, "You should feel lucky to have survived such a disaster."
But Yang Dong said, "Whether we can survive depends on the mood of the 'Gravitational Turbulence.' When the planet's field force and magnetic field undergo changes, it will be accompanied by another great disaster."
She pointed out of the window, "Like now, for example, it doesn't seem to be in a good mood."
Jiang Yu saw a vast expanse of white sweeping towards them in the distance, which reminded him of the gale on the snowfield when he first entered the game.
Soon, Jiang Yu realized that it was indeed wind rushing towards them, and the wind was so swift that it produced an effect similar to a sonic boom.
This was a wall of wind sweeping across the land, unlike the usual breeze that needed trees or similar reference points to be visible. Jiang Yu, for the first time, could see the wind itself.
All the people in the cockpit immediately fell into panic, only Cao Cao calmly sat in his seat and sighed, "In the end, it is difficult to prevail over nature."
Jiang Yu hurriedly instructed Yang Dong to switch to "God's View," and immediately after, the plane hit the wind wall, and the entire plane along with everyone inside was instantaneously torn into pieces by the wind.
Everything on the ground, as well as in the sky, was blown into the air.
As the grim-reaper-like gale passed, Jiang Yu found that he could not feel the presence of gravity, and even without the wind, he still glided through the air.
Yang Dong explained, "Just now, the rotation speed of the planet must have suddenly slowed down, like a car traveling at high speed suddenly slamming on the brakes.
"But air and atmosphere, being lighter, slow down more gradually, the intense friction from inertia formed a gale of over a thousand kilometers per hour!"
Jiang Yu realized, "So it's inertia that lets us soar in the sky."
After the strong wind came waves hundreds of meters high. All the liquids on the planet also lost control due to inertia.
The game's speed was accelerated again, and Jiang Yu and Yang Dong kept elevating their perspective as the planet's rotation, after a brief slowdown, began to accelerate again.
In the end, the planet's rotation speed increased by 60%, and the planet quickly became an "obese" elliptical sphere.
That "big belly" was the planet's liquids collected near the equator due to the imbalance of centrifugal force.
Yang Dong sighed, "Fortunately, this acceleration and deceleration occurred gradually."
Jiang Yu nodded. If this process had taken place within just a few minutes or even a dozen minutes, then the speed of the planet's rotation and the "Gravitational Turbulence" would have torn the planet apart like a piece of rag, perhaps even bringing about the Great Rip prematurely.
On a planet that had already lost all life, a row of red letters appeared:
[This "Gravity Vortex" only lasted for 36 hours. Civilization number 146 was destroyed by the pull of the 'Gravity Vortex,' having evolved to the level of internal combustion engines.]
[The seeds of civilization remain, it will restart and begin to evolve unpredictably in the Trisolaran World once more. We welcome you to log in again.]
Jiang Yu took off the gaming suit's helmet and exchanged a glance with Yang Dong, both sharing the illusion of having narrowly escaped catastrophe.
It was now evening, and they had witnessed a civilization rise and fall in just one day.
Jiang Yu asked with a smile, "What do you think?"
"It's shocking!" Yang Dong took a breath, "Does passing the level require saving that planet from such 'mythic' disasters?"
Jiang Yu thought for a moment, "You could say that."
Yang Dong, while taking off the suit, said, "I'm going to buy an immersive gaming set."
Jiang Yu remembered that those sets were quite expensive. Sure enough! A set cost over a hundred thousand!
Yang Dong not only bought a set for himself but also purchased one for Jiang Yu, and thoughtfully provided Jiang Yu with a computer, saying it was a thank-you gift.
So wealthy! Jiang Yu thought, "Indeed, appearances can be deceiving, I never expected Yang Dong could spend tens of thousands in one go without even a blink."
Jiang Yu originally wanted to decline, but after he took Yang Dong home and met Ye Wenjie, he soon needed a complete set, so he no longer continued to refuse.
Ye Wenjie gave Jiang Yu a set of game coordinates and told him there was a meeting on Sunday morning at eight o'clock, advising Jiang Yu not to be late.
Jiang Yu guessed that this must be a high-level meeting of the Redemptionists!