The sudden acceleration from freefall plunged the five crew members into utter despair. Unless a miracle occurred, they were doomed.
Then, they felt a violent shake, and darkness enveloped the aircraft as if it were covered by a cloth.
"Are we already in hell?" Before the crew could react, they heard an incredibly violent crash and the deafening screech of metal twisting and bending.
"It's over. The main rotor hit something, the wings are completely bent, and the diesel engine is about to catch fire and explode!" The pilot’s heart turned to ice. From the sound alone, he could guess the dire situation the aircraft was in.
Once the diesel engine ignited, an explosion would follow. Even if they survived the crash, they would be burned alive by the flames.
At this moment of absolute despair, they suddenly felt a light appear above them. Several people couldn't help but look up, only to find a vast opening in the cabin ceiling.
Following this, a torrent of fierce white foam surged in. Before anyone could comprehend what was happening, they were completely covered by the foam, even their mouths and noses were blocked, causing many to cough violently in discomfort.
Some let out mighty shouts, not of fear, but of joy.
Such a large amount of foam couldn't appear out of nowhere. If it did, there could only be one explanation: the foam was being sprayed from outside to extinguish a fire.
This meant they were saved, at least from perishing in an engine explosion.
Of course, some crew members were utterly bewildered. The aircraft had lost control and begun to plummet mere seconds ago, yet in just a few moments, not only had the descent stopped, but they had also been saved by a foam extinguisher. It was simply unbelievable.
Before the crew could process what had happened, they suddenly felt the fuselage begin to descend again. Those who thought they had escaped peril now cried out in panic.
However, this descent was remarkably stable, without the sensation of accelerating freefall. When the descent finally stopped, they seemed to have landed safely. They could even see the grass through the gaps in the cabin and smell the scent of fresh grass.
Had they landed?
While everyone was still confused, they heard the sound of hurried footsteps, followed by dozens of heavily armed security personnel in full firefighting and rescue gear rushing in.
These firefighters were exceptionally well-equipped, using hydraulic cutters to sever the already deformed door frame. They also quickly unbuckled seatbelts and rescued the trapped occupants one by one.
The entire operation took less than a minute. The crew members, who moments before believed they were certain to die, were all pulled from the helicopter, which was nearly submerged in foam.
"Oh, great Lord, is this Your salvation?" the bearded man exclaimed excitedly. To him, such a miraculous rescue could only be the work of the Almighty.
Then he heard the rescuer, speaking in fluent English with evident pride, say, "It wasn't the Lord who saved you, but our Pangu!"
The bearded man then saw the colossal being kneeling on one knee, its hands forming a semi-circle over the wreckage of the helicopter, as if it were the divine protector of the entire aircraft.
"Oh, Lord!" the bearded man let out a final cry before his vision went black and he lost consciousness.
When the bearded man awoke, it was already the afternoon of the third day. Staff from his embassy, who were by his side, informed him that he had suffered a severed artery in the disaster, losing a significant amount of blood every second. This was why he had fallen unconscious immediately after being rescued; he had gone into hemorrhagic shock.
If not for the timely rescue and professional medical attention within three minutes of his injury, which stopped the bleeding and provided immediate blood transfusion, the bearded man would have already met his Lord.
"And the others?" the bearded man asked, showing some concern.
"You were the most severely injured. The others woke up by yesterday at the latest. That Chinese fellow was the luckiest; after his examination, he was found to have only minor abrasions, and he actually went back to work yesterday!" the staff member said with a smile.
"That's wonderful, God be praised!" the bearded man said devoutly. However, he knew in his heart that God likely wouldn't directly descend to save him. He couldn't help but ask curiously, "How exactly were we saved? From my experience, we were already as good as dead!"
"And that foam that came out so quickly, it was incredible. How did you manage to rescue us so fast?"
"Sir, it would be difficult to answer this question with just words, but you can watch this video!" The staff member, seemingly anticipating this question, handed his terminal to the bearded man, on which a video was ready to play.
The bearded man clicked on the video, and the first thing he saw was the massive robot, Pangu Home.
Judging by the perspective and video quality, the footage was likely recorded by a fan in the stands. Pangu Home was performing various actions, accompanied by gasps of astonishment from the surrounding audience.
Suddenly, a loud, piercing noise drowned out the crowd's voices.
"Is that our plane arriving?" the bearded man felt a renewed sense of dread, recalling the terrifying afternoon a few days prior.
Indeed, upon hearing the noise, the videographer instinctively raised their terminal in the direction of the sound and saw the helicopter circling above the Bird's Nest.
Then came several standard Chinese curses, which the bearded man, of course, couldn't understand. He paid no mind to these colorful expletives, focusing instead on the scene unfolding on the screen and trying to pinpoint when their aircraft had begun to malfunction.
He remembered seeing Pangu Home make a lifting gesture at that time.
Sure enough, two minutes later, Pangu Home's left arm rose, and the video's owner followed the arm's movement, capturing the helicopter in the sky.
Although the helicopter was too far away for the image to be very clear, the bearded man could tell from its constant, jerky movements that the tail rotor had stopped spinning.
What followed was a scene seared into the bearded man's memory. The helicopter's swaying intensified, and it began to spin erratically, its entire body tilting.
These bizarre movements finally drew the attention of the audience. Almost everyone was focused on the malfunctioning helicopter, a first in Pangu Home's performances.
Over the next few moments, the helicopter, while making increasingly strange movements, began to descend slowly. The pilot was clearly attempting a controlled emergency landing.
However, this effort evidently failed. After more than ten seconds of struggle to maintain control, the helicopter gradually descended to the same level as the Bird's Nest ceiling.
It was at this point that the helicopter's main rotor collided with an antenna mounted on the Bird's Nest roof.
The antenna was not particularly thick, only about the size of a finger, and was immediately snapped by the main rotor.
This minor impact, however, shattered the helicopter's precarious balance, causing it to lose control and accelerate its descent. At this point, it was essentially a death sentence. Although the height above the ground was only about 70 meters, it was more than enough for a catastrophic crash, reducing the helicopter to pieces and leaving no survivors.
This was the moment that puzzled the bearded man the most. From this point onward, everything became incomprehensible. In just one or two seconds after losing control, the descent stopped, and they were even gently and stably brought to the ground, something the bearded man could not fathom.
Then, in the next second, he saw in the video two colossal steel hands, appearing silently below the falling helicopter. They cupped together, forming a large bowl shape, and gently, precisely, caught the descending aircraft.
Some might find this unbelievable, considering Pangu Home's hands were also made of steel. Wouldn't two steel surfaces colliding be even more dangerous?
This was because the helicopter had only just lost control and still had some upward momentum, so its rate of descent was not fast.
It was akin to holding a stone at head height and then releasing it.
If you caught the stone with your right hand, unless the stone had very sharp edges, you would feel virtually no pain.
But if the stone missed your right hand and landed directly on your foot, you would understand the meaning of "lifting a rock only to drop it on your own feet."
Visually, it was as if a table tennis ball had gently landed on a palm; the actual impact force was not particularly great.
Although there was some vibration, it did not significantly affect the helicopter's structural integrity.
"So, we landed in Pangu Home's hands!" the bearded man exclaimed. Recalling the slight impact he had felt at that moment, he finally understood what had happened.
Who could have imagined that their helicopter would be caught by the hands of a giant robot? It was utterly inconceivable!