129: No. 12 Reverb

The final phase of the "Resonance Era" has begun.

Dual-city simultaneous countdown: -03:00

Madison Square Garden in New York, Staples Center in Los Angeles. The pulses of the two cities were tightly coupled and synchronized through an invisible high-speed data channel. The air was filled with a sense of anticipation that transcended excitement, almost sacred. The audience knew that everything that was about to happen would become their 'proof of presence' that they might talk about for the rest of their lives.

On the New York stage, the "origin" cube structure completed its final transformation amidst mechanical hums—it was no longer an aggressive steel behemoth, but instead unfolded and extended, forming a massive, layered, ritualistic stepped metal altar, with its highest platform more than ten meters off the ground. Fine, breathing blue light patterns began to flow across its cold metal surface.

On the Los Angeles stage, the stars and nebulae on the "Eternity" dome slowly rotated and descended, finally coalescing behind Taylor into a gently spinning, translucent giant halo, like a mythical aureole. Data stream-like light particles continuously peeled off and dissipated from the halo's edge, while new light points were constantly replenished from the dome, maintaining a dynamic, immortal balance.

The background music from both sides merged into an unreleased, pure instrumental overture filled with a futuristic, sacred feel, jointly conceived by Alex and Taylor, and finally rendered by Organization D's audio algorithms. The music lacked a traditional dominant melody, instead composed of constantly ascending sustained string notes, spatial electronic sound effects, and deep ambient noise simulating cosmic background radiation, directly affecting the listeners' subconscious and creating a solemn atmosphere of 'witnessing something being born'.

Alex stood at the base of the metal altar in New York, and Taylor stood in the center of the halo in Los Angeles. Through precisely calibrated "imperfect holographic" projections, their figures semi-transparently appeared in each other's venues, as if spiritual entities guarding one another.

"Final check, all collaborative systems," Alex said in the encrypted channel, his voice steady.

"New York, all mechanical, lighting, sound effects, projection links, final redundancy check passed."

"Los Angeles, dome rendering engine, real-time interactive channel, special effects system, 100% synchronization."

"Global live stream stable, peak viewership has broken platform historical records."

"No abnormal physical approaches detected by perimeter security. Network defense layer intercepted three high-intensity penetration attempts, sources marked."

Everything was ready. But in Alex's Rule Perception, those 'cold strings' representing malicious prying and disturbance had not disappeared; instead, they became more actively intertwined around the 'emotional energy flows' of the two venues, like venomous snakes waiting for their moment. Their target no longer seemed to be specific mechanical nodes, but rather... the 'collective resonance' itself, which was about to reach its peak? Did they want to contaminate, distort, or steal that final energy?

"Final phase, core directive," Alex said in the channel to everyone, especially Taylor, "No matter what happens, focus on what we've created. Trust the music, trust the connection, trust each other. Leave the rest to me."

He cut off all backend communications except for his exclusive encrypted line with Taylor. The world fell silent, leaving only the overture music and the almost audible 'expectant silence' of nearly forty thousand people gathered in the two venues.

The countdown reached zero.

-00:00:00

The last note of the overture vibrated continuously at an extremely low frequency. The metal altar in New York and the halo in Los Angeles simultaneously increased in brightness by one level.

Alex and Taylor, three thousand miles apart, simultaneously raised their hands, pointing in each other's direction—which was also pointing at each other's holographic projection in their respective venues.

No lyrics.

Alex took a deep breath, and then, with a voice that seemed stripped of all technique, leaving only the most primitive emotional core, sang a long, continuously rising single note. The note wasn't high, but it contained an astonishing sense of power and penetration, as if from the depths of the earth.

Almost in the same millisecond he began to sing, Taylor's voice joined in. Her voice was ethereal and divine, descending from an extreme height, forming a perfect fifth harmony with Alex's voice. The two voices, one ascending like subterranean fire, the other pouring down like heavenly light, converged and intertwined in the void.

This was no longer the time-delayed chase of half-step echo. This was an absolute, zero-latency synchronization. It was the conceptual fusion of "origin" and "Eternity".

As they chanted, the blue light patterns on New York's metal altar, as if injected with life, began to flow rapidly along complex geometric paths, converging at the altar's apex to form a rotating, intricate symbol composed of pure light. The halo in Los Angeles contracted inwards, its brightness becoming extremely condensed, and another light symbol, mirroring the New York symbol, began to emerge in the center of the halo.

The two symbols faced each other across the void, subtly trembling, as if mutually attracted.

This was the core of the final phase—a "Dual-City Resonance Ritual" without lyrics, only pure human voices and visualized energy symbols. Through ultimate synchronization and symbolic visual presentation, all the emotional energy accumulated tonight would be pushed to a pure spiritual climax.

Alex was completely immersed in this chanting. He could 'feel' that as the sound continued, the 'emotional energy flows' rising from the two venues became thicker and brighter, and began to converge towards the two light symbols in the air. An unprecedented, vast 'resonance field' was forming. His own popularity points were skyrocketing at a terrifying rate, but at this moment, he had no time to pay attention.

He could also 'feel' that those cold, malicious 'strings' began frantically trying to penetrate these two energy flows, like leeches attempting to attach and suck, even trying to deflect the energy flows and create discordant 'noise'. These interferences were not direct attacks on the system, but rather targeted the invisible 'resonance field' itself, using more abstract and malicious methods.

Alex diverted a portion of his mind, employing his still-unskilled Rule Perception. He no longer directly interfered with a specific 'probability string', but instead anchored his consciousness into the 'core' of the main energy flow rising from the New York venue. He made himself the most stable, most unshakable part of this energy flow. Simultaneously, through his consciousness, he transmitted a firm intention to the invisible 'string of trust and tacit understanding' connecting him to Taylor: "Steady the core, ignore the noise."

He couldn't directly protect the energy flow in Los Angeles, but he believed Taylor could receive it and stabilize it in her own way.

The chanting continued, the pitch subtly changing, and the rotation speed of the two light symbols accelerated, their radiance almost engulfing the entire stage. Hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide held their breath.

Just at the critical point where the resonance was about to reach its theoretical peak—

Spider-Sense and Rule Perception simultaneously issued unprecedentedly sharp alarms!

It wasn't targeting the energy flow, but the main power supply trunk of the New York venue! An extremely hidden, catastrophic 'probability string' representing 'overload and short circuit' was furiously injected with energy by several cold, malicious strings, instantly skyrocketing from 'extremely low possibility' to 'near certainty'! The timing was precisely malicious—at the peak of the resonance, the instant all systems were at full power, to cause a widespread power outage capable of interrupting everything (including the live broadcast, machinery, lighting, and even some safety systems)!

This was no longer interference; this was a destructive act of pulling the rug out from under them! If it happened, not only would the performance utterly fail, and the venue plunging into darkness and chaos potentially cause safety issues, but all accumulated emotions and expectations would turn into panic and anger, and the opponent could easily blame it on 'technical limitations' or 'operational errors'!

Alex's chanting did not falter, not even a tremor. But his consciousness made a decision in a thousandth of a second.

He couldn't directly 'cut' that catastrophic probability string—he didn't have that ability yet, and forcefully interfering with the probability of such a massive physical system might lead to an unbearable backlash.

But he could 'deceive' probability.

He fully focused his Rule Perception on the string representing 'main power overload', not to prevent the overload from 'occurring', but to extremely briefly, slightly 'distort' the 'time point of the consequence' that this string pointed to. He couldn't change the event, but he tried to 'delay' the 'moment of explosion' of the event, even if only for...

Three seconds.

This almost drained all of his mental strength at that moment. A violent, soul-tearing pain and a sense of emptiness pierced through his brain. His chanting voice imperceptibly weakened for a fraction of a second, but he forcefully stabilized himself with his Mental Pillar and willpower.

"Three, two, one..."

As he counted down in his mind, the pitch of his chant and Taylor's voice, to the ears of billions of viewers, unexpectedly and simultaneously leaped up an octave! And, the New York metal altar light symbol and the Los Angeles halo light symbol suddenly shot out extremely condensed beams of light towards each other, colliding in virtual space!

Boom—!!!

A silent roar exploded in everyone's minds. It was a symbol of resonance reaching its peak, an experience of emotions and spirits pushed to their zenith. The two light symbols annihilated in the colliding light beams, transforming into countless warm light particles, like the first light rain at the dawn of the universe, sprinkling over the audience seats of both venues.

And at the very moment this light rain erupted, everyone was stunned by its ultimate beauty, and the energy of the resonance field reached and slightly passed its peak, beginning its natural decline—

Snap! Sizzle—!!!

From the rear side of the New York venue, a small but clear explosion sounded, accompanied by a flash of electrical sparks! The local lighting abruptly dimmed, then was quickly taken over by backup power. A small gasp rippled through the audience, but their attention was immediately drawn back to the warm light rain that still filled their entire vision, the small anomaly seeming merely an insignificant noise in the glorious finale.

Alex's chanting, and Taylor's voice, at the peak of the light rain, slowly concluded with a long, lingering harmony, fading into silence.

The lingering charm was profound.

The lights did not immediately come on, allowing the afterglow and shock of the light rain to remain in everyone's eyes and hearts.

After a full ten seconds, the warm house lights slowly illuminated both venues.

Alex stood on the altar base in New York, bowing slightly, sweat already soaking his performance attire, his face appearing somewhat pale under the lights, but his eyes shone astonishingly. Taylor, in the center of the halo in Los Angeles, also bowed, tears glistening in her eyes.

Then, applause and cheers, like a tsunami suppressed for billions of years, erupted simultaneously from both cities, sweeping over everything!

It succeeded. The final chapter of the "Resonance Era", in a game of light and shadow, fulfilled its mission in the most brilliant and perilous way.

Alex straightened up amidst the deafening roar, feeling the spiritual exhaustion within him and an unprecedented, peculiar emptiness of having touched the 'edge of rules'. He looked at Taylor's holographic projection in the direction of Los Angeles; she was looking back at him, and they exchanged a smile across the distance.

Everything was understood without words.

The attack from the shadows was resolved invisibly, even becoming a stepping stone for the final brilliance. The opponent might have obtained data on that 'accidental' power failure three seconds later, but it was already meaningless.

The performance ended.

A legend was born.

And some deeper changes had quietly occurred where no one knew.