151: Chapter 151 New Horizons, Tour Pre-Tour Warm-up and Songs in the Box

In the first few days after redeeming 【Energy Perception (Primary)】, the world did not become bizarre in Alex's eyes. It was more like an extremely faint "negative image" had been superimposed onto the originally clear picture, one that required focus to perceive.

Checking equipment in the recording studio early in the morning, he could vaguely "feel" the weak fields generated by the slight differences in current in different microphones, and could perceive the warm, stable energy radiation emitted by old-fashioned vacuum tubes as they warmed up. While mixing a new song, he found that he could more instinctively avoid potential energy "silt points" that might cause discomfort from certain frequency combinations, giving the overall listening experience a hint of indescribable "smoothness" beyond the physical sound. This ability was of limited help in improving creative quality for the time being; it was more like an advanced "texture optimizer" and "hazard detector."

The most practical scenario occurred when inspecting the second batch of custom "Spirit of the Wasteland" equipment destined for Nevada. In the warehouse, Alex only had to walk past those tightly sealed boxes, and a faint "prickling" or "chilly" sensation would come from his fingertips or the space between his brows. The intensity was very low, but clear and distinguishable. He could roughly distinguish which boxes contained devices with more active or abnormal "energy signatures." This gave him a more intuitive grasp of the "unconventional" degree of the "Spirit of the Wasteland" research.

"Notify Nevada that when receiving this batch of goods, operate according to the highest level of 'unknown research material' protocols, isolate the area, and monitor remotely," he instructed Hank, who was in charge of logistics. "Also, tell The Architect that based on some 'non-technical assessments' on our side, it is recommended that their peripheral sensors increase... well, just say increase the monitoring logs for 'specific frequency energy remnants,' and share the data."

He had fulfilled his partner's duty of caution without exposing his own abilities. Alex increasingly liked this kind of extraordinary operation hidden behind "artistic intuition" or "commercial sensitivity."

The second episode of "phantom singer" aired, once again igniting topics without suspense. In this episode, "Spirit of the Wasteland" still did not reveal its face, but sang a piece that fused North American indigenous chanting elements with psychedelic electronic music, which was ethereal, tragic, and full of power. When the program aired, Alex quietly activated 【Energy Perception】. Perception through television signals was certainly greatly reduced, but he still vaguely "captured" that when the "Spirit of the Wasteland" singing voice entered a certain extremely high pitch, the air in the studio seemed to have an extremely faint, unusual "disturbance." It wasn't sound waves; it was more like the voice triggered some deeper resonance. This discovery made his interest in this mysterious singer even stronger.

After the program finished, the suspense and artistry of "Spirit of the Wasteland" were praised to the heavens by the media and music critics, and even the third week's co-created single "City Pulse" from "Echo Puzzle" rode the wave to the top of the streaming charts. The second episode of "The Masked Singer" fell into an awkward situation: they tried to imitate the "nostalgia + strength" route and invited another powerful singer, but the response was mediocre. Once the audience's novelty faded, the formulaic routine was no longer attractive. On social media, comments like " 'phantom singer' plays with art and the unknown, while 'The Masked Singer' is still doing playlist remakes" received high likes. In this platform war, in terms of content innovation, Alex had already established an almost insurmountable barrier.

The contract for Zack Snyder's film project was officially signed. "Echo Vision" established a dedicated team to be responsible for this, headed personally by Alex, with Taylor deeply involved. The first project meeting was full of sparks. Alex did not pile up technical terms but played several selected sound materials from "Echo Puzzle" that were full of futuristic or ruinous feelings. Then, combined with the vague understanding of "energy texture" brought by 【Energy Perception】, he used very visual language to describe his envisioned "sound image of data torrents"—"It is not water flow; it is more like the clamor and silence of billions of cold metal gravel being pushed, rubbed, and isolated from each other by invisible forces in perfectly smooth pipes."

After listening, Zack was silent for a long time, then said to the art director next to him: "Give his team the highest level of access to our concept art for the 'Torrent' scene. I want the sound and visuals to grow together from now on."

This meant that one foot had already stepped into the core creative circle of top Hollywood productions. The news leaked out somehow, and several entertainment sections immediately gave headlines like "New generation musician favored by big director, cross-border defining new film sound aesthetics." His status in the industry was raised another level silently.

In the gaps of his busy schedule, Taylor took Alex to see a house. It wasn't the Brentwood villa where Alex currently lived, but a more secluded modern-style residence on the Malibu coast with an independent recording studio and huge floor-to-ceiling windows that could overlook the entire sea cliff.

"It's not for moving, it's for a studio," Taylor said, facing the sea breeze, her hair a bit messy, but her eyes very bright. "Sometimes you need an environment that is completely quiet or surrounded by natural sounds to find inspiration. It has perfect soundproofing, a wide view, and... good privacy." She glanced at Alex, implying something.

Alex understood instantly. As their popularity grew higher, public attention was omnipresent; they really needed a more hidden, more personal space for creation (and being together). He carefully felt the surrounding environment. Under 【Energy Perception】, apart from the stable radiation of natural wind, waves, and rocks, there was almost no messy artificial energy interference; it was very "clean."

"Good place." He nodded, holding Taylor's hand. "Buy it. Do it in the name of 'Echo Vision,' set it up as a high-end creative base; it makes sense for tax purposes too."

The matter was settled just like that. A shared, future-oriented plan could embody the solidity of a relationship more than any sweet words.

A few days later, "Spirit of the Wasteland" sent a very short "periodic data sharing" through an encrypted channel—according to the contract, he was obligated to occasionally provide some information that did not involve core secrets but could reflect research value, in order to maintain the partner's confidence.

The attachment was an audio file and a line of explanation: "A 'non-natural harmonic component' separated from the underground rock resonance record at the Nevada test site, a segment after purification and deceleration (reduced to a range audible to the human ear). For reference only, do not distribute."

Alex put on his best headphones and clicked on the file.

At first, it was a silence like the deep sea, and then, an extremely faint "singing voice" that seemed to come from the distant earth's core, or as if it had traveled through endless years, slowly emerged. It was not a human singing voice, nor was it the sound of any known instrument. It was intertwined with countless complex overtones, cold, magnificent, with an absolute rationality and inhuman feeling, like the laws of star operation, or the whispers of some huge machine in eternal time. It did not express any emotion, but it carried a kind of "information density" and "existential weight" that made the soul tremble.

In the short thirty seconds of audio, after Alex finished listening, a layer of fine sweat seeped out from his back. This was definitely not a sound that could be produced by any known civilization or natural phenomenon on Earth. It was too "perfect," too "inhuman."

What made him care even more was that when this sound was played, his newly acquired 【Energy Perception】 sent clear feedback: the space around the headphones had extremely subtle but stable energy field distortions, as if this decelerated "singing voice" itself carried some weak but real "reality-affecting" factors.

"Spirit of the Wasteland"... what on earth did you dig up?

Alex turned off the audio and remained silent for a long time. He realized that what this "contract" brought might be far more than just a show's suspense. But he was not panicked; instead, he felt a faint excitement. Managing daily life was solid, but wasn't coming into contact with the deeper unknown beneath the surface of the world the most ultimate scenery on the road of "quietly extraordinary"?

He replied calmly: "Audio received. The research value is indeed extraordinary. Please be sure to pay attention to safety. The second batch of resources has been shipped."

Daily life continued, and the business empire under the sun expanded steadily. And some "sounds" from underground or more distant dimensions, just like stones thrown into a calm lake, the ripples spreading out would eventually reach the walker by the lake.