153: Chapter 153 The Corner of the Party and the Subtle Lines

The search for the vintage open-reel tape recorder went unexpectedly smoothly.

Marcus found two almost brand-new Swiss Nagra IV-S models from the late seventies through an intermediary specializing in vintage film equipment in the warehouse of a German independent radio station about to close down, along with dozens of unopened original blank tapes. They were in outrageously good condition, as if they had just been taken out of a time capsule.

"The other party asked for a high price, but when they heard we were 'Echo Vision' and did sound art, they readily gave us a 'friendship price' and even included the full set of maintenance manuals and calibration tools from back in the day," Marcus reported with some pride. "He said that good things should go where they can realize their value, not rot in a warehouse."

Alex personally inspected these "antiques" at the warehouse. The silver-gray metal body, the dials and buttons full of mechanical aesthetics, carried a solid weight. When he touched the cold machine body with his hand, [Energy Perception] sent back feedback: these machines had been silent for many years, but their core components still maintained a stable, inert energy state, forming a sharp contrast with the active electronic equipment around them. More subtly, the machines themselves seemed to have absorbed a kind of extremely thin "atmospheric imprint" belonging to that analog era of the past because they had been in a "standby" state for a long time.

This feeling was profound and hard to put into words. But Alex was certain that this was perhaps why the "Spirit of the Wasteland" valued them—not just for the technical parameters, but for that "texture" carrying time that the digital age could not replicate.

He had people carefully pack the machines, along with the blank tapes and all accessories, and send them to Nevada according to the encrypted address. At the same time, in the spirit of the contract, he sent a short message to the "Spirit of the Wasteland": "The required equipment has been found, two Nagra IV-S units, in excellent condition, with original media and tools included. Wishing you a smooth experiment."

He didn't expect a reply; this was just part of the cooperation. After handling this, he felt like he had completed an interesting side quest and was in a good mood.

"phantom singer" continued to soar. As the program deepened, the buzz around the resident judges and popular contestants also rose. The "Echo Puzzle" plan had become a phenomenal community activity, and the fifth-week theme, "Relics of the Future," had already begun warming up. Platform traffic, user stickiness, and commercial valuation were all steadily climbing on a healthy track. Available popularity was also slowly rising, like a snowball rolling; although the increase from a single event was not large, it was continuous and steady.

In contrast, the decline of "The Masked Singer" was irreversible. Ratings continued to slide, internal conflicts in the production team were exposed by tabloids, and the attitude of the title sponsor was ambiguous. The industry had already begun to discuss it as a negative case of "blindly following the trend and lacking core innovation." On Alex's side, he couldn't even be bothered to mention his opponent's name. This kind of disregard was, in itself, a posture of victory.

Over the weekend, Universal Music held a small but luxurious party in Beverly Hills to celebrate the start of the production of the "Echo Manufacturing" label's first "phantom singer" selection EP. Alex and Taylor, as key figures, were naturally invited to attend.

The party was bustling with familiar faces from Hollywood and the music industry. Alex was no longer a fledgling newcomer; he chatted with people with proper manners, discussing film collaborations and platform ecology, and occasionally mentioning interesting stories about the "Echo Puzzle" community, which always drew admiration. He didn't need to deliberately please anyone; his strength and achievements were the best business card.

Taylor was surrounded by several film producers and music directors, discussing the possibilities of film soundtracks. She spoke with confidence and had unique insights, her radiance not inferior to any long-established star. Alex occasionally caught her eye and could see the same calm enjoyment of all this in her eyes.

Halfway through the party, Alex took a glass of water and quietly retreated to a corner of the terrace to take a break. The night breeze was cool, blowing away the noise indoors. He relaxed and let [Energy Perception] run naturally in its lowest power state.

Then, he "felt" it.

It was not from inside the party, but from the direction of the tree-lined path far away from the villa, a black van quietly parked in the shadows. In the blurred vision of [Energy Perception], that car emitted an extremely faint, but unusually "regular" and "clearly directed" energy field, which was out of place with the chaotic environmental energy around it. It felt… a bit like the field of the encrypted vehicle his company used to transport core audio data backups after he upgraded security, but it was more hidden, and the technical content seemed higher.

Moreover, the "attention" of this energy field seemed to be vaguely "focused" on the party building, or rather, focused in his direction.

Not paparazzi. The energy field of paparazzi was more chaotic, and the radiation characteristics of their equipment were obvious. This was more like… professional listening or monitoring equipment, and it deliberately hid most active signals, leaving only the minimum "operating background noise" that was difficult to detect by conventional means.

Alex felt a slight chill in his heart, but his face remained calm as he leaned leisurely on the railing, as if he were just enjoying the night view. Taking advantage of the action of lifting his glass to drink water, his gaze naturally swept over that direction. In normal vision, there were only the shadows of trees and car lights passing by occasionally; that black car blended perfectly into the night.

Who? Why?

Commercial competitors? At this level, the risk of using such means was too high, and the benefits were unclear. Media? Doesn't look like it. Or was it… related to other aspects of some projects he or "Echo Vision" was carrying out (such as the "Spirit of the Wasteland," film collaborations, or even the technical support of Organization D)?

He quickly ruled out Organization D; the other party had no need to use this method of external monitoring. So, the remaining possibilities were intriguing.

He wasn't panicked, but rather a bit… excited? It was like playing a management simulation game for a long time, and suddenly a prompt for a hidden mission popped up. He silently noted the characteristic frequency of the energy field (the perception was still very vague, but he had a rough outline), as well as the relative position of the vehicle.

A few minutes later, he returned to the party with a normal expression, found Taylor, who was chatting with the CEO of Universal Music, and naturally joined the conversation. He didn't tell Taylor about his discovery; there was no need to make her worry. This might be a false alarm, or it might just be the beginning.

When the party ended, Alex and Taylor left in their own car. When passing by that tree-lined path, the black van was already gone. But Alex's [Energy Perception] captured a trace of the same characteristic energy field that was extremely faint and dissipating rapidly on the spot.

"Hank," after getting into the car, Alex connected to the encrypted communication, his tone calm, "Starting tomorrow, upgrade the security level of my and Taylor's daily itinerary to the second level. For non-public itineraries, add anti-tracking screening procedures. Also, check the access records of all road surveillance around the Universal party venue tonight (conduct this discreetly through The Architect's channels) and see if there are any suspicious vehicles lingering for a long time."

"Understood, boss." Hank's voice immediately became serious, "Are there any specific directions?"

"Not for now. It's just… I feel that tonight's night has a few more 'lines' that shouldn't be there." Alex looked at the passing lights outside the window, his fingers tapping gently on his knees, "Follow the procedure first. Also, notify The Architect that we may need some more… 'civilian high-end' level environmental security scanning equipment to strengthen the peripheral passive monitoring of several core locations of the company and the Malibu studio."

"Okay."

Hanging up the communication, Taylor keenly sensed his extremely subtle emotional change and cast an inquiring look.

Alex held her hand and smiled: "It's nothing. I just suddenly felt that since a tall tree attracts the wind, we might have to get used to having flies buzzing in our ears occasionally."

Taylor raised her eyebrows, didn't ask much, just held his hand back, a little harder: "Then let's buy the best fly swatter."

The two looked at each other and smiled. Some storms, they had long expected and were well prepared for.

Back home, Alex brought up the system interface. Looking at the steadily growing popularity and the increasingly rich skill list, the unease in the face of unknown prying was quickly replaced by a solid sense of confidence.

Management brings strength, strength ensures safety, and the extraordinary endows him with eyes to see the "lines" in the dark. This "path to godhood under the spotlight" was extending more and more clearly beneath his feet.