319: Earth Core Resonance

hope was parked at the edge of a crevice in the rock strata, its front facing an icy path that sloped downward.

Chen Wang opened the car door, and a rush of cold air immediately surged into the cockpit.

Without looking back, he jumped straight out of the vehicle, his knee grazing the frosted metal step.

His feet landed on the ground with a dull thud. The ground wasn't ice, but some kind of black material that felt slightly soft underfoot.

Su Wan got out behind him, carrying a medical kit with its zipper left undone.

She lost her footing when she landed and steadied herself by grabbing the side of the vehicle.

Chen Wang reached out to help her, but she shook her head and straightened up on her own.

The two walked forward one after the other, with several others following behind, none of them speaking.

Ahead stood a circular stone altar, about fifty meters wide, with eight carved pillars standing along its edge.

A taller pillar in the center reached up to the cavern ceiling, with a glowing blue stone at its top.

The light did not flicker; it shone steadily, casting the entire place in a cyan hue.

Chen Wang walked to the steps of the altar and stopped.

Su Wan walked past him with steady steps.

She glanced at the glowing pillar and then turned back to look at Chen Wang.

This glance was merely to confirm that he was watching her.

She said, "A doctor's mission is to save lives."

Then, she walked up the steps.

Footsteps echoed in the empty space. She walked slowly, planting each step firmly.

The blue light began to flicker, as if sensing something.

When she reached the base of the pillar, the light suddenly extended downward, wrapping around her arms and shoulders, and finally enveloping her entirely.

Chen Wang did not move.

He knew something was wrong. This wasn't about repairing a machine; it wasn't something that could be solved by replacing a part. But he also knew he couldn't stop her. Some things, once started, must be seen through to the end.

Su Wan closed her eyes, her breathing becoming shallow. The light grew denser, and a vibration emanated from the pillar, as if something were about to activate. The ground trembled slightly.

At that moment, a person ran out from the shadows in the northwest corner of the altar.

It was an old man draped in animal skins, swinging a chain strung with bones in his hand; the chain bore dark stains, and it was unclear if it was blood.

He rushed to the edge of the altar and shouted, "We tried this twenty years ago! Four of our tribesmen died on this! Only a mechanical lifeform can trigger the resonance! A living person going up there will only ignite the fuse!"

His voice was hoarse, but clearly audible.

Chen Wang snapped his head up.

The old man knelt at the bottom of the steps, his hands supporting him on the ground, panting heavily. "Only a true machine... can catch the pulse of the core."

No one spoke.

The blue light was still wrapping around Su Wan, but her body began to tremble. Cracks appeared in the light, as if it couldn't withstand the pressure. The stone at the top of the pillar flickered.

Chen Wang looked down at his hands.

The kindling system interface appeared before his eyes, visible only to him. Vehicle Status: Offline. survival points: No change. Map Alert: Target Locked. The interface was clean, with no prompts, no options, and no pop-ups.

He stared at it for two seconds, then looked up and said to the empty air, "Can you hear me?"

There was no response.

He took a step forward, stood on the first step, and raised his voice: "If you are a living machine, you should come out now."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the sound of tires crushing gravel came from the distance.

Everyone turned their heads.

hope moved on its own.

There was no sound, no lights; the vehicle simply glided forward slowly. Its wheels rolled over the black ground in a straight line. As it approached the altar, its chassis lifted ten centimeters, and it hovered into the center.

The vehicle stopped directly in front of the glowing pillar, the wuling emblem facing the light source.

A second later, the rust on the wuling emblem began to flake off. It didn't crumble; it peeled off in whole sheets. Beneath it, flowing light patterns were revealed, changing in color from grayish-white to golden-red, and then to a blinding silver-white.

The light crawled along the body of the vehicle, spreading through the seams, pulsing like blood vessels.

The entire process took less than ten seconds.

When the last piece of rust fell off, the wuling emblem suddenly erupted with intense light. The light was not a reflection, nor was it for illumination; it was like a sun exploding from within. A pillar of light shot up to the cavern ceiling, connecting with the crystal at the top of the pillar.

Hum—

A long, resonating sound rang out.

It wasn't heard by the ears; it was the bones vibrating. The ground shook violently, and hot steam vented from the cracks. The blue light on the pillar faded, turning into the same white light as the wuling emblem. The two streams of energy shook erratically at first, then slowly synchronized, and finally became perfectly aligned.

Su Wan was thrown backward by the shockwave.

She landed three meters away, rolling half a turn before coming to a stop. Her medical kit was thrown to the side, its lid open, with medicine bottles scattered about. She lay on the ground, coughing a few times, then used her hands to support herself and slowly sat up.

She looked toward the center of the altar.

hope was hovering in mid-air, thirty centimeters off the ground. The vehicle body no longer shook but vibrated steadily, as if it had a heartbeat. The wuling emblem was still glowing, but not as brightly as before, having settled into a continuous burn. The light connected from the front of the vehicle to the energy pillar, forming a loop.

Chen Wang stood where he was, motionless.

The old scar on his left arm suddenly heated up, as if it had been scalded. He looked down; the scar beneath his sleeve had turned red but hadn't broken open. He didn't touch it, just slowly clenched his hand.

The tribal elder was still kneeling in the northwest corner.

He looked up at the pillar of light, chanting something. It was unclear, not like speech, but more like repeating syllables; it sounded like a prayer, or perhaps a record. He gripped the bone chain with one hand and pressed the other against the ground, his fingers turning white from the pressure.

The altar quieted down.

The vibrations stopped, the steam dissipated, and only the light continued to flow. hope did not descend, nor did it move; it just hovered there, as if waiting.

Chen Wang finally walked forward.

He didn't walk toward the vehicle, nor did he touch the pillar; instead, he stopped at the edge of the altar, ten meters away from hope. He looked up at the wuling emblem, the light reflecting on his face, making the grime on it shine.

He said nothing.

Su Wan stood up. She picked up her medical kit and put it back on; she was limping slightly but could still walk. She walked to Chen Wang's side, stood still, and also remained silent.

The two stood side by side, looking up at the vehicle.

The flow of light was stable, its frequency unchanging.

The kindling system displayed a line of text:

[Resonance Protocol Activated]

Below it was some small text:

[Energy Receiving]

Further down was a progress bar, starting from zero; when it reached twenty-seven percent, it stopped.

It stopped very suddenly.

Chen Wang stared at that line.

He knew it wasn't over yet.

This was only the beginning.