Chapter 4 — Resonance: The First Counterattack
The world held its breath.
For the first time since the dimensional rift opened, the cultivators had retreated. The footage from Tokyo went viral — a single scientific experiment had nullified the energy of beings who could rewrite the sky. Humanity had bled, but it hadn't broken.
And that terrified the invaders.
In the high-security command deck of Helios Core, Dr. Alex Grams stood before a new holographic array. The data was mesmerizing: streams of interwoven frequencies, a dance between technology and energy that should never have coexisted.
The caption at the top read: Project Resonance — Phase One.
Yara Chen walked in, carrying a tablet. Her expression was a mixture of awe and exhaustion. "We've run over two hundred simulations. Every human subject exposed to low-intensity Qi fields either experiences neural overload or total molecular dissonance."
"In other words," Alex muttered, "our bodies reject it."
"Like an immune response," she said. "Our biology evolved without Heaven and Earth Qi. It's not just energy to them—it's a fundamental layer of existence."
Alex's gaze hardened. "Then we'll re-engineer the body to accept it."
Yara's eyes widened. "You're not serious."
He turned to the hologram. "We've always adapted to survive — radiation, pathogens, even the vacuum of space. Qi is no different. We don't need to become cultivators… we just need to resonate."
Later that night, deep in the Helios Bio-Lab, a young soldier lay inside a transparent pod. His name was Lieutenant Marcus Hale, one of the Earth Defense's finest pilots. Wires and quantum neural lines connected him to a massive reactor behind the wall — a containment sphere filled with artificially generated "synthetic Qi" based on data Alex extracted from the Nullpoint readings.
Marcus's voice was steady. "If this works, I get to punch one of those glowing monks myself, right?"
Alex managed a faint smile. "You'll do more than that."
He signaled the technicians. "Activate low-frequency resonance field."
The reactor hummed. Blue light flooded the chamber. Marcus's vitals spiked. The pod vibrated as quantum frequencies intertwined with his neural rhythm.
Then his body lifted. Not floating — vibrating between existence and energy.
Alarms blared. "Qi saturation exceeding tolerance!"
"Hold it steady!" Alex shouted. "He's synchronizing!"
And then — silence. The light faded.
Marcus opened his eyes. They glowed faintly, not gold or crimson like the cultivators, but a cool, electric blue.
"How do you feel?" Alex asked.
Marcus flexed his hand. Sparks of plasma danced across his fingertips. "I feel… alive."
Three days later.
The sky split again.
This time, not above the ocean — but directly above the Swiss Alps, only 20 kilometers from Helios Core. The rift shimmered with chaotic energy, and from its depths descended a blazing palace of crystal and flame.
"Energy surge incoming!" shouted Yara over the intercom. "They've found us!"
The ground shook. A column of fire descended from the heavens, vaporizing entire mountain ridges. The palace hovered above the devastation, and a figure emerged from its gate — robed in red, his aura burning brighter than the sun.
Elder Feng Jue, Crimson Blade Sect.
His voice thundered through the air.
"Mortals of Earth! Your false defiance ends here!"
He waved his hand, and a sword light — several kilometers long — cleaved through the mountains. Satellites fried in orbit. The sky itself seemed to bleed.
Inside the command room, Alex watched in silence as the energy readings spiked beyond measurable levels.
"Deploy the Resonance Unit," he said calmly.
Marcus stood atop the Helios launch platform, wearing the new R-Type Armor, its dark plating lined with faint blue circuits pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat. The armor wasn't mechanical — it was alive, infused with synchronized quantum fields drawn from the synthetic Qi reactor.
"Lieutenant Hale," Alex said through the comm, "you are authorized to engage."
Marcus grinned. "Copy that. Let's see if science can punch gods."
The R-Type thrusters ignited. He shot into the sky like a comet.
Elder Feng Jue turned, sensing the energy. "Ah… so this world births its own abominations."
Marcus reached attack altitude and raised his hand. A translucent blue field expanded outward — a resonance wave. When Feng Jue's flaming sword clashed against it, the light bent. The sword shattered, flames scattering into motes.
The cultivator's eyes widened. "Impossible!"
Marcus clenched his fist. "Not impossible — just physics."
He accelerated, his armor glowing brighter. His punch connected — not with matter, but with space itself. The impact released a sonic ripple that cracked clouds for miles.
Feng Jue crashed into the mountainside, the explosion echoing across continents.
In the control room, scientists and soldiers erupted in disbelief.
"He's matching a cultivator on equal terms!" Yara shouted.
Alex didn't cheer. He simply whispered, "Level One resonance… successful."
On-screen, Marcus hovered in midair, blue aura clashing against Feng Jue's crimson flames. For the first time, a human fought a cultivator — and neither could overpower the other.
But then Feng Jue laughed.
"Impressive, mortal. But your borrowed power burns too fast."
Before Marcus could react, the elder's aura condensed, forming dozens of crimson swords floating behind him.
"Let's see how long your science lasts!"
He unleashed them all.
The sky turned into a storm of fire.
Inside the lab, alarms blared. "Resonance feedback surging! His neural links are destabilizing!"
Alex's hands flew across the controls. "Divert power from the secondary core—now!"
"Sir, that'll shut down the lab!"
"Then shut it down!"
Electricity flared. Systems went dark. All energy funneled into the R-Type network.
For a brief instant, Marcus's body pulsed — and his aura changed. The blue glow deepened into a blinding silver. Every sword that touched him disintegrated into light.
He didn't understand what he'd done. Neither did Alex.
But something ancient inside the resonance field awakened — as if the Qi itself recognized him.
Marcus drove forward, his body becoming pure energy, and struck Feng Jue one final time.
The elder's chest burst with light. His flames went out.
The palace above cracked, its runes shattering, and vanished back into the rift.
The sky went quiet.
When Marcus fell back to the ground, the armor disintegrated around him. Alex arrived minutes later, kneeling beside him.
"You're alive," Alex breathed.
Marcus coughed weakly. "Alive's… an overstatement. But I won."
Alex smiled faintly. "You did more than that. You proved humanity can evolve."
He looked up at the fading rift. "And now they know it too."
Later that night, alone in the observation room, Alex reviewed the battle data frame by frame.
What he saw chilled him.The energy spike during Marcus's final attack didn't match the synthetic Qi frequency. It aligned perfectly with the dimensional rift's core pattern.
Marcus hadn't just drawn from Helios — he'd drawn from the same source as the cultivators.
Alex leaned back, realization dawning."We didn't just mimic Qi," he whispered. "We tapped into it."
He stared at the glowing rift far above the clouds."If resonance can bridge the gap one way…"
His voice trailed off. The implication was clear.
"…then we can go there."