Quantum Ascension ( The code of immortality)

Chapter 8: The UnderNet and the Quantum Rebellion

The UnderNet stretched before Erevan like a neon-lit labyrinth. Unlike the sleek, controlled architecture of the Quantum Sect, this place was raw and untamed—a city built by outcasts, rebels, and rogue cultivators. Holographic billboards flickered above, displaying illegal tech, cybernetic enhancements, and wanted posters of fugitives from the sect.

Erevan's face was already on one of them.

[WANTED: EREVAN KANE – DANGER LEVEL: HIGH]

[CRIME: UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO THE FORBIDDEN ARCHIVES]

[REWARD: 500,000 CREDITS – CAPTURED DEAD OR ALIVE]

Nyssa whistled. "Damn, you're popular already."

Erevan smirked, though he felt the weight of that bounty. Half a million credits meant every bounty hunter, mercenary, and rogue AI in the UnderNet would want a piece of him.

They had to move fast.

Nyssa led him through the narrow alleyways, dodging cybernetic beggars and black-market traders selling illegal Dao scripts. At the heart of the city, hidden behind layers of encrypted firewalls and quantum barriers, they reached their destination—the Quantum Rebellion's hideout.

A massive, underground chamber opened before them, filled with cultivators wielding both Qi and technology. Some meditated while connected to floating AI cores, others practiced hand-to-hand combat with Cyber Qi-infused weapons.

And at the center of it all, a throne of shifting data, occupied by the rebellion's leader—Daedric.

Daedric, the Ghost in the Code

Daedric was unlike anyone Erevan had seen before. His body was half-digital, half-human, his form constantly shifting between a solid state and streams of living code. His eyes burned with the glow of forbidden knowledge.

Nyssa stepped forward. "Daedric, I brought you a gift."

Daedric's gaze locked onto Erevan, scanning him in real-time. His expression was unreadable.

"You have it, don't you?" he said.

Erevan tensed. "Have what?"

Daedric's voice was calm, almost reverent. "The Quantum Phantom Code."

The entire room fell silent. Every rogue cultivator turned to stare.

Nyssa glanced at Erevan. "Told you they'd be interested."

Erevan clenched his fists. "If you know about it, then you know it's killing me."

Daedric leaned forward, his presence overwhelming. "It's not killing you, boy. It's remaking you."

Erevan's body flickered, the instability growing worse. His Qi veins burned, his cybernetic implants malfunctioning as the code inside him tried to rewrite his very existence.

Daedric extended a hand. "I can help you. But first, you have to understand something."

The walls of the chamber shifted, revealing a massive holographic projection of the Quantum Sect. Data streams flowed across the image, highlighting hidden corruption, buried secrets, and forbidden projects.

"The Quantum Sect doesn't just train cultivators," Daedric said. "They're engineering reality itself."

Erevan's breath caught. "What do you mean?"

Daedric's voice darkened. "The Forbidden Archives you broke into? That was just the surface. The sect is working on something bigger—something that will erase free will, rewrite existence, and reshape the universe in their own vision."

Nyssa's voice was cold. "They call it Project Omni-Core."

Erevan felt his Quantum Phantom Code react violently at the mention of the name, his entire body pulsing with unstable energy.

Daedric nodded. "You weren't just an accident, Erevan. You were chosen. The Quantum Phantom Code is the only thing that can stop them."

Erevan exhaled.

He had stolen the most dangerous technique in existence.

He had escaped the sect, fought a bounty hunter, and now he was standing at the heart of a rebellion.

And now he knew the truth.

This wasn't just about survival anymore.

It was war.