The rooftop was empty.
Tony stared at it for several seconds before finally lowering his arm.
"FRIDAY."
"Yes, Boss?"
"Tell me you recorded that."
"I recorded the visual data."
"Good."
Tony looked at Yiping.
"Because I have absolutely no idea what I just watched."
Yiping remained silent.
He was still staring at the place where the stranger had disappeared.
There had been no teleportation signature.
No energy discharge.
No distortion that his system could detect.
It was almost as if the man had simply decided that reality no longer needed to contain him.
And that thought terrified Yiping more than any alien invasion.
"Who is he?"
Tony's question was direct.
Yiping took several seconds before answering.
"I don't know."
Tony raised an eyebrow.
"You recognized him."
"I recognized the possibility of him."
"That's a very complicated way of saying you know something."
Yiping sighed.
"There are people who shouldn't exist in this timeline."
Tony crossed his arms.
"How many?"
Yiping looked at the eight anomalies displayed on the screen.
"At least eight."
Tony nodded.
"And you're one of them."
Silence.
Yiping finally looked at him.
"Yes."
Tony's expression didn't change.
"I figured."
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Tony walked toward the workbench.
"How much do you know?"
Yiping hesitated.
"Enough to know that this world is supposed to follow certain events."
"Supposed to?"
"Yes."
"And now?"
"It's deviating."
Tony nodded.
"Because of you?"
"Partially."
Tony stopped.
"And because of the others."
Yiping nodded.
"But I don't think we're the biggest problem anymore."
Tony looked toward the empty rooftop.
"The observer."
"Yes."
FRIDAY interrupted.
"Boss, I've completed the analysis of the unidentified individual."
Tony turned.
"Results?"
"Impossible."
Tony sighed.
"You're going to have to be more specific."
"There are no reliable results."
A holographic report appeared.
Every attempt to identify the man had produced contradictory information.
Different ages.
Different locations.
Different biometric measurements.
Different faces.
Yet every algorithm reached the same conclusion.
Same individual.
Tony stared at the report.
"That's not possible."
Yiping's voice was quiet.
"Unless he's deliberately changing how reality records him."
Tony slowly turned.
"You mean..."
"He doesn't just hide from cameras."
Yiping looked at the hologram.
"He hides from causality."
Far away, the mysterious man sat inside a small café.
Nobody noticed him.
People walked past his table without giving him a second glance.
He calmly stirred his coffee.
A notification appeared.
Timeline Convergence: 15.2%
He smiled.
"Much better."
Another notification appeared.
External Observer Detected.
His smile disappeared.
This time, he didn't laugh.
He looked toward the window.
For the first time, he seemed genuinely concerned.
"So they found me."
He placed the spoon down.
"That wasn't supposed to happen yet."
Back at Stark Tower, Yiping's system suddenly activated.
WARNING
External interference detected.
Source attempting to access timeline data.
Yiping immediately stood up.
"Tony."
"What?"
"My system is being accessed."
Tony's expression hardened.
"By him?"
"I don't know."
The lights in the room flickered.
Every screen went black.
Then one sentence appeared across all of them.
YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE.
Tony stared at the message.
Yiping's face became pale.
Because he understood what it meant.
It wasn't addressed to Tony.
It wasn't addressed to the other transmigrators.
It was addressed to him.
The room suddenly returned to normal.
FRIDAY rebooted.
The holograms reappeared.
But the message remained burned into Yiping's mind.
Tony looked at him.
"What did he mean?"
Yiping slowly clenched his fists.
"I think..."
He paused.
"...I'm not the first person who was supposed to transmigrate here."
Tony's eyes narrowed.
"Then who was?"
Yiping looked toward the window.
"The original protagonist."
Somewhere beyond the observable universe, something stirred.
A timeline that should have remained dormant had begun moving.
And for the first time, the mysterious observer stopped smiling.
Because if Yiping had discovered the truth...
Then the final stage had already begun.
Timeline Convergence: 17.1%
Only a few percentage points remained before the worlds began to collide.
And neither Tony nor Yiping knew what would happen when the number reached 100%.
Author's Note
The final arc is moving toward its conclusion, and the truth behind the observer and the timeline distortions is finally beginning to emerge.
If you're enjoying these final chapters, please support the story with Power Stones, votes, and comments. Your support is what allows the story to continue updating and reach its planned ending in Chapter 200.