Chapter 190 — The World Without a Protagonist
Darkness.
That was the first thing Yiping noticed.
Not ordinary darkness.
There was no sensation of a floor beneath his feet.
No sound.
No wind.
No temperature.
For several seconds, he couldn't even tell whether he was still inside the strange room.
Then—
THUMP.
His feet touched something solid.
Yiping immediately opened his eyes.
He was standing in a city.
Tony was beside him.
The seven anomalies were scattered throughout the street.
And yet...
Something was wrong.
Tony slowly looked around.
"Okay."
He raised his hands.
"New York?"
Yiping looked at the buildings.
"No."
Tony frowned.
"Chicago?"
"No."
"Los Angeles?"
"No."
"You're not going to tell me this is another universe, are you?"
Yiping looked at the sky.
There was no sun.
No moon.
Just a perfectly white sky.
"This isn't a normal world."
Tony looked at him.
"How can you tell?"
"Because my system can't identify anything."
Tony blinked.
"Anything?"
Yiping nodded.
"No location. No date. No population count. No historical data."
He looked at the street.
"Nothing."
Tony walked toward a nearby building.
There was a sign above the entrance.
It was completely blank.
He opened the door.
Inside was an empty lobby.
No receptionist.
No employees.
No furniture.
No electricity.
Tony looked around.
"This place feels unfinished."
Yiping nodded.
"Because it probably is."
One of the seven anomalies approached them.
"So we're inside a new timeline?"
Yiping shook his head.
"Not exactly."
He looked toward the sky.
"We're inside a timeline that hasn't decided what it is yet."
Tony stared at him.
"Explain that in English."
Yiping sighed.
"The timeline needs events to establish itself."
Tony frowned.
"Events?"
"People being born. Decisions being made. Wars. Discoveries. Relationships. Governments. Technology."
Yiping pointed toward the empty street.
"Everything that normally happens naturally over decades."
Tony looked around.
"And this world has none of that."
"Exactly."
Tony was silent for a moment.
"So we're standing inside an unfinished universe."
"More or less."
Tony rubbed his chin.
"That's actually kind of impressive."
Yiping stared at him.
"You're impressed?"
"Of course."
Tony smiled.
"Do you know how expensive it would be to build a city this big?"
Yiping sighed.
"You're impossible."
A loud noise suddenly came from the sky.
Everyone looked up.
A crack appeared in the white clouds.
Then another.
Then dozens.
The sky began splitting apart.
Yiping's system immediately activated.
[WARNING]
TIMELINE FOUNDATION UNSTABLE.
EXTERNAL VARIABLES DETECTED.
ESTIMATED COLLAPSE: UNKNOWN.
Tony looked at Yiping.
"That doesn't sound good."
"It isn't."
The seven anomalies moved closer together.
One of them asked:
"What do we do?"
Yiping didn't answer immediately.
Because something had appeared in the distance.
A person.
A man walking alone through the empty city.
Yiping's expression changed.
Tony noticed.
"You know him?"
"No."
The man stopped.
He looked directly at them.
Then he smiled.
"You're early."
Tony narrowed his eyes.
"Who are you?"
The man didn't answer.
Instead, he looked toward Yiping.
"You."
Yiping froze.
"You are the reason this place exists."
Tony immediately stepped between them.
"Back up."
The man smiled.
"I'm not here to fight."
"Then start talking."
The man looked at Tony.
"Tony Stark."
Tony raised an eyebrow.
"Most people call me handsome."
"I know."
"Okay. I like this guy already."
Yiping ignored him.
"Who are you?"
The man looked around.
"This world doesn't have a name."
He spread his arms.
"It doesn't have history."
He pointed toward the empty buildings.
"It doesn't have heroes."
Then he looked at Yiping.
"And it doesn't have a protagonist."
Yiping's expression became serious.
"Then why did you bring us here?"
The man's smile disappeared.
"I didn't."
Silence.
Tony slowly turned toward Yiping.
"That's not what I expected."
Yiping stared at the stranger.
"Then who did?"
The man looked toward the sky.
"I don't know."
The answer immediately changed the atmosphere.
Tony stopped joking.
"Wait."
He stepped forward.
"You're telling me you don't know who created this place?"
"No."
"Then why are you here?"
"Because I was brought here too."
Yiping looked at him carefully.
"You're another anomaly."
The man nodded.
"Apparently."
Tony crossed his arms.
"Great."
He looked around.
"So we've got seven anomalies, two transmigrators, an Observer, and now another mystery guy."
Yiping corrected him.
"Technically, I'm the only confirmed transmigrator here."
Tony looked at him.
"That's not helping."
The stranger suddenly looked toward one of the buildings.
"Something is coming."
Yiping's system immediately reacted.
[UNKNOWN EVENT DETECTED.]
Tony's expression became serious.
"What kind of event?"
Yiping shook his head.
"No information."
A sound echoed through the empty city.
Footsteps.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then dozens.
Figures began appearing at the end of the street.
People.
Hundreds of them.
They looked normal.
Men.
Women.
Children.
Workers.
Students.
Soldiers.
Scientists.
Politicians.
Doctors.
Everyone was walking toward them.
Tony stared.
"Where did they come from?"
Yiping's system displayed another warning.
[POPULATION GENERATED.]
Yiping's eyes widened.
"They're being created right now."
The seven anomalies stepped backward.
The crowd continued approaching.
Then one person stopped.
A young man.
He looked around in confusion.
"Where am I?"
Another person asked the same question.
Then another.
Then another.
Within seconds, the entire crowd was asking the same thing.
The city was suddenly filled with voices.
Confusion.
Fear.
Panic.
Life.
Yiping stared at the scene.
The unfinished timeline was beginning to create itself.
Tony looked at him.
"Is this supposed to happen?"
Yiping shook his head.
"I don't know."
Then his system displayed something new.
[TIMELINE STABILITY: 2.1%]
[TIMELINE STABILITY: 4.7%]
[TIMELINE STABILITY: 8.3%]
[TIMELINE STABILITY: 13.9%]
Tony's eyes widened.
"It's stabilizing."
Yiping nodded.
"But why?"
A final notification appeared.
[CAUSE IDENTIFIED.]
[DECISIONS ARE BEING MADE.]
[TIMELINE FORMATION HAS BEGUN.]
Tony looked at the people around them.
"They're creating the timeline just by making choices."
Yiping slowly understood.
"This world doesn't need a protagonist."
Tony smiled.
"Exactly."
He looked at the crowd.
"Everyone gets to be part of the story."
For the first time since they arrived, Yiping smiled.
But the smile disappeared almost immediately.
Because another notification appeared.
[WARNING.]
[TIMELINE FORMATION ACCELERATING.]
[EXTERNAL OBSERVER DETECTED.]
Tony looked upward.
"So he's watching."
Yiping nodded.
The white sky suddenly turned black.
A gigantic eye opened above the city.
Every person stopped moving.
The seven anomalies froze.
Even the mysterious stranger looked upward.
Then a voice echoed across the entire world.
"You wanted freedom."
The voice was unmistakably the Observer's.
"Now prove that you deserve it."
The eye disappeared.
And the city changed.
The buildings became more detailed.
The sky gained stars.
Cars appeared on the roads.
Phones began ringing.
People suddenly remembered lives they had never lived before.
The timeline was forming faster.
Much faster.
Yiping's system began producing warnings.
[RAPID TIMELINE DEVELOPMENT.]
[CONFLICT PROBABILITY INCREASING.]
[MAJOR EVENT DETECTED.]
[EVENT NAME: UNKNOWN.]
Tony looked at Yiping.
"What's happening?"
Yiping looked toward the horizon.
A massive red light had appeared in the distance.
"I don't know."
Then the entire city shook.
Something was coming.
And whatever it was—
This time, there was no predetermined hero waiting to stop it.
To be continued...
Author's Note
The final arc is moving forward!
We are now at Chapter 190, which means only 10 chapters remain until Chapter 200, where this story will reach its conclusion.
Yiping and Tony have finally reached a world without a predetermined protagonist—but creating a free timeline may have created an even bigger problem.
If you're enjoying the final arc, don't forget to leave a Power Stone, vote, and comment. Your support means a lot and helps me keep pushing toward the final chapter!
See you in Chapter 191!