Chapter 195 — The One Who Ended the First World
The sphere remained silent.
For several seconds after the Original Witness disappeared, nobody inside the tower moved.
Tony was the first to break the silence.
"Well, that was comforting."
Yiping glanced at him.
"Which part?"
"All of it. Especially the part where some mysterious entity is coming back to destroy the reason this entire city exists."
The Observer ignored Tony's sarcasm. His attention remained fixed on the empty space where the sphere had been.
"He's telling the truth."
Tony raised an eyebrow.
"You sound surprisingly certain."
"Because I recognize the warning."
Yiping turned toward him.
"You've encountered this thing before?"
"No. But I've seen the effects of its presence."
The Observer slowly lowered his head.
"Before this timeline was created, there were traces of something similar. Entire possibilities disappearing without leaving evidence that they had ever existed."
Tony folded his arms.
"So, we're dealing with something that can erase worlds."
"Not exactly," Yiping replied.
Both men looked at him.
Yiping stared at the message still displayed on his system.
[Unknown Entity Detected]
[Historical Interference: Increasing]
[Warning: The current timeline is being observed.]
"If it simply wanted to destroy this world, it wouldn't need to erase its history first. It would just destroy it."
The Observer's expression darkened.
"You're suggesting it wants something else."
"Maybe it doesn't want to destroy the world. Maybe it wants to make sure this world never becomes independent in the first place."
Tony considered that for a moment.
"That's somehow worse."
Before Yiping could answer, the tower trembled.
A low vibration spread through the structure.
The woman standing near the central platform looked toward the ceiling.
"Is it happening again?"
Yiping approached her.
"Stay close to us."
She nodded, although her expression showed that she was beginning to understand how dangerous their situation had become.
Then the lights went out.
For a brief moment, everything disappeared.
Not darkness.
Not emptiness.
Something worse.
The absence of the very concept of light.
And then the system spoke.
[Warning!]
[An external presence has entered the timeline.]
[Target: Unknown.]
[Classification: First World Remnant.]
Yiping's eyes widened.
"First World Remnant?"
A voice answered from somewhere above them.
"How interesting."
The tower's ceiling became transparent.
Beyond it was no sky, no stars, and no recognizable space.
Instead, there was a gigantic silhouette.
It resembled a human figure, but its outline constantly shifted, as if reality itself couldn't decide what shape it should have.
Tony immediately activated his armor.
"Okay. That's definitely not on my list of things I wanted to see today."
The Observer took a step backward.
"No..."
Yiping noticed his reaction.
"You know it?"
The Observer didn't answer immediately.
The silhouette tilted its head.
Then a voice reached them.
"Observer."
The Observer froze.
"You're still alive."
"Of course I am."
The voice sounded calm.
Almost amused.
"After all, you were the one who helped preserve the fragments of the first world."
Tony looked between them.
"Wait. You two know each other?"
The Observer clenched his fists.
"I thought you had disappeared."
"Disappear?"
The silhouette seemed to laugh.
"That's what you called it when the first world ended?"
Yiping's expression changed.
The Original Witness's final words returned to his mind.
The moment the first world ended, and the person who caused it.
He looked at the Observer.
"Was it you?"
The Observer remained silent.
Tony's armor hummed as its weapons systems came online.
"That's not an answer I particularly like."
The silhouette continued speaking.
"Don't blame him. He merely attempted to preserve what remained."
Its attention shifted toward Yiping.
"But you..."
The tower trembled again.
"You are the reason the new world exists."
Yiping didn't move.
"And what do you want?"
The silhouette extended one hand.
The woman behind Yiping suddenly gasped.
A strange light appeared around her.
The system immediately issued another warning.
[Critical Alert!]
[Timeline Anchor Under Direct Interference.]
[Stability: 39.4% → 36.8%]
Yiping turned around.
The woman was slowly disappearing.
Tony fired a repulsor blast toward the silhouette.
The attack vanished before reaching its target.
"Seriously?!"
The Observer stepped forward.
"Stop! She has nothing to do with the first world!"
"Nothing?"
The silhouette turned its attention toward him.
"She is the first independent decision made by a world that should never have existed."
The Observer's expression changed.
"You're trying to erase the possibility itself."
"Exactly."
Yiping's system flashed.
[New Information Acquired.]
[The First World Remnant is not the original creator.]
[It is a surviving fragment of the previous world's final event.]
Yiping's eyes narrowed.
A fragment.
Not the entire entity.
That meant the real danger was still somewhere else.
"Tony!"
"Already on it!"
Tony's armor released several mechanical devices. Instead of attacking the silhouette, they spread throughout the tower and connected to its internal systems.
"FRIDAY, I need every available power source redirected toward the tower's central structure!"
"Sir, the current energy requirements exceed the tower's capacity."
"Then stop worrying about the tower's capacity!"
The Observer raised both hands.
A series of strange symbols appeared around the platform.
For the first time, Yiping saw him actively manipulating the structure of the timeline.
"You're going to burn yourself out," Yiping warned.
"I know."
"That's not particularly reassuring!"
The Observer ignored him.
The symbols spread across the tower, forming a protective barrier around the woman.
The silhouette watched silently.
Then it spoke again.
"You still believe you can protect this world?"
The Observer gritted his teeth.
"I don't need to believe."
The symbols grew brighter.
"I only need to choose."
The barrier stabilized.
The woman's disappearance stopped.
[Timeline Stability: 36.8% → 38.1%]
Tony let out a breath.
"Good. Now, can somebody explain how we're supposed to defeat something that ignores everything we throw at it?"
Yiping stared at the silhouette.
"We don't defeat it."
Tony looked at him.
"Excuse me?"
"We're dealing with a fragment of the first world's final event. It probably can't be destroyed through conventional means."
"Then what?"
Yiping looked at the woman.
"Perhaps we need to understand why it came here."
The silhouette remained motionless.
Then, unexpectedly, it lowered its hand.
"Very well."
The strange presence began to fade.
"I will answer one question."
Yiping didn't hesitate.
"Who ended the first world?"
For the first time, the silhouette seemed genuinely interested.
"That is a dangerous question."
"Answer it."
A long silence followed.
Then the voice spoke.
"The first world was not destroyed by an enemy from outside."
The Observer's expression became pale.
Tony slowly turned toward him.
The silhouette continued.
"It was destroyed by someone who tried to save it."
Yiping looked at the Observer.
The man didn't deny it.
Instead, he closed his eyes.
"I didn't know..."
The silhouette interrupted him.
"You knew enough."
The tower shook once more.
"And now, the same mistake is about to happen again."
Before Yiping could ask another question, the presence vanished.
The lights returned.
The barrier around the woman disappeared.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Tony turned toward the Observer.
"Start talking."
The Observer looked at the floor.
"I was not the one who destroyed the first world."
He paused.
"But I helped the person who did."
Yiping's system displayed another message.
[New Main Quest Unlocked.]
[The Truth Behind the First World's End.]
[Objective: Discover the identity of the individual responsible for the first world's destruction.]
[Warning: The answer may alter the current timeline.]
Yiping stared at the notification.
Then he looked toward the Observer.
"Who was it?"
The Observer slowly raised his head.
And for the first time since they had met him, his expression showed genuine fear.
"...The original protagonist."
Author's Note
The mystery surrounding the first world is finally beginning to unravel. But was the original protagonist really the villain, or was there something else behind the destruction?
We're getting closer to the final arc, with only five chapters remaining until Chapter 200!
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