The room fell into complete silence.
Tony crossed his arms, staring at the seven names displayed by FRIDAY.
Seven anomalies.
Seven people who shouldn't exist in the same statistical model.
He had a feeling...
The number was wrong.
"FRIDAY."
"Yes, Boss?"
"Run the scan again."
"The results have already been verified."
"I know."
Tony tapped the holographic screen.
"I don't think you missed anyone."
He smiled.
"I think someone doesn't want to be found."
FRIDAY remained silent for a brief moment.
"Running secondary analysis..."
Yiping's heartbeat accelerated.
A hidden transmigrator?
If there really was someone capable of escaping FRIDAY's analysis...
Then that person was infinitely more dangerous than the other seven.
Five seconds later.
A new window appeared.
Secondary Analysis Complete.
Tony looked at the results.
Then his smile slowly faded.
"...Well."
Yiping frowned.
"What is it?"
Tony enlarged the report.
"There is an eighth anomaly."
Yiping's eyes narrowed.
"But..."
Tony interrupted him.
"No identity."
"No financial records."
"No communication history."
"No digital footprint."
"No face."
"No name."
"No location."
Yiping felt a chill run down his spine.
That was impossible.
In today's world, nobody was invisible.
Unless...
"FRIDAY."
"Yes?"
"Probability calculation."
"What would you like to calculate?"
Tony's expression became unusually serious.
"What are the odds that someone intentionally erased every trace of themselves?"
A brief pause.
"Less than 0.03%."
"And the probability that someone with that capability is connected to our anomalies?"
"...Eighty-seven point four percent."
Tony sighed.
"I was afraid you'd say that."
Yiping lowered his gaze.
An invisible transmigrator...
No.
Someone who had prepared long before anyone else.
Long enough to erase themselves from every system on Earth.
That wasn't normal.
That wasn't someone who had recently awakened.
That was...
A veteran.
At that moment—
The Multiverse Chat Group suddenly chimed.
[Ding!]
A special mission has been issued.
Everyone inside the group immediately stopped what they were doing.
Even Luo Chen raised an eyebrow.
Happy Spoiler:
A mission?
Golden Retriever:
It's been a while since we got one.
Self-Explosive Master:
What's the objective?
The system notification slowly appeared before everyone's eyes.
[Special Group Mission]
Mission Objective:
Locate the source of the Timeline Distortion.
Mission Difficulty:
★★★★★
Reward:
Unknown.
Failure Penalty:
Unknown.
Silence.
Playboy:
Unknown reward?
Happy Spoiler:
...
Not Really a Girl:
Unknown penalty...
No one liked that.
The Chat Group almost always explained the consequences.
Not this time.
Luo Chen quietly read the mission again.
Then...
He laughed.
A genuine laugh.
Not because it was funny.
Because it was interesting.
Youlan looked at him.
"What happened?"
Luo Chen pointed at the mission.
"The Chat Group is nervous."
Everyone nearby turned to look at him.
Qingyue frowned.
"A system can be nervous?"
"It normally can't."
Luo Chen smiled.
"But if even something capable of connecting multiple worlds can't identify the distortion..."
His smile widened.
"...then the thing hiding behind all this is stronger than I expected."
Inside Stark Tower—
Yiping froze.
A translucent blue panel had appeared before him.
One that nobody else could see.
Warning.
Detected external observation system.
Attempting connection...
Connection denied.
Yiping's pupils shrank.
Someone...
Had just tried to access his system.
No.
Not someone.
Something.
For the first time since transmigrating...
His hidden system...
Had reacted on its own.
Far away...
In a place beyond space, beyond time...
A figure slowly opened its eyes.
It looked toward countless worlds.
Toward countless timelines.
Finally...
It smiled.
"So..."
A calm voice echoed through the void.
"Someone else has begun to notice."
The smile grew wider.
"This is becoming interesting."
Author's Note
The mystery behind the timeline distortions is finally beginning to unfold, and from here onward, every revelation will have consequences. If you've been enjoying this arc, please consider supporting the story with Power Stones and comments. Your support keeps the story alive and motivates me to continue until the very end.