Ian left Xing and did not stay too long in this world.
He shuttled through the cracks of space like a ghost, returning directly to the independent dimension he constructed.
This is an absolutely safe haven and a watchtower for him to observe the world.
A few days later.
In the Dimensional Core control room, Ian was lazily leaning on the ergonomic chair, shaking a glass of red wine that he had not drank. In front of him, a huge holographic projection screen was suspended in the air, divided into dozens of small windows, playing what was happening in the outside world in real time.
The protagonist of the picture is none other than Elric Brothers.
"What a... creepy coincidence."
Ian stared at the screen with a hint of disbelief in his eyes.
Since he parted ways with Xerxes and Hughes, although Elric Brothers's fate has fluctuated briefly, in the end it seemed to be bonded with some kind of strong glue and once again closely followed the plot line of the original work.
Except for minor details, there is almost no deviation from the main plot.
"Morgana."
Ian put down his wine glass and said in a low voice, "Scan the full frequency band Law of Causality fluctuations. Have you found anything similar to the 'World Line Convergence' or 'Destiny Corrective Force' mentioned in our original world?"
"Retrieving... Retrieval completed."
The avatar of Morgana appeared in the corner of the screen and shook his head, "Reporting to the master, all data are normal. No signs of high-dimensional forces forcibly interfering with reality have been detected. From a physical and magical perspective, all this... seems to be just a coincidence."
"Coincidence?"
Ian sneered, the blue light in his eyes Blink was uncertain, "In the world of Alchemy, even the transition of an electron has its inevitability. How can such a huge chain of macro events be a coincidence?"
If it's not "Destiny Corrective Force", then there is only one explanation left.
Ian's gaze became deep, as if penetrating the screen, looking directly at a certain existence in Void.
"It seems that this is more like a game. A game between the existence named 'Truth' and humans."
Ian began to re-examine the entire story structure of <Fullmetal Alchemist>.
If "Truth" is regarded as a GM (game manager) with extremely high intelligence, then all this will make sense.
"Truth" has been observing humans - or, more specifically, the Alchemy division.
He is watching whether these humans who have mastered extraordinary power will become arrogant in the face of power, whether they will try to trespass God's realm and touch those forbidden taboos.
"It's an ironic punishment mechanism."
Ian quickly reviewed in his mind:
"Edward·Elric longed for Resurrection's mother, who was the backbone of his family. As punishment, Truth took away one of his legs - making him lose the 'support' to stand on."
"Alphonse longed to feel the warmth of his mother. As a price, Truth took away his body so that he could no longer feel the warmth."
"Izumi Cadiz wanted Resurrection's dead child, so Truth took away her mother's womb and deprived her of the right to give birth to life again."
This is not a simple physical exchange at all, but a "divine punishment" with a strong sense of moral judgment.
"The whole story is essentially Truth testing humans: whether they can learn from their mistakes, whether they can admit their own insignificance, and whether they can respect the laws of nature."
Ian looked at the brothers Edward who were running around on the screen.
"In this game, 'Father' (Dwarf in the Flask) exists as a negative teaching material. He is arrogant, greedy, never reflects, and tries to devour the gods. Therefore, his ending is doomed to destruction."
"And Edward·Elric..."
The corner of Ian's mouth curled up in amusement, "If the ending of the original work is followed, when he is finally willing to give up Gate of Truth and Alchemy in order to save his brother, and admits that he is just an ordinary person... he will win."
"Truth is very satisfied with that answer. Because it represents human humility and growth."
This is the underlying logic of this world.
Thinking of this, Ian felt a chill. Only an existence of the level of "Truth" can control the flow of fate in a subtle and silent way, and make everything return to his preset script.
"But..."
Ian frowned. As a rational mage, he still found loopholes in logic.
"Since Truth is controlling everything, why does He allow me, the 'external variable', to exist? Why doesn't my intervention trigger a butterfly effect? Is it because I haven't done enough? Or..."
"Am I on His 'watch list' too?"
This feeling of being spied on by higher-dimensional creatures made Ian extremely uncomfortable. He quickly retrieved the "minor changes" recorded by Morgana that were caused by him.
Change 1: About greed.
In the original work, Greed will not be captured by Wrath until much later.
But because of Ian's previous intervention - he dissected and released Greed, which led Homunculus Group to suspect Greed of leaking secrets. As a result, Greed was hunted down in advance.
Although the process has changed, the result has not. Greed still kidnapped Alphonse in pursuit of the "soul-fixed" method of immortality. In the end, Dublith was still defeated by the president and was taken back to his father to be rebuilt.
The dead end has not changed.
Change 2: The truth about Human Transmutation.
In the original work, the brothers dug up the grave much later and discovered that the rotten flesh was not their mother at all after being prompted by Hohenheim.
But because of Ian's tip, they knew the cruel truth in advance.
But this only accelerated their psychological growth and did not change their course of action.
Change three: False Gate of Truth from Gluttony.
This is the most interesting point.
When Edward·Elric and Xing prince Yao Lin were swallowed by Gluttony, Edward in the original work was desperate.
But this time, Edward remembered Ian's theory about "human body teleportation" in the basement of Tucker's house.
He didn't despair, he knew it was possible.
"But..." Ian looked at Edward in the recorded video, "Even if he knows the theory, he still faces the problem of 'tolls'. If he wants to open the door, he must pay the price."
In the end, under the pragmatic advice of Xing prince Yao Lin, Edward still chose to use Philosopher's Stone on Envy as travel expenses, and opened Gate of Truth to escape.
The ending remains unchanged.
Looking at all this, an extremely ridiculous but terrifying thought suddenly struck Ian like lightning.
He sat up straight suddenly, his back instantly soaked in cold sweat.
"Morgana... Do you still remember those online novels I read on Earth before?"
"Which category do you mean, Master?"
"Infinity stream. For example, settings like <Infinite Terror> or 'Main God Space'."
Ian's voice was a little dry, "In those settings, high-dimensional beings would plunge ordinary people into the world of movies and animations to perform tasks. And these high-dimensional beings - whether they are Main God or so-called 'saints', their purpose is often to rob the world's 'origin' or 'luck' by destroying the original plot line."
"There's even a theory..."
Ian pointed to the top of the head, which is the ceiling of the dimension and the direction of the fourth wall.
"Author. Or, observer."
"If... I mean if. The reason why I can be reincarnated into the world of Harry Potter with my memories and have the ability to travel across dimensions, is it also an arrangement by some higher being?"
"Am I... also a character in a script? Are my current thoughts, my struggles, and even my 'awakening' also written lines?"
"By letting me change the plot, or letting me witness the plot, the existence behind it... is absorbing energy through me?"
Existential crisis.
At this moment, a huge sense of nothingness and a fear of being manipulated flooded Ian like a tide.
If everything is a script, is there any point in trying hard? If free will is just an illusion, then what is "Truth"?
This kind of fear is more terrifying than facing any powerful enemy. It directly attacks the cognitive foundation of an intelligent life.
Silence.
A deathly silence spread in the control room.
A long time.
Ian took a deep breath, and the panic in his eyes gradually receded, replaced by an almost paranoid calmness.
"That's enough."
He forcibly cut off this endless philosophical internal friction.
"This is a typical case of persecution paranoia. Although it is necessary to be on guard against others, before there is conclusive evidence, this kind of thinking is of no value except increasing mental internal friction."
Ian stood up, straightened his collar, and returned to his rational mage appearance.
"It doesn't matter whether I am a chess piece or not, and whether there is an 'author' above my head. If I am not strong enough now, I am not even qualified to explore the truth."
"Only the weak lament their fate, while the strong only care about variables."
"Since I can't resist the possible script, I will act this script to the extreme until I have the ability to jump off the stage, tear the script into pieces and throw it on the screenwriter's face."
After figuring this out, the confusion in Ian's eyes completely dissipated.
He waved his hand to close the monitoring screen, ignored Morgana's complaints about his "peeping tom" attribute, and turned around to walk towards the experimental platform.
There, there is a precious notebook that he copied before leaving Xerxes.
<Scar's Brother's Research Notes>
This is a work of genius.
Scar's brother, the man who devoted himself to reconciling Ishval religion with Alchemy, recorded in detail in this notebook how to combine Xingese Alkahestry (Dragon Vein flow) with Amestrian Alchemy (Crustal Energy).
More importantly, there is an ultimate magic hidden in this notebook--
How to break "Father's" seal on Alchemy across the country.
"This is the strength I need."
Ian opened the note and ran his fingertips over the complex array diagram.
"Truth wants to play games? Then I will play with him to the end. However, I am a player who brings his own cheats."
"Next target--Briggs Fortress."
"That Ice Queen from the north should be interested in the 'gift' I brought."