Subtle changes had also occurred in Lin Ye and Ace's condition. As the Purple Moon rose, the connection between their consciousnesses deepened. Not only could they sense each other's emotions and thoughts, but they could even see fragments of each other's memories—Ace's childhood on Mount Colubo, Lin Ye's drifting along the Void Boundary, and the moments they had shared with Luffy.
Even more astonishingly, in this state of deep connection, both of them vaguely sensed a familiar presence—Luffy. The feeling was incredibly faint, like a glimmer of starlight seen through thick fog, but it was undeniably there. Luffy seemed to be trapped at the edge of the dimension, neither in the real world nor completely within the Void, but in a strange state somewhere in between.
"I can feel him," Ace said softly, his voice trembling slightly. "Luffy is still alive, but he's trapped at the boundary between dimensions."
Lin Ye nodded in confirmation. "Yes, I can feel him too. He seems to be... waiting for something, or perhaps guarding something."
They had no more time to investigate this discovery, because the terrain ahead had become extremely dangerous. The warped zones were no longer scattered sparsely, but covered vast stretches of land, leaving them increasingly narrow safe passages. The closer they drew to the island's center, the more severe the Voidification became. Some areas had even completely broken away from the physical laws of the real world, taking on an indescribably chaotic state.
At last, after crossing a canyon covered in purple crystals, they saw a massive circular platform. It was clearly an artificial structure, forged from a special stone capable of resisting Void Erosion. Its surface was covered in intricate runes and patterns. One side of the platform connected to a flight of stone steps leading toward the higher