Passing through the Transition Corridor's exit, the Thousand Sunny Mod did not arrive at the expected peaceful starfield, but instead stumbled into an even more bizarre space. Here, there were no stars, no light, only boundless, slowly writhing "shadows." These shadows were not pure darkness, but rather like a viscous fluid with life, interspersed with countless tiny, constantly appearing and disappearing purplish-red fissures, emanating an aura of the same origin as the otherworldly creatures that had previously invaded Allen's world, yet far more primal and immense!
"Is this... the place where those monsters come from?" Usopp's voice trembled as he gripped the railing tightly.
Chopper hid behind Zoro, staring fearfully at the unsettling, writhing shadow outside the porthole. "This... this feeling is terrifying! More terrifying than any enemy we've encountered before!"
Allen stood at the bow of the ship, his expression more solemn than ever before. His Power of Zhulong felt immense suppression and repulsion here, and the surrounding spacetime structure was filled with "heterogeneous" rules, completely incompatible with the world laws he was familiar with. Those tiny purplish-red cracks were the temporary passages connecting his world to this " Abyss "!
"We've found it..." Allen's voice was low, "The source of the intrusion, or rather, one of the 'leaks'."
Nami stared at the completely chaotic readings on the navigation system and the energy detectors frantically alarming, her face turning pale. "The spatial structure here is extremely unstable, the energy readings are ridiculously high! And... some powerful force is scanning us!"
As if in response to her words, from the boundless, writhing shadows, a colossal, blurry, and distorted face, composed of purplish-black energy, slowly coalesced. It had no specific features, only three constantly rotating, vortex-like voids, gazing at the Thousand Sunny. A vast will, a mixture of greed, destruction, and icy curiosity, surged forth like a tide.
[... an intriguing creation... a carrier... a familiar yet strange imprint of time and space... from that... marked... nursery world...]
The intermittent flow of information, directly affecting the soul, carries a sense of superior scrutiny that sends chills down everyone's spine.
"The nursery world?" Robin caught the word and felt a chill run down his spine. "Could it be that our world, in their eyes, is merely... a nursery for cultivating something?"
[... Complementary laws... Energy ripening... Absorption... Evolution... Essential...]
The will did not answer directly, but conveyed a clearer purpose. It sensed the unique power within Allen, a fusion of the world's fortune and the Laws of Space and Time, and regarded it as a mature and extremely valuable fruit in the "nursery"!
boom--!
The shadowy sea below suddenly boiled, and countless tentacles made of pure destructive energy shot into the sky, like countless giant pythons, coiling towards the Thousand Sunny! The corrosive power contained in these tentacles far exceeded that of any monsters encountered before. The Thousand Sunny's shield emitted a piercing wail the moment it made contact, and its energy was rapidly depleted!
"Attack! We can't let them destroy the ship!" Luffy, activating Gear Fourth, and his giant fist, wreathed in Conqueror's Haki, slammed into the tentacles.
Zoro's slashes, Sanji's kicks, Franky's cannon fire... all the attacks erupted instantly, clashing with those energy tentacles.
However, these tentacles seemed endless, immediately replenished by the sea of shadows below after being shattered, and their power was constantly increasing, as if adapting to their attack methods!
"They are learning and evolving!" Robin discovered in astonishment.
"This will never end!" Jinbe struggled to maneuver the ship, dodging the main attacks.
Allen did not engage in direct confrontation. He closed his eyes and concentrated all his senses, like the finest probe, tracing back against the energy tentacles and purplish-red fissures, towards the deeper part of this Abyss, towards the source of that distorted face!
He needs to find the root cause of the invasion! The "nursery" and "devouring" alone are not enough to explain everything. Why now? Why his world? There must be a deeper mechanism or purpose behind this!
His consciousness pierced through layers of negative energy and chaotic laws, Resistance the interference of that immense will, and finally, in the Abyss abyss, he "saw"—
It was not a single life form, but a colossal, heart-pulsating "aggregate of laws"! It itself seemed to be the embodiment of concepts such as "destruction," "devouring," and "evolution"! It did not intentionally target any particular world; it was simply following its own "laws of existence," constantly seeking out worlds whose laws complemented its own and whose energy was sufficiently "mature" to devour and merge with, in order to complete its own "evolution"!
The world where Allen resides, due to its unique spacetime structure, the vast "luck" (which it perceives as highly condensed "energy") generated by its thriving life and civilization, and the possible existence of certain historical remnants (such as the secrets of Ancient Weapon, the Will of D., etc.), perfectly meets the needs of its current "evolutionary stage," and is therefore "marked" as a "nursery" to be devoured first!
Those invading monsters are merely its extended "predatory organs" and "digestive enzymes"! The cracks are simply "feeding channels" that it forcibly opened!
The truth is cruel and despairing. Their world is merely a dish on the menu of the " Abyss Will," which follows the cold laws of the universe!
"Found it..." Allen opened his eyes, his gaze filled with icy rage and resolute determination. "The reason for the invasion... is the attraction and predation at the level of laws! Our world has been used as nourishment for its evolution!"
He looked at the enormous, distorted face and the endless energy tentacles, knowing he had to sever this connection, at least temporarily, otherwise the world's fall was only a matter of time.
"We must destroy that 'Core of Law Aggregation,' or at least... severely damage it, temporarily stripping it of its 'appetite' for our world!"
However, faced with this terrifying existence that is almost equivalent to a part of the rules of the universe, can they really do it?
The answer lies in the impending deadly battle. The direct clash between the Thousand Sunny Mod and the Abyss Will is about to erupt!