That deep, slow heartbeat seemed not to travel through the air, but to strike directly into the depths of everyone's soul. The regular patterns on the door, like meridians, flickered with a Chaos light in rhythm with the heartbeat, making this ancient and colossal door seem to possess life.
"A... a heartbeat?!" Usopp's teeth started chattering. "Behind the door... something alive?! And it sounds pretty big!"
Chopper clung tightly to Luffy's leg, trembling, "That... that sound was terrifying!"
Even Zoro, Sanji, and Law, who had just arrived, gripped their weapons tightly and looked solemnly at the giant gate. The vastness and oppressive feeling contained in that heartbeat far exceeded any enemy they had encountered before.
Luffy, however, became even more excited, his eyes widening. "A living door? How interesting!" He rubbed his hands together, ready to step forward.
"Wait, Luffy!" Allen, fighting off mental exhaustion and the discomfort from the pounding heartbeat, called out to stop him. "This heartbeat... it subtly resonates with the rhythm of the entire Cradle of Chaos. It might not be the 'creature' behind the door, but... the door itself, or rather, 'that being' sealed within the door, its power already seeping out and resonating with the door!"
He walked to the door, cautiously extending his hand, not touching it directly, but rather sensing the flowing, regular patterns on its surface. "This door... it's 'breathing.' It's using Chaos energy to maintain an extremely powerful seal. Our arrival just now, and perhaps the residual ' Definition ' power within me, or the collective will of everyone, acted like a Key, subtly 'activating' it."
"A seal?" Robin's eyes sharpened. "What is sealed? Could it be that the Cradle of Chaos wasn't formed naturally, but exists to seal something?"
This hypothesis sent a chill down everyone's spine. If even the Cradle of Chaos itself was merely a massive sealing field, then what terrifying beings must be sealed within it?
"I need more detailed information." Allen closed his eyes, trying to probe the rules of the gate with an extremely subtle trace of his mental energy, like a diver diving into the deep sea, trying to read the fragments of historical information contained within.
Countless chaotic and fragmented images and streams of information instantly flooded his mind:
-- In a Void, a glimmer of ultimate "order" and a glimmer of ultimate "chaos" erupt simultaneously, intertwining and colliding...
--Countless rules, like threads of creation, are woven by an invisible force, only to break again and again...
A vague, enormous shadow, seemingly composed of the remnants of countless worlds, roared, its power polluting the starry sky...
--Several indescribably powerful wills descended, drawing upon the very origin of the universe to construct an endless Sea of Chaos, suppressing and sealing away the shadow...
A door, erected as the "core valve" of the seal, draws upon the power of Chaos to eternally suppress it...
Allen suddenly opened his eyes, staggered back a few steps, his face even paler, but his eyes were filled with shock.
"How was it? What did you see?" Nami asked eagerly.
"This door... is the ' Requiem Gate '." Allen's voice was slightly hoarse. " The Cradle of Chaos is indeed a seal! An ultimate cage jointly constructed by the strongest beings of ancient times to seal a terrifying being known as the ' Shadow of Origin '! This door is the most crucial lock of that cage!"
" The Shadow of Origin?" The crowd murmured about this ominous name.
"It is the embodiment of 'absolute chaos,' born alongside 'order' at the beginning of the universe, a symbol of the end of all things, the source of the collapse of all rules. It is not a living being, but more like a... phenomenon, a conceptual catastrophe. It yearns to return everything to the initial, meaningless Chaos," Allen explained, his tone heavy. "The ancient powerful beings could not completely destroy it, so they could only choose to seal it here. And this heartbeat... is the ' Echo ' formed by the ' Shadow of Origin ' constantly impacting the seal over countless years, its power seeping out!"
Just then, the heartbeat sounded again.
Thump!
This time, it was clearer and more powerful! Even the bridge of order beneath their feet began to tremble slightly!
The regular patterns on the door shone brightly, as if operating at full power to suppress the entity behind it. But at the same time, an extremely subtle yet soul-chilling dark aura, like viscous ink, began to slowly seep out from the crack in the door! That aura carried pure annihilation and madness, originating from the same source as the Abyss Simulacrum encountered before, but it was a hundred times more refined and terrifying!
"Oh no! The seal has loosened!" Allen's expression changed drastically. "It's possible that the intervention of external forces has disrupted the seal's balance! Or perhaps the ' Shadow of Origin ' has finally found a breakthrough after countless years of accumulation!"
"What... what do we do?!" Usopp screamed, "Did we release something terrible?!"
"The seal must be reinforced!" Allen said without hesitation, his eyes resolute. "Otherwise, once the ' Shadow of Origin ' is completely freed, not only this star system, but the entire universe may face the crisis of rule collapse!"
He once again mobilized the power of the " World Seed," placing his hands on the stone door, attempting to use his own " Definition " power to assist the rule patterns on the door in stabilizing the seal.
However, the power level of the " Shadow of Origin " behind the door was too high! Allen's power was like an ice cube thrown into lava. Although it could temporarily slow down the seepage of the dark aura, it could not reverse the trend at all. On the contrary, his mental power was being consumed rapidly, and his consciousness was once again impacted by that pure chaotic will!
"Damn it... the gap is too big!" A trickle of blood spilled from the corner of Allen's mouth. His " Definition " seemed so insignificant in the face of the other party's "absolute chaos" nature.
"Don't try to handle this alone, you idiot!" Luffy roared, pressing his rubber arm against Allen's side. "What are you going to do? Tell us!"
"Power is needed! Pure and powerful power, inject it into the core of the seal on the gate, temporarily strengthen it!" Allen shouted with difficulty.
"Understood!" Luffy's eyes sharpened, and he was the first to pour his immense Haki and the power of the Human-Human Fruit, Model: Nika into the stone gate without reservation!
"Let's do it too!" Zoro's will to strike, Sanji's World-Purifying Flame, Law's rules of surgery, Ace's flames, Jinbe's power of tranquility, Brook's soulful voice, Franky's mechanical energy, Nami's climate rules, Usopp's Power of Belief, Chopper's compassionate heart, Robin's historical wisdom...
All the Straw Hat Pirates members, as well as Ace and Law, poured their most primal power and will into this ancient " Requiem Gate " without reservation!
With the combined power of numerous strong individuals, the stone gate suddenly erupted with dazzling light! The patterns on the gate seemed to be infused with new vitality, flowing wildly, forcibly repelling the seeping dark aura, and even the heartbeat seemed to be suppressed, becoming muffled and distant.
However, the " Shadow of Origin " behind the door seemed to be thoroughly enraged. An even more terrifying and profound will, like a colossal beast awakening, slammed into the door!
boom--!!!
The entire Cradle of Chaos seemed to tremble! The bridges of order shattered inch by inch! The Thousand Sunny was violently thrown away by the massive shockwave!
Allen and everyone who had contributed to the infusion of power coughed up blood and were thrown back.
In the center of the stone gate, to everyone's astonishment, a black crack, as thin as a hair yet bottomless, appeared!
A wisp of " Shadow of Origin " condensed to its ultimate form, like darkness with life, emerged from the crack, twisting and turning into an indifferent "eye" that seemed to be composed of pure Void, coldly "glancing" at them.
With just one glance, endless chaos and madness surged into everyone's consciousness like a tidal wave!
The seal was not completely broken, but a tiny gap had been torn open.
A more dangerous and unpredictable era seems to have quietly begun because of their "deal" and "exploration".