Having left the chilling " Requiem Gate," the Thousand Sunny once again sailed into the boundless, Chaos mist. This time, without the stable path provided by the " Silent Evolution " orb, and without the guidance of the Bridge of Order, the voyage became exceptionally difficult and... eerie.
"Full left! No! Full right! No! Full up!" Nami screamed, clutching her head as she stared at the wildly throbbing Log Pose and the completely malfunctioning navigation system. The turbulent currents around her made direction meaningless; one second you were moving forward, the next you might be spinning upside down.
"Super-Gyroscope Mode activated!" Franky frantically scrambled across the control panel, his arms in General Franky form extending from either side of the ship, frantically paddling through the Chaos energy like oars, trying to stabilize the vessel. "This feels a million times more thrilling than being in the rapids of Reverse Mountain!"
The ship sometimes spun wildly like it had fallen into a washing machine, and sometimes it seemed to be squeezed into various strange shapes by an invisible hand and then bounced back. The people on the deck had to use their own ingenuity to keep themselves steady.
Zoro, clinging to the mast, his face ashen, exclaimed, "This is worse than getting lost... I can't even feel the concept of 'road' anymore!"
Sanji, using Geppo to maintain his balance in mid-air, tried to serve drinks to the ladies, but ended up bouncing back and forth between the deck and ceiling like a cannonball several times. "Damn it... this place... doesn't give gentlemen... any chance to show off..."
Luffy, on the other hand, was having a blast. His rubber body seemed to thrive in this environment, and as he was tossed around, he laughed out loud, "Wow! This is so much fun! It's like being at an amusement Paradise!"
"This is no fun at all--!" Usopp, who was temporarily glued to the deck by Chopper's Rumble Ball, screamed, "My stomach... my soul... is about to be thrown out! Chopper! Is there any glue stickier?!"
Brook's jaw cracked. "Yo ho ho ho... I feel like my bones are going to fall apart, even though they weren't even joined together to begin with..."
In the midst of this chaotic, almost comical voyage, the fog ahead suddenly lifted, revealing a breathtaking sight.
It was a " Paradise "... a manifestation of chaotic rules.
There's a "Candy Waterfall" made up of constantly melting and reshaping rainbows; a "Music Plain" where the ground is like a trampoline and stepping on it will bounce up cheerful musical notes; "Building Block Clouds" in the sky with various geometric shapes that randomly change their colors; and even a river that doesn't flow with water, but with viscous "jelly" that sparkles with starlight!
"Where... where is this?" Nami temporarily forgot her troubles with navigation and stared in disbelief.
"It looks... delicious!" Luffy's eyes turned into stars as he stretched out his arm to scoop up the "water" from the "jelly river."
"Stop! Luffy!" Allen and Chopper shouted at the same time. Allen sensed that the "jelly" contained extremely unstable energy rules, while Chopper's medical instincts screamed "Danger!"
Unfortunately, it was too late; Luffy's fingers had already gotten a little bit of "jelly" on them.
The next second, Luffy's entire arm began to change colors wildly like a neon light, and he started dancing an extremely comical, tap-dance-like motion out of control!
"Wow! My hand is moving by itself! How fun! Hahaha!" Luffy laughed as he was spun around on the deck, pulled along by his own arm.
"Captain!" everyone exclaimed.
"It's rule contamination! A harmless but... disruptive rule!" Allen quickly judged, trying to use the Definition Domain to peel off the abnormal rule on that arm, but found that this rule was like a bone-deep ulcer, extremely stubborn, and would take time.
"It seems this is a ' Chaos playground,' but the 'rides' inside all have all sorts of strange rules and effects." Robin observed with great interest. "We need to be very careful."
To get around this area, Nami tried to find a safe route, but the Log Pose kept spinning wildly. "No! We can't locate anything! We seem to be... completely lost!"
Getting lost in Cradle of Chaos is definitely a top-three crisis in "The Adventures of Usopp the Great (Horror Chapter)"!
"Let me do it!" Usopp, fighting off seasickness, pulled out his "GOD Super Invincible Chaos Buster Compass" (actually just an ornately decorated ordinary compass, which he had temporarily blessed), and solemnly held it up. "Follow GOD's guidance! The direction is... is... uh, it spins faster than Nami's Log Pose!"
Just when everyone was at a loss, Jinbe, who had been quiet all along, suddenly spoke up, "Perhaps we can try a different approach. Since the rules are chaotic, could we rely on 'connections' instead of 'direction'?"
He looked at Allen: " Allen, do you still have any connection with that ' Silent Evolution ' orb of light?"
Upon hearing this, Allen closed his eyes and carefully sensed it. After a moment, he opened his eyes, a hint of surprise in his eyes. "Yes! Although it's extremely faint, like a candle flickering in the wind, there is indeed a connection at the level of rules! It's like a lighthouse in the darkness!"
"Great!" Nami cheered, "Can you sense the direction?"
Allen pointed in a seemingly unremarkable, Chaos direction. "Over there! Although the distance is uncertain, the connection points in that direction!"
With a goal in mind, everyone's spirits were lifted. Franky piloted the Thousand Sunny, carefully avoiding the seemingly fun but actually dangerous " Chaos Paradise " facilities, making his way forward with difficulty, in the direction Allen had indicated.
Along the way, Zoro tried to cut through a fog that was blocking his path and causing him to burp incessantly, but ended up getting caught in it himself. For the next hour, he solemnly held his sword, letting out a loud burp every ten seconds, ruining all the cool image he was trying to create.
Sanji unfortunately stepped on a "reverse surface," causing him to find all men (including Luffy and Chopper ) handsome and his heart racing for a full ten minutes, while finding all women (including Nami and Robin ) repulsive. This plunged him into immense confusion and self-doubt, almost causing his worldview to collapse.
After a chaotic and hilarious voyage, they finally escaped that eerie " Chaos Paradise ".
However, before they could even catch their breath, the scene ahead changed again.
Chaos mist dissipated, what was revealed was an immeasurably vast and silent expanse...
--Cosmic Graveyard.
Countless fragments of shattered planets, twisted spaceship skeletons, and even the remains of indescribable, colossal creatures floated silently in the Void, stretching to the horizon. A desolate, deathly stillness, and an overwhelming sense of sorrow and resentment enveloped this space.
In stark contrast to the noisy and eerie atmosphere of the " Paradise " just now, the deathly silence here is even more chilling.
"Where... where is this place?" Usopp's voice trembled.
Robin gazed at the ancient patterns on the ruins and murmured, "This seems to be... the final resting place of countless failed civilizations and fallen heroes."