The Thousand Sunny travels towards the Earth's core along that "safe path" forgotten by time. This so-called path actually relies more on the relatively regular and stable spatial corridors recorded in the Spark Database, but even so, the voyage is fraught with danger.
The sky outside the window was no longer a gray and bleak expanse, but was gradually being swallowed by thick darkness. Occasionally, huge, ominous dark purple rifts of rules would appear like scars across the way. These were " Abyss Fissure " formed by the leakage of energy from the Well of All Sources, constantly spewing out chaotic energy flows and distorted fragments of rules.
"Hard to port! Avoid the gravitational singularity of that rift!" Nami gripped the helm tightly, her voice distorted by the violent rocking of the ship. An invisible gravitational tentacle grazed the hull, instantly tearing several pieces of floating star debris to shreds.
Franky strained to maintain engine output and the shield. "Super-stability is nearing its limit! The space here is like a tattered rag!"
The closer you get to the Earth's core, the more exponentially the environment deteriorates. Not only is energy replenishment almost zero, but even the fundamental rules governing matter begin to become unstable. The metal of the deck occasionally exhibits fluid properties for brief periods, and the light inside the cabins distorts and changes color erratically.
"I feel like... I'm turning into an abstract painting..." Usopp looked at his arms, which were sometimes blurry and sometimes elongated, and was on the verge of tears. Chopper had to frequently inject everyone with stabilizers to fight against the erosion of the rules.
Worse still, the invisible pressure from the " Return to Nothingness Force Field " began to manifest. An indescribable sense of Void began to erode everyone's will, as if a voice was whispering, urging them to give up, fall asleep, and merge into that eternal silence. Even Luffy's ever-spirited fighting spirit seemed to be affected, and his laughter was no longer as carefree as usual.
"Concentrate!" Allen shouted, unleashing his full power to Definition Domain. Like a candle in the wind, it struggled Resistance the erosion of the force field, providing his companions with a relatively stable mental anchor. "The force field is amplifying our inner fatigue and negative emotions! Don't let it consume you!"
Suddenly, an extremely vast area appeared ahead. There were no fissures or violent energy flows there, only absolute darkness from which even light could not escape—the area with the densest " Return to Nothingness Force Field," and the final barrier to the Earth's core. The Thousand Sunny, like a spaceship approaching a black hole, slowed down involuntarily, dragged along by an invisible force.
"We can't go any further!" Franky exclaimed, staring at the alarming instruments. "The ship will be completely disintegrated!"
"It seems this is where we'll have to proceed on foot." Zoro gripped his sword tighter, gazing into the chilling darkness.
"Walking? In a place like this?" Usopp's voice trembled.
Allen stared into the darkness, his Power of Definition testing the edge, only to be met with utter nothingness. But he did not back down; instead, he sat down cross-legged.
"I need to make an attempt here," Allen said to the crowd. "Let's try to use our beliefs to create a temporary ' Domain of Existence ' in this ' Return to Nothingness '. If we succeed, we can move on. If we fail..." He didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was clear.
This was undoubtedly a gamble, a high-stakes gamble that bound everyone's spirit and destiny together.
The group sat down around Allen, just as they had done when activating the compass before, preparing to channel their Power of Belief into him. But this time, the pressure from the environment and the mental erosion they faced were far greater than ever before.
"Think of what keeps us going!" Luffy roared, trying to dispel the pent-up emotions in his heart. "Think of meat! Think of adventure! Think of sailing with you all!"
Zoro keeps his vow to become the World's Greatest Swordsman.
Sanji is thinking about ALL BLUE and his chivalry in protecting his comrades;
Nami dreamed of drawing a world map;
Usopp thought about his promise to become a brave warrior of the sea;
Chopper dreams of becoming a panacea that can cure all diseases;
Robin's desire to decipher the Poneglyph and witness the truth;
Franky harbored a passion for building his dream ship;
Brook thought about his promise to reunite with Laboon;
Jinbe contemplates the future and righteousness of Fish-Man Island;
Ace's smile reflects his thoughts of protecting his younger brother and his freedom.
Luo envisioned Transcendence the limits of medical skill.
Allen, once again, became a guide and amplifier. He gathered the light of faith that shone ever brighter in his companions' desperate circumstances—their unwavering commitment to freedom, dreams, friendship, promises, responsibilities, and all things that constitute the meaning of "existence"—and carefully probed into that absolute darkness of " Return to Nothingness."
At first, the light of faith was like a stone thrown into the sea, instantly swallowed by darkness, and even reflected back an even stronger sense of Void, making the group pale.
"Not enough... not cohesive enough!" Allen gritted his teeth, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. "We need... a shared, incredibly powerful 'image'! A symbol that represents our 'existence'!"
Luffy suddenly looked up, gazing at the Thousand Sunny, swaying in the darkness yet still stubbornly radiating its faint light. Looking at his companions around him, each gritting their teeth and with unwavering determination, a sudden inspiration struck him, and he shouted with all his might:
"Think of our ship! Think of Thousand Sunny Thousand Sunny! It carries our dreams, taking us across countless oceans and under the stars! It is our 'existence'! It is our home!"
" Thousand Sunny!!!"
At this moment, everyone clearly pictured the sun pirate ship with a sheep's head and a radiant smile! It sailed through the waves, soared into the starry sky, and navigated through gunfire; it was forever their destination and their starting point!
boom!!!
The Power of Belief suddenly underwent a qualitative change! No longer scattered rays of light, they coalesced into a radiant, detailed, and vibrant "Ship of Faith"—the phantom of the Thousand Sunny! This Ship of Faith, carrying all the dreams and bonds of the Straw Hat Pirates, resolutely crashed into the darkness of " Return to Nothingness "!
laugh--!
Like a red-hot iron plunged into ice water, a violent, silent clash of rules erupted at the point where darkness and golden light met! Darkness attempted to devour the golden light, but the golden light stubbornly spread, like a drop of Pure Gold falling into ink, forcefully carving out a stable spherical space with a radius of about a hundred meters, filled with the concept of "existence," within this absolute "nothingness"!
"We did it!" Chopper exclaimed in delight.
Although maintaining this " Domain of Existence " requires a continuous drain on everyone's Power of Belief, and its scope is limited, they finally have a foothold to advance in this realm of death!
"Let's go!" Luffy was the first to stand up and step into the area shrouded in golden light. The ground beneath his feet felt solid, as if he were standing on a familiar deck.
The Straw Hat Pirates, following the phantom of the " Thousand Sunny," a ship built upon their beliefs, walked step by step into the depths of the earth, towards the core of the Well of All Sources.