On a day Straw Hat Pirates was actively preparing for battle, the Thousand Sunny received an urgent, high-priority message from an edge node of the " Starry Sky Watcher Network." The message came from Anvil, a mining colony located on the edge of a known Anvil Star field that had recently joined the network.
The message was brief but unsettling:
[Encountered an unknown fleet! Not Otherworldly Demons! Not of any known civilization! Silent! Powerful! Approaching the colony! Requesting support! Coordinates [Data attached]]
The message was followed by a blurry image: In the pitch-black starry sky, several strangely shaped ships were slowly approaching. They were entirely dark metallic gray, with sharp and aggressive lines. There were no visible portholes or markings on their hulls, only some constantly flickering, eerie blue energy patterns distributed like veins. They moved forward silently, exuding a cold, inanimate sense of oppression.
"A new enemy?" Zoro's eyes sharpened.
"He doesn't look like a pushover." Sanji lit a cigarette.
"The coordinates aren't too far from us. If we travel at full speed, we can arrive within a day," Nami quickly calculated and reported.
Without hesitation, the Thousand Sunny immediately changed course, started its engines at full power, and transformed into a streak of light as it headed towards Anvil Star.
When they arrived, the outskirts of Anvil Star were already littered with the wreckage of the colony's rudimentary defensive platforms, indicating that a brief exchange of fire had clearly taken place. The mysterious Gray Fleet, consisting of about a dozen warships, was fanning out Anvil Star's main port, but it did not launch any further attacks; it simply hovered silently, as if waiting for something.
"They haven't completely destroyed the defenses; it seems they're... deterring?" Robin observed the situation.
Just then, the largest ship in the Gray Fleet, a warship shaped like a twisted cross, suddenly shot out a beam of eerie blue light from its bow. It wasn't an attack, but rather a message projected into the Void, playing repeatedly in multiple universal languages:
[Hand over the " Origin Relic ". Deadline: One standard star hour. Refusal, or inability to comply, will result in a purification process.]
" Origin Relic?" Everyone was stunned. Anvil Star was just an ordinary mining colony; how could it possibly possess such a thing?
Allen's heart stirred. He sensed that the World Seed within him was reacting with an extremely faint, almost resonant, reaction to the dark blue beam of light and the term " Origin Relic."
"Their target... might be something related to the World Seed?" Allen whispered.
Just then, the Gray Fleet seemed to detect the approach of the Thousand Sunny. Several smaller warships immediately changed course, and their dark blue cannons began to gather energy, locking onto them!
"We've been spotted! Prepare for battle!" Luffy shouted.
However, before the enemy could open fire, the cross-shaped flagship suddenly sent another message, this time specifically targeting the Thousand Sunny:
[High concentration of "origin" reaction detected... Target confirmed... Priority changed... Captured... Top command...]
In an instant, all the cannons of the gray warships turned and locked onto the Thousand Sunny! Their primary target had changed from Anvil Star to them!
"Capture us?" Franky roared in fury. "Super—dream on!"
The battle was about to begin! The gray warship fired first, unleashing a torrential downpour of eerie blue energy beams! This energy seemed to possess strong corrosive and disruptive properties; the shields of the Thousand Sunny fluctuated violently upon contact, and its energy was rapidly depleted.
"Their technology and energy systems are completely foreign!" Nami exclaimed, looking at the chaotic data on the instrument.
Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and the others immediately launched an attack, attempting to close in and destroy the enemy ship. However, the enemy ship's armor was exceptionally sturdy and seemed to adapt to various attack methods; slashes, kicks, and cannon fire were less effective than expected. To make matters worse, the eerie blue energy also had a corrosive effect on Haki.
"These guys... are even more troublesome than the Otherworldly Demons and the Sands of Time!" Usopp shouted while using special bullets to harass them.
Allen expanded his Definition Domain, attempting to stabilize the surrounding rules and counteract some of the energy corrosion, but he sensed that the other party's energy level was extremely high, carrying a cold, alien quality that seemed out of place with the current rules of the universe.
"They... might not exist in our universe!" Robin made a startling deduction based on the other party's behavior and the term " Origin Relic ".
This mysterious Gray Fleet, originating from beyond the stargate? Their mission is to find " Origin Relic " related to the World Seed, and Allen appears to be one of their targets!
A sudden conflict with an unknown extraterrestrial civilization has begun!