The elegant, pearl-white spaceship guided Ark Maxim through a nebula-like band of stardust composed of luminous plankton, finally arriving at Eleusis Prime a turquoise planet located in the habitable zone of a binary star system.
Around the planet's orbit lie several space cities, sculpted like crystal, perfectly integrated with their natural environment, exuding an aura of tranquility and peace. The Ark Maxim was guided to dock at the port of the largest of these cities.
The port was empty and clean, with almost no bustling transportation in sight. Only a few sleek maintenance robots glided silently. What greeted them was not a living creature, but a humanoid phantom suspended in mid-air, composed of pure light, with a blurred face.
[Welcome to Eleusis, guests from afar. I am the guiding AI, ' Echo '.] A gentle electronic voice rang out, [The Council has been informed of your arrival and has sensed the fluctuations of the ' Covenant Token ' you carry. Please follow me.]
There were no pleasantries, no interrogations, just a direct cut to the chase. This efficient yet slightly aloof approach to the reception surprised the Straw Hat Pirates.
They followed the illusory image of " Echo " as they walked through the empty streets of the Crystal City. The city was breathtakingly beautiful, with energy flowing silently through transparent pipes and building structures, like the city's veins. Occasionally, they could see some residents, whose forms resembled humans, but whose skin was so white it was almost transparent, whose eyes were pure silver, and whose bodies emitted a faint glow. When they saw the Straw Hat Pirates, they only cast a calm and slightly curious glance at them, without much emotional reaction, and then went back to their own business. The entire city was eerily quiet.
"The people here... don't seem to talk much?" Usopp muttered to himself.
"It feels... a little cold." Chopper shrank his neck as well.
Robin surveyed their surroundings and whispered, "It's not coldness, it's more like... an extreme rationality and peace. Their emotional fluctuations are extremely subtle."
Finally, they were led to the Hall of the Guardian Council, a massive domed building that appeared to be carved from a single piece of crystal.
Inside the hall, seven tall crystal chairs were arranged in a circle. On five of these chairs sat five Eleusis people who resembled the residents outside, but whose auras were more profound and refined. They were the rulers of Eleusis — the Guardian Council.
Seated in the main seat was an elderly man with silver hair and beard and an ancient face. He opened his silver eyes and calmly swept his gaze over the Straw Hat Pirates, finally landing on the Star Map Tablet in Allen's hand and Robin.
"Traveler carrying the Star Map Stone, I am the Chief Guardian, Oriharu." The old man's voice resonated directly in everyone's hearts, carrying the weight of time. " Eleusis has long been isolated from the mortal world. Your arrival, and the aura of 'Purity' and ' Dark Abyss ' that you bear, have shattered this tranquility."
His tone was not accusatory; he was simply stating a fact.
"We've come here to find allies to fight the ' Observers,'" Robin stepped forward and said neither humbly nor arrogantly. "The star map guided us to Eleusis, mentioning the existence of an ' Ancient Covenant ' here."
"The covenant..." another female guardian repeated softly, a faint trace of reminiscence in her eyes, "That was far too long ago. So long ago that we've almost forgotten what the starry sky looked like when the covenant was signed."
" Observers... Purge Protocol..." The third guardian, a middle-aged man with a resolute face, spoke, his voice carrying a barely perceptible heaviness, "We are aware of their existence. It was precisely to escape their 'purification' that our ancestors gave their all to establish this last ' Absolute Order Field '."
" Absolute Order Field?" Nami asked, puzzled.
"This is the Eleusis you see," Chief Guardian Oriharu explained. "We transformed this star cluster at a great cost, establishing an ' Order Force Field ' that covers the entire area. Within this field, all chaos, entropy increase, and the ' Possibility Ripples ' upon which the ' Purge Protocol ' relies to track life have been suppressed to a minimum. We are able to... endure here."
"Eternal?" Everyone noticed this word.
Allen's senses subtly extended, and he keenly perceived that although the life force of these guardians and the residents outside was strong, there was a strange sense of "freezing." It was as if time was passing extremely slowly with them, or rather, their state was "locked" by some kind of force.
"What is the price of longevity?" Allen asked the crucial question directly.
The guardians remained silent for a moment. Finally, Oriharu spoke slowly, "The price... is our 'future'."
"To maintain absolute order and avoid creating variables that could be detected by the ' Observers,' we have given up evolution, given up intense emotional fluctuations, and even... to a large extent, given up creation and change. Everything in Eleusis, including ourselves, is maintained in an eternal 'equilibrium.' We do not age, we do not die easily, but we have also lost... the joy of growth, and the courage to face the unknown."
The hall was silent. The Straw Hat Pirates finally understood why it was so quiet, yet so lifeless. This was a civilization that had chosen stagnation for survival!
"We are like insects trapped in amber, preserving ourselves but losing the ability to fly." A hint of sorrow lingered in the female guardian's voice. "The so-called ' Ancient Covenant ' was a vow made by our ancestors and other fighters in the Xinghai. But now... we are powerless to fulfill it. Leaving this Order Field will shatter our fragile balance, and our very existence will be immediately locked onto by the ' Observers.'"
This is a harsh truth. It's not that Eleusis is unwilling to help, but rather... they cannot. They themselves survive only by relying on this absolute, near-death order.
Luffy frowned; he couldn't understand this choice to give up freedom and adventure just to survive.
"So, you're just going to hide here and do nothing?" Luffy asked loudly, his tone filled with confusion and a hint of anger.
Faced with Luffy's blunt question, the Guardians did not get angry, but simply looked at him calmly.
"Young successor to 'D'," Oriharu looked at Luffy, "There isn't just one way to survive. Struggle is the path of the warrior, but perseverance... is sometimes the wise man's reluctant choice. We are not inactive; we are protecting something..."
His gaze shifted to Allen: "For example, regarding the true origins of the ' Observers,' and... what might be needed to combat them is not pure power, but a ' Key ' to understanding their nature."
The lost Covenant members of Eleusis, though unable to provide direct military assistance, possess knowledge that they safeguard, which may be the more crucial weapon!