After leaving the Rainbow Bridge, the Combined Fleet obtained a mysterious set of coordinates-the Tower of Trials. Legend had it that this tower was where powerful warriors of ancient times honed their skills, and each floor represented a different combat challenge.
"The Tower of Trials..." Sabo browsed the records in the Dimensional Prism. "According to the records, it contains countless combat phantoms that can adjust their difficulty to match the challengers' strength." Ace rubbed his hands together. "Just the thing to test our newly acquired powers!" Luffy stretched his rubber arms. "Are there strong enemies? I'll send them flying!" Allen sensed the tower through Time Perception, his expression turning to surprise. "The flow of time there... it moves in layers. Time flows at a different rate on every floor..."
As Pluton approached the Tower of Trials, an enormous tower soaring into the clouds came into view. Its walls shone with the light of various energies, and the thunder of battle rang out from time to time.
"Welcome, challengers." A combat phantom appeared before the tower. "I am the Tower Spirit. Please select your trial mode: individual or team."
They exchanged smiles. "Team, of course!"
The first floor was a basic combat trial. The phantom warriors had flawless combat techniques, but their power was on par with the challengers'. "Too easy!" Luffy unleashed a rubber barrage and cleared it with ease. Ace sent flames jetting out. "Just a warm-up." Sabo struck pressure points precisely with his steel pipe. "Solid fundamentals." Allen did not even make a move; his Time Perception identified every opening.
But the Tower Spirit warned them, "Do not underestimate the trials. The difficulty leaps every ten floors. Please manage your stamina wisely."
Sure enough, starting on the eleventh floor, the phantoms began using combination techniques and tactical coordination. On the twenty-first floor, the phantoms gained the ability to exploit their surroundings. On the thirty-first floor, they could imitate the challengers' abilities!
"Whoa! A rubber phantom!" Luffy watched in surprise as he fought an opponent just like himself. Ace faced a flame phantom. "Interesting..." Sabo faced off against a phantom of intelligence. "This tests our adaptability." Allen faced a time phantom, and the duel between two users of the Power of Time threw time across the entire floor into chaos!
A grueling battle began! Not only did the mimicking phantoms have the same abilities, they also had more combat experience! For the first time, Luffy was sent flying by his own rubber moves! Ace was suppressed by the flame phantom! Sabo's tactics were predicted completely! Allen's Power of Time was canceled out by the same methods!
"This won't work!" Sabo analyzed the situation. "We have to surpass ourselves and use new techniques the phantoms don't know!"
The four stood back-to-back and began attempting breakthroughs: Luffy combined rubber's properties with multidimensional elasticity, developing Dimensional Rubber, which could stretch between different dimensions! Ace fused flames with emotional energy, creating Fire of the Heart, which could burn away an opponent's will to fight! Sabo combined intelligence with temporal prediction to achieve Instant Strategy, allowing him to devise perfect tactics in an instant! Allen fused the Power of Time with dimensional properties to achieve Spacetime Weaving, allowing him to manipulate spacetime within a small area!
Their new abilities began to show their power, and the phantoms started losing ground! But the Tower Spirit raised the difficulty again-the phantoms learned the new abilities too!
"They're learning!" Ace exclaimed in shock. Through Time Perception, Allen discovered the key. "They're not learning... the tower is adjusting in real time based on our breakthroughs! It's forcing us to keep pushing past our limits!"
And so a race of breakthroughs and counter-breakthroughs began: on the forty-first floor, Luffy developed Rubber Resonance, which could amplify his power through vibrations; on the forty-second floor, Ace created Flame Purification, which could burn away negative energy; on the forty-third floor, Sabo achieved Thousand Layers of Strategy, allowing him to plan multiple tactics simultaneously; on the forty-fourth floor, Allen achieved Time Clone, allowing him to exist briefly at multiple points in time.
Every floor brought a new breakthrough, and every battle challenged their limits! Their stamina, mental strength, and creativity were all pushed to the utmost!
By the fiftieth floor, all four were utterly exhausted, but excitement burned in their eyes-they could feel their clear growth!
"Take a rest." The Tower Spirit appeared. "The recovery area is open. I recommend reviewing your improvements."
In the recovery area, they exchanged insights. Luffy said, "Rubber isn't just about stretching. It's about vibration and resonance!" Ace said, "Flames aren't just about burning. They're about purification and transformation!" Sabo said, "Intelligence isn't just about knowledge. It's about prediction and creation!" Allen said, "Time isn't just about flowing. It's about weaving and choice!"
The Tower Spirit added, "What makes someone truly strong is not how powerful their abilities are, but whether they can keep breaking through their self-imposed limits."
After resting, they continued the challenge. Starting on the fifty-first floor, the trials became battles against phantoms of powerful enemies from the real world:
· Akainu's magma;
· Aokiji's ice;
· Kizaru's speed of light;
· Even Imu's power of order!
Although these phantoms were weaker than the originals, their abilities had exactly the same properties, making them excellent sparring partners!
The hardest was the eighty-eighth floor-a battle against perfect phantoms of themselves! Each phantom represented the perfect state they could theoretically achieve!
"How are we supposed to fight this?!" Luffy was completely suppressed by the perfect rubber phantom. Ace was burned by the perfect flame phantom. Every tactic Sabo used was perfectly predicted. Allen's Power of Time was perfectly countered.
In their moment of despair, Allen discovered an opening through Time Perception. "Perfect doesn't mean unbeatable! Perfect means fixed! We can be imperfect but changeable!"
The four abandoned their pursuit of perfection and instead played to their own distinctive traits: Luffy used rubber in seemingly ridiculous yet unexpected ways; Ace used flames with ever-changing emotions; Sabo improvised beyond the bounds of logic; Allen made temporal choices full of humanity.
The perfect phantoms proved unable to cope with this "imperfect" style of combat! In the end, they were defeated one by one!
The ninety-ninth floor held the final trial-the four had to join forces against the combined attacks of all the powerful enemy phantoms!
This was a true battle at their limits! Every phantom unleashed its utmost power, coordinating seamlessly! Magma and ice created steam explosions; light speed and time created speed traps; even Imu's phantom attempted to impose control through order!
The four stood back-to-back, perfectly combining their newly acquired abilities: Luffy's Rubber Resonance created a vibration field; Ace's Flame Purification burned away negative effects; Sabo's Thousand Layers of Strategy directed the entire battle; Allen's Spacetime Weaving controlled the tempo.
At last, when the final phantom was destroyed, the four collapsed onto the floor in exhaustion, but their eyes shone with accomplishment.
The Tower Spirit appeared. "Congratulations on passing the trials. Your ratings: breakthroughs, S; cooperation, S; growth, S+. These are the highest ratings in history."
As a reward, the Tower Spirit bestowed Trial Marks upon them, allowing them to summon combat phantoms for sparring at any time and slightly enhancing all their abilities.
When they left the Tower of Trials, each of them had been utterly transformed. Not only had their abilities improved greatly, but more importantly, they had broken through their self-imposed limits and found new directions for growth.
Luffy developed more ways to use rubber; Ace's control of flames reached masterful heights; Sabo's tactics became even more unconstrained and imaginative; Allen's manipulation of time became even more refined.
Even their Haki underwent a qualitative leap! Observation Haki could perceive the more distant future, Armament Haki could cause internal destruction, and Conqueror's Haki could intimidate with precision!
Standing at Pluton's bow and looking back at the gradually receding Tower of Trials, Allen felt the Trial Mark in his hand grow faintly hot.
True growth was not an increase in power, but the courage to surpass oneself.
This belief in breaking through would support them as they continued to exceed their limits.
Pluton sailed toward new challenges, carrying greater strength and confidence.
And that confidence was precisely what gave them the assurance to face any powerful foe.