Taro carefully released his Internal Energy to probe downward, but even after a long time, he received no feedback.
Hesitating for a moment, he retracted his Internal Energy, deactivated his transformation state, and plummeted downward in a free fall.
His falling speed grew faster and faster, yet he still didn't encounter the powerful air resistance he had expected.
This was a space where normal physical Laws had failed!
As he fell, Taro glanced at the waterfall beside him, and his eyes suddenly widened.
The waterfall formed by the falling ocean current gave him an inexplicable sense of familiarity!
This was the same feeling he had when traversing the corridor to Vegapunk's laboratory!
After Dark King bombarded and sank Enies Lobby, what remained was actually a Spatial Corridor leading to another dimension!
This Spatial Corridor blocked the ocean currents, forming a circular waterfall!
Taro transformed back into a Falcon and stabilized himself,
then looked up toward the sky above.
After descending for an unknown number of kilometers, the sky overhead had long since vanished from sight.
However, the entire corridor remained as bright as day,
with light constantly shimmering within the circular ocean current.
At the end of his vision, the circular exit now looked like a blazing sun in the sky, appearing extremely dazzling!
Taro was stunned!
This alternate dimension was continuously collecting light from somewhere!
Then, it was continuously released through the curtain-like ocean current,
using the current as a light screen, eventually creating the wonder of Enies Lobby as the 'Island of No Night'!
Taro had been looking down before, and because of the angle, he hadn't noticed the anomaly here.
He flew up for a bit and then dropped again; after repeating this experiment several times, he finally confirmed a fact!
With such a spectacle, if one only looked at what was clearly visible in front of them, they would discover nothing.
Only by looking up from below, at the very edge of one's vision, could the clues be seen!
It was a classic case of 'the darkness under the lamp'!
Taro grew increasingly curious; what kind of weapon was Dark King, exactly?
To be able to destroy an island with a single shot and tear through space at the same time?
And then there was Vegapunk; the shimmering starlight in the Spatial Corridor leading to his laboratory...
Although those weren't as concentrated as they were here, Taro was certain that the two were the same thing!
Sentomaru had once told Taro that that corridor had been modified by Vegapunk!
In other words, Vegapunk had already, to some extent, replicated part of the effects of Dark King's bombardment?
Holy shit! This tech bigshot is that incredible?
What exactly is Vegapunk trying to do?
Taro's mouth suddenly went dry, and he felt like his brain couldn't keep up!
After floating quietly in the air for a long time until his neck felt a bit sore from looking up, Taro swallowed twice and continued to drop.
He was desperate to know where this Spatial Corridor actually led!
Falling, falling for a long time.
In a state of weightlessness, Taro's sense of distance had vanished, and he had no idea how long he had been descending.
Suddenly, he felt a ripple in his protective Internal Energy. His heart tightened, and he quickly halted his descent.
After stopping, he observed his surroundings for a while longer.
Everything around him was the same as before; the air was in a state where it hardly flowed on its own.
However, Taro knew very well that he had just broken through something.
He looked up, but there was nothing in his line of sight.
Taro frowned and flew upward for a bit; his Internal Energy rippled once more.
There really was something there!
Something invisible yet very real!
Lacking any professional knowledge, the Zhou the Country Bumpkin Ze could only use the dumbest method: trying back and forth.
After a long time, he finally remembered that he had seen this kind of thing before!
It was at bigshot Vegapunk's place!
The thing that allowed the Genius scientist to discover Taro's identity as an 'Outworlder'!
Taro was shocked beyond words.
Vegapunk's replication of Dark King's capabilities far exceeded his imagination!
For a moment, he actually felt a creepy sensation, and goosebumps rose on his skin.
After circulating his Internal Energy for several cycles, Taro's mood finally eased a little.
Based on his experience from that visit to Vegapunk's laboratory,
passing through this 'membrane' meant that Taro was already infinitely close to the 'end'!
The answer lay below!
Taro carefully controlled his speed and continued downward.
Finally, he saw the end!
A ground that wasn't smooth but was complete, like a solid wall!
Taro wasn't sure if this ground was the seabed exposed after the ocean currents were separated.
On that ground were rugged, uneven rocks, ruins of buildings, and some household garbage!
This household garbage caught Taro's eye because he saw a newspaper among it!
This might be an important channel for obtaining information!
He quickly flew over and got closer.
Only then did he notice that this household garbage still looked very fresh, with no signs of decay.
It was as if they had just appeared here!
While still several hundred meters away, Taro, his gaze firmly locked on the newspaper, had already seen the content recorded on it!
The front-page headline of the newspaper had a massive title that read:
"'The End of the 'Nation-Puller', the Oars the Demon Ogre has Fallen!"
Oars the Demon Ogre? Was the content of this report about that shadow zombie resurrected by Moria?
Hadn't that guy been dead for 500 years?
Holy shit, when is this newspaper from!
Taro's eyes widened in shock as he accelerated again, landing next to the newspaper.
However, as soon as he landed, the ground beneath his feet rippled like a calm lake after a stone had been thrown into it.
The seemingly solid ground rippled outward in layers,
and immediately after, a powerful suction pulled him entirely inside.
"Holy shit!"
Taro had just grabbed a corner of the newspaper when he was suddenly hit by this unexpected turn of events.
He only had time to let out a 'graceful' exclamation before he was swallowed by the darkness!
Before his vision vanished, he saw printed on the corner of the newspaper:
"sea calendar Year 1007, December..."
After being pulled into this boundless darkness, there was an even more violent spinning, with bursts of thunder and whistling wind echoing in his ears.
The temperature changes were also extremely drastic—one moment it was freezing cold, and the next, it felt like being roasted by intense flames!
Fortunately, this didn't last long; before Taro could spin into unconsciousness, he felt himself finally hit the ground!
He lay against the ground for a very long time before the dizziness finally subsided a bit.
Sunlight!
Although it wasn't very hot, it was excessively dazzling.
Taro squinted, taking quite a while to adjust.
He looked around, but all he could see was white light, making it impossible to see clearly.
Feeling that his Internal Energy was still circulating, Taro felt a bit more at ease and immediately spread it out in all directions.
The Internal Energy extending to both sides quickly gave feedback:
This place had boundaries!
Taro breathed another sigh of relief and walked to the side.
At the same time, he was shocked by his previous experience.
On that ground, the rocks, ruins, and household garbage hadn't come to this space; only he had arrived here!
Was it because only he was a living being?
Then, he thought of the date on the newspaper he had seen at the last moment.
It was a brand-new newspaper published over 500 years ago, yet the handwriting was still clearly visible!
---------------------------------
I hope you're enjoying the fanfiction so far! If the story has you hooked and you can't wait to see what happens next, you can unlock 30 chapters in advance over on my Patreon: patreon.com/TLHimejima1
Every bit of support means the world to me so if you're loving the ride, don't forget to drop a Power Stone and let me know.