In the pitch-black abyss, without a trace of light, it was as if it led directly to hell, with no end in sight.
The world of One Piece, when said to be big, wasn't that big, and when said to be small, it certainly wasn't small. Its volume was actually similar to Earth, so the distance to the Earth's core was, naturally, extremely far.
Kong Tai didn't know how Joy Boy managed to create such a passage that went straight to the core right under Im's nose.
Glancing at the smooth walls around him, Kong Tai shook his head, took a step forward, and his figure instantly vanished from his spot, reappearing several kilometers below.
The distance to the Earth's core was indeed very far. Even in free fall, one could fall for a very, very long time.
But beneath Kong Tai's feet, this distance was folded space. With one step, another step, and yet another, he quickly arrived at the bottom of the abyss.
By this point, the temperature had already reached around 6,000 degrees Celsius. Everything visible around was no longer purely solid or liquid, but flowing solid.
Actually, upon reaching this point, Kong Tai already knew that the threat Im had spoken of was utter nonsense.
Mental energy was indeed very strong and could influence reality. However, in the Earth's core, it wasn't the flowing liquid state that Kong Tai had imagined.
Due to the immense pressure, the matter here possessed extremely high mass and was incredibly hard, more than ten times harder than steel.
On the surface, influencing reality with one's mind was naturally simple. But here, using mental energy to push these slowly flowing solids was something Kong Tai himself couldn't do.
Tilting his head, Kong Tai cast a deep glance at Im, who had followed him, and said nothing.
Since he was already here, he might as well go and see what Im's true form actually was!
Kong Tai turned around, ignoring the heat that could melt everything, and took a step forward. In the blink of an eye, he arrived before a sun engulfed in lava.
Beside Kong Tai, Im followed like a phantom, inseparable.
She looked at the sun before her, her eyes filled with emotion. "When I first saw you, I merely hoped you could use your special spatial abilities to tear open the sealed space and let me out."
"Even though tearing open space, I didn't know if it could break the seal, but it was a glimmer of hope."
"But now..."
Im turned to look at the young man beside her, her eyes overflowing with joy.
"Now it's not that troublesome. I also didn't expect you to break through the rules of this world so quickly and reach 'Xing Jing' (行境)."
"Xing Jing?"
Hearing Im's words, Kong Tai turned to look at her, his face filled with curiosity.
"Oh~ you probably don't know the specific realms of breaking through planetary rules yet!"
Im smiled slightly, clearly in a very good mood. She reached out and stroked the head of Uranus, who had transformed back into a giant dragon beside her, and continued, "Xing, Xing, Yu, Zhou. This is how the beings in my star domain, who can navigate outer space using their own strength, are classified."
"Xing, Xing, Yu, Zhou."
Kong Tai lowered his head in thought. "Infant, Growth, Mature, Reincarnation."
It was similar to the realms mentioned by Bi An, just with different names.
The realms of gods mentioned by Bi An involved increasing strength with faith. What about Im's star domain?
Thinking this, Kong Tai looked up at Im and said calmly, "As long as I tear open this sun, you can come out, right!"
"Yes."
Im nodded, then her figure scattered like smoke and clouds in the wind, instantly disappearing.
As Im vanished, the sun before them trembled violently, as if a heart, slowly began to beat from its eternal silence.
And the light that had always enveloped the surface of the sun, at this moment, was like a tattered piece of cloth with its fog wiped away, instantly becoming transparent.
Within the transparent sun, a silver dragon, similar to Uranus but larger and more majestic, slowly opened its eyes.
They were eyes identical to Im's, but a deeper, redder color, like fresh blood. The moment they opened, they fixed their gaze upon Kong Tai.
Indifferent, extremely indifferent, devoid of any emotion. It was as if all things in the world, in its eyes, were the same as the surrounding molten steel and magma.
However, this indifference was quick to come and quick to go. The recovery of its consciousness made it realize who Kong Tai outside truly was.
Therefore, the dragon moved, its head resting against the inner wall of the sun, its enormous pupils gazing at Kong Tai with anticipation.
Without much hesitation, Kong Tai extended his right hand and gently patted the sun before him.
*Crack~*
The sound of spatial fragmentation instantly echoed throughout the Earth's core.
The moment he saw this sun, Kong Tai understood why Im had placed her hopes on Joy Boy.
Actually, breaking this seal was very simple. As long as someone could reach the infant stage of the divine realm, which Im called 'Xing Jing', they could forcibly break the seal from the outside.
And Joy Boy was arguably the most talented person in the world at that time. Besides him, Im probably saw no one else who could release her.
Therefore, she placed great expectations on Joy Boy, even going so far as to help Joy Boy rapidly develop the world's technology.
It was a pity that later events did not proceed as Im had initially envisioned, but instead took a different turn.
*Crack crack crack crack!!*
Kong Tai's palm was like a fuse, causing the cracks to widen continuously, like a shattered eggshell. Once the first crack appeared, it was only a matter of time before the whole thing broke apart.
When the cracks spread to a certain extent, the dragon within the sun could no longer wait. Its head suddenly lunged forward, and its massive head fiercely collided with the inner wall of the sun.
*CRACK——!*
The sun shattered, and the silver dragon completely broke free from its seal.
"Roar~"
The dragon coiled above the scorching molten steel magma. Even though the outside temperature was above 6,000 degrees Celsius, it couldn't mask the coldness emanating from its silver body.
Unlike the metallic coldness of Uranus, Im's true form was a living being, yet it possessed none of the heat that a creature should have.
The moment Kong Tai saw Im's true form, he felt an endless expanse of starry sky, an eternity, but not a single trace of heat.
Outside.
The instant Im broke free from her seal, the entire world, the entire planet, seemed to be under some kind of threat.
If viewed from outer space, the planet of the One Piece world strangely paused for a second at this moment.
And within that second, the entire world, like a giant heart, gave a violent beat.
And with that beat, a thunderous roar suddenly erupted from nowhere across the entire world.
Especially above Mary Geoise, it was as if the world was ending. The sky above the Red Line continent was entirely covered by blinding white lightning.