During the following two years, Noah completely isolated himself, focusing entirely on constructing a machine that would become fundamental to his research.
Using the same model he had employed to create the training chamber, he began building a pocket dimension where the flow of time would run at a ratio of one to one hundred.
Within this new dimension, he could spend a hundred years inside while only a single year passed in the outside world.
Staring at the bright blue orb floating in the palm of his hand, Noah sent his consciousness into it, and in an instant, he vanished from sight, reappearing inside his new and upgraded laboratory.
"Let's see… according to the calculations, it should have a maximum of five uses," Noah murmured, his gaze resting on a cloth patterned with drawings of clocks.
According to his simulations, he could use the Time Cloth five times to rejuvenate his body before his cells began to corrode.
He was planning to spend possibly hundreds of years isolated in this place, and though his power was vast, he remained a mortal being; his natural limit still hovered around a hundred years.
"Let's get to work… Nexus!" he ordered energetically.
"Beep! Nexus Computer 1.0 successfully activated.
Greetings to the creator: Noah Astaros."
Nexus was his latest creation, apart from the pocket dimension — a quantum computer of the highest caliber, born from the fusion of magic and technology.
It would serve as his primary assistant for the calculations and simulations of his next grand project.
Six months later, Noah was making rapid progress in his research.
During one of his experiments — while disassembling a sample of a fruit through a network of soul-analysis and magical-resonance spells — he made a surprising discovery:
the Akuma no Mi contained within them an amalgamation of hundreds of thousands of chaotic wills, forcibly fused into a single entity.
They weren't complete souls or defined beings. They were remnants — emotional impulses, fragmented desires, and shattered dreams of countless humans, all merged into an unstable yet functional form.
Each fragment was minuscule, barely a whisper lost in the vast sea of consciousness, but together, their collective force gave rise to the supernatural abilities that defined the Akuma no Mi.
Each type of fruit housed a distinct form of consciousness, adapted to the nature of its power.
The Paramecia manifested a conceptual will, its form varying according to the phenomenon it represented.
The Zoan, on the other hand, contained something less abstract.
The chaotic wills within each Zoan formed an incarnation of the creature they embodied — whether a tiger, an elephant, or another beast.
Lastly, the Logia concealed an elemental consciousness: a being made from the very element of the fruit itself.
These entities resting within the fruits did not think or speak, but they reacted to certain impulses, moving purely by instinct.
As remnants of different wills forced into unity, such behavior was to be expected.
On his monitor, Noah observed the inner dimensions of various fruits, each containing a being within.
Inside the Suna Suna no Mi, a man made of sand floated in the void, his gaze lost in nothingness.
Similarly, in a cat-type Zoan, a striped feline lay lazily adrift in the emptiness, its eyes clouded with confusion.
The Paramecia were the strangest of all — inside the Gura Gura, countless shockwaves collided chaotically without apparent reason.
In the other Paramecia fruits, similar phenomena occurred within their internal dimensions.
After his discovery regarding the wills within the Akuma no Mi, Noah turned his attention to the next great mystery: the awakening of the fruits.
Unlike ordinary users, awakened ones could alter not only their own bodies but also the very environment around them, extending the influence of their power beyond its usual boundaries.
Noah walked toward a deeper section of his laboratory.
A dimly lit corridor bathed in bluish light led him to a chamber where multiple capsules filled with liquid suspended bodies in forced animation.
He stopped before one of them.
Inside, floating in a state of controlled unconsciousness, was Trafalgar Law.
The young man wore a strange-looking helmet — a mind-control device designed by Noah specifically for his research.
With a motion of his hand, the capsule opened with a mechanical whisper. The liquid drained away, and Law fell to his knees, breathing erratically.
His eyes were vacant, dominated by the helmet that pulsed with a faint purple light.
"Awaken… and show me your awakened power," Noah ordered calmly.
Obeying mechanically, Law stood up. Within him, the Ope Ope no Mi began to resonate.
Immediately, Noah sensed an intense fluctuation in space. Still under control, Law deployed a K-Room, enveloping a staff that Noah handed him.
At the same time, Noah activated his observation spells and focused his eyes to observe within Law's body.
Inside Law's abdomen, there existed an internal dimension.
There, the manifestation of the Ope Ope no Mi resided as a core of chaotic, fluctuating energy.
Unlike the chaotic fragments he had observed in an inactive fruit, here, within the user, those wills vibrated in perfect harmony — resonating with one another like instruments in a grand orchestra.
It was perfect synchronization, as if hundreds of thousands of individual fragments had learned to beat as one heart.
"So… awakening isn't just mastery over external power," Noah reflected, taking a mental note.
"It's the process in which the wills inside the fruit achieve full resonance with the user's own will."
When that resonance was achieved, the Akuma no Mi not only extended its power over the user's body but also permeated the world around them, erasing the boundary between "user" and "environment."
True power didn't come from controlling the fruit, but from understanding and aligning the user's will with the desire represented by the fruit itself.
When Noah had gathered enough data, he deactivated Law's helmet, and the young doctor collapsed once more into unconsciousness.
Noah observed him for a moment, then gestured — a magical hand gently lifted Law and placed him back into another containment capsule.
Having completed his analysis of awakening, Noah decided to shift focus.
There was one fruit in particular whose unique nature might provide crucial information for his next project: the Baku Baku no Mi, the Munch-Munch Fruit.
This fruit allowed its user to devour anything — material or living — and assimilate it into their own body.
Noah slowly approached the capsule that held the fruit within and observed it, his lab coat fluttering faintly.
"Let's see what secrets you're hiding…"
He extended his hand and activated a set of deep-analysis spells. A beam of bluish light scanned the fruit's surface, revealing its internal structure.
The first thing he detected was a shapeless entity — a kind of abstract beast made of pure chaos, driven solely by the urge to devour and assimilate.
Through an astral projection spell, Noah sent a portion of his consciousness inside the dimension.
What he saw was a vast, dark void, where a grotesque mass of overlapping mouths, spinning teeth, and tentacles of ravenous mist floated endlessly.
The creature seemed dormant… but upon sensing Noah's presence, several of its "mouths" opened, revealing an insatiable hunger.
"So this is the inner manifestation of the Baku Baku no Mi… driven only by the impulse to consume and assimilate."
Noah rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"If I fuse the assimilative powers of my genes with this fruit, I could create that artifact — though I still need that fruit to become truly complete."
His eyes lit up as he envisioned the final piece of the puzzle.
Noah's greatest project at that moment was the creation of a Law Bloodline.
He could already assimilate an emperor-level bloodline if he wished, thanks to his unique physique — but such assimilation would require many years of hibernation for adaptation and evolution.
And compared to a Law Bloodline, an emperor bloodline was hardly worth the effort.
However, Noah also sensed that if he were to successfully create and merge with a Law Bloodline, his evolutionary path might be cut short.
Although the assimilative capabilities of his body were extraordinary, he remained bound to the mortal realm and far from being able to merge different Law Bloodlines.
That was why Noah would ensure the creation of an artifact capable of compensating for that limitation.
With it, his Law Bloodline could evolve even further — perhaps to the point of fusing with another Law Bloodline or one of equal quality.
With an expectant smile, Noah sealed the capsule with a gesture, satisfied with the progress of his research.