The Marine base in Water 7 sat like a concrete tumor on the island's fourth level, its utilitarian design a stark contrast to the flowing architecture of the surrounding city. Kael had visited it dozens of times during his career, but walking through its gates now felt like entering hostile territory.
Lieutenant Commander Sterling was waiting for him in Interview Room C – a windowless box painted in regulation grey that smelled of disinfectant and suspicion. Sterling himself was a thin man in his fifties, with steel-grey hair and eyes that missed nothing. He'd built his reputation on being able to crack even the most elaborate cover stories.
"Petty Officer Thornfield," Sterling said without preamble as Kael took a seat across from him. "You look better than expected for a man who spent a day floating in the Grand Line."
"Thank you, sir." Kael kept his voice steady, though he could feel the system stirring at the edge of his consciousness, alert to potential danger. "The shipwrights took good care of me."
"I'm sure they did." Sterling opened a folder thick with documents. "I've been reviewing the preliminary reports about the Meridian's Pride. Interesting reading."
He pulled out a photograph – an aerial shot of debris scattered across a reef that Kael didn't recognize. The rocks looked natural enough, but their placement formed an almost perfect ship-trap. Any vessel trying to navigate around them in a storm would inevitably be driven onto the sharpest points.
"Do you recognize this location?" Sterling asked.
Kael studied the photo, though his enhanced perception was already telling him things the camera couldn't capture. The reef was old – ancient, even – but the debris patterns suggested it had been recently disturbed. More troubling, he could sense traces of something that felt like Devil Fruit energy emanating from the image itself.
"No, sir," he said truthfully. "I've never seen this reef before. It wasn't on any of our charts."
"That's what I was afraid you'd say." Sterling leaned back in his chair. "Because according to our surveys, this reef has been here for at least two hundred years. It's marked on every official chart of these waters."
The implication hung in the air like smoke. Either Kael was lying, or the Marine charts he'd been using were deliberately falsified. Neither option reflected well on him.
THE REEF HAS BEEN MOVED, the system's voice whispered in his mind. RECENTLY. WITHIN THE LAST MONTH.
"That's impossible," Kael said, then caught himself. "I mean, our charts were up to date. I checked them myself before we left port."
"I'm sure you did." Sterling made a note in his file. "Tell me about the storm. What did you observe?"
This was the crucial moment. Kael had spent the walk here trying to decide how much truth he could safely reveal. Too little, and Sterling would know he was holding something back. Too much, and he'd find himself in a laboratory with wires attached to his skull.
"It came out of nowhere," he began, sticking to observable facts. "One moment we had clear skies, the next we were in the middle of a category five hurricane. The wind patterns were... unusual."
"Unusual how?"
"They shifted too quickly. Storm winds follow predictable patterns based on pressure differentials and geographic features. This one changed direction every few minutes, almost like it was..." He hesitated.
"Like it was what?"
"Like it was being directed."
Sterling's pen stopped moving. "Directed by what?"
"I don't know, sir. I'm just saying the meteorological data didn't match anything in my training."
CAREFUL, the system warned. HE IS EVALUATING YOUR STRESS RESPONSES.
Kael forced himself to relax, drawing on techniques he'd learned during interrogation resistance training. The key was to believe what you were saying, to internalize the carefully edited version of events until it felt true.
"Walk me through the wreck itself," Sterling said, apparently deciding to move on. "From the moment you struck the reef to when you were found."
This part was easier, since most of it had actually happened. Kael described the ship breaking apart, the crew being swept overboard, his desperate attempt to save Captain Morrison. He talked about clinging to the mast fragment and drifting through the night, leaving out only the small detail of drowning and being resurrected by an ancient navigation system.
"How long were you in the water?" Sterling asked.
"I'm not sure. Time gets distorted when you're fighting for survival. Maybe eighteen hours? Twenty?"
"The fishing boat found you approximately thirty-two hours after the storm hit."
Thirty-two hours. Longer than Kael had thought, which meant his encounter with the system had lasted longer than it seemed. Or perhaps time moved differently when you were technically dead.
"It felt shorter," he said. "I lost consciousness several times."
Sterling made another note. "The fishermen said you were in remarkably good condition for someone who'd been exposed to the elements for over a day. How do you explain that?"
NOW WOULD BE AN APPROPRIATE TIME TO DEMONSTRATE BASIC NAVIGATION ABILITIES, the system suggested. NOTHING THAT WOULD SEEM SUPERNATURAL.
"Training, sir," Kael said. "I know how to conserve body heat and energy in survival situations. Plus, the water temperature wasn't too bad – maybe sixty-eight degrees. Cold enough to be dangerous, but not immediately fatal."
He paused, as if remembering something. "Actually, there was something strange. The currents seemed to be carrying me toward Water 7 rather than away from it. If they'd been running the other direction, I probably wouldn't have made it."
"Interesting." Sterling consulted another document. "Our oceanographic charts show the current should have taken you northeast, toward the Calm Belt. Not toward inhabited islands."
"I can only tell you what I experienced, sir."
PERFECT. HE WILL ATTRIBUTE YOUR SURVIVAL TO NATURAL CAUSES WITH UNUSUAL VARIABLES.
The interrogation continued for another hour, covering everything from Kael's mental state before the mission to his opinion of Captain Morrison's seamanship. Sterling was thorough, but Kael could sense he wasn't finding the inconsistencies he'd expected. The system's coaching helped him navigate the verbal minefield without triggering any major suspicions.
Finally, Sterling closed the folder. "One last question, Petty Officer. Do you have any plans to return to active duty?"
The question caught Kael off-guard. "I... hadn't really thought about it, sir. I assumed I'd be reassigned once I recovered."
"Under normal circumstances, yes. But losing an entire crew – even to natural causes – tends to stick with a man. Some navigators never get their confidence back after an experience like yours."
Sterling stood up, signaling the end of the interview. "Take a few days to think about it. The Corps needs good navigators, but we need them at full capacity. If you have any doubts about your ability to perform your duties, it's better to discover them now rather than during your next mission."
"Yes, sir."
As Kael left the base, his mind raced. Sterling's offer to leave the Marines should have been a relief – it would give him freedom to pursue whatever purpose the system had in store for him. But it also felt like abandonment, like he was betraying everything he'd worked for.
THE CHOICE IS YOURS, the system said as he walked through Water 7's crowded streets. BUT CONSIDER: CAN YOU SERVE TWO MASTERS? THE MARINES DEMAND LOYALTY TO THE WORLD GOVERNMENT. I REQUIRE LOYALTY TO SOMETHING GREATER.
"What exactly do you require?" Kael asked silently, finding a quiet spot near one of the city's many canals.
FOCUS YOUR INTENT ON ACCESSING THE SYSTEM INTERFACE. IT IS TIME YOU SAW THE FULL SCOPE OF YOUR ABILITIES.
Kael closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to call up whatever the system considered an interface. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, gradually, translucent text began to appear in his field of vision:
WORLD NAVIGATION SYSTEM v7.23NAVIGATOR: KAEL THORNFIELDINTEGRATION STATUS: 12%
CURRENT ABILITIES:
Navigation Mastery (Level 2) Weather Prophet (Level 1) Treasure Sense (Level 1)
DORMANT ABILITIES:
[LOCKED] - Requires crew bond establishment [LOCKED] - Requires navigation milestone [LOCKED] - Requires ancient knowledge acquisition [LOCKED] - Requires moral trial completion
ACTIVE QUESTS:
Primary: Reach Laugh Tale Secondary: Gather worthy crew members (0/?) Secondary: Locate compass fragments (0/?)
SYSTEM NOTES:
Integration will continue gradually to prevent mental strain Some abilities require cooperation with others to unlock World Government agents may be able to detect system energy at higher integration levels
Kael stared at the display, trying to process what he was seeing. It looked like something from a video game, complete with levels and locked abilities. But the implications were very real.
"Compass fragments?" he thought.
THE COMPASS OF ETERNAL TIDES WAS SHATTERED CENTURIES AGO TO PREVENT ITS MISUSE. THE FRAGMENTS CONTAIN MAP DATA NECESSARY TO REACH LAUGH TALE. COLLECTING THEM WILL BE ESSENTIAL TO YOUR MISSION.
"And the crew requirement?"
MANY OF THE SYSTEM'S MOST POWERFUL ABILITIES ARE DESIGNED FOR GROUP NAVIGATION. A LONE NAVIGATOR CAN CHART A COURSE, BUT A CREW CAN CHANGE THE DESTINATION OF THE WORLD ITSELF.
The interface faded as footsteps approached. Kael opened his eyes to see Iceburg walking toward him, carrying what looked like a small mechanical device.
"Thought I might find you here," the young shipwright said. "How did the interview go?"
"Better than expected," Kael replied truthfully. "Sterling's satisfied that I'm not hiding anything important."
"Good. That means you're free to make your own choices." Iceburg held up the device – a compact compass with an intricate bronze casing. "I wanted to give you this before you left Water 7."
Kael took the compass, marveling at its craftsmanship. The casing was covered in tiny gears and dials, and the needle seemed to be made of some kind of crystal that caught the light in unusual ways.
"It's beautiful," he said. "But I can't accept something this valuable."
"It's not valuable," Iceburg said with a grin. "It's broken. Has been for years. The needle doesn't point north – just spins randomly most of the time. Tom found it in some old ruins and gave it to me as a puzzle to solve, but I've never figured out what's wrong with it."
As soon as Kael touched the compass, the system's presence surged in his mind.
COMPASS FRAGMENT DETECTED. ORIGIN: LAUGH TALE NAVIGATION ARRAY. CURRENT FUNCTION: 34% OF ORIGINAL CAPACITY.
"I'll take good care of it," Kael said, trying to keep the excitement out of his voice. His first quest item, handed to him by pure chance – or perhaps by the system's subtle influence on probability.
"Just promise me something," Iceburg said, his expression growing serious. "Whatever you decide to do next, don't let what happened to your crew define you. The sea takes what it wants, but it also gives back to those brave enough to keep sailing."
As Kael pocketed the compass, he felt the system's integration level tick upward slightly. He was no longer just a shipwreck survivor or a disillusioned Marine. He was something new – a navigator with ancient purpose and the tools to reshape the world.
The question was: would he be strong enough to handle the responsibility?
Standing by the canal, watching the setting sun paint Water 7's towers in shades of gold and crimson, Kael made his decision. Tomorrow, he would submit his resignation from the Marines. And after that...
After that, he would begin the journey that eight hundred years of history had been building toward. He would find a crew worthy of the system's power. He would gather the compass fragments. And eventually, he would reach Laugh Tale and discover what secret was important enough to justify the death of an entire civilization.
The system hummed with satisfaction in his mind, and for the first time since the storm, Kael smiled.
His new life was about to begin.