Naruto woke before dawn.
The cabin was dark, with only a sliver of gray-white morning light coming through the porthole. He lay in his bunk staring at the ceiling, his left palm resting on the blanket. The patterns of the Guixu Mark were warm, dark red threads pulsing faintly beneath his skin, faster than the night before. He sat up, took the stone tablet from beside his pillow, and examined it in the dim light. The arrow on the back still pointed north by east, but the tablet seemed a little lighter than it had last night, and the patterns along its edges seemed to give off a faint heat.
Zoro's footsteps sounded on deck, followed by Usopp calling out from the lookout as the watch changed. By the time Naruto dressed and went outside, Nami was already standing beside the helm, holding a sea chart with a compass set before her. The needle was still straining toward north by east, matching the tablet's direction.
"I've plotted the course," Nami said without looking up. "North by east. If we follow the current, we should see a chain of small islands in about half a day's sailing. The nearest is called Bone Reef. It's uninhabited, surrounded by submerged reefs and broken coral. A little farther out is an inhabited island called Gray Whale Cape, with a small fishing village."
"We'll go to Bone Reef first."
Nami nodded and made a note in her notebook. Luffy burst out of the cabin, shouting that he was hungry as he ran toward the kitchen, only for Sanji to kick him back out, saying breakfast wasn't ready yet. Chopper and Usopp were in the middle of the deck, tinkering with the old parts they had bought last night. It seemed to be a small sonar