"It was that very magnetic field that stopped ordinary compasses from working properly."
Those words made Nami's expression darken.
Nami's head hurt.
This voyage hadn't given them a single day's peace.
If their compass wouldn't work here, how were they supposed to keep going?
Wouldn't they be as good as blind?
No matter how they tried to proceed, nothing seemed likely to work.
They had no idea which direction to go.
If they pressed on without knowing their way, they would almost certainly die.
The old man nodded.
"You should understand now."
"In these waters, if you have no sense of direction, you'll lose your way."
"You've spent all this time traveling across the sea, so you should know very well how frightening that is."
"That's why I hope you'll be especially careful from now on."
"No matter what happens, make sure you stay safe."
"You ventured out onto the sea so recklessly. It's a good thing you ran into me."
"If you hadn't met me, you might already be lost."
"If you hadn't met me, you probably wouldn't even know which way to go."
His face was filled with helplessness.
Everything he had said was true.
There wasn't a single lie in his words.
Sailing off at random without even knowing the way was already dangerously close to courting death.
Nami's eyes were filled with worry.
"Sir, is there anything we can do now?"
"If there's no way around this, it'll be far too dangerous for us."
The old man shook his head helplessly.
"Ah, normally, your troubles would have nothing to do with me."
"Under ordinary circumstances, I certainly wouldn't tell you."
"But since fate brought us together, I suppose there's no harm in telling you."
"Simply put, if you really want to sail these waters, you need