One Piece: The Strongest Trait System

~ 18 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon!

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The Going Merry sailed towards the distant guiding light.

"Oh no! It's terrible! The light went out!" Usopp yelled in panic, watching the faraway beacon suddenly extinguish.

"Lighthouses use lights; it's not surprising they go out sometimes. That's precisely why we need a navigator, isn't it?" Rowen glanced at Nami with a smile.

"That's right! Don't worry, I remember the direction!" Nami replied, puffing her chest out slightly, pleased by Rowen's praise.

"As expected of you, Nami!" Luffy and the others gave her a thumbs-up.

Rowen looked fondly at Nami's slightly proud expression.

"This is tricky, though... If this continues, it'll be just like the legends say," Nami murmured, studying the Grand Line chart she'd taken from Buggy.

"What?" Luffy asked curiously.

"Let's head inside the cabin first," Nami instructed.

Slap! Inside the cabin, Nami slapped the chart down onto the table.

"The entrance to the Grand Line—is a mountain!" Nami declared, pointing at the chart.

"WHAT?!" Everyone except Rowen stared with shocked expressions.

"Yes. I hardly believe it myself, but look at the chart. The guiding light is clearly positioned on the Red Line, atop Reverse Mountain," Nami explained.

"What?! Are we supposed to crash into a mountain?!" Usopp shrieked.

"Wait, isn't there a canal here?" Zoro pointed to a waterway on the chart that seemed to flow up the Red Line.

"A canal? Don't be ridiculous! Even if there is a canal, a ship can't possibly sail up a mountain! Right, Rowen?" Usopp asked, sweating nervously, looking towards Rowen, the most knowledgeable among them.

"No, Nami is correct," Rowen replied with a smile.

"EH?!" Usopp looked utterly terrified. "I-I've got the 'I'll-die-if-I-climb-a-mountain' disease!" he wailed dramatically.

"Relax. It's also called Reverse Mountain. We just need to ride the current into the entrance channel—and it will carry us up to the summit. Then, we ride the current down the other side, right into the Grand Line," Rowen explained, pointing at the chart with a smile.

"I see! It uses the ocean currents!" Nami, with her exceptional navigational talent, understood immediately, her face lighting up with excitement.

Zoro and the others also smiled in relief.

"However, the currents there are extremely strong. If we fail to enter the channel correctly, we'll genuinely crash into the Red Line. I hear that more than half the pirates aiming for the Grand Line perish before even entering it," Rowen added, looking at the crew with a mischievous glint in his eye, adopting his 'intimidating villain' expression.

"!!!" Usopp started trembling uncontrollably.

Sanji and Zoro's eyes twitched.

Nami grabbed onto Rowen's arm, her face pale.

Faced with the terrifying power of nature described, even Sanji and Zoro felt their hearts pound with apprehension.

"But don't worry. My ability can prevent that from happening," Rowen chuckled, seeing the crew's terrified reactions.