No doubt about it—Alex's actions nearly drove Nami mad. The fact that she didn't pin him to the ground and beat him senseless was already a testament to her unbelievable self-control.

To be fair, Alex had acted that way because his relationship with Nami was unclear and awkward. When he looked at her, she would instinctively avert her eyes. And when she glanced at him, he would subconsciously avoid her gaze too. They couldn't even make eye contact.

It was painfully awkward.

Over ten minutes later, Alex stepped out of the room after finishing his wound treatment—only to find Luffy tied up tightly with rope by Nami.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Alex rushed to Luffy's side, untying him while shouting at Nami.

"Why are you a pirate? Why did you lie to me?"

Nami's once-bright eyes were now dull and lifeless, like someone drowning in despair. She stared blankly at Alex and questioned him in a hollow voice.

Alex's hands froze mid-untying. He turned to look at her and saw the pain in her pale face. He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

What had happened was that while Alex was alone in the room treating his injuries, Nami had gotten the truth out of Luffy: that both he and Alex were pirates.

The news struck her like a bolt of lightning. Nami, who had always hated pirates with a burning passion, had never felt so crushed and heartbroken.

For a moment, she felt like she had returned to that day eight years ago…

The day Bell-mère—the woman she considered her true mother—was gunned down and bled to death at the hands of pirates. That soul-tearing pain surged back into her chest.

The person she thought she could trust...

The one she imagined she might give her life to...

Turned out to be a pirate—the very thing she'd hated most all these years!

To Nami, it was utterly cruel.

"Do you know who I hate the most in this entire world? Pirates! I only like money and oranges! WHY? Why didn't you tell me sooner that you were one of those disgusting pirates?!"

Her voice cracked as she screamed at Alex, her tear-filled eyes wide with fury and grief.

"Hey, Alex! Why the hell did you make our navigator cry?!"

Still tied up, Luffy shouted at Alex in shock. Just earlier, Nami had agreed to join them as their navigator—now she was sobbing, and from the looks of it, it was Alex's fault. To someone like Luffy, who held his crewmates dear, this was completely unacceptable.

In truth, Nami had only agreed to join Luffy's crew as a trick—to lure them into a trap set by the Buggy Pirates. But when she saw Alex again, she kept her emotions in check and easily tricked naive Luffy into letting her tie him up under the pretense of leading him to Buggy.

"Yeah, he bullied me so badly… You've gotta help me,"

Nami whimpered, tears still running down her cheeks. Her words were half-true, half-false—but someone like Luffy wasn't capable of noticing the difference. He believed every word.

In her heart, Nami still held a sliver of hope. She naïvely thought: if Alex and Luffy had a falling out, maybe Alex would give up being a pirate. That would be his redemption.

"She's our crewmate now, and a girl too! How can you bully her to the point of tears?! You're scum, Alex!"

Luffy shouted, rage etched across his face. Then, without hesitation, he suddenly stretched his head toward Alex like a missile:

"Gum-Gum Headbutt!"

Boom!

Alex sidestepped in time, narrowly dodging the attack—only to see Luffy's rubbery skull slam through the wall, leaving a gaping hole.

"You moron! You trying to kill me?!"

Alex snapped.

"Damn right! Someone like you who bullies crewmates needs to be punched into orbit!"

Luffy's face was uncharacteristically serious, his brows furrowed in fury. This wasn't a joke anymore.

What the hell!?

Alex was already stressed from the drama with Nami, and now this idiot was trying to fight him without even understanding the situation. Even a saint would lose it at this point—and Alex was no saint.

"You ever think of making your own judgment? You ever try listening to someone's explanation?"

Alex clenched his fists, took a step forward, and forced himself to stay calm.

"Fine, I'll ask you then—did you bully her? Is she crying because of you?"

Luffy met Alex's eyes dead-on.

"You can't deny it, right? Because that's the truth. So what more is there to say?"

Alex was silenced. Technically… yes. He'd accidentally taken advantage of Nami—twice, no less. And she was crying now because of him.

"…So no matter what I say, you're not going to listen, huh? One last time—are you serious about this?"

Alex's voice dropped, his eyes turning cold as he stared Luffy down.

"I'm not joking. I told you—if you hurt a comrade, I'll beat you into the ground!"

Luffy stepped forward as well, standing his ground without hesitation.

"In that case…"

Alex passed by Nami, whose eyes were still wet with tears, and let out a barely audible sigh. Then he picked up the fruit knife lying on the table and—without hesitation—threw it toward Luffy.

"I'm not gonna take advantage of you while you're tied up!"

Swoosh!

The fruit knife slashed through the ropes binding Luffy.

Immediately, Luffy charged at him with fists raised:

"You're injured, but I won't hold back! Be ready!"

"You're the one who needs to be ready! Don't regret your stupidity in hell!"

Alex gritted his teeth, fists clenched, and charged straight back at him.

"Monkey D. Luffy!!"

"Alex Carter!!"

With Nami watching in stunned silence, the two men called out each other's names and launched their fists at one another's faces.

The sheer force of their punches sent gusts of wind blowing Nami's short orange hair into the air.

Both men landed solid hits on each other's face—and were simultaneously blasted backward like cannonballs.

Boom!

Crash!

They both smashed through the walls, flying out of the house—leaving Nami standing there alone in the wrecked room… speechless.

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