"It's useless! I'm made of rubber—your punches don't work on me!"

After being slammed through the wall by Alex's punch, Luffy lay sprawled on the ground, but within moments, he popped back up like nothing happened and began walking steadily toward Alex.

"Try taking another punch and see for yourself whether my fists work or not," Alex retorted as he stood up.

The left side of Alex's face was already swollen from Luffy's punch. He'd also crashed through a wall with his bare body—it hurt so much cold sweat was dripping down his back. Coupled with the injuries he already had, his condition was far from good.

But Alex showed no sign of retreat. Things had already escalated this far—now all he wanted to do was give it everything he had and beat the crap out of Luffy.

He also genuinely wanted to fight Luffy with no holds barred, to see just how wide the gap between them truly was.

As for how things would turn out, Alex didn't care.

"You think I'll go down that easy?" Luffy stretched his arms back and charged at Alex.

"You think you can actually knock me out?" Alex gritted his teeth through the pain and sprinted to meet Luffy head-on.

"Quit acting like you're better than me, you idiot!" they shouted at the same time as they swung their fists.

"Gum-Gum Pistol!"

Luffy's fist, launched by his rubbery arm's recoil, rocketed straight at Alex's stomach.

"That simple move won't land on me!" Alex twisted sideways and dodged the attack. In the same motion, he leapt forward and slammed his fist into Luffy's face without hesitation.

Boom!

Luffy once again went flying and crashed into another wall, cracking it with the impact.

"I let my guard down… Ow! Why does your punch hurt me?" Luffy groaned in pain. This time, unlike earlier, he actually seemed to feel it.

"Take this seriously and use your full strength, Monkey D. Luffy! Or else, you'll lose to me."

Alex's words made Luffy narrow his eyes. He lowered his straw hat with a serious expression.

"The first time I saw you, you were weak. But now, you've gotten really strong, Alex. I guess it makes sense… you're the one who trains the hardest out of all of us."

He paused and looked at Alex. "From here on, I'm going all out. I'm gonna knock you flat."

Luffy wasn't lying. Over the past month sailing together, he had seen firsthand how Alex seized every spare moment to train like a madman. That relentless drive and willpower were part of the reason Luffy trusted him.

"I'm the one who's gonna knock some sense into your thick skull!"

Seeing Luffy leap into the air, Alex backed off several steps to put distance between them.

"Gum-Gum Stamp!"

From mid-air, Luffy stretched his legs and slammed both feet downward toward Alex's face.

Holy crap, that's fast!

Alex barely dodged, but Luffy's kick hit the ground with such force it left a crater and sent Alex flying from the shockwave.

"Gum-Gum Whip!"

As soon as Alex regained his footing, Luffy, now on the ground again, extended his leg in a sweeping kick toward him.

"I'm not just gonna stand here and get hit!"

Alex ducked under the long rubber leg, grabbed Luffy's ankle before he could retract it, and yanked hard, pulling Luffy toward him.

"Eat this!"

Alex's right fist, already soaked in blood, slammed into Luffy's face just as he came flying in. At the same time, Luffy swung a fist of his own, punching Alex hard on the right cheek.

Bam! Bam!

Both took heavy hits and were launched in opposite directions, rolling across the ground several times before stopping.

"So that's why it hurts… You wedged sharp stones between your knuckles."

Luffy now had several bloody cuts on his face. He'd clearly seen the small, jagged stones nestled between Alex's fingers. That explained the pain—when Alex punched, those stones pierced into his rubber skin.

The sharp edges barely peeked out from Alex's fist, which was why Luffy hadn't noticed at first.

"But if you keep doing that, your hand'll be ruined."

Luffy wiped blood from his cheek and walked toward Alex.

"Don't worry. Before that happens, I'll make sure you taste defeat."

Alex was panting heavily. His right hand, fingers still clenched around the blood-stained stones, was trembling uncontrollably.

Every time he punched with all his strength, the sharp stones dug deeper into his flesh, sending blinding pain through his nerves.

It was a strategy of mutual destruction—wound the enemy while wounding yourself. But right now, it was the most effective way Alex had to hurt a rubber man like Luffy, since he didn't know how to use Haki yet.

If he had time, maybe he could've crafted a spiked gauntlet instead—then he wouldn't have to suffer like this. He had considered putting stones in both fists, but that would've limited his movement too much. So he'd only armed his dominant hand.

Meanwhile, Nami stood frozen behind them, completely dumbfounded.

This was not how she expected things to go.

Her plan was to stir up an argument between Alex and Luffy so they'd split apart, giving her a chance to convince Alex to quit being a pirate.

But somehow the argument had escalated into an all-out brawl, and judging from how they were going at it, it looked like they were ready to fight to the death.

It was the first time Nami truly realized—men and women must be entirely different creatures.

You're just arguing—why does it have to come to blows?! Look at you two! You've already destroyed multiple houses!

As the fight grew fiercer and more destructive, Nami's worry increased. What if one of them actually died?

But what pained her most was seeing both of them get hurt and not being able to do anything about it.

When she'd first heard Luffy say he was going to beat up Alex for her sake, she thought he was just saying it to sound cool.

Who knew he and Alex would actually go all out?

And for the first time in her life, Nami found her view of pirates beginning to change.

She remembered how Luffy had called her "a crewmate" multiple times. That strange feeling welled up again in her chest.

Then she thought of Alex. Back in Shells Town, he'd risked his life to save Zoro. Could it be that Zoro—the infamous "Demon Hunter"—was also one of their crewmates? Is that why Alex was willing to throw everything away to save him?

No, that can't be right… There's no way a pirate hunter would join them and become a pirate.

And besides, do pirates really risk their lives for their friends? Aren't they supposed to be ruthless thieves, only caring about treasure?

…Wait, if Alex bullies me again in the future, can I just tell Luffy? Would he help beat Alex up for me again?

For some reason, that thought suddenly popped into Nami's mind.

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