After wandering around the Marine base for nearly fifteen minutes, Nami still hadn't found what she was looking for. During that time, Alex Carter helped knock out a few Marines—otherwise, they might've already blown their cover.
"The Grand Line's navigational chart... It should be here," Nami murmured, scanning her surroundings. She and Alex slipped into a room that looked unusually luxurious, complete with a massive safe.
A room this lavish could only belong to that authoritarian brute, Captain Morgan.
Alex strolled around, noting the extravagant decor. It really was ridiculously lavish, he thought.
"This safe is surprisingly advanced. Not easy to crack," Nami said with a frown as she examined the big metal safe tucked into the corner.
"You can't open it?" Alex asked, stepping up beside her.
"Of course I can," Nami huffed. "It'll just take some time."
She bent down to study the mechanism seriously.
But before she could begin, they heard a click—the sound of the locked door being opened from the outside.
Both of their faces changed instantly.
Nami instinctively hid behind Alex. His muscles tensed as he prepared to strike whoever dared enter, only to see… a familiar straw hat step through the door.
"Maybe one of those three swords I'm looking for is in here... Huh?" Luffy mumbled to himself as he swung the door open. When he saw what was inside, he froze.
Alex's heart jolted at the sight of Luffy. But remembering how badly this idiot had screwed him over before, his expression darkened. He rolled up his sleeves—never mind explanations—he was going to beat the crap out of Luffy to settle the score.
As Alex stormed toward him, Luffy's face lit up with joy. He rushed over and wrapped Alex in a tight bear hug before he could react.
"Alex! I'm so glad you're okay!" Luffy exclaimed, squeezing him so hard his bones groaned. "After we got separated, I was so worried. If something had happened to you, I probably wouldn't have been able to eat meat for months!"
Alex was stunned. The hug was so intense, it hurt. But that's exactly why he could feel how genuinely happy Luffy was to see him again. His joy was raw, from the heart. Luffy had truly been worried.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be acting like this the moment he saw Alex safe and sound.
Nami watched them, arms tightly around each other. She felt like nothing in this world could separate those two. It was the kind of bond that even she had to admit was rare.
For men, hugging another man wasn't common. It took a deep, unshakable friendship to drive them to that. It was a type of brotherhood only men could understand.
Sure, a man could hug a woman for all sorts of reasons. But when a man hugged another man, and it wasn't romantic—it meant one thing: "I see you as my true brother."
Most men might have a lot of friends in their lives. But to find just one friend you could honestly embrace like this? Some may never find that person. And that's kind of tragic.
"I'm really glad you're okay. Now we can sail together again!" Luffy said earnestly, finally letting go.
"Haha, like anything could happen to me," Alex chuckled. In that moment, his bottled-up frustration melted away. His anger toward Luffy seemed suddenly so small, almost negligible.
Then Luffy glanced at Nami. "By the way, who's she?"
"You!" Nami blurted out angrily, her cheeks flushing pink. "You're the one who got me into that mess!"
"Wait, I wronged her?" Luffy looked genuinely confused as he turned to Alex.
"Yup. And me too," Alex nodded solemnly. "If you hadn't slapped me that time, I wouldn't have gotten beat up so badly by her."
"What?! I messed up both of you?" Luffy's gaze bounced between the two of them, utterly shocked.
Alex nodded again, thinking, If you'd just apologize, I might let it slide.
But Luffy just laughed. "Man, how unlucky are you two to get messed up by me at the same time? Hahahahaha!"
He clutched his stomach and laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world.
Nami's face darkened. Alex's lips twitched.
Damn it. I'm such an idiot for expecting an apology...
Both of them clenched their fists, raised them in perfect sync, and pummeled the still-laughing Luffy into the floor.
Bam! Bam! Wham!
By the time they were done, both Alex and Nami were panting for breath.
It couldn't be helped—Luffy was just too resistant to pain. They'd ended up beating him for way longer than they'd planned and exhausted themselves in the process.
"You'd better seriously reflect on your actions!" Alex scolded, arms crossed, breathing heavily as he looked down at the beat-up, unrecognizable Luffy lying sprawled on the floor.
"I'm sorry... I really didn't mean to mess things up for you two," Luffy mumbled through a swollen, pig-like face.
At last—he said something human.