East Blue, sowhere at sea—
A small lifeboat floated aimlessly across the waves. On it, Alex was rowing furiously, a massive lump swelling on his head, so large it looked from afar like he was wearing a huge round hat. It was quite the spectacle.
Monts ago, poor Nami had suffered an unfortunate accident… and imdiately activated her "She-Devil" mode. Without a shred of hesitation, she pounced on the clueless culprit and delivered a savage beatdown.
If the Marines hadn't been hot on their trail and they hadn't been forced to flee, there was a good chance Alex would have been beaten by Nami so badly even Luffy wouldn't recognize him.
And everyone who knows Luffy knows that guy once mistook zombie Zoro for real Zoro—so if even he would struggle to recognize Alex now, that gives you an idea of how brutal the pumling was.
Alex sighed, recalling the sight of Nami's back, the tips of her ears glowing pink from embarrassnt. He didn't even need to see her face to know it had been completely flushed red.
Luffy, you bastard!
Alex had already cursed that idiot in his heart a thousand tis over. If Luffy hadn't randomly slapped him out of nowhere, none of this ridiculous misfortune would've happened.
Sure, you could call it a lucky pervert mont… but Alex didn't an to take advantage of Nami. It was all external circumstances! He was an innocent bystander in the whole thing!
And now, thanks to being "collateral damage," he had endured Nami's violent wrath with no one to bla—not even Nami, who was also technically a victim. But the person he really wanted to punch wasn't even here. So he had no choice but to suffer in silence.
Facing the endless blue ocean, Alex had nowhere to vent his frustrations. All he could do was row like a madman. What, was he supposed to punch Nami back and send her flying?
If she had beaten him up for no reason, Alex definitely wouldn't have taken it lying down. He would've fought back, even if it ant launching her straight off the boat.
Unfortunately, Nami had very valid reasons for clobbering him this ti—and Alex was just guilty enough to not argue back.
Earlier, when Luffy had tried to stretch his arm out and grab Alex, he had missed. By then, the boat Luffy and Koby were on was already too far away.
And just like that, after barely reuniting with Luffy—who once again screwed him over—Alex was separated from him yet again.
Now, he and Nami were together on a tiny boat, headed toward Shells Town. Nami had said she needed to find a map of the Grand Line there.
Glancing at Nami, who sat opposite him silently fuming, Alex still couldn't believe this all happened on the first day they t.
Their very first eting, and he had already experienced the horror of Nami's iron fists. It was sothing he would never forget—he was still trembling from it and had no desire to ever go through it again.
What really caught him off guard was what Nami said after beating the crap out of him. Her face flushed, breathing slightly heavy, she glared at him and coldly spat out four words:
"One hundred million berries!"
Her bright, fierce eyes sparkled with icy light as she declared this to the still-dazed Alex. Her voice dripped with seriousness and nace.
Looking at Nami's beautiful, blushing face, Alex couldn't tell if she was red from beating him so hard or because of the earlier "chest incident" that had left her feeling embarrassed and furious.
But those four words—one hundred million berries—touched sothing deep inside Alex's heart. In that mont, he couldn't even stay mad at her, because he rembered her backstory.
Others might not know what that number really ant, but as soone who had crossed over into this world, Alex knew full well what it represented for Nami.
She was just ten years old when it started. Over the next eight years, she would risk her life over and over again, stealing from dangerous pirates—all to gather one hundred million berries.
A little girl who should've been snuggling in her parents' arms had forced herself into a life of theft, all to collect enough money to save the people she cared about.
That number—100 million berries—was the embodint of Nami's hope for the future.
Still, just because he sympathized didn't an Alex was about to admit he now owed her that much money!
He shook off the thought and looked around.
"So… which direction are we going now?"
Facing the vast, seemingly endless ocean, Alex was completely clueless. Without Nami's guidance, his navigation knowledge was practically nonexistent. He didn't even know which way to go.
Earlier, under Nami's command, Alex had sohow managed to row their tiny lifeboat and shake off a full Marine warship.
It was that mont that made Alex realize just how skilled Nami was when it ca to navigation—and it gave him an enormous sense of pride.
Those Navy ships may have been big and flashy, ard to the teeth, but with Nami on his side, he could row a tiny wooden boat and leave them in the dust!
On that Navy ship tasked with chasing them, the Marines could only stare in disbelief at the fleeing lifeboat.
There were only two people aboard—one man and one woman—yet no matter how fast they pushed their ship, that little boat only got farther and farther away. Before long, it vanished over the horizon completely.
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