After angering someone so much that their wound burst open, Luffy finally got serious and focused on dealing with Buggy.
Meanwhile, Alex was still troubled by his inability to control the mysterious Devil Fruit power. Normally, this wasn't such a big deal—but what really frustrated him was Nami nagging endlessly at his side.
"Isn't your Devil Fruit ability completely useless? If that's the case, then why did you eat it in the first place? You just turned yourself into a landlubber who can't swim."
Nami stared at Alex's face, which was covered in red and orange stripes, completely ignoring his bitter expression as she added, "And on top of that, your useless ability made you even uglier."
"What I look like is none of your business. Stop running your mouth."
Alex really couldn't take it anymore. He usually didn't care about appearances, but having a woman constantly call him ugly right to his face was unbearable.
"I'm not interested in your looks at all. I just think you never should have eaten that Devil Fruit in the first place. Don't you know? Devil Fruits are extremely valuable."
Nami had indeed heard the rumors—that Devil Fruits were worth a fortune.
"You know, you're right. A Devil Fruit can fetch at least a hundred million Berries." Alex rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
The moment Nami heard this, her jaw dropped. Then she immediately lunged forward, grabbing Alex by the neck and shaking him furiously:
"You idiot! You actually ate a hundred million Berries?! Spit it out—hurry up and spit it back out! It's useless to you anyway!"
Spit your sister!
Alex could barely breathe under her chokehold, coughing violently and nearly suffocating. "Let go! There's no way I can spit it back out. If you want one, go find it yourself!"
"How am I supposed to find it? Devil Fruits are legendary treasures of the sea!"
Just then, Nami's eyes widened in surprise. "Huh? Your face is back to normal?"
"Really?" Alex's heart leapt, but then sank again. What the hell? Does this mean the Devil Fruit's power activates whenever it wants? It just shows up randomly to mess with me? This is ridiculous!
Since there was no way to make him spit it out, Nami finally released his throat, though she looked displeased. With a huff, she said, "Fine. Then I'll just put this on your tab. From now on, you owe me four hundred million Berries—for curing your ugly face. Charging a fee isn't too much, is it?"
What the hell?!
Alex was fuming. You nearly strangled me to death, and now you're claiming you "healed" me? And on top of that, you want to charge me money? The fact I'm not beating you up right now already shows my self-restraint!
Just as he was about to argue with her, Buggy's arrogant laughter rang out:
"This raggedy old hat is supposed to be a treasure? Hahaha!"
He held three throwing knives in his hand, piercing straight through Luffy's most precious straw hat, taunting him with a sneer.
This hat… I'll leave it with you for now. It's my most precious treasure. When you become a great pirate, I'll come back to take it from you.
Luffy's face darkened. He remembered those words spoken ten years ago by the red-haired, one-armed man who entrusted him with the straw hat. Rage boiled inside him, and he immediately charged at Buggy. "That's the hat I promised Shanks I'd protect! It's my treasure! Anyone who dares ruin it—I'll never forgive them!"
"What? So it belonged to Shanks all along? No wonder it pissed me off just by looking at it. No wonder you were asking about him—you two are connected."
Buggy threw the pierced straw hat onto the ground and spat on it with disgust. "I used to sail on the same ship as him. Back then, we were both apprentice pirates."
Seeing Buggy spit on the hat, Luffy's fury exploded. "Shanks is a great man! You're not even worthy to be compared to him!"
When Luffy's fist came swinging, Buggy assumed he was aiming for his face. Panicking, he quickly detached his head from his body. "Bara Bara no Mi—Emergency Separation!"
"You're not even fit to say his name!"
With full force, Luffy's punch smashed into Buggy's stomach, making his eyes bulge with pain.
BAM!
Buggy's body was sent flying dozens of meters before crashing near Alex, who promptly kicked him hard into the ground, sending up a cloud of dust.
"That hat… he got this angry over it? I thought nothing ever bothered him."
Nami stared in shock at Luffy's enraged expression. She always thought he was too carefree to ever feel true anger.
Alex was also seeing this side of Luffy for the first time. Noticing the blood still flowing from Luffy's injured left hand, and his worsening condition, Alex felt uneasy. His own head was spinning more violently than before, his body wracked with pain every time he moved. We'd better finish this quickly.
But just then, Buggy staggered to his feet, face covered in dirt, glaring at both of them with murderous rage.
"I've lived for decades, and I've never been this furious! You little brats dare humiliate me again and again?! I'll kill you!"
Buggy had finally lost it. In his entire pirate career, he had never been insulted this many times in a single day. Worse, instead of beating them, he had been beaten senseless himself.
"You're dead! Bara Bara Festival!"
His body split into dozens of pieces, spinning rapidly in the air. While Luffy and Alex's eyes struggled to follow the chaos, his floating hands, each gripping throwing knives, darted toward the weakest target—Nami.
"I'll deal with the thief who dared steal my treasure first!"
The blades whistled toward her. Instinctively, Nami raised the bag of treasure in her hands to shield herself.
"Your opponent is me, big nose!"
"Don't ignore me, red nose!"
Luffy and Alex roared at the same time, furious that Buggy disregarded them to attack Nami.
"This kick is for the mayor!"
Luffy rushed to Buggy's side and slammed a kick into his left cheek.
At the same time, Alex's fist smashed into the same spot. "I don't care how angry you are—get lost!"
WHOOSH!
Buggy's head, struck by both attacks simultaneously, twisted grotesquely before rocketing through the air like a cannonball.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
His head smashed through five houses, rolled across several streets, and finally came to a stop. The rest of his body parts, still spinning, collapsed powerlessly to the ground.
Buggy was completely unconscious. The knives in his detached hands clattered uselessly to the dirt.
"Our teamwork's perfect!"
Luffy grinned, slapping hands with Alex in triumph. Both laughed happily—while one person's face darkened.
"Perfect, my ass! You two idiots—my treasure's gone!"
Nami erupted, shark teeth bared, screaming at them.
During their combined strike, she had accidentally raised the treasure bag to block Buggy's attack. Buggy's flying head had slammed into it, knocking it from her grasp. Now, it was nowhere to be found.
"Treasure? Who cares! We can always find more! Hahaha!" Luffy laughed carefreely.
"If you didn't hold onto it properly, then it just wasn't meant to be yours. Stop whining already." Alex, exhausted from the fight, plopped down to rest, ignoring her complaints.
BAM! BAM!
Both Luffy and Alex were immediately flattened by Nami's punches. "Shut up! Now get out there and find my treasure!"
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