The next day, as the sun's first rays barely touched the sea, Nami burst into the ship's cabin, shouting.
"Yun Lie, this is bad!"
Her urgent cries shattered the morning's tranquility. Nami rushed frantically into the cabin, grabbed the still-sleeping Yun Lie, and dragged him out of bed, "There's a pirate crew in the distance, heading straight for us!"
"Whoa, whoa, don't panic. Let me see what's going on." Yun Lie, still groggy, was haphazardly pulled onto the deck by Nami.
The salty sea breeze hitting his face quickly woke him up. He snatched the telescope from Nojiko's hand.
Through the telescope, Yun Lie's gaze swept over the rolling waves, spotting the conspicuous heart-shaped emblem on the distant pirate ship's sail.
At the bow stood a tall, corpulent woman with prominent dark spots on her face.
Yun Lie's eyes narrowed, and he immediately recognized her identity: "Oh ho, it's the Alvida Pirates."
"The Alvida Pirates… I got it!"
Seeing this, Nami quickly turned and ran into the cabin. After some rummaging, she emerged with a stack of wanted posters.
As she flipped through the papers, the Alvida Pirates' wanted poster quickly appeared.
Alvida Pirates, Captain Alvida, bounty of five million beli!
"Only five million beli, doesn't seem like much of a threat," Nami said, her voice relaxed, as she casually tossed the wanted poster aside.
"Squeak! Squeak!" Nojiko and Little Kong scurried over, their eyes filled with delight.
"Nami, approach them at full speed! Your husband here will earn you some pocket money!" Yun Lie declared, waving his hand, looking utterly confident.
"Yun Lie, I knew you were the best! Mwah~"
Nami was overjoyed at the mention of pocket money. She instantly latched onto Yun Lie, planting a big, slobbery kiss on his face.
Subsequently, Nami and Nojiko skillfully adjusted the sails, increasing the ship's speed to maximum, rushing towards the Alvida Pirates. White waves surged from the stern, leaving a long trail on the sea.
...
Meanwhile, on the distant ship of the Alvida Pirates.
"Koby!" The corpulent Alvida suddenly bellowed, her voice echoing across the deck.
"Yes!"
Behind her, a pink-haired, bespectacled boy responded nervously, his face filled with unease, his body involuntarily trembling slightly.
Alvida stared sharply at Koby and questioned, "Who is the most beautiful person on this sea?"
Koby nervously scratched his head, his mind racing to formulate an answer. After a moment, he said, "That, that must be the Captain of this ship, Miss Alvida! Even the sun in the sky would pale in comparison to your beauty!"
Upon hearing this, Alvida's lips quickly curved upwards, her smile uncontrollable. She burst into laughter, "Hahahaha! Well said!"
"Thank you, Miss Alvida."
Koby dared not say more, cautiously retreating a little, fearing he might accidentally anger this extremely short-tempered Captain.
During the month he had been forcibly brought onto the ship, he had thoroughly understood Alvida's personality, knowing that as long as he praised her beauty profusely and obediently did chores, he wouldn't be bullied too severely.
"Miss Alvida, this prey looks promising. Let's speed up!"
A tall sailor eagerly said, his eyes gleaming with greed.
The pirates behind him also eagerly rubbed their hands together, sharpening their weapons, eager for a big fight.
"Indeed! Then charge forward and prepare for a grand battle!" Alvida's face was filled with excitement as she immediately ordered the pirates on the ship to speed up.
"Oh!!!"
The pirates, as if injected with adrenaline, quickly sprang into action, their shouts rising and falling.
Koby, meanwhile, frantically ran into the cabin, found a place to hide, unseen by the others.
The distance between the two ships rapidly closed.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The Alvida Pirates fired powerful cannon shots first. Numerous cannonballs, trailing long black smoke, flew towards the Infinite Space. The sound of tearing air was particularly piercing.
"Nice gift, returning it to you."
Watching the cannonballs raining down, Yun Lie showed no sign of panic.
He unhurriedly extended his finger and lightly tapped in the air.
A miraculous scene unfolded: the cannonballs in the sky vanished rapidly, as if playing a match-three game.
"Bang! Bang! Bang…" The next second, deafening explosions erupted on the Alvida Pirates' ship, as one cannonball after another appeared in arbitrary locations on the ship!
Flames instantly engulfed the pirate ship, and the pirates' screams continuously echoed.
"S-s-so incredible!"
Nami and Nojiko stared, dumbfounded, for a good while before realizing it was Yun Lie's ability. Their adoring eyes sparkled with little stars, and their gazes at Yun Lie were filled with admiration.
With continuous explosions, the Alvida Pirates' ship was blasted to pieces, riddled with holes.
The pirates aboard also suffered heavy casualties due to the immense power of the cannonballs; after all, they were just small fries, and the cannonballs' lethality was simply too strong for them.
"Bastard!" Alvida stood up, covered in dust and grime, her clothes tattered, her hair disheveled.
She looked at her subordinates, some dead, some wounded, and the rage in her heart instantly surged to her head.
Furious, Alvida saw that the two ships were already very close. She grabbed a spiked club from the side, and with all her might, she leaped, intending to jump onto the deck of the Infinite Space.
"Sorry, no landing allowed here."
Yun Lie revealed a meaningful smile. With a slight swipe of his finger towards her, a long crack appeared in front of Alvida.
Her massive body had no time to react and uncontrollably fell into the crack due to gravity.
"Plop!"
Immediately after, a sound of a huge object falling into water came from not far away, creating splashes large enough to rival a pirate ship.
Because Alvida was holding a heavy spiked club, combined with her own body weight, she quickly sank the moment she hit the water.
"And you all, don't be pirates in your next life." Yun Lie looked at the remaining pirates of the Alvida Pirates, his eyes devoid of any pity.
Just as he was about to make his move, a voice came from the pirate ship: "Wait a minute! I was forcibly taken onto their ship, please save me!"
Pink-haired Koby, seeing that the situation was dire, immediately ran out of the cabin, performed a sliding tackle, and knelt directly on the deck, repeatedly kowtowing, even scraping his forehead until it bled.
"Yun Lie, this child is so pitiful, please help him!" Nojiko, seeing Koby's small, thin body, her eyes filled with unbearable pity, hesitated as she spoke.
"Tell me, how long have you been with the Alvida Pirates? Have you killed anyone?"
Yun Lie also noticed the pink-haired boy, Koby, immediately. He just hadn't expected Koby to already be captured by the Alvida Pirates at this point.