Seven thousand meters above the ground, the White Sea resembled a vast, frozen snowfield, stretching out beneath the sky.
Looking into the distance, as far as the eye could see was endless white; the continuous waves of clouds, like solidified tides, shimmered with fragmented silver light under the sun, dyeing the entire world in dreamlike colors.
Floating islands appeared and disappeared, like mysterious castles suspended in a sea of clouds, adding a touch of fantasy to this ethereal place.
"Oh no! Yun Lie, the impact of the Knock-Up Stream has weakened! Quickly unfurl the sails and use the air currents to get us up!"
Karina's anxious shout broke the silence.
As one of the Infinite Space's genius navigators, and with the boost from her Air-Air Fruit, her perception of air currents was instinctive; almost every subtle fluctuation could not escape her keen intuition.
Everyone had no time to admire the magnificent scenery of the White Sea as the huge canvas sails quickly unfurled.
In an instant, a powerful upward current, like an invisible giant hand, suddenly lifted the Infinite Space.
The ship vibrated violently, breaking through waves and clouds, surging towards a higher skyline.
Nami gripped the helm tightly, her hair messy from the wind, her forehead covered in fine beads of sweat; she stared intently at the compass, her eyes full of determination and focus.
"This should be foolproof now," Nami let out a long breath, wiping the nervous sweat from her forehead, her voice still holding a trace of lingering apprehension.
"You're also our genius navigator; we've arrived!" Yun Lie walked over with a smile, reaching out to pat Nami's head, his eyes full of trust and encouragement.
At this moment, the Infinite Space had steadily come to a halt upon this mysterious White Sea.
"The clouds here are soft, like cotton candy!" Nojiko excitedly put away her barrier, eagerly reaching out to gently touch the surrounding clouds.
Her fingertips sank into the soft cloud wisps, and a surprised smile bloomed on her face, as if she had discovered a new continent.
"Look what I caught!" Karina, as if by magic, produced a scoop net from somewhere, gave it a mighty swing, and successfully caught a colorful Sky Island fish.
The fish struggled in the net, its scales reflecting strange light, shimmering with brilliant colors under the sunlight.
Mikita, meanwhile, transformed into a curious child, her wings gently flapping as she flew lightly in the air.
Her gaze was full of curiosity as she looked around this strange and novel Sky Island world, her eyes filled with wonder and longing.
Robin maintained her usual composure, elegantly leaning against the ship's railing, but a hint of barely concealed surprise in the depths of her eyes still betrayed her inner shock.
"Squeak squeak!"
The restless Little Kong and Xiao Mei could no longer contain their excitement; they joyfully leaped down and frolicked on the bouncy clouds.
The fluffy clouds were pressed into cute little indentations by them, only to quickly return to their original shape, as if playing with them.
"There's a gate over there, should we go take a look?" Mikita flew back, pointing into the distance, her voice filled with uncontrollable excitement.
"Whoosh~~"
Just then, a sharp sound of air jetting erupted from another direction.
Everyone looked in that direction, only to see a savage, holding a shield and carrying a long cannon on his shoulder, speeding through the clouds.
His skin was dark, his body adorned with strange animal skins and grass skirts, and his eyes were fierce like an eagle's; he was approaching the Infinite Space at an extremely fast speed.
And his first target was none other than Mikita in the air!
"Spatial Displacement!" Yun Lie reacted incredibly fast, a faint blue light emanating from his body as he instantly activated his spatial power.
The next second, Mikita in the air swapped positions with Yun Lie.
"Take this punch!" Yun Lie grinned, and his fist, imbued with immense power, slammed out.
"Shimatta!" The savage clearly hadn't expected his target to suddenly change and couldn't stop in time, so he could only swing his fist to meet it.
With a loud "bang," a huge impact force exploded in the air.
The outcome was predictable: the savage's arm was instantly blasted into a bloody mess, like a bouncy jelly, and he himself was sent flying backward like a kite with a broken string.
"A Shandia?" Yun Lie murmured softly, reaching into space.
He pulled out a half-dead figure; it was precisely the Shandia who had just tried to attack Mikita.
Just then, a black dot rapidly approached from the distance.
A figure riding a giant bird and wearing silver knight armor quickly flew over.
"Blue Sea people, hello, I am Sky Knight Gan Fall. Could you please hand this Shandia over to me?" Gan Fall reined in his mount, stopping beside the ship, his tone respectful yet authoritative.
He had witnessed the entire battle; this seemingly impossibly young man had instantly severely injured and subdued the attacking Shandia, which filled his heart with shock and caution.
"Why? This is my spoils of war. You just want me to hand him over based on a single sentence?"
Yun Lie's lips curved into an amused arc. He naturally knew Gan Fall's identity, but he had no intention of easily handing over his "spoils of war."
In his opinion, this Shandia had attacked Mikita without clear reason and deserved appropriate punishment.
"Uh..." Gan Fall was momentarily speechless, an awkward expression on his face.
What the other party said was true; this was indeed the other party's spoils of war and had nothing to do with him.
"Forget it, here you go." Yun Lie merely wanted to tease the Sky Knight, then casually tossed the Shandia to him.
"Both arms... are crippled." Gan Fall caught the Shandia and immediately sensed something was wrong.
Both of his arms had completely lost their support, soft and boneless.
There was only one explanation for this situation: the bones within his arms had been completely pulverized!
However, he had no intention of offending Yun Lie; being defeated by such a strong person, being able to save his life was already quite fortunate.
"Thank you for your benevolence, esteemed sir. Blow this whistle, and for a payment of five million Ik, this old man can come help you resolve matters at any time."
Gan Fall took out a whistle, handed it to Yun Lie, and patiently explained.
"Alright." Yun Lie nodded and took the whistle. Gan Fall then rode his large bird, carrying the Shandia, and departed.
"Yun Lie, calling this old man once costs five million, that's too expensive, isn't it?"
Nami snatched the whistle from Yun Lie's hand, examining it carefully, only to find that it was just an ordinary whistle.
"Hahahah, he said Ik, which is the currency of Sky Island. One beli can be exchanged for ten thousand Ik."
Yun Lie immediately found it amusing and explained the exchange rate between Sky Island's Ik and beli in detail to everyone.
"Five million Ik, converted to beli, is five hundred beli..." Nojiko calculated, counting on her fingers.
Everyone exclaimed in unison: "So cheap!"
In their eyes, five hundred beli was merely the cost of a meal; such a price for the help of a Sky Knight was truly a bargain.
Subsequently, the Infinite Space slowly sailed towards the large gate that Mikita had just seen.