The crew did not disappoint Li Yuan, and his previous gloomy mood was instantly swept away.

"By the way, Captain, it turns out the Navy also has a mission," Avril leaned against the side of the boat, speaking mysteriously. "Though it shouldn't be called a mission; Lieutenant Xiao Bei said it's a bounty."

"A bounty?! They're not after Luffy, are they..."

"Huh? Who's Luffy?"

Luffy was the protagonist of an anime Li Yuan watched long ago, over three hundred years ago, so naturally, Avril wouldn't know.

"Oh, just kidding. Go on, what's the bounty about?"

"Captain, I saw two bounty posters at the time. One is for the G-level pirate group 'Mad Wine Pirates,' with a bounty of 1,000 White Pearls. The other is for the G-level sea monster 'Medusa,' with a bounty of 1,500 White Pearls."

Li Yuan was shocked when he heard those numbers.

It took them several days of sailing back and forth to earn just a few Pearls, yet a single bounty poster had a reward in four figures? Enough to keep him sailing for years?

"Avril, what exactly is the level of a G-level pirate group and a G-level sea monster?" Li Yuan couldn't help but inquire.

"Well, how should I put it? The main ship of a G-level pirate group must at least be a G-level warship. Did you see that Navy warship? It's a G-level warship."

Li Yuan almost spat out blood. That warship was at least forty meters long and twenty meters high! It was equipped with at least 30 cannons, and a rough estimate of the crew was no less than 100 people!

And that's just G-level? G-level seems to be the lowest level Li Yuan has heard of so far. Previously, Aray said the sea monster they encountered might be F-level, one level higher than G-level, yet G-level was still an unattainable level for him!

"Besides the main ship, a G-level pirate group would probably have four to eight warships escorting it. The level of the escort ships isn't strictly required; even a small boat like Huang Biao's could be included."

Even a small boat like Huang Biao's?! Li Yuan felt as if he had been hit by a massive blow.

Huang Biao's boat seemed stronger than his own, yet in a G-level pirate group, it was the most inconspicuous existence?

What's the point then?

Seeing Li Yuan's silence, Avril quickly guessed what he was thinking. She smiled and said, "Captain, don't belittle yourself. Think about it, if a pirate group didn't have some strength, why would ordinary ships be afraid of them? Some pirate groups even have the strength to confront the Navy head-on!"

"Well, that makes some sense."

After all, Li Yuan had only evolved a few times; there was no need to compare himself to a pirate group.

Besides, given enough time, who knows who would be running if they ever encountered each other in the future.

Thinking this way, Li Yuan finally felt relieved.

"And about the G-level sea monster, well, a sea monster is essentially an anomaly among marine species. The Navy has a testing device that can deduce its strength based on various parameters and then grade it."

"But we're not the Navy, so we don't know how to grade them specifically. However, Captain, you can understand it this way: a G-level sea monster can confront a G-level pirate group or a Navy squadron head-on and have a certain chance of winning!"

"Damn!" Li Yuan couldn't help but exclaim.

"So, it's a miracle that Aray and the others survived."

"Yeah, otherwise, no one would bother looking for them. Logically, their chances of survival were almost zero. Their fishing boat was shattered as soon as it made contact with that thing."

"Well, no wonder I didn't even find a piece of wood..."

After Avril's explanation, Li Yuan was now determined not to mess with pirate groups or sea monsters.

"We should stick to trading. I believe the crew's safety is the most important," Li Yuan said righteously. "Let's not worry about unrealistic things for now. By the way, you mentioned buying some good food earlier, go ahead, but keep it within 1 Pearl!"

Avril had long expected Li Yuan to say this and wasn't surprised at all. Hearing that the stingy Li Yuan actually agreed to spend a Pearl to reward everyone, she said excitedly and playfully, "Captain, you're wise! I'll go right away!"

...

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "pawread dot com".

While Avril, the Ashan family, and Rookie were feasting, Li Yuan began planning their future strategy.

The next evolution required 500 units of wood and 100 kilograms of iron. The price of wood was 10 units per Pearl, totaling 50 Pearls.

Iron, being a rarer resource, was even more outrageously priced. One White Pearl could only exchange for 1 kilogram of iron!

"I still need to earn 121 Pearls!" Li Yuan said angrily. "If I'm lucky, I can get an iron transport mission to the Sicily Trade Market, but even that only earns 3 Pearls per trip! It takes 14 days for a round trip! In total, that's 560 days! And that's assuming I can get this high-paying mission every time... If I can't, or if there's a sea blockade, it'll take even longer!"

"Two years to evolve! Damn, that's terrifying!"

However, Li Yuan had no better way to make money. If steadily trading could complete the evolution, spending two years wasn't impossible.

With this in mind, Li Yuan decided to continue with transport missions while also looking for other good tasks, like rescue missions or something he hadn't encountered before.

After that, Li Yuan continued his trading career.

During this time, it was the happiest for the Ashan family. Whenever they had free time after completing a mission, Amin and Ashan could visit their mother, Ahui. Sometimes, Avril would also invite Ahui to visit the ship.

Although Lieutenant Xiao Bei didn't recruit the two crew members he wanted, he didn't seem to have given up entirely. Not only did he personally help raid Huang Biao's house, but he also sent a messenger seagull to Avril.

Seeing Xiao Bei frequently visiting, Li Yuan always felt like someone was pursuing his girlfriend, which felt weird. If Li Yuan didn't know it was just his imagination, and Xiao Bei seemed to be quite upright, he would definitely throw him off the ship!

During his interactions with Ashan, Lieutenant Xiao Bei quickly learned that Ashan's mother was working as a laborer at the market. Coincidentally, the Navy kitchen was short of a vegetable washer, so he recruited Ahui.

For Aray's family, this was undoubtedly great news.

Being able to join the Navy, even as a menial worker, was a dream come true for everyone. It meant Ahui now had a stable and relatively lucrative income, and her status had risen significantly.

Days passed by carefree and worry-free.

One day, Xiao Bei came uninvited again, discussing maritime tactics with Avril. Suddenly, seven Navy soldiers rushed over from the warship.

"Lieutenant Xiao Bei, hurry, there's a situation!"

"Why are you panicking? Aren't you afraid of being laughed at?" Xiao Bei shook his head, leisurely smoking a cigar. "Speak, what's the matter."

"Lieutenant Xiao Bei, a G-level sea monster has been spotted 300 nautical miles from here!" the soldier said anxiously. "Thirteen ships from the Missy Trade Market have already been destroyed, and the Navy over there is requesting support!"

Avril only saw a flash of blue before her eyes, and in the blink of an eye, Xiao Bei was no longer on the ship.

In the distance, Xiao Bei's tall figure quickly headed towards the Navy warship, "Notify all personnel, assemble for battle!"