Yu Lian heard that the Alliance fleet had come under attack two hours after it happened. He was a little surprised, but not especially surprised.
You had to understand that Milk Lude, nicknamed "Ghost Eye," was one of the seven pirate chieftains known as the "Seven Stars of the Spiral Cross." They were the most powerful outlaws in the vastest "open sea" in the entire galaxy—and indeed, in the whole universe—and had the highest bounties on their heads. According to the unwritten rules of the underworld, only someone with power on that level could rightfully claim the title of "Pirate King." Anyone else was just a monkey wearing a crown.
Ghost Eye Lude wasn't the most powerful of the Seven Stars, nor did he have the most followers or the strongest backers. But he was certainly the hardest hitter among the Pirate Kings. Yu Lian remembered that when Lude first made a name for himself more than a decade ago, he was already a six-ring Saint. He had also somehow picked up a whole slew of advanced psionic martial arts and techniques, and mastered them all.
So he'd declared himself "Number One in Fist Arts, Swordsmanship, Technique, and Psionics in the Cross Nebula." He'd certainly made a fearsome impression, striking terror throughout the starry river.
A Pirate King renowned for his martial prowess was probably a hot-blooded sort, so it was easy to understand why he wouldn't want to surrender to the government's lackeys. Leading his elite fleet in a desperate charge at the Alliance fleet seemed perfectly reasonable, too.
Of course, an even more reasonable explanation was that the fellow wanted to punch through the blockade with his elite followers, put on a token show of force, and then surrender. At least that would make him seem more valuable.