Lester glanced at the people, and finally his gaze fell on Rowland, who was standing to the side. Somewhat surprised, he asked, “Young man, what are you doing here?”

“I’m here to help salvage the goods too,” Rowland replied with a smile.

Before Lester could speak, Gates impatiently waved him away. “Go on, go on, kid, step aside. This isn’t work you can handle. With that scrawny body of yours, you’d just end up as fish food if you went down.”

Just look at this kid—his body is as thin as a stalk of wheat, his face is deathly pale with a hint of blue, clearly suffering from some congenital weakness. Someone like this diving for salvage in deep water would either suffocate or freeze to death, which is no different from sending him to his doom.

“Yeah, Rowland, do you know how to deal with seaweed tangling around your legs? Do you know how to tie a reliable knot on the cargo box to make sure the hook doesn’t slip off? Do you know what to do if you accidentally swallow water?” another dockworker chimed in.

“Don’t go getting yourself killed, kid!”

“We’re saying this for your own good.”

All five people present tried to persuade him. They meant well, but Rowland didn’t appreciate it. He shook his head and then looked at Lester: “Uncle, I’m a great swimmer—better than anyone here!”

Lester was a bit intrigued and asked, “How good?”

“I can dive for half an hour without coming up for air,” Rowland lifted his chin, full of pride.

“……” Everyone present was speechless, staring at Rowland as if he were crazy.

“Are you nuts? Not even the southern Dratlanders can do that! Unless you’re actually a merman!” Gates thought the kid was talking nonsense. Take himself, for example—he was the best swimmer here, and even he could only hold his breath for ten minutes at most.

“Young man, do you dare to prove it?” Lester grew even more interested.

“Of course.” Rowland glanced at the inky black water of the harbor and smiled at Lester: “But you know, the water’s a bit cold right now. You’ll have to let me have a good meal first, so I don’t freeze to death once I get in.”

At this, the dockworkers all fell silent, exchanging glances before starting to chime in on Rowland’s behalf: “Let him try, Lester, let him eat his fill and then try.”

They were all poor folk, and upon hearing Rowland’s words, they thought they’d figured out the reason for his wild boasting—he must be starving and trying to scam a meal. If that was the case, helping him out was no big deal. After he ate, Rowland would surely try to weasel out of it, but on this dock, the dockworkers called the shots. So what if he got a free meal?

Lester was a good-natured man, but he wasn’t stupid. After a moment’s thought, he understood and gave a wry smile. He took five copper coins from his pocket and handed them to Rowland: “Forget it, kid, no need to prove anything. Take this money and buy yourself something to eat.”

Rowland was indeed starving at the moment—he felt like he could eat an elephant. He knew this was the work of the intelligent core; no matter how far-fetched its theories sounded, the vast majority of the energy it absorbed ultimately came from the food Rowland ate, which made him get hungry very easily.

Starving as he was, Rowland couldn’t care less about dignity or pride. He grabbed the coins and left a sentence behind: “Mr. Lester, you absolutely won’t regret this meal—I promise.”

With that, he dashed into the nearby bakery to buy some food.

Lester shook his head with a wry smile, not taking the words to heart. He began instructing the five dockworkers: “The sailors and laborers on the ship are ready. All that’s left is you ‘mermen’ to go underwater. Here’s the plan: we’ll take the Dawei to the wreck site, you’ll dive down, tie ropes to each box underwater, and hook them up…”

“Enough talk, Lester, we know what to do. There’s still some time this afternoon, so let’s get going,” Gates urged.

“All right, let’s board.” Lester nodded and led the five dockworkers onto the ship.

Once everyone was aboard and the sailors on the Dawei were preparing to pull up the gangplank and set sail, Rowland came rushing out of the dockside eatery, chomping on a piece of dark bread and shouting, “Wait, I’m not there yet—wait for me!”

In the captain’s cabin, the captain asked Lester, “Who’s that kid?”

“Don’t worry about him, let’s set sail.” Lester waved his hand. He didn’t think this boy named Rowland would be of any use in salvaging the cargo. Even if he really could hold his breath for a long time, so what? The high pressure in deep water could knock him out instantly.

“Wait, let him come aboard.” A gentle voice sounded from the corner of the captain’s cabin. The speaker was a young woman in a light blue long dress, its gauzy overlay as misty as smoke—clearly a fine and expensive garment.

She had been sitting in a lounge chair in the corner, reading a book—apparently a popular knight novel—seemingly unconcerned with what was happening outside, but unexpectedly, she had been listening all along.

“Second Miss?” Lester asked in confusion, his tone very respectful—not just because she was the second daughter of Hamlin, but more importantly, because this young woman was a noble mage.

Hamlin, that miser, valued this daughter above all. The Dawei was even named after her.