Even among the Haidu People, Milady's skill in the water was second to none.
It was as if she were born knowing how to command the waves. She could always use the lightest, most deft of strokes to propel herself an incredible distance. After taking a few breaths, she swam close to the paddle wheel on the ship's hull and grabbed one of the flat paddles from underwater—each one taller than a person.
This was her way aboard. The paddles reached higher than the deck; all she had to do was climb to a paddle at the very top of the wheel and she could jump down onto the ship.
The plan was simple, but few would have the resolve to haul themselves out of the cold sea to carry it out.
The moment she broke the surface, Milady was wracked with violent shivers. The cold was so intense it felt like her brain itself was buzzing and trembling. She didn't know where the strength came from, but she gripped the edge of the paddle wheel, planted a foot on a paddle, and with a grunt of effort, hauled her heavy, sopping-wet body onto the wheel. Water streamed off her, and her foot slipped, nearly sending her falling back through the gap between the paddles. By the time she scrambled to regain her footing, it felt like her heart had nearly leaped from her chest.
Treading carefully on the spokes of the wheel, Milady clenched her jaw, struggling to keep her balance as she climbed slowly, inch by inch. Fortunately, the wheel was large and heavy enough that her weight didn't cause it to turn.
Even in early summer, the cold night wind quickly numbed her fingers. She was trembling so violently that she could hardly believe it when she finally managed to peek her head over the ship's rail. She scanned the deck. Seeing no one nearby, she used a paddle to haul herself over the wheel and onto the ship as silently as possible.
Her ice-cold, wet feet landed on the wooden planks with a soft PAT. She thought she could still feel the faint, lingering warmth of the day's sun in the wood.
Looking back out to sea, she could no longer see the boat that had dropped her off. The scraping sound was clearer in the night, mingled with the low hum of turning mechanisms. Milady straightened up quietly beside a cabin, keeping to its shadows. She followed the sounds, stopping just before she reached the main deck.
On the deck, the backs of five or six men were silhouetted against the night. They were scattered around several medium-sized devices, the smell of tobacco drifting on the air. As they operated them, each device extended a long metal arm over the side of the deck and into the sea. The arms rose and fell in a slow, steady rhythm. Milady couldn't make out what they were doing.
A row of iron barrels stood beside the devices. Other than the occasional red glow of a cigarette tip when a man turned his head, there was no light at all.
"We've got this much already, and it's still not enough?" someone suddenly grumbled after a long period of silent work.
"How many barrels?" asked the man named Huai Tuo.
"Let's see… Twelve barrels."
"Another five or six barrels and we can head back," Huai Tuo said. "It's not just for our family this time. Changge wants some too."
Changge was another one of the Sea Wave Concerto families.
"Good thing this job doesn't come up often," the first man grumbled. "Working in the pitch black, like a bunch of bats."
Milady was dying to know what was in those barrels, but the men fell silent once more.
She waited in agonizing suspense for several minutes. Finally, one of the metal arms rose completely out of the sea, and she understood the source of the scraping sound. A large net was attached to the end of the arm. It had been sweeping back and forth under the water, like a trawling net for fish, only rising when it was full. The scraping was the sound of the net's ropes rubbing against the hull of the ship. But unlike a net full of fish, this one showed no signs of struggle.
With a heavy THUD, the full net slammed onto the deck, accompanied by the sound of a wet splash.
The mesh of the net was far finer than usual, almost like cloth. Milady squinted, trying to get a better look, but she still couldn't make out what they had dredged up.
"If you ask me, this isn't a job we should be doing ourselves. Why not just hire a few hands to do it?" one of the men said. He grabbed a corner of the net, gave it a heave, and failed to lift it. "Damn it," he cursed. "My back aches every time after hauling this crap. With the time we're spending here… do you guys know how much of a cut I could be taking in one night at the house?"
'The house? What was he referring to?' Milady thought to herself. She did, however, have a vague inkling of what "taking a cut" implied.
"Enough with the complaints," Huai Tuo said. "You're here because we trust you. Shouldn't you know by now why we can't hire outside hands? Why else would we only bring people from our own house? Once you're off this ship, you're to forget this ever happened. Not a single word to anyone. Oh, and you—wait for the rest of the nets to come up, then pack everything into the barrels at once."