"Wow, there’s so much stuff." Avery’s little voice carried in the quiet.

Kain laughed inwardly, looking at Avery, whose eyes were full of wonder. He thought of the saying, ’one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.’ It seems that his daughter sees treasure here.

Seeing her eyes so bright, he couldn’t help teasing, "Do you see something you want? Dad will get it for you."

"Really?" Avery’s eyes sparkled.

"Then I want that," she pointed towards the line of trash.

The second Avery pointed to what she wanted, the system chimed in his mind.

[Your child had indicated they would like a gift. Please find a gift that suits each child if the child does not explicitly state their needs.]

[Mission: Give a gift to each child.]

[Reward: 3 mutant beast bone marrow, 2 jars of Flarebee honey]

Unexpectedly, he actually got a mission by asking what each child wanted. It wasn’t the type of mission he expected, but it was a mission nonetheless.

Kain squinted, trying to make out what she was looking at. When he saw what it was, he shook his head. He had a stuffed animal just like that in the space.

He walked out of everyone’s sight and came back with an identical toy.

"Here you go," he handed it to Avery.

She looked at it and shook her head. She pointed to the stuffed animal and repeated that she wanted the specific one from the line of trash.

When Kain asked why she wanted it. She wouldn’t say anything. She only repeated the same thing.

Kain’s temples ached. If he had known he would end up in that trash pile, he wouldn’t have asked. Amelia snickered, seeing the look of resignation on his face.

"What about you two? Do you want anything?" Since he already gave himself trash sorting duties, he may as well see if they want anything.

Dominic shook his head. There was nothing he wanted. "Are you sure? You can get whatever you want." He still shook his head, but his eyes were glued in one direction.

Ashton was a little impatient as he pointed to a car nearby.

"I want that," he said.

"The car?" Kain asked.

"Not the car. I want what’s inside the car," Ashton replied.

Once again, he squinted, trying to see what was in the car. He wondered whether he and the children were really at the same level. Why could they see farther and better than he could?

Melancholy swept through him for a brief moment. Then he went back to searching.

When he finally saw what was in the car, he frowned. He turned back to Ashton, who was smiling with genuine anticipation.

"You sure that’s what you want?" Kain asked. Ashton nodded.

Kain stared at the muddy water as if it might bite. He didn’t feel disgusted. The feeling was something he couldn’t quite describe.

After his worthless, apathetic previous life, this one has been smooth sailing. Now, he was about to jump into this dank, dirty water for children he had only known for a little more than a month.

’Looks like I like these kids more than I thought.’

Amelia, beside him, whispered, "Are you sure you want to go in there?"

Kain put on a helpless smile and sent the system mission to Amelia. She hadn’t seen the system in so long that she had forgotten about it. She jolted, seeing the sudden words pop up.

When Kain dived into the filthy water, he heard everyone cheering for him. Telling him he was Father of the Year. The accolades made him feel the need to drown himself.

When he was on the yacht, he couldn’t smell it, but the moment he found himself in the water, he wanted to rewind time.

It was the smell of sewage, rotten eggs, and death. He gagged and almost took some water into his mouth.

He was sure it didn’t smell like this on the yacht. He looked over, finding the children staring at him with starry eyes. Resigning himself to his fate, he began to swim.

’Mutant beasts are the real MVPs. How do they swim around in this?’

He had the rope he brought with him. Without it, it would be a little difficult to navigate the waters. The first place he stopped was the place for the stuffed animal.

Only when he got closer did he notice that it was a rabbit. It was waterlogged and missing an eye. At first, Kain thought it was stuck between concrete. Only when he pried the rabbit loose did he see what was behind the concrete.

Just like the rabbit, it was also waterlogged. He heard Avery’s cheer.

Kain shook his head and continued on his way.

On the way to his next stop, he picked up a crowbar. If he was going to get what Ashton wanted, he needed to break the car window.

His strength was mildly enhanced when he became a level one Awakened. He smashed the glass, pulling the dog out of the car. It was dead, heavy, and bloated. It smelled like hot garbage and felt clammy.

He questioned whether this was worth it, then he heard Ashton shout, telling him to throw it up. His lips twitched, and he ignored the overzealous child.

He moved towards the direction Dominic had been looking. He was unsure what Dominic could want.

Unlike Ashton and Avery, he never spoke much. Even when he first arrived. Unless it was necessary, he said almost nothing. Now that he wants something, Kain doesn’t mind guessing and bringing him an item.

He scoured the area, looking back at Dominic every once in a while. Finally, he found something that looked presentable. It was broken, but it was better than nothing.

It took Kain a while to get back on the boat, but when he did, everyone except the children stood as far away as possible.

Not to mention the dead dog. The scent of the water he was in came up with him.

"Okay," he said, looking at the excited children. "You can take a look now, but I need to wash and dry the dog and the rabbit. I also need to wash Dominic’s gift. So you can take a look now, but I need to keep them until we get to the new house. Is that okay?"

How he was planning to dry the dog, he had no clue. But the dog couldn’t stay on the yacht. He could only use this excuse for now.

The three children nodded. When Kain saw the sparkle in Dominic’s eyes looking at the snow globe, he couldn’t understand what was so precious about it.

He dragged the things away, leaving everyone on the deck. Once out of sight, he hid them in the space.

As he was washing, the system chimed.

[Congratulations on guessing what Dominic wanted as a gift. The host is granted an additional reward-one piece of information.]

[Would you like to check now? Y/N] 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Kain decided to look, and he was glad he did. The information was simple. It was telling him to find a path through because there were schools of piranha. Whichever side they choose, the piranha will eat through the yacht to get to them.

He grimaced.