Searching for someone in northern Myanmar, and you call that earning tuition fees?

Wang Dachui and the group of engineers stared at the pile of scrap metal in silence.

This is not a scientific question; it's a metaphysical one.

Dr. Chen adjusted his glasses, which were covered in dust. He coughed twice, trying to use science to salvage the young man's madness.

"Su, I know a little about materials mechanics. More than 40% of the steel plates on this barge's hull are rusted, and the structural strength can no longer be guaranteed. It will fall apart as soon as it is launched."

A structural engineer standing nearby nodded in agreement: "Yes! The keel is deformed too. When this ship is launched, it'll probably be spinning like a top in place!"

Su Ming ignored their wails and simply slammed the fire axe into the sleeper in front of him with a dull thud.

He raised his eyes and swept them over the crowd: "Outside, the 'Vultures' could strike at any moment. In the river, the crocodiles are still hungry. You can continue discussing mechanics here and wait to die. Or you can come with me to build a boat and survive. The choice is yours."

He turned around and fixed his gaze on Wang Dachui.

"you."

"Here!" Wang Dachui jumped up and put his legs together.

"Take your men and take apart all usable parts from these cars: engines, fuel tanks, batteries, drive shafts. I don't care if you use wrenches or your teeth, I need to see a working engine within half an hour."

He then pointed to another pile of scrap iron and steel.

"Dr. Chen, could you please bring a few experienced craftsmen to cut those iron plates into uniform sizes, the more the better? Also, could you please look for asphalt or waterproof tarpaulin?"

The order is clear and leaves no room for doubt.

These words struck everyone like a thunderbolt, instantly sobering them up. Dr. Chen looked into Su Ming's cold eyes, then at the fear on the faces of his fellow countrymen, and knew he had no choice. The old man gritted his teeth, grabbed a steel pipe, and shouted, "Stop standing there! Those who want to live, get to work! Today, even if you have to gnaw, you'd better carve a way out!"

The entire abandoned mining area was transformed into a bustling construction site.

The sounds of wrenches clanging, the screeching of metal cutting, and Wang Dachui's occasional roars of "For the Chief!" blended into a cacophony in the abandoned mining area.

Half an hour later, three rusty but still functional truck engines were brought over.

Dr. Chen also cut out hundreds of iron plates of varying sizes.

"Now, reinforce the hull." Su Ming pointed to the rusted holes in the barge's hull. "Use those iron plates to patch up all the weak points."

"We don't have welding equipment!" Wang Dachui shouted, voicing the most critical problem. "We can't even fix these sheets of metal in place!"

Su Ming turned to Dr. Chen and asked, "Dr. Chen, without welding, how did the ancients build iron ships?"

Dr. Chen was taken aback, then his cloudy eyes suddenly lit up: "Riveting...yes! With rivets! Cold joining!"

"Wang Dachui, take some men to dismantle the truck bed and pry off all the bolts and rivets!"

"Structural team, calculate the stress points with me, we need to 'sew' the patch on!"

Faced with the harsh reality, these national-level experts, who usually deal with blueprints and data, all abandoned their scholarly reserve and took up the most primitive sheet metal work.

They dismantled the truck with fire axes and crowbars, and drilled holes in the iron plates with hammers and steel pins, painstakingly "stitching" patches onto the barge.

Guide Sam sat at a distance, watching the barge, which was originally scrap metal, gradually being covered with more scrap metal, turning it into a steel monster covered in patches.

"This boat... if it were to sail into the river, even crocodiles would have to steer clear," Sam muttered to himself.

Six hours later, it was already dark.

A bizarrely shaped "ship" appeared before them. Its hull was pitted and uneven in color, resembling a giant mobile garbage can. At the stern, three truck engines were roughly fixed to a steel frame, with drive shafts directly connected to three propellers forcibly hammered out of sheet metal.

Dr. Chen looked at this Frankenstein-like creation with a worried expression and walked over to Su Ming.

"Comrade Xiao Su, this... this thing really can float?"

Su Ming was chopping wood with a fire axe to make oars when he heard this, without even looking up: "Theoretically, as long as the buoyancy generated by the volume of water it displaces is greater than its own weight, it can float."

Dr. Chen was stunned.

That sounds...so reasonable, yet so utterly bullshit.

"Old Chen, you can't be too picky." Su Ming threw the finished oars onto the boat. "The difference between a coffin and an ark is mainly whether the person inside is dead or alive."

Wang Dachui was so moved that tears welled up in his eyes.

He stroked the cold, rough hull, his voice choked with emotion, and said, "This is our 'Truth'! The ultimate creation, brimming with industrial and violent aesthetics! It will bring righteous judgment to our enemies on the Mara River!"

Su Ming walked over and slapped him on the back of the head.

"Don't go crazy. Go and bring everything edible and drinkable onto the ship."

"Yes, sir!"

While they were moving supplies, Su Ming went to a corner with a slightly better signal and took out his satellite phone.

He needs to call that gullible security captain and arrange pick-up service at the terminal station.

The call was connected.

Li Changfeng's anxious voice immediately came through: "Hey! Su Ming! Are you still alive? How are things on your end? Should I send a squadron of combat mechs to airdrop over there?"

"No need," Su Ming said succinctly, "I need a rendezvous point."

"Speak!" The sound of typing immediately came from Li Changfeng's end.

"Tanzania, lower Mara River, thirty kilometers from its mouth. Have your men wait for me there."

Li Changfeng was taken aback: "The Mara River? You want to take the waterway? The evacuation route we arranged for you wasn't..."

"The land route is cut off," Su Ming interrupted him. "I built a boat."

After a full ten seconds, Li Changfeng asked in a sleepwalking voice, "What...what did you say? What did you say?"

"Boat."

"What was it made of?"

"Scrap metal, truck engines, and love."

Li Changfeng felt his blood pressure was about to exceed the limit. Clutching his chest, he roared into the microphone, "Are you playing a wasteland tech simulator in the African war zone?! Do you know how important you are?! What if the ship sinks?! Are you going to let crocodiles eat at a buffet?!"

"That's why I asked you to pick me up," Su Ming said calmly. "Don't send a big boat, it'll make too much noise. Just send a speedboat, and remember to bring enough instant noodles, braised beef flavor."

"I..." Li Changfeng choked on his breath, nearly dying on the spot. He took several deep breaths before gritting his teeth and saying, "I've memorized the coordinates! The navy will be there on time! If you dare to die on the way, I'll personally go down and retrieve you, and scatter your ashes to the winds!"

After hanging up the phone, Su Ming looked at the group of people who were already ready.

"Good news, everyone, our people are on their way. Now, we have one last task."

He pointed to a pile of reddish-brown iron ore in a corner of the mining area.

"Grind those stones into the finest powder for me. The more, the better."

Before long, several large bags of iron ore powder were loaded onto the ship.

With everything ready, the bulldozers in the mining area slowly pushed the "Truth" into the murky river. After a series of teeth-grinding creaks, this ugly steel monster actually floated to the surface.

"Get on board!"

Su Ming was the first to jump on, stood at the bow of the boat, and waved.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard the 'Death' cruise ship. I am your captain, guide, and security guard."

"Please hold on tight. This voyage has no insurance, only thrills."