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

On the river, waves splashed.

Three streamlined, modern speedboats, like predatory sharks, were locked in a tight grip on the dilapidated barge.

The distance was reduced to thirty meters.

Wilddog stood at the very front of the speedboat, gripping the tactical railing with one hand, his tactical vest flapping wildly in the wind. Through his sunglasses, he could clearly see the stern of the wrecked boat and the... infuriating calm on the face of the young Asian man.

"Run? Let's see where you run this time!"

The wild dog grinned maliciously. He enjoyed this cat-and-mouse game, especially when the mouse thought itself clever. Although the Asian man had just given him a scare by scattering a pile of dirt, the game was over now.

He looked at Su Ming.

Su Ming also looked at him.

The stray dog ​​loosened its grip on the railing and defiantly raised its middle finger.

Su Ming remained expressionless, and even seemed about to laugh.

He bent down and placed his hand on the huge knife switch that was temporarily pieced together from two steel bars.

"Didn't your teacher teach you? Whether it's being a person or sailing a boat, never get too close."

"Especially when there is iron powder in the water."

Su Ming whispered.

Close the switch.

"Sizzle sizzle—"

A piercing crackling sound of electric arcs suddenly erupted! In the middle of the ship's cabin, dozens of truck battery packs connected in series instantly released all their energy, and the violent current flowed along two wrist-thick steel cables submerged in the water, instantly injecting into that reddish-brown, murky water!

The murky band formed by those large bags of iron ore powder completely enveloped the three speedboats.

Current flows.

The conductivity of river water mixed with iron powder increases dramatically.

Within this area of ​​several tens of meters, the raging current instantly transformed the water into a death grid, with tiny blue arcs of electricity visible dancing on the surface.

For a machine, this is at most a bit of a tingling sensation.

But for a modern speedboat equipped with a sophisticated electronic ignition system, GPS navigation, and a smart electronic fuel injection engine, this is like an "electronic defibrillation" for the heart.

It's the kind where the voltage is turned up to the maximum.

"Buzz—Pfft!"

Sparks flew from the instrument panels of the three speedboats, all the indicator lights flashed wildly for a moment, and then went out completely. The sophisticated electronic fuel injection engines were reduced to scrap metal in an instant.

The high-speed spinning propeller instantly lost power, and the speedboat seemed to have crashed into an invisible wall of water, causing its speed to drop drastically!

But the law of inertia in physics takes over at this moment.

The boat stopped, but the people didn't.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Three muffled, loud thuds.

The stray dog, still in its defiant pose, had no time to react. Due to the immense inertia, it was violently thrown out, its face slamming heavily against the hard windshield.

"Splat!"

His face made intimate contact with the hard windshield.

Two streams of blood immediately gushed out, leaving two red streaks on the glass.

"Fuck! Who stepped on the brakes?!"

The stray dog ​​clutched its throbbing nose, feeling as if it had just braked the boat with its face; the pain caused tears and blood to stream down its face.

He didn't understand.

Just a moment ago we were speeding at full speed, how come it suddenly feels like we've crashed into an invisible wall?

Not only him, but the mercenaries on the two ships behind him suffered even worse fates. Some were thrown directly into the river full of crocodiles, while others crashed into machine gun mounts, falling like a human pyramid, with screams echoing all around.

"Boss! The boat's stopped!"

The driver frantically turned the key and pounded on the control panel: "All electronic devices are black! The engine isn't responding! This...this place is haunted!"

The river water was still murky, carrying that nauseating smell of rust.

This body of water has become a forbidden zone, swallowing up all the pride of modern technology.

And fifty meters ahead of them.

The ugly, dilapidated, black-smoking, and vibrating ship "Truth" continued its steady, chugging progress.

It's slow, it's noisy, it's ugly.

But it keeps going.

"Then...why is our engine fine?"

On the barge, a young engineer adjusted his glasses, which had almost been knocked off, and looked at the stranded speedboat behind him. He timidly raised his hand to ask a question.

This unscientific.

Everyone's soaking in the water, so why is it that the other side's high-tech equipment is broken down while our junk can still run?

Wang Dachui was gripping the railing, his face flushed with excitement. Upon hearing this, he slapped him on the back of the head, his eyes filled with disappointment and frustration.

"Idiot! Don't you have any common sense?!"

Wang Dachui pointed at the three roaring monsters and shouted excitedly, "See that?! These are ancient diesel engines! Purely mechanical structures, not even a single electronic component! Electromagnetic pulses are just a tickle to them! This is what you call... this is what you call returning to simplicity! Hahaha!"

The young engineer covered his head, looked at the billowing black smoke from the chimney, and suddenly realized what was going on.

It turns out that being poor and dilapidated can sometimes be a tactical advantage.

On the river.

The stray dog, clutching its bleeding nose, watched the wrecked ship sail away into the distance, its anger so intense it felt like its lungs were about to explode.

He pulled out his pistol, intending to fire, but found that the distance had already increased.

He tried to call for backup using the walkie-talkie, but when he picked it up, the indicator light was off—it was burnt out.

"Grass!"

The stray dog ​​smashed the walkie-talkie into the river.

He could only watch helplessly as that group of "nerds" drove off in that pile of scrap metal, swaggering away.

On the deck of the "Pravda".

Guide Sam poked his head out from behind the oil drum and glanced at the mercenaries who were floating on the river like idiots, paddling with oars.

He glanced again at Su Ming, who was calmly drinking water on the deck.

Sam swallowed hard.

He felt his worldview shattered, then reformed, and then shattered again.

He cautiously approached Dr. Chen, who was still doing mental calculations, and whispered, "Um... Dr. Chen, if I go to study in China, should I learn kung fu first, or physics first?"

Dr. Chen put down his still slightly trembling hand.

He picked up his glasses, which had a broken lens, wiped them on the hem of his clothes, and put them back on.

The gaze behind the glasses was fixed on Su Ming's retreating figure, the expression complex.

Dr. Chen sighed: "You should learn how to be a decent human being first. This kid... the physics he's studying might not be the same version as what we're learning."

Dr. Chen adjusted his glasses, shook his head with a wry smile. He had devoted his entire life to researching cutting-edge materials and technologies, only to find that his solution was less direct and effective than this young man's use of a pile of junk and basic physics knowledge.

"This is truly...the younger generation is indeed formidable."

"Alright, stop watching. You'll be charged if you keep watching."

Su Ming pointed ahead: "Go full speed ahead before they catch up in their boats. Wang Dachui, floor the gas pedal."

"Yes, sir!"

Wang Dachui roared like he'd been injected with chicken blood, and the "Truth" spewed out even thicker black smoke, rumbling and accelerating away like a wild boar that'd eaten too much.

Su Ming stretched and looked at the distant horizon.

"Next stop, the estuary."

"Hopefully, the person picking us up brought enough instant noodles."