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

September 9th, 7:30 PM.

The high seas were pitch black.

The "Breaking Waves" sailed slowly on the sea, like a ghost lurking in the darkness.

Inside the cockpit, Su Ming sat at the control panel, his eyes closed, his fingers lightly resting on the rudder.

There are no lights.

There is no radar.

There are no modern navigation devices.

Only the faint starlight filtering in through the window and the sound of waves crashing against the hull could be heard.

Su Ming's breathing was steady.

He was listening.

Listen to the direction of the wind.

Listen to the rhythm of the waves.

Listen to the subtle friction sound as the seawater flows over the bottom of the boat.

"Six seconds..."

"5.8 seconds..."

"5.5 seconds..."

The frequency of the waves is increasing.

This indicates that the ocean currents are accelerating.

An accelerating ocean current usually indicates the presence of an obstacle ahead—such as a reef, or… a trench.

Su Ming opened his eyes, picked up the yellowed handwritten book, and turned to a page by the starlight.

"Listen to the waves to determine the location: If the sound of the waves hitting the hull is muffled and short, it means the water is getting shallower; if the sound is hollow and long, it means there is a deep abyss below."

Su Ming put down his notebook and listened carefully to the sounds coming from the ship.

"Thump...thump...thump..."

The sound was hollow.

It's like striking a huge hollow.

"arrive."

Su Ming opened the compass to confirm the direction.

The coordinates were within two nautical miles of his previous calculations of the shipwreck's location.

He picked up the sounding hammer and lowered the rope.

One meter…

Ten meters…

Fifty meters…

One hundred meters…

The rope continued to descend, for a full 300 meters, without ever touching the bottom.

"Depths of over three thousand meters..."

Su Ming retrieved the sounding hammer and marked a point on the nautical chart.

Just then.

The sound of an engine came from afar.

Very close.

Less than two nautical miles.

Su Ming raised his head and looked in the direction from which the sound came.

In the darkness, the outline of a ship could be vaguely seen, with a faint infrared light flashing at its bow.

"They've caught up..."

Su Ming did not panic.

He sat back down at the control panel, pushed the throttle, and reduced the speed of the "Breaking Waves" to a minimum.

Then he picked up the old-fashioned compass and began to calculate.

The opponent's speed: 28 knots.

Current distance: 1.8 nautical miles.

At this speed, they'll catch up in three minutes.

but…

Su Ming glanced at the sea outside the window.

The direction of the waves is from northwest to southeast.

The wind direction is southeast.

In other words, the wind and waves are blowing in opposite directions.

In this situation, "crossing waves" will form on the sea surface.

Crossing waves are the most likely cause of high-speed ships to lose their balance.

Su Ming twitched the corner of his mouth.

"Then hurry up..."

He adjusted the rudder, allowing the "Breaking Waves" to sail close to the edge of the ocean current.

The ship's speed increased slightly due to the propulsion of the waves, but it remained at a very low level.

In the distance, on a black patrol boat.

The bald man stared at the radar screen, his expression growing increasingly grim.

"What happened? Why did the target's speed suddenly decrease?"

The young man checked the sonar data.

"He's slowing down... no, he's using the ocean currents to 'drift'."

"Drifting?" The bald man was taken aback.

"Yes." The young man pointed to the data on the screen. "He turned off the engine and relied solely on the ocean current to propel the ship forward. This minimizes heat and noise, rendering our detection equipment ineffective."

The bald man sneered.

"Interesting...but useless. Our sonar is accurate enough to lock onto him. Speed ​​up, get close, and board the ship directly."

"yes!"

The black patrol boat's engine roared, and its speed instantly soared to 30 knots.

The bow of the ship cleaved through the waves, creating a large spray of water.

One minute later.

The distance has been shortened to one nautical mile.

Thirty seconds later.

The distance has been shortened to half a nautical mile.

The bald man picked up his binoculars and finally made out the outline of the ship in front of him.

The old, rusty metal shell looked like it could fall apart at any moment.

"That's it?" The bald man scoffed. "I thought he was some kind of expert, but he's just a penniless wretch who sails a beat-up boat."

He lowered his binoculars and waved to the mercenaries at the stern.

"Prepare for boarding! Take them alive!"

The five mercenaries immediately checked their weapons and prepared to move out.

But at that moment...

"boom--"

A huge wave crashed down from the side, slamming into the hull of the patrol boat.

The ship rocked violently, and one of the mercenaries lost his footing and nearly fell.

"What's going on?!" the bald man roared, grabbing the railing.

The young man checked the data, and his expression changed.

"Captain...we've entered the cross-wave zone!"

"Cross waves?"

"The wind and ocean currents are moving in opposite directions, creating colliding waves! High-speed navigation would be extremely dangerous!"

The voice just fell.

Another wave crashed over us.

This time it was even bigger, lifting the bow off the ship and then slamming it heavily onto the sea.

"Click—"

The ship made a creaking sound as if it could no longer bear the weight.

The bald man's face was ashen.

"Slow down! Slow down immediately!"

"yes!"

The driver quickly reduced the accelerator.

But it was too late.

The third wave roared in, this time sweeping across the stern.

The patrol boat's sophisticated yet fragile propeller emitted a screeching sound as it was violently rocked.

"Captain, power output is abnormal! The impact of the cross-waves is too strong, the rudder is malfunctioning!" the young man shouted in terror. "The sonar signal is completely messed up! We've not only lost our target, but now even our coordinates are drifting!"

The bald man's face turned from blue to white.

He stared intently ahead.

He watched as the rusty "Breaking Waves" glided like a slippery fish on the turbulent sea. It glided precisely with the rise and fall of the waves, not only avoiding being swallowed by the big waves, but also cleverly using the thrust of the breaking waves to its advantage, instantly creating a distance of several hundred meters in the radar blind spot.

The feeling was like a top-notch racer being outmaneuvered by a local freak who was riding a bicycle with a perfect knowledge of the terrain, leaving him unable to even see the taillights.

"He's playing us..." the bald man gritted his teeth.

In an extreme environment without radar or lights, relying solely on hearing and muscle memory, Su Ming's "ancient navigation technique" was a cross-dimensional blow to these modern mercenaries who depended on electronic devices.

In this dead end of the sea, created by the laws of physics, Su Ming is the only king.

"Captain, should we continue chasing? If we go any deeper, we risk capsizing."

The bald man roared defiantly into the radio, "Retreat to the outer perimeter! Call 'Black Octopus' headquarters to deploy aerial sonar buoys in that area. I refuse to believe he can stay underwater forever!"

Meanwhile, in the darkness several nautical miles away, Su Ming had completely shut down all power output.

He sat quietly in the cockpit, letting the waves gently rock the "Breaking Waves".