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

September 9th, 9:40 PM.

The high seas, five nautical miles from the shipwreck site.

On the black patrol boat.

The bald man held up binoculars, staring intently at the dilapidated iron boat in the distance.

"The target vessel has been stationary for over forty minutes." The young man stared at the radar screen. "Thermal imaging shows that someone has just come up from underwater."

The bald man put down his binoculars; his face was as black as the bottom of a pot.

"He really went down... to a depth of over three thousand meters, with the shoddy equipment on that crappy ship?"

"Yes. And..." The young man pulled up a satellite cloud image, "Headquarters just sent a message that the target ship's winch just showed a significant movement trajectory."

The bald man remained silent for a few seconds.

"Contact the 'Seahawk'. Tell them the prey has been found."

The young man was stunned for a moment.

"Captain, are we really going to alert them? That would be..."

"Shut up," the bald man interrupted him. "This kid is no ordinary person; he can get things from this depth. We can't handle him."

The young man gritted his teeth and picked up the encrypted communicator.

A few minutes later.

A deep voice came from the communicator.

"Black Octopus calling Sea Eagle, please respond."

"Sea Eagle received."

"Target confirmed to have acquired the goods, requesting support."

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the communicator.

"Send me the coordinates. We'll arrive in twenty minutes."

"receive."

The bald man hung up the call, looked at the "Breaking Waves" in the distance, and sneered.

"Kid, you can't escape now."

---

at the same time.

Inside the cockpit of the "Breaking Waves".

Su Ming sat in the helmsman's seat, holding the black hard drive in his hand.

He had just changed into dry clothes, but his hair was still dripping wet.

The nautical chart spread out on the table was densely marked with ocean current directions, wind speed data, and the distribution of reefs.

Su Ming picked up a pencil and drew a line on the nautical chart.

"Starting from here, following the ocean currents, we'll reach the territorial waters of the Dragon Kingdom in six hours..."

He looked up and glanced out the window.

In the darkness, the outline of the black patrol boat became clearer and clearer.

It's less than three nautical miles away.

Su Ming put down his pencil and picked up the satellite phone.

"Xiao Qi, are you there?"

"Yes," Xiaoqi's voice came immediately. "Did you get the hard drive?"

"Got it."

"Great! I'll arrange for backup right away—"

"Wait," Su Ming interrupted her, "There's trouble."

"What's the trouble?"

"The black octopus is catching up. And..." Su Ming glanced at the radar screen, "They just sent an encrypted communication."

Xiaoqi was silent for a few seconds.

"Let me check..."

The sound of keyboard typing began.

A dozen seconds later, Xiaoqi's voice came again, this time with a serious tone.

"Sir, satellites have detected a destroyer rapidly approaching your location."

Su Ming frowned.

"Destroyer?"

"Yes. The 'Sea Eagle' from the island chain nation has a displacement of 4,000 tons and is equipped with naval guns and anti-ship missiles." Xiao Qi paused, "They entered international waters under the pretext of 'searching for a missing cargo ship,' but their real purpose..."

"It's a hard drive," Su Ming replied.

"Yes." Xiao Qi's voice was urgent. "You must evacuate immediately! I'll contact the coast guard right away—"

"It's too late." Su Ming glanced at the radar. "The destroyer's speed is at least thirty knots; it should arrive in twenty minutes at most."

"What should we do then?!"

Su Ming did not answer.

He stared at the nautical chart, his finger slowly moving across it.

"Xiao Qi, can you check the weather data for this sea area for me?"

"What data?"

"Fog." Su Ming looked up. "Does this area get foggy at night at this time of year?"

Xiaoqi paused for a moment, then immediately pulled up the weather map.

"Yes! Moreover... according to forecasts, there will be a large area of ​​sea fog in this area between 10 and 11 pm tonight, with visibility less than 50 meters."

Su Ming smiled slightly.

That's enough.

"What do you want to do?"

Su Ming did not answer, but hung up the phone.

He stepped out of the cockpit and onto the deck.

The night wind blew on my face, carrying the salty smell of the sea.

Su Ming glanced at the black patrol boat in the distance, then turned and went into the cabin.

A few minutes later.

He dragged a sack out of the cabin.

The sack was filled with scrap iron sheets, aluminum foil, and broken glass.

Su Ming dragged the sack to the stern of the boat, then took out a roll of nylon rope.

He moved very quickly.

First, string the iron sheet and aluminum foil together with a rope to make a "metal wind chime".

Then, he tied these "wind chimes" to several empty oil drums.

Finally, he threw the oil drums into the sea, letting them float behind the "Breaking Waves" in its course.

After doing all this, Su Ming returned to the cockpit.

He started the engine.

The engines of the "Breaking Waves" emitted a deep roar.

Su Ming gripped the rudder and glanced at his watch.

9:50 p.m.

The sea fog will descend in ten minutes.

He took a deep breath and pushed the accelerator.

The "Breaking Waves" slowly sailed into the darkness.

---

9:55.

On the black patrol boat.

"The target ship has started moving!" The young man stared at the radar screen.

The bald man immediately walked over.

"direction?"

"North-southeast, speed eight knots."

The bald man frowned.

"Eight sections? That's so slow?"

"Yes. And..." The young man adjusted the radar parameters, "His flight path is strange, it keeps zigzagging."

The bald man stared at the winding flight path on the screen, his face turning cold.

"He's stalling for time."

"Delaying time?"

"Yes." The bald man chuckled. "He knew we were catching up, so he deliberately slowed down, waiting for the 'Sea Eagle' to arrive before dealing with us all at once."

The young man was stunned for a moment.

"But...why did he do that? Wouldn't it have been better to just run away?"

The bald man did not answer.

He raised his binoculars and looked out at the distant sea.

He suddenly opened his eyes wide.

"The fog... is rising."

---

10 o'clock sharp.

On the high seas.

A thick fog suddenly rolled in, and the entire sea area was immediately enveloped in white mist.

Visibility was less than 30 meters.

The silhouette of the "Breaking Waves" disappeared into the fog.

On the black patrol boat, the radar screen began to show a lot of clutter.

"What's going on?!" The bald man stared at the screen.

"The fog is too thick, the radar signal is being jammed!" The young man frantically typed on the keyboard. "And... the target ship's echo signal has suddenly weakened!"

"Getting weaker?"

"Yes! It was like...like he suddenly shrank!"

The bald man's face turned a deep liver color.

"No... he's blocking radar signals!"

"How is that possible?! Where would that wrecked ship have gotten its shielding equipment?!"

The bald man did not answer.

He stared intently at the radar screen.

On the screen, the once clear points of light have turned into a blurry mass of noise.

Amidst this clutter, a dozen or so weak echo signals suddenly appeared.

"This is..." The young man was stunned.

"Metal reflection." The bald man gritted his teeth. "He threw metal fragments into the sea to create a decoy!"

"Then where is the real goal?!"

The bald man didn't say anything.

He raised his binoculars and looked into the fog.

I can't see anything.

There was only a vast expanse of white.

Just then.

A deep voice came from the communicator.

"Black Octopus, this is the Sea Eagle. We have arrived at the target area. Please report the target location."

The bald man gripped the communicator tightly.

"Haiying, the target vessel has entered the fog area and its radar signal has been lost."

"What?!"

"The other side used some kind of anti-radar method, and we cannot lock onto them."

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the communicator.

"Activate active sonar and conduct a comprehensive search."

"receive."

The bald man put down the communicator and looked at the young man.

"Speak up!"

"yes!"

A few seconds later.

Low-frequency sound waves emanated from the bottom of the patrol boat and spread out into the seawater.

On the sonar screen, dense echo signals began to appear.

However, each signal is very weak and located in a scattered manner.

"Damn it..." the young man gritted his teeth, "They were all fake targets!"

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

"Keep searching. He can't have gone far."

---

at the same time.

In the fog.

The "Breaking Waves" floated quietly on the sea.

The engine has been shut down.

Su Ming stood in the cockpit, holding the yellowed handwritten book in his hand.

He turned to one of the pages.

"Ancient method of avoiding enemies: When sailing in fog, if you encounter a strong enemy, you can scatter metal fragments to create a false impression, while simultaneously turning off the engine and drifting, using the force of ocean currents to move silently. Although the enemy's sonar can be detected, it cannot distinguish between the real and the fake."

Su Ming closed the handwritten copy and glanced at the compass.

The ocean current is pushing the "Breaking Waves" slowly towards the southeast.

It's slow, but very stable.

Moreover, there is absolutely no engine noise.

Su Ming picked up the binoculars and looked into the fog.

A huge dark shadow could be vaguely seen slowly approaching.

That's the "Sea Eagle".

Su Ming put down his binoculars and chuckled.

"Looking for me?"

"Then let's take our time looking."