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

Jiangnan University, Building 6, Room 407.

Su Minggang threw the faded canvas bag onto the bed, slumped into a chair, and felt exhausted, as if every bone in his body was screaming with fatigue.

That trip in international waters, though it only lasted about thirty hours, involved a period of intense mental strain that was even more unbearable than the three months of intensive preparation for the college entrance exam.

"Brother Ming! Holy crap, you're finally back!"

Fatty Zhang Hao poked his head out from the top bunk, so excited he almost fell off.

"Do you know that our dorm has practically become a viral photo spot these past few days? People from the next class, other departments, even other schools, are all camping out at the door every day, wanting to catch a glimpse of the live 'Tugboat Man'!"

"Why are you looking at me? I don't have anything written on my face." Su Ming casually picked up the water glass on the table and took a big gulp.

"Stop pretending!" Zhang Hao jumped off the bed, leaned close to Su Ming, and whispered like a thief, "It's all over the internet, saying you single-handedly took down a destroyer in international waters! Is it true or false? That maneuver of yours is legendary!"

Su Ming looked up at him, his face calm: "It's fake. I'm just a salvage worker who got lucky and picked up some scrap metal."

"I don't believe you for a second!"

Zhang Hao rolled his eyes and was about to ask more questions when there was a knock on the dormitory door.

"Please come in."

The door opened, and a tall, thin man wearing glasses entered; it was their counselor, Teacher Wang.

"Su Ming, someone is looking for you." Teacher Wang's expression was somewhat complicated. "Wait in the lobby downstairs. They say they have something important to discuss."

"Looking for me?" Su Ming frowned. "Who is it?"

"I don't know, but it was a Rolls-Royce Phantom, the license plate... I can't read it, but it looked very intimidating. There were four bodyguards, all of them trained in martial arts."

Teacher Wang paused, then lowered her voice, "Have you gotten into any trouble lately? Should I call the police?"

Su Ming waved his hand: "Don't worry, teacher, it's alright. I'll go down and check."

He knew what was going on.

If you can find someone from a school, they're either an official source or a major problem.

Officially speaking, the "chess player" just left, so it's unlikely that he'd be back so soon.

That leaves only one possibility—

A new order has arrived.

Su Ming walked into the lobby on the first floor and saw the middle-aged man sitting on the sofa.

The man was in his early fifties, dressed in a suit and tie, his hair slicked back and shiny, and the Patek Philippe watch on his wrist was practically blinding. From his hair to the heels of his shoes, the words "I'm rich" practically screamed.

But at this moment, the bloodshot veins in this wealthy tycoon's eyes were almost forming a spider web, and his anxiety was impossible to hide.

"Mr. Su Ming?"

The man stood up and extended his hand.

Su Ming shook hands with him, the calluses on his hands causing the other man to pause slightly in surprise.

"My name is Gu Changfeng, chairman of the Gu Group." The man got straight to the point. "I found you through the platform's backend. The platform said that only you can take this order."

Su Ming's heart skipped a beat.

Those that the platform actively recommends to him are definitely not ordinary commissions.

"Mr. Gu, this isn't a convenient place. Shall we find somewhere else to talk?"

"it is good."

Ten minutes later, a black Phantom drove out of the school gate and stopped in a private room at a nearby private club.

Gu Changfeng waved away the bodyguards, leaving only him and Su Ming in the private room.

"My daughter, Gu Weiguang, is 23 years old this year and is pursuing a doctorate in geology."

Gu Changfeng took a photo out of his briefcase and handed it to Su Ming.

The photo shows a short-haired girl with striking features and two small dimples when she smiles.

Three months ago, she joined a scientific expedition team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences to conduct geological exploration in the heart of Lop Nur. Half a month ago, the expedition team lost contact.

Gu Changfeng's voice began to tremble: "The authorities dispatched three search and rescue teams, using drones and satellite positioning, but... they found nothing. It's as if they vanished into thin air in that desert."

Su Ming looked through the photos, his brows furrowing slightly.

Lop Nur.

He had seen that place in his grandfather's notes.

The old man once circled a sentence heavily in red pen on it: "There is something strange about this place. It is not a natural disaster, but a man-made one."

"What did the official statement say?" Su Ming asked.

"The authorities told me to wait for news and said they would continue the search and rescue operation," Gu Changfeng said with a wry smile.

"But I can't wait any longer. She's my only daughter, and she's the most important person in my life."

He suddenly looked up, staring intently at Su Ming:

"I've checked your records. Northern Myanmar, international waters—you've done things that others couldn't. I don't care how much money you want, as long as you bring my daughter back alive, half of the Gu family's assets are yours!"

Half of the assets.

The Gu Group is a well-known name in the country, and that statement carries weight, amounting to at least tens of billions of yuan.

Su Ming, however, did not react.

He put down the photo and said calmly, "Mr. Gu, I don't look at money when I take orders; I only look at two things."

Which two items?

"First, is this worth doing? Second, am I capable of doing it?"

Su Ming stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the bustling streets outside.

"You should know better than I how many people have been swallowed up by Lop Nur throughout history. The fact that three official search and rescue teams have already failed shows that the difficulty of this matter far exceeds your imagination."

"That's why I came to find you!" Gu Changfeng said anxiously.

"Mr. Su Ming, I don't ask that you can definitely save her, I only ask that you... help me find her whereabouts. Even if it's just a corpse, I need to give her some closure!"

By the end, the billionaire's voice had choked with emotion.

Su Ming remained silent for a long time.

He turned around and looked at Gu Changfeng:

"I can give it a try. But there are three conditions."

"you say!"

"First, I will make my own decision on this matter, and you cannot interfere with any of my decisions."

"no problem!"

"Second, you must provide me with all relevant information about your daughter—her living habits, professional abilities, research routes, and communication records before she went missing. You cannot hide a single word."

"I'll have someone clean it up right now!"

"Third," Su Ming stared into his eyes.

"If I discover anything shady behind this, I will hand it over to the government immediately, and you cannot stop me."

Gu Changfeng paused for a moment, then gave a wry smile: "Are you afraid my daughter is involved in some secret?"

"It's not that I'm afraid, it's that I need to confirm," Su Ming said calmly.

"In a place like Lop Nur, an ordinary scientific expedition team wouldn't be completely wiped out. Either they encountered an extreme natural disaster, or they stumbled upon something they shouldn't have."

Gu Changfeng took a deep breath and nodded solemnly: "I swear on the honor of the Gu family that Weiguang will never do anything illegal. She is just a simple scientific researcher."

"That's fine then."

Su Ming extended his hand: "It's a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Gu. I'll be departing in three days."

Gu Changfeng gripped his hand tightly, his eyes reddening, "Thank you... thank you!"

As Su Ming walked out of the club, he looked up at the sky.

The setting sun dyed the clouds blood red, like some kind of ominous omens.

He remembered the last sentence in his grandfather's notebook—

"The secret of Lop Nur lies the most unspeakable scar of this country."