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

Ma Jianguo's mind was buzzing; he felt like his CPU was about to overheat.

His twenty-year military career has been abruptly cleaved in two today.

In the first half of his life, he believed in guns, discipline, and an iron will.

In the latter half of his life, he began to seriously doubt whether there were really gods in this world.

"Ground...Ground magnetic monitoring core?" Ma Jianguo's lips trembled. He reached out to touch it but dared not, as if it were not a metal lump but a red-hot branding iron.

The soldiers behind him were also stunned.

Although they didn't understand what this thing did, the keywords "strategic equipment," "global surveillance," and "a certain major power" together made it clear to even a fool the significance of this thing.

"Su... Su classmate." Ma Jianguo swallowed hard, his voice trembling, "Where did you get this...?"

"I found it."

Su Ming casually shoved the dark blue metal core into Ma Jianguo's arms, clapped his hands, and threw it away like a hot potato.

"I've drawn a map of the underground base's coordinates; it's in the vehicle. There should still be a few trapped research team members inside. Could you please go and rescue them while you're on your way?"

With just a few words, Su Ming clearly outlined the follow-up arrangements, smoothly shifting the blame.

Holding that "trash" worth at least several billion US dollars, Ma Jianguo felt his worldview crumbling inch by inch.

He suddenly remembered something, grabbed Su Ming who was about to get into the car, lowered his voice, and his expression became unusually serious: "Su Ming! Is this... the 'man-made disaster' you mentioned?"

"Yes, but not all of it."

Su Ming gave him a meaningful look.

"This 'earth-feeding device' is just a bugging device that someone planted in our yard. The real trouble is much older and much more difficult to deal with."

He paused, recalling the sentence circled in blood-red ink in his grandfather's notebook.

"Commander Ma, do you know why Lop Nur is called the 'Sea of ​​Death'?" Su Ming asked. "It's not because of the sandstorms, nor because of the drought."

"It's because beneath this sand has never been a peaceful place. 'Earth Listening' is just the beginning; there will only be more and more 'flies' like this in the future."

Is this just the beginning?

Ma Jianguo was startled and wanted to ask more, but Su Ming waved his hand, turned around, and opened the car door. In his view, the follow-up handling of this matter involved too many levels, far beyond what a part-time task could cover. Handing it over to the government and letting the professionals deal with it was the easiest option. His task was simply to rescue people and incidentally "picked up" something; now that it had been returned to its rightful owner, that was enough.

"Alright, I've finished my work." Su Ming turned around and gave Gu Changfeng an "OK" sign.

"Uncle Gu, remember to settle the bill."

After saying that, he got into the car, closed his eyes, and adopted an attitude that said, "I'm just a working man, and other things are none of my business."

The surroundings were deathly silent.

All the soldiers looked at the "Warrior" off-road vehicle with the eyes of someone looking at a monster.

A full half minute passed before Ma Jianguo snapped out of his daze as if struck by lightning, and roared at the communications soldier:

"What are you standing there for! Connect me to the military region headquarters! Top-secret encryption! Now!"

"Report! Report to the commander!" The communications soldier frantically connected the line.

"Speak! What is it!" A dignified voice came from the other end of the phone.

Ma Jianguo cleared his throat, trying to make his voice sound less like he was talking in his sleep: "Report... Ma Jianguo, Western Border Defense Regiment! We have found the missing expedition team's family search and rescue team on the Lop Nur border..."

Get to the point!

"Yes, sir!" Ma Jianguo snapped to attention, took a deep breath, and roared with all his might, "Report! We have received a part-time college student's submission... a strategic-level geomagnetic monitoring core currently in service with a major power! Bonus... the wreckage of an enemy armed helicopter! Over!"

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

A silence that lasted ten seconds.

It went on for so long that Ma Jianguo thought the signal had been cut off.

The voice on the other end of the phone sounded somewhat unsteady: "Ma Jianguo, are you suffering from heatstroke in the desert? What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Reporting, sir! I'm perfectly lucid!" Ma Jianguo cried out anxiously. "The item is in my hands! Absolutely! That college student... he... he's sleeping in my car right now! He said he's just here to earn tuition fees!"

"..."

Silence fell again on the other end of the phone.

Immediately, a loud crash of tables and chairs colliding came from the other end of the phone, followed by a roaring command:

"Level One Alert! Seal off the scene! Escort that...that student back to me unharmed! No! Bring him back! I'll report to the highest levels immediately! Utilize satellites for full protection!"

After hanging up the phone, Ma Jianguo wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, feeling as if he had just fought a fierce battle.

He glanced back at Su Ming, who was fast asleep in the car, and a muscle twitched on his face.

Is this a part-time job?

You call this earning tuition fees?!