HDRDTH -Chapter 10 The “Salted Fish” Amphibious Battle Vehicle

At the entrance of Yucai Experimental Elementary School, the place had completely exploded like a powder keg.

On normal days, the endless line of luxury cars worth millions—vehicles parents used to flaunt their wealth—would dominate the scene.

But today, before the “steel flood” formed by hundreds of cameras, those luxury cars looked pitifully insignificant.

“Move aside! Don’t block my shot! Su Qian is my exclusive scoop!”

A paparazzo in a baseball cap roared hysterically. In his desperation to grab the best camera angle, half his body had been wedged into the school gate’s retractable metal gap, his cold camera lens jammed directly against the security guard’s nose. The atmosphere was stretched to the breaking point.

“Exclusive my ass! Invisible Wings just passed twelve million downloads online! This is a phenomenon-level social story!”

Camera flashes merged into a blinding artificial daylight that made people dizzy. The shutter sounds resembled Gatling guns firing nonstop at the tightly shut security office door.

Inside the tiny guardroom, Su Qian curled into a corner, clutching her backpack tightly.

The windows rattled violently as reporters pounded on the glass. Excited, twisted faces pressed themselves against the windows while countless cameras pointed at the twelve-year-old girl like the barrels of black guns, ready to devour her alive.

“Qianqian, don’t be scared! Teacher Wang is blocking them!”

Homeroom teacher Wang’s face was pale white as she desperately held the door shut like a hen protecting its chicks.

But the pressure outside kept increasing.

The door was already creaking and cracking ominously.

“Su Wanyi’s phone won’t connect! The security guards can’t hold much longer!”

Cold sweat streamed down Teacher Wang’s forehead.

Outside, the human wall formed by the security staff had already been badly deformed under the assault of hundreds of frenzied reporters.

If the door fell—

Su Qian would face a merciless siege with absolutely no boundaries.

And just at that critical moment—

A deafening roar suddenly exploded from three streets away, like some sleeping beast awakening.

RUMBLE—!!!

The sound was wild and violent, carrying the furious atmosphere of industrial wasteland machinery.

Even the ground trembled beneath it.

It instantly drowned out every scream and shout nearby.

“Holy crap, what’s that noise? An earthquake?!”

People at the edge of the crowd screamed in shock as the previously airtight blockade was forcibly shaken open by the vibration.

Everyone turned around in astonishment.

At the far end of the street corner—

A bizarre monster of a vehicle, covered in dark-red mud, came roaring toward them while belching thick smoke into the sky.

Four gigantic tractor tires—each taller than a grown man—held up a ridiculously elevated chassis crudely welded together.

Several rusted anti-collision steel bars were welded onto the front, and strands of half-dried lake grass still dangled from them.

Behind the vehicle dragged a massive rust-covered water tank that clanged violently with every bump, sounding as though the entire thing might collapse into deadly scrap metal at any second.

“Holy shit! What kind of design is that? Cyberpunk wasteland apocalypse style—I freaking love it!”

“What the hell, is this Mad Max 3?!”

“Which construction-site water truck lost control? Stop it! Don’t ruin my chance to film the future diva!”

Several reporters eager to make headlines tried to physically block the vehicle.

But the moment they saw those gigantic tires rolling toward them, basic survival instinct kicked in and they scrambled away in terror.

The monstrous vehicle showed absolutely no intention of slowing down.

Inside the driver’s seat, Yu Xian looked through the cracked windshield at the swarm of flies surrounding Su Qian.

His expression grew colder and colder.

Then he slammed the accelerator to the floor.

CLANG—!

The monstrous vehicle leapt over the curb and forcefully rammed itself into the very center of the crowd, spraying mud everywhere.

SCREEECH—!!!

A piercing brake sound mixed with the disgusting smell of burnt rubber.

The car window slowly rolled down.

Behind it appeared a face wearing oversized sunglasses, radiating the message:

“Anyone disturbing my sleep deserves death.”

“Get in.”

Yu Xian didn’t even glance at the surrounding crowd.

He simply crooked a finger toward the already stunned Su Qian inside the guardroom.

“Uncle Yu?!”

The moment Su Qian recognized his face, tears burst from her eyes.

Ignoring everything else, she shoved the door open and charged toward the “steel fortress” beneath a storm of flashing cameras.

“It’s Su Qian! That man is her father! Surround the car! Don’t let him escape!”

The reporters went insane.

They realized this was the mysterious “godfather.”

Countless people lunged toward the vehicle, trying to grab Su Qian as she climbed aboard.

Some reporters even slammed their shoulders against the door, attempting to force Yu Xian out of the car.

CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!

The flashes were so intense they nearly burned people’s eyes.

Yu Xian’s eyelids twitched violently from the constant flashing.

The last trace of patience inside him finally died.

“I just wanted to quietly pick up a kid from school. But you idiots insist on making me give you all a bath.”

He cursed under his breath and firmly pressed the faded red button beneath the steering wheel.

CLACK! CLANK!

A series of heavy metallic grinding noises echoed from inside the water tank.

Seeing this, the surrounding reporters actually burst into laughter.

“It’s just a crappy water truck! Don’t be scared—he’s bluffing—”

Before the man could finish speaking—

The entire vehicle chassis began trembling violently.

The pressure gauge needle instantly slammed to maximum.

SHHHHHHHH—!!!

The next second—

Two enormous water jets, each nearly ten centimeters thick, exploded from the top of the tank with overwhelming force!

The streams collided violently over ten meters in the air before bursting apart into a massive cloud of dense water mist.

The setting sun shone through the countless floating droplets, forming a dazzling rainbow stretching across the entrance of Yucai Elementary School.

“Holy crap! Artificial rainfall?! Has this guy gone insane?!”

“Bullshit! That’s physical interference! Our lenses are completely fogged up! We can’t film anything!”

The reporters horrifically discovered that inside the dense mist, the expensive cameras they prided themselves on had instantly become useless junk.

Amid the chaotic sounds of people frantically wiping lenses, Yu Xian grabbed Su Qian by the back of her collar and lifted her into the driver’s cabin like a little fish.

“Sit tight. Fasten your seatbelt properly. Things might get a little bumpy next.”

A cold smirk appeared at the corner of Yu Xian’s lips.

His left hand slammed the gear stick forward while his right foot crushed the accelerator all the way down.

ROOOOAR—!!!

The vehicle shook violently, spewing thick black smoke everywhere.

Then, before everyone’s horrified eyes—

Yu Xian sharply spun the steering wheel, smashed straight through the roadside guardrail, and like a charging rhinoceros, drove directly into the thirty-meter-wide moat beside the street!

“Holy shit! Is he taking his daughter into the river to commit suicide?!”

“Film it! Big news! Master Yu picks up daughter then jumps into river!”

The reporters lost their minds and charged toward the riverbank, too panicked even to wipe the water off their cameras.

Everyone believed they were about to capture a tragic image that would go down in history.

But—

The anticipated crash and sinking never happened.

The moment the monstrous vehicle entered the water, the front end nearly plunged beneath the surface from sheer momentum.

Yet at that exact second—

Several crisp mechanical clicks echoed from the chassis.

The four gigantic tires suddenly retracted inward, transforming into some kind of stabilizing flotation airbags.

Then the exhaust pipes at the rear—which previously emitted black smoke—suddenly blasted out streams of tight blue bubbles.

Accompanied by the deep growl of the engine, the steel monster carved through the river surface, splitting open two-meter-high white waves.

It steadily supported its own massive weight and began speeding across the water.

On shore—

The once-noisy street instantly fell into dead silence.

Every reporter, Teacher Wang, even the principal who had just run out—

All of them turned to stone.

Jaws dropped everywhere.

“Wh… what the hell kind of insane operation is this? A water truck? Are you kidding me?”

A young reporter stared blankly at the image inside his camera—the vehicle racing across the river surface.

“This isn’t a water truck… this is clearly James Bond’s spy car! Since when did Jiangcheng have this kind of black technology?!”

“Quick! Film the back view! Hurry! This isn’t entertainment news anymore—this is freaking military technology news! This is going viral!”

…

The “Salted Fish” cruised steadily across the moat.

Su Qian tightly gripped the handrail, her tiny face flushed red with excitement as she watched the willow trees on both sides rapidly fly backward.

“Uncle Yu! This car is sooo cool! It’s ten thousand times cooler than Wang Xiaoming’s dad’s Mercedes!”

Yu Xian drove one-handed while casually removing his sunglasses.

Looking at the setting sun in the distance, he sighed heavily.

“Don’t mention it. This junk heap has terrible balance. The moment we hit the water earlier, I clearly heard a crack in the bottom of the water tank. That profiteer Wang Dafu promised me a full upgrade package for twenty thousand yuan, yet he still used a secondhand propeller.”

His reasoning was as salted-fish as ever.

The only reason he modified this vehicle at all—

Was because the road from Golden Water Bay to his fishing spot hadn’t been completed yet and was still full of mud.

To comfortably avoid crowds and reach his secret fishing location every day, walking was too tiring and boats were too slow.

Thus—

This “Salted Fish” vehicle was born.

A bizarre combination of water truck, off-road vehicle, and speedboat.

Its sole purpose in existence…

Was to allow Yu Xian to expend the least amount of physical effort possible in order to travel to the farthest riverbanks…

And still come home empty-handed.

Half an hour later, at the villa’s private dock—

Inside the living room, Su Wanyi stared blankly at the breaking news playing on television.

On screen, close-up footage of the steel monster charging into the river beneath a rainbow was being analyzed frantically by all kinds of experts.

“This involves the ultimate fusion of aerodynamic structure and fluid dynamics…”

“This isn’t vehicle modification. This is art!”

Su Wanyi looked out the window at Yu Xian, who was currently stomping around angrily on the dock because a tiny white fish had escaped his hook.

Even the wine glass in her hand trembled slightly.

Twenty thousand yuan…

And he’d built an amphibious armored vehicle?

If this man ever bothered to move his ass seriously, the entire world’s wealth would probably end up carrying the surname Yu!

RING RING RING—!

Yang Wei’s phone call exploded once more.

His voice had already cracked from sheer excitement.

“Sister Su! Ancestor! I’m building a shrine for Master Yu! The video of the ‘Salted Fish War Chariot’ has already surpassed two hundred million views online! Even the top hardcore tech influencers are investigating Master Yu’s background! Su Qian’s market value isn’t just skyrocketing anymore—she’s ascending to immortality!”

“Th-this works too?”

Su Wanyi felt like her brain lacked oxygen.

“Of course it works! Just now, the director of Wilderness Survival called me.”

Yang Wei lowered his voice dramatically.

“They originally only offered five hundred thousand yuan. Now they’re offering one million, plus covering all of Su Qian’s private tutoring expenses for the next year! There’s only one condition—Master Yu must participate together with the ‘Salted Fish’ vehicle!”

One million yuan!

Su Wanyi looked out the window at Yu Xian, who was still cursing furiously at the dock because a tiny fish had escaped.

“But…”

Yang Wei hesitated.

“That program takes place in the uninhabited outer regions of Shennongjia. The environment is unbelievably harsh, and they’ll even have to camp in muddy swamps. With Master Yu’s… personality… would he really be willing to suffer like that?”

Watching Yu Xian’s perpetually salted-fish expression, a sly smile suddenly appeared on Su Wanyi’s lips.

“Relax. I know exactly how to make him go.”

“Tell the director to prepare the contract.”

“I guarantee he’ll fight to sign it.”