Siheyuan: Hang Jia Dongxu, smash Banggeng to death!

In the Tokyo military headquarters, Hideki Tojo slammed the newspaper to the ground.

"You idiot! Those who offend China, no matter how far away, will be punished! Our humble empire, are you afraid of them?"

Lu Xiang whispered a reminder: "Your Excellency, our Kwantung Army has been completely annihilated."

Hideki Tojo gritted his teeth and squeezed out the words: "Have the troops in other parts of China strengthen their vigilance and guard against enemy sneak attacks."

Furthermore, the foreign ministry should contact Germany and Italy to see if they can form an alliance to jointly combat this threat.

In London, Churchill, with a cigar dangling from his lips, reads the newspaper. "Interesting," he writes, "an eight-year-old boy, leading a mysterious army, has defeated the little guy."

This is unscientific. The East is truly a magical land. The Ming Dynasty? That was practically a heavenly kingdom!

The foreign minister, standing nearby, asked whether they should send someone to make contact and try to form an alliance.

Churchill pondered for a moment: "Don't rush, observe first. This unit is too mysterious; we know nothing about them."

Making contact rashly could backfire, especially since they're using the name of heaven; I think some people are even more eager than we are to know for sure.

In the White House in Washington, Roosevelt sat in a wheelchair, holding a newspaper, his brow furrowed. "He's threatening us, but he's been relatively polite to us. Maybe we can try to negotiate."

The Secretary of State also suggested sending people to make contact and see if there was any possibility of cooperation.

Roosevelt nodded, then shook his head.

"Don't rush. Have the intelligence department gather more information. I need to know who he is and where his troops came from. We'll discuss cooperation once we're sure he's not a threat."

In the Moscow Kremlin, the Führer stared at the newspaper in silence for a long time. "The Ming Dynasty's imperial family? The Yongle Encyclopedia? Isn't this utter nonsense?"

"Regardless of his background, we must investigate him. We must closely monitor the movements of this unit and refrain from any rash actions."

In Lin Tian's command post, Brigade Commander Chen held a thick stack of newspapers and read them to him one by one.

As Lin Tian listened to the reactions from various countries and regions, a smile slowly crept onto his lips. The smokescreen he had thrown out had successfully misled the public.

Take your time and guess.

"Sir, what you said has been widely circulated outside."

Commander Chen smiled wryly, "The Ming Dynasty's imperial clan, the Yongle Encyclopedia, wild boar skin, the old witch who ate at the banquet—some people believe it, some don't, and some just treat it as a joke."

"It doesn't matter whether you believe it or not."

Lin Tian stood up. "Let them guess. Anyway, our goal is to destroy the Japanese. Nothing else matters."

Brigade Commander Chen nodded, then hesitated, "But sir, there's a lot of controversy surrounding us internationally, and some human rights organizations are already condemning us."

"Condemn? Let them condemn."

Lin Tian sneered, "Historically, how come people didn't condemn the bad things that ordinary people did?"

Now that they've been dead for a few days, they're jumping out of the woods? Double standards, ignore them.

"Whoever jumps the highest, we'll reward them with a few Patrick Stars after we wipe out the island nation."

Brigade Commander Chen smiled, turned around, and left.

...

The docks of Shanghai.

The Huangpu River shimmered, and several cargo ships slowly sailed by, their horns sounding deep and long.

The docks were bustling with people: workers carrying heavy bags, vendors hawking their wares, and patrolling police officers.

The air suddenly distorted, and ripples spread outwards.

Several figures appeared out of nowhere in a corner of the dock, staggering and almost falling.

A man in a white suit steadied himself, adjusted his sunglasses, and looked around blankly.

Behind him followed a burly man in a black suit, expressionless and with wary eyes.

There were also several men and women dressed in various clothes, some still in shock, some looking around, and some squatting on the ground retching.

"Brother Chow, this...this is Shanghai?"

Long Wu's voice was a little dry. He looked around and said, "Something feels off."

Chow Yun-fat's gaze swept across the street, his brows furrowing. He had learned about Shanghai's history from books.

But what is he seeing now?

Soldiers stood guard in the checkpoint at the intersection, their guns pointed to the sky, solemn and dignified.

"Gentlemen, you're from out of town, aren't you?"

A young newspaper vendor ran over, waving newspapers in his hand, "Want to buy a newspaper?"

Long Wu bought a newspaper, and Fa Ge took it and saw that the headline read: "Eight-year-old Commander Lin is awe-inspiring throughout the world."

The subtitle reads: "Commander Lin declared, 'Those who offend China, though far away, will be punished.'"

Chow Yun-fat's brows furrowed even more as he read the entire book from beginning to end, then again, his fingers trembling slightly.

Commander Lin, who was eight years old?

Who is this?

Long Wu's expression also changed. "Brother Fa, who is Commander Lin?"

"Could it be that Sing-jai and his friends did something?"

Chow Yun-fat put away the newspaper. "Let's find Stephen Chow first."

As the two entered the city, the scenes they witnessed shocked them even more.

The streets are clean and tidy, and the shops are thriving.

Children play by the roadside, elderly people play chess under the trees, and women haggle over prices at the market.

Occasionally, soldiers in military uniforms would walk by, their steps neat and their attitude towards the people friendly.

"Brother Chow, Shanghai has changed so much!"

Long Wu lowered his voice, "Where are those foreign police officers from before? Where are the signs for the concession? Where are the common people?"

"They're all gone."

Chow Yun-fat looked at the patrolling soldiers and said, "They were driven away by this unit."

"But that's not how it was in history."

"History has been rewritten."

Chow Yun-fat interrupted him, "Right now, we need to find them, find out what's going on, and then figure out a way to get back."

A few people walked out of the dock, where people were coming and going on the street.

They flagged down a rickshaw, "to the headquarters of the Chinese Independent Brigade."

The driver paused for a moment, then looked them up and down. "You're looking for the Chinese Independent Brigade? They're out fighting."

"War? What kind of war?"

"Live a simple life!"

The driver looked proud, "Our comfortable lives have been completely ruined, we're scrambling to make ends meet."

Chow Yun-fat and Lung Wu exchanged a glance, speechless with shock.

"Master, do you know Stephen Chow?" Lung Wu asked tentatively.

The driver thought for a moment.

"Stephen Chow? You mean that master of special abilities? He's fighting in North China with Commander Ma."

Commander Ma is incredibly powerful; with a single swing of his broadsword, his head rolls to the ground.

Stephen Chow is even more amazing; he can read minds to detect enemy agents and interrogate people about what they're thinking.

Chow Yun-fat was shocked again. This guy with special abilities, Stephen Chow, is doing really well here.

The two explored all of Shanghai and found that the city had been completely changed.

The concessions still exist, but they are no longer under foreign control. The houses they live in are not theirs; they need to pay rent if they want to stay there.

People from the UK and the US are very polite and even somewhat ingratiating towards the Chinese.

Now that China has airplanes and tanks, which are even more advanced than theirs, who would dare to put on airs?

The Xiao Rizi Concession is deserted; Xiao Rizi has long since died out.

The door was sealed with tape, several windows were broken, and the inside was a mess.

Passersby pointed at the building and said that it used to be a gathering place for Xiao Rijia.

They have harmed many Chinese people, and now they are finally getting their comeuppance.

Serves him right!

……