Courtyard Houses: Longevity Since the War of Resistance

After Ye Qiao left, I sat on the chair for a while longer.

Some things, once you've figured them out, you have to do them.

I stood up and pushed open the barracks door.

The few brightly lit rooms in the brigade headquarters stood out in the night. As I approached, the soldier on guard recognized me, saluted, and let me through without asking any further questions.

The brigade commander's room was at the very back, light shining through the crack in the door. I knocked on the door.

"Come in," came the brigade commander's voice, sounding a little tired, but still steady.

I pushed the door open and went in. The brigade commander was sitting behind that old table, with a map spread out in front of him and several documents piled up next to him.

He looked up, saw it was me, his eyes flickered, and he put down the pencil in his hand.

"Sit down." He gestured to the bench next to him.

I pulled up a stool and sat down, getting straight to the point: "Commander, regarding the 'Suppressing Ghost' incident, I'd like to change its name."

The brigade commander didn't reply immediately, but just looked at me and tapped his fingers lightly on the table twice.

"Change your name?" he repeated, his voice flat. "Change it to what?"

"To protect the nation," I said.

The room was quiet for a few seconds, the flame of the oil lamp flickered, and the brigade commander leaned back.

There was something swirling in his eyes, something forged in the storms of life, something deeply hidden.

"Suppressing ghosts... Protecting the nation." He slowly repeated the two names, then nodded. "Yes, Protecting the nation is good. It's grand and practical."

He paused, then looked at me: "Just about the name change?"

"There's more." I took the briefing out of my pocket and placed it on the table. "This battle in North China will make you, Brigade Commander, rich."

The brigade commander raised an eyebrow and leaned forward slightly: "Get rich? How do you mean get rich?"

I pointed to several locations marked with red circles on the map, which were the main airfields and tank regiment bases of the Japanese in North China.

"Before, we had millet and rifles, maybe a few cannons at most, we were dirt poor." I looked at the brigade commander, lowering my voice a little, "But things are different now. I've pretty much figured out what the Japanese have to offer in North China. I think the first wave won't involve fighting anyone, we'll take their stuff first."

The brigade commander's eyes lit up completely. "Get something?"

"Yes." I slammed my finger on the airport sign. "They have an airport, with planes parked inside. They have tank positions, with tankers parked there. We don't want to bomb or destroy it; we want it intact, with all the fuel still on."

The brigade commander didn't speak, but his breathing became noticeably more rapid. He stared at the map, his fingers unconsciously tracing the edge of the table.

I continued, "We'll move in tonight. I'll take a few men in, and we'll bring back every single plane. The same goes for the tank positions; clear out everyone inside, and the tanks are ours."

"How do you operate it?" The brigade commander looked up and asked directly, "I know you can fly planes. But what about tanks? And with so many planes and tanks, how are you going to control the entire airport with just a few men?"

I smiled and said, "Brigadier, have you forgotten who my men are? They're all top talents handpicked by you, quick learners. In the past six months, I've already had a few of the smart ones start learning mechanics. Let's not even talk about the complexities of flying airplanes; they can manage simple things like taking off and landing. Tanks are even simpler; they can drive one after a couple of tries."

"As for control..." I paused, "I'll lead the team myself, and the rest won't be a problem."

"How many people do we need?" the brigade commander asked.

"Not many." I held up two fingers. "Thirty men. After we take the airport, take off immediately and fly the plane to our prepared backup field airfield. The tanks will drive straight out and head to our pre-arranged assembly point."

The brigade commander stood up, walked to the map, and studied it for a long time with his hands behind his back.

"Has the backup airport assembly point been chosen?"

"I've chosen." I walked over and pointed to two locations on the map. "Here, and here. I've checked the terrain; it's suitable for aircraft takeoffs and landings, and also for tanks."

The brigade commander stared at the two points, traced them with his finger, and nodded. "Not a bad spot. But the Japanese have lost so much stuff; they're bound to go crazy. Have you thought about the encirclement and suppression?"

"I've thought about it," I said. "So we have to be quick. As soon as the planes land, we need to refuel and inspect them. Any planes that can fly should be put into combat immediately. The same goes for tanks; they should be incorporated into our forces and put into use as soon as they're ready."

"Use the Japanese tanks to fight the Japanese?" The brigade commander's lips twitched slightly, as if he wanted to laugh but held it back.

"Yes." I laughed too. "Let them taste what their own iron turtle is like."

The brigade commander walked back to the table, sat down, and started tapping his fingers on the table again, this time at a very fast pace.

The room was quiet, with only the sounds of knocking and the occasional crackling of the oil lamp wick.

After a full two minutes, the brigade commander stopped pointing, looked up, and looked at me.

"Done," he said, his voice low but resolute.

He grabbed a pencil from the table and circled the two backup locations on the map: "I'll approve the locations for you, you choose the personnel, whoever you want. And the timing? When do we start?"

"Three days later," I said, "on the day the moon is at its smallest, the night will be the darkest."

"Okay." The brigade commander tossed his pencil aside. "Submit the detailed action plan to me by noon tomorrow. Make a list of any special equipment needed. There's only one requirement."

He stared at me, his eyes like knives: "Bring all the people back to me. Planes and tanks are important, but not as important as you people. Got it?"

"I've got it." I stood up. "Then, Brigade Commander, I'll go back and make preparations."

"Wait a minute." The brigade commander called out to me, paused, and softened his tone. "I've also approved the renaming to Zhenguo. From today onwards, they will be the Zhenguo Special Operations Brigade. As a whetstone, they will not only sharpen our own knives, but also seize the enemy's knives and make them ours."

I nodded, saluted, and turned to leave.

Just as his hand touched the doorknob, the brigade commander's voice came from behind him again, soft but clear: "Li Feng."

I turned around.

Under the lamplight, the brigade commander's face was half in light and half in shadow.

"If this job goes through," he said, "the Japanese devils in North China will be wiped out."

I smiled and said, "Brigadier, if the Japanese devils aren't wiped out within a week, I'll bring you my head." I opened the door and went out.

There are three more days.

It's tight enough, it's sufficient.

[The system has been detected that the host's accumulated lottery draw count meets the upgrade requirements. Upgrade the system now?]

"Upgrade," I thought to myself.

[System upgrade in progress...]

Upgrade complete. New feature: Skill fusion.

Skill Fusion: You can set one skill as the primary skill and fuse other skills into it. After fusion, the primary skill will acquire all the characteristics of the fused skill. The number of fusion attempts required depends on the skill level and compatibility.

[Current remaining number of draws: 1800.]

A semi-transparent interface appeared before my eyes, densely listing all my skills.

I'll start by looking for items with "hand" in their name: lighter, faucet, toilet paper, hand cream, pen, and pen knife.

Distributing these funny skills across multiple fingers is too cumbersome. With a thought, I select these six skills.

[Do you wish to fuse "Lighter," "Drawer," "Toilet Paper," "Hand Cream," "Pen," and "Pencil Knife"? Please select the main skill.]

After thinking about it, I chose the lighter as my main skill, since fire is the most basic and most commonly used skill.

"Confirmed, upgraded to ultimate skill."

[Confirmed. 200 lottery draws consumed. Fusion successful. Upgrade successful. The lighter has been upgraded to a multi-purpose lighter.]

[The All-Powerful: Its hands can absorb basic materials and create anything.]

Interesting, let's continue looking at the skill list.

Next are those light-footed skills and martial arts, both traditional and fantasy, such as Ladder Cloud Leap, Sun Fist, Tathagata's Divine Kick, Lingbo Steps, Three Thousand Thunderclaps, Lion's Roar, and Six Unyielding Techniques.

With teleportation, movement techniques become practically useless. I selected the following skills: Cloud Ladder Leap, Sun Fist, Tathagata's Divine Kick, Lion's Roar, Six Unyielding Techniques, Lingbo Steps, and Three Thousand Thunderclaps. I set Tathagata's Divine Kick as my main skill, since I'll have to upgrade them all later anyway.

[The fusion upgrade consumes 300 lottery draw attempts. Confirm?]

"confirm."

[The fusion upgrade was successful; the Tathagata's Divine Kick has been upgraded to the God of Martial Arts.]

The God of Martial Arts: All martial arts reside within your heart.

"Fusion and Upgrade: Scattering Beans to Create Soldiers, Golden Light Spell, Magic Crystal Arrow, Sound Source Fog, Mopping Technique, Heaven-Slaying Sword Technique, Shadow Step, Conqueror's Haki, Laundry Technique"

[The fusion upgrade consumes 500 lottery draw attempts. Confirm?]

"confirm."

[The fusion upgrade was successful; "Scattering Beans to Form Soldiers" has been upgraded to a Magic God.]

[God of Magic: All magic is at your command.]

There's still plenty left. I can upgrade some skills: Power King to Hercules, Earth Intimate to Earth Master, Heaven and Earth Limitless Tracking to Cause and Effect, and Ghost Gate Thirteen Needles to Divine Healer. Then I used the spare change to try my luck in a few lotteries.

The new stats on my character panel are even more exaggerated.

Current Host: Li Feng

[Remaining lifespan]: 9271359 years

Number of draws: 200

[Skills]: Immortal Body, Ageless Body, King of Melee, God of Guns, God of Transformation, King of Throwing, Insightful Eye, God of Deception, Darwin, One Breath Transforms into Three Pure Ones, God of Space, Defecation Controller, Mechanic, Eye-Piercing, God of Time, Teleportation, Thor, All-rounder, God of Martial Arts, God of Magic, Hercules, Lord of the Earth, Seeking Cause and Effect, Divine Healer, Heart of a Teacher, Undying Diamond, Coffin Encircled by Iron Mountain.

Three days later, in the darkness, it will be time to show the Japanese devils in North China what a true dimensional reduction attack is.

I blew out the oil lamp and lay down on the earthen bed.

go to bed.

Get plenty of rest and energy; starting tomorrow, it's time to sharpen your tools.