Courtyard Houses: Longevity Since the War of Resistance

Chapter 96

Northeast, at that familiar temporary camp. The campfire was still burning, and the brigade commander and Ye Qiao were talking in front of the map, surrounded by the Zhenguo team members, each with eyes as sharp as knives.

As soon as I appeared, everyone turned their heads.

"Captain!" Ye Qiao was the first to stand up, her eyes lighting up.

The brigade commander also stood up and looked me up and down: "The situation in Shanghai... is it resolved?"

The camp fell silent for a moment, then erupted in low cheers. Some pounded the ground, some grinned, but no one shouted—a habit ingrained from long-term operations behind enemy lines.

Ye Qiao walked up to me, seemed about to ask something, but then swallowed her words. In the end, she only said, "It's good that you're back."

I looked at her, then at the brigade commander, and then at the team members. A few months ago, they were just ordinary people with spirit; now they were elite soldiers capable of standing on their own.

"There's something I need to do," I said. "I need to go to the other side."

"The other side?" The brigade commander was taken aback. "Taiwan Province?"

"Hmm." I nodded. "There's still one last batch of Japanese soldiers, the remnants of about two divisions, plus some traitors and puppet troops who escaped from the mainland. We need to wipe them out completely."

Ye Qiao immediately said, "I'll go with you."

"Let's go too!" Several team members stepped forward.

I shook my head: "You stay here."

"Captain" Ye Qiao was anxious.

"Let me finish," I interrupted her. "The whole country has been liberated, but the matter isn't over. The Japanese haven't surrendered on their homeland yet; they still have troops on the Korean Peninsula and in Southeast Asia. To the north, the Russians are keeping an eye on things. And to the southwest, the British haven't completely given up either."

I looked at them and said, "The nation cannot be scattered. You must stay here, keep an eye on the coastline and the border, prevent the Japanese from counterattacking, and prevent anyone from taking advantage of our newly established nation to cause trouble."

The brigade commander was silent for a moment, then nodded: "Li Feng is right. The most important thing now is to stabilize the situation and seize the time to develop."

Ye Qiao bit her lip and didn't say anything.

I patted her on the shoulder: "You have more important things to do. Train new recruits, cultivate key personnel, and pass on the skills to protect the country."

The campsite quieted down again.

"I'll go to the other side. It'll take two days if things go smoothly, three days if things go slowly," I said. "It's just me; it would be inconvenient if there were more people."

Ye Qiao looked up at me: "...Be careful."

"Don't worry." I turned to leave, then stopped and turned back to say, "By the way, make sure you learn how to use the equipment we captured from the Japanese, especially the planes and tanks. You'll need them later."

The brigade commander nodded emphatically: "It's already being arranged."

I didn't say anything more, and activated the God of Space and the God of Deception.

The scene before my eyes was distorted again.

TW Province, TB Suburbs, R Army Command Post.

It was around nine o'clock in the evening. The command center was brightly lit, but the atmosphere was as oppressive as a funeral.

Several Japanese officers sat around a table with several telegrams spread out on it. They were all bad news: Shanghai had fallen, and the foreign concessions had been handed over.

"Baka..." a major gritted his teeth, "The mainland... is all lost."

"What do we do?" another lieutenant colonel asked, his voice trembling. "The mainland is telling us to hold out and wait for reinforcements, but where are the reinforcements? They're barely able to save themselves on the other side of the Pacific!"

"How many troops are left?" the lieutenant general asked, his voice hoarse.

"Two divisions... no, the actual combat-ready men are about twelve thousand," the staff officer said in a low voice. "There are also about thirty thousand puppet troops and officials who fled from the mainland. But those people... can't be relied on."

The lieutenant general closed his eyes.

Twelve thousand against three hundred thousand? No, against an entire newly formed nation. And they've just won a major victory, their morale is high, and their weapons... I heard they even have airplanes and tanks.

How to defend?

"General!" A communications soldier rushed in, his face deathly pale. "A fleet has appeared on the sea!"

"What?!" The lieutenant general jumped to his feet. "What country are you from?"

"I can't see clearly... but it's definitely not ours!"

Chaos erupted in the command post. Several officers rushed to the windows and grabbed binoculars.

There were indeed ships on the sea. But it wasn't a fleet; there was only one ship, drifting alone two or three kilometers from the shore.

"Just... just one?" The major was stunned.

"No..." The lieutenant general frowned. "That ship... doesn't look like a warship."

It certainly didn't look like one; it was just an ordinary cargo ship, rusty and without even a cannon.

But why would a cargo ship appear here at this time?

"Send men to investigate," the lieutenant general ordered.

Before the order could be issued, all the lights in the command post suddenly went out.

It wasn't a power outage; all light sources vanished simultaneously in an instant. The moonlight outside the windows, the distant lights—all were gone. The entire command center was plunged into absolute darkness, so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

"What's going on?!"

"Lights! Turn on the lights!"

"It won't turn on! The switch isn't working!"

In the chaos, someone grabbed a flashlight, pressed the switch, but it didn't light up. A match was struck, but the flame went out almost immediately, as if cut off by something.

Absolute darkness, absolute silence.

Then, a voice rang out in the darkness:

"Good evening."

The voice was very calm, so calm that it didn't sound like a battlefield, but like a greeting in a teahouse.

"Who?!" The lieutenant general drew his pistol and pointed it in the direction of the voice.

"My surname is Li," the voice said. "You can call me... the Ghost Suppressor."

The command post was deathly silent.

"What...what do you want to do?" The lieutenant general's voice trembled.

"Clean it up," I said.

The next second, the darkness faded.

The command post was gone, and all the Japanese officers found themselves standing on a desolate beach. In the distance was the cargo ship, and closer... I was all alone.

"Where...where is this?!" the major screamed.

"A convenient place." I walked over and pulled a list from my pocket. "Ishihara, Okamura, Doihara... are you familiar with these names?"

The lieutenant general's face turned deathly pale.

"They...they're on the mainland..."

"He's dead," I said bluntly. "I killed him. Now it's your turn."

"Wait!" the lieutenant general shouted. "We can surrender! According to international law!"

"International law?" I laughed. "Did you talk about international law on the mainland? Did you talk about it in Nanshi? Did you talk about it in those digital military units?"

He had nothing to say.

"However..." I put the list away, "I'm in a good mood today. I'll give you a choice."

All the Japanese soldiers were staring at me.

"First, I'll do it myself," I said. "Second, you guys figure it out yourselves."

The lieutenant general's hands trembled: "Should I...take care of it myself?"

"Yes." I nodded. "You now have twelve thousand men. Pick up your guns, aim them at those traitors, puppet troops, and lackeys who fled from the mainland, and wipe them out. After you're done, I'll spare your lives."

"Where are we going?" the major asked in a trembling voice.

"Go back to the mainland," I said. "Swim back."

The officers looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Time is running out." I glanced at the non-existent watch. "Ten minutes to think it over. If you don't choose after ten minutes, I'll choose for you."

The beach was so quiet that only the sound of the waves could be heard.

A minute later, the lieutenant general gritted his teeth and said, "...We choose second place."

"Smart." I turned and walked towards the cargo ship. "Let's get started. I'll wait here."

Two hours later.

Gunfire erupted throughout the city of TB.

It wasn't a fight against a foreign enemy; it was the Japanese purging their own people. Those puppet government officials, traitors, and spies who had fled from the mainland were dragged out of their hiding places and shot in the street.

Some begged for mercy, some cried out, some tried to run, but couldn't. The entire city was shrouded in an invisible force, and no one could escape.

I stood on the deck of the cargo ship, watching the city lights in the distance.

I was merciful; I let them fight like dogs to save my hands from getting dirty.

At four o'clock in the morning, the gunfire gradually subsided.

The lieutenant general, accompanied by several officers, arrived at the dock covered in blood. His face was deathly pale, and his eyes were bloodshot.

"The cleanup is...it's finished." His voice was hoarse. "A total of...31,000 people."

"The numbers are pretty accurate." I nodded. "Let's get on the boat."

"Can the ship...return to the mainland?" The major looked at the rusty cargo ship, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"Yes," I said.

They helped each other climb onto the ship. More than a hundred officers huddled on the deck like a pack of stray dogs.

I activated the God of Space, and the cargo ship silently departed from the dock, heading towards the deep sea.

I stopped the boat fifty kilometers from the shore.

"This is fine," I said.

"Here?" The lieutenant general froze. "This...this is still far from the mainland..."

"It's not far," I smiled. "I can swim back in no time."

All the Japanese soldiers' expressions changed drastically.

"You...you said you'd spare our lives!" the major screamed.

"Yes," I nodded. "I didn't kill you. Whether you live or die depends on your own abilities."

I jumped off the boat and stood on the sea, literally on the water.

Then, I raised my hand and gently pressed it against the bottom of the boat, and the steel plate at the bottom of the boat silently melted and created a large hole.

Seawater rushed in.

Amidst the screams of the Japanese soldiers, the cargo ship began to sink.

I stood on the sea, watching them fall into the water one by one, watching them thrash, struggle, and cry for help in the dark sea.

Then, I activated the God of Space, teleporting several officers, including the lieutenant general, to another location.

The next morning, red flags were hung up throughout Taiwan province.

There was no fighting, no resistance. When the surviving civilians opened their doors in the morning, they found that the Japanese soldiers on the street were gone, replaced by soldiers wearing gray uniforms and speaking with accents from various regions.

They said they came by sea and that they had fought a bitter battle.

The people were skeptical, but when they saw the red flag, they wept.

Three days later, I returned to the northeast camp.

Ye Qiao breathed a sigh of relief when she first saw me.

"Is it resolved?" she asked.

"It's solved," I said.

"How's it going over there now?"

"The red flag has been raised," I said simply.

The brigade commander walked over and offered me a cigarette: "What are your plans next?"

I took the cigarette, lit it, and took a drag.

"I should go," I said.

"Go? Where to?" Ye Qiao asked urgently.