That was a gray-black steel beast, its body long and narrow, entirely gray-black, with thick black smoke billowing from its top as if to blot out the blue sky above.
A flag hung high—one that looked less like a radiant sun and more like a bloody sun bleeding across the fabric, its clawing, menacing posture as if threatening every living thing that dared approach.
In the harbor of Small City, one could occasionally spot a destroyer briefly docking, but most of the time they were only seen from afar. Seeing one so close, nearly pulling up to the shore, was a first.
“What is that? A warship?” Zhu Ying elbowed An Jing’s side.
“It is a warship… but just a destroyer.” An Jing had watched some old documentaries and later specifically looked up information, but she only had a rough idea of the main classifications—
Destroyers, cruisers, battleships… and then aircraft carriers.
There were actually many finer divisions, but she had only been a junior high school student then. After a quick glance to satisfy her curiosity, she had gone off to play 4399 mini-games.
However, without a doubt, the smallest of them all was the destroyer.
Even a destroyer, to an ordinary person, seemed as huge as a small town at sea.
“So big… That’s… that’s…”
“That’s a ship,” An Jing said quickly, afraid Yu Tongshen might think it was some kind of steel monster.
“I-I know it’s a ship… but it’s so big, I’ve never seen such a big ship…”
“That’s a Japanese ship, and for them, it’s probably just for patrol.” An Jing peered curiously. Probably because this was a dream, she wasn’t too nervous. “Looks like they’re about to land.”
“Dock?” Zhu Ying tilted her head and gently grasped An Jing’s hand—she felt her palm seemed a little sweaty.
“They probably won’t dock… Ah, see, they’re lowering small boats.” Many speedboats were dropped onto the sea like dumplings into a pot, full of soldiers speeding toward the gravel beach.
Yu Tongshen stood frozen in place until some had already crawled onto the shore. Only then did he panic and glance at An Jing.
Seeing that the Lord Deity hadn’t left, he seemed to calm down instantly, silently staring at the uninvited guests.
A small squad of soldiers was the first to spot the little boy standing alone there. Dressed in naval infantry uniforms, they sprinted toward him.
It was a five-man squad. Each carried an old-style rifle in their arms, only the leader—who looked like a squad leader—had no rifle, but a classic Japanese pistol holstered at his waist. An Jing didn’t recognize the model, but she had often seen them in anti-Japanese war dramas.
This squad leader even wore a pair of white gloves in a human-like fashion, his face wearing a seemingly kind but chilling smile as he approached Yu Tongshen step by step.
He asked, in Chinese that was surprisingly fluent despite a slight accent, “Little friend, don’t be afraid. We’re just here to set up a weather station in these waters. Oh, do you know what a weather station is? It’s used to predict the weather. It’s a good thing.”
Yu Tongshen nervously clutched the hem of his clothes, nodding, then shaking his head.
“Where is your village? Can you take us there? We… just need some supplies.” As he spoke, his smile grew even brighter. He pulled a handful of beautifully wrapped candies from his pocket, grabbed Yu Tongshen’s hand, and stuffed them into his small palm. “Little friend, don’t worry. We are imperial soldiers. We won’t harm any civilians.”
Only a fool would believe that. Even a child living on a remote island had heard stories of massacres from adults who had ventured outside.
Yu Tongshen’s legs trembled. He kept looking toward An Jing, and the soldiers also glanced curiously in that direction.
But unfortunately, they saw nothing—only empty air.
“I won’t take you.” Yu Tongshen clenched his teeth, swallowed hard, and threw the candies right at the officer’s face. The latter’s smile instantly froze stiff.
“What did you say?”
“I won’t take you, you Japanese devils! Kill me, I still won’t take you!” The nearby Japanese soldiers muttered angrily in Japanese, clearly furious—probably embarrassed that they couldn’t even trick a child.
“We bring peace.” The officer removed the candy from his cap, forcing a smile back onto his face, but he couldn’t hide the coldness in his eyes.
Yu Tongshen knew that even if he didn’t tell them, these Japanese could easily find the path into the village. But as a child, he couldn’t think that far—he didn’t realize his stubbornness might cost the others in the village any room to maneuver. He only knew that the army before him had invaded his country, and many relatives—even if not close—had died at their hands.
So he absolutely couldn’t bow his head. Whether he could win or not, he would never submit to their will.
He didn’t have a deep concept of death; he just felt that if he gave in mentally now, he didn’t deserve to keep living in this world.
Or, to put it more childishly—he just didn’t want to lose face.
“You’re Japanese devils! I won’t take you!” Yu Tongshen shouted. The officer’s smile finally vanished completely.
He cursed, drew his gun, and aimed it at Yu Tongshen’s head. “Lead the way, or die!”
“Kill me, I still won’t take you!”
“Xiao Jing!” Zhu Ying finally grew anxious.
Meanwhile, An Jing was drenched in sweat. She had tried many ways, but couldn’t use the superpower that had pushed away the tsunami before. Right now, she seemed just like any ordinary person—no different at all.
Bang!
That was the sound of the trigger being pulled. Yu Tongshen’s small body flinched violently. An Jing, ignoring everything else, lunged toward the officer.
But her body passed straight through him, having no effect at all.
The bullet didn’t hit Yu Tongshen’s head; it whizzed past his ear.
The scorching air and the first taste of mortal terror made his legs go weak, and he collapsed to the ground.
“Goddess sister, Lord Deity, save me…” He cried out in panic, but saw An Jing falling helplessly to the ground. Her normally calm golden eyes were now filled with unease.
“How is this possible! It’s completely useless?”
“Completely… completely useless. I can’t do anything…” An Jing swallowed hard.
“But you could make clothes appear just now, couldn’t you?”
“No, no good. It seems that only works on us. It can’t affect others at all!”
“Lead the way, or die!” The officer barked in a tone that allowed no argument, his face twisted into a ferocious snarl.
The frozen air fell silent.
Suddenly, from the small hole hidden by ivy, came a rustling sound.
“Who’s there!”
The soldiers immediately surrounded the hole, aiming their rifles inside.
Yu Tongshen’s face turned deathly pale as he looked back at the two companions curled up inside the cave mouth, lowering his head even further.
They had probably come to call him for dinner, but now they had stumbled right into the line of fire.
“Excellent.” The officer grinned cruelly, pointing his gun at the two boys who were trying to retreat deeper into the hole. “You, come out. Or die here.”
“Devils…” One of them murmured quietly. The older one beside him slapped his thigh hard.
Even though they weren’t much older than Yu Tongshen, at this moment they were even more afraid to speak. They forced fawning smiles, as if that could help them slip past the bullets about to be fired.
The two boys slowly crawled out, their bodies stiff as rusted iron.
“Is this the only way out?”
“Unless you climb the mountain, you can’t get out from here…” One boy said quickly. “If you want to go to the village, you have to take a detour around there. There’s a small dock and a path…”
“Is there a lot of food in the village?”
“Not… not too little…”
“Excellent.” The officer’s expression turned amiable again. The soldiers behind him silently lowered their guns.
Yu Tongshen bit his lip, glaring reproachfully at his companion. But the boy who had answered quickly averted his gaze.
Bang! An unexpected gunshot.
The boy who had been so eager to answer detailed questions looked incredulous. He clutched his chest, staggered forward, and collapsed to the ground.
The officer laughed from the bottom of his heart, like a mad beast. “Haha… you smiled too disgustingly.”
The other boy’s voice immediately trembled. He kept his head down, afraid to show any expression. “S-Sir… what else do you want to ask? I-I can answer anything…”
“Excellent.” He deliberately didn’t look at Yu Tongshen, who had collapsed in fear, but strode toward the other boy, his military boots stepping into the pool of blood. “In your house—”
The boy nervously lifted his head slightly, met the officer’s gaze, then quickly looked away.
“Do you have a younger sister?”
“Y-Yes, I do…”
“Excellent.” The officer grinned cruelly, pressing the gun against the boy’s forehead. “Why aren’t you smiling?”
“I-I don’t dare…”
“Smile.”
His body stiffened in place. After several seconds of silence, under the officer’s slightly impatient raised eyebrow, he forced a smile uglier than crying.
Then—Bang!
Red and white splattered onto Yu Tongshen.
The officer turned around, expecting to see a face full of terror.
Instead, he saw a pair of furious eyes.
An Jing, completely powerless to do anything, suddenly sensed something. Then, Yu Tongshen’s surging thoughts, like a tsunami, crashed into her mind.
‘These inhuman monsters will surely be punished by inhuman monsters. The tsunami will come again. That big ship will be torn apart by a giant monster in the dream. These murderous beasts will become the monster’s food. If Lord Anhai can’t save us, then let me become a monster—a giant monster, a man-eating monster!!’