Chapter 41: Starting One Down (Please Keep Reading and Vote)

It must be said that the people of the modern plane are protected a bit too well by our Motherland.

First of all, this is naturally a wonderful thing; such a powerful nation is precisely the prosperous era that countless ancestors longed for and yearned for before they died.

Secondly, there are also many things that leave one both laughing and crying.

Because in such an environment, many oddballs and "giant infants" have been born. It is fine if they just mess around in the modern plane, but every time I run into them after crossing over, it makes me want to curse…

— Excerpted from the Hu Biao diary collection, "Hu Says" —

Following the footsteps of the other eight, Old Tang began his journey to report to the 67th Division. On the surface, he remained calm, but inside, he was panicking.

He had crossed over; of this, he no longer had the slightest doubt.

Before the crossing, he had been at his home in Tianjin, helping to look after his son who was only a few months old. He had merely taken a nap, and when he woke up again, the sky had collapsed.

He found himself wearing coarse cloth robes and trousers that he had only ever seen in movies, lying in what appeared to be a field hospital.

From the conversations of the doctors, nurses, and wounded soldiers around him, held in various accents, he learned a shocking truth:

This was Shanghai eighty-some years ago. The National Revolutionary Army and the Japanese invaders were engaged in a war—the legendary Battle of Songhu.

His own identity was that of a wounded soldier in the 67th Division of the National Army, someone whose injuries had already healed and who was about to be discharged.

Could all of this be someone pranking him? After a moment of thought, he decided that was absolutely impossible.

For he had only wandered around the field hospital for a short while, and he could already see a large number of wounded men missing arms or legs, blinded, or disfigured.

Everything was so real; it could not possibly be makeup.

The painful wails from their mouths, the smell of blood permeating the air, and the faint sounds of explosions in the distance all combined to terrify Old Tang.

In truth, it was understandable. Before crossing, in the modern plane, he was just a white-collar worker who had recently become unemployed.

His specialties were mechanical design and drafting, working overtime to finish PPTs, and playing games during his time off.

He had played plenty of gunfight games, but on a battlefield of the magnitude of Songhu, he did not believe these gaming experiences would be of any use.

For a time, Old Tang’s mind was filled with such worries:

Could he still cross back? If he really died on the Songhu battlefield, what would happen to his parents and wife back in the modern plane? What about his son who was only a few months old?

That boy had been kicking up a storm ever since he was conceived by his wife.

He had long since made up his mind that once the boy was old enough to be spanked, he would give him a good thrashing to ensure he had a complete childhood.

In fact, it was not just Old Tang; the other newcomers who had crossed over this time were all panicking to one degree or another, though they were all forcibly maintaining their composure.

The key reason was that when Hu Biao and his group had crossed over last time, they had a few days of a buffer period, allowing them to gradually adapt.

This group, however, saw a camp full of wounded soldiers the moment they opened their eyes, with many fighters lying there waiting to die.

Given this scene, who wouldn't be rattled after crossing over?

***

As for whether Hu Biao had seen through the secrets of Old Tang and the others, it was soon confirmed.

The group of nine set off together. After walking a hundred meters or so from the field hospital, the National Army platoon leader named Hu Biao spoke up, instructing a young man who acted like his sidekick:

"Zhu Cong, your legs are fast. Run ahead and find someone to ask the way to Jiangqiao."

Zhu Cong did not say a word, acknowledged the order, and trotted off to find someone.

Once Zhu Cong had run about twenty meters away, Hu Biao turned to the remaining seven. The words he spoke, falling into the ears of Old Tang and the others, were as shocking as a thunderclap:

"Stop putting on an act. I know you all crossed over from the modern plane, right?"

"No, Lieutenant Hu, you must be joking." Upon hearing this, Old Tang instinctively retorted.

Although he had just realized that the expressions and temperaments of the other six were also very strange, and that they were, like him, unlucky time-travelers.

After Old Tang spoke, the others also chimed in to deny it.

Hu Biao did not argue. He appreciated the effort the seven fellows made to maintain a calm expression on their faces despite being extremely shocked inside.

Only then did he begin to say more, and more intriguing, things:

"Don't worry, I also crossed over from the modern plane. Before I crossed, our sixth-generation aircraft had only just been unveiled a few days prior.

However, compared to you, this is my second time crossing, so I can give you some advice here.

I don’t know what miraculous existence used what mysterious means to bring us here.

But as long as we follow the inevitable arrangements and developments, don't act recklessly, and don't try to change the course of history, if we fight together in solidarity, we can eventually return to the modern plane.

Even if you die, you can be resurrected and then cross back."

After finishing, Hu Biao quickly added:

"Oh right! You should know about the recent hot topic on the internet regarding Dr. Zhou Kun, the returnee, making a huge breakthrough in 'room-temperature superconducting materials,' right?

Zhou Kun also crossed over with me last time. He died in battle.

But later, not only was he resurrected and returned to the modern plane, but I believe the inspiration for those 'room-temperature superconducting materials' has an inseparable connection to that previous crossing."

Old Tang certainly knew about Zhou Kun and the "room-temperature superconducting materials."

Because before he crossed over, the internet had been turned upside down by this matter.

Foreign media were all sourly commenting that it must be fake news; the folks from our neighbor, the "Third Brother," were the most boisterous, their reasoning quite simple:

If their own level of technology couldn't research such advanced technology, how could the Chinese family possibly do it?

So it was a scam; it must be a scam.

Domestically, aside from a few individuals being fed remotely who refused to believe it, more people were already enthusiastically imagining what kind of technological explosions would occur once the project was fully developed.

Old Tang was immediately interested and was just about to ask for more details when something even more dramatic happened...

Among the seven newcomers who had crossed over this time, the only woman—a typical square-dancing middle-aged lady—spoke just as Hu Biao’s voice trailed off.

She turned and headed toward an alley on the left, shouting as she walked:

"You surnamed Hu, you're trying to fool ghosts.

'Living to go back,' 'superconducting materials'—it's nothing more than wanting to trick us into risking our lives for you. I’ve eaten more salt than you’ve eaten rice; don't think you can scam me."

To be fair, if Hu Biao were truly a native of this plane, and given the small pistol tucked into his belt, this lady would never have dared to curse or run away.

But once she heard that the other party was also a modern person, she was inexplicably no longer afraid.

Perhaps in her instinctive understanding, she felt that the other party wouldn't dare do anything to her.

Driven by the desire not to fight in the war, she began to bolt. She didn't know where she was going, but she decided to run first—she absolutely would not go to war.

By the end, the lady was even jogging.

The square-dancing lady ran faster and faster; the stamina and speed left young people like Old Tang stunned. A young man with a buzz cut couldn't help but complain:

"This lady has great stamina!

It looks like she doesn't just dance in the square often; she might even be a leader. Dancing from morning till night—she starts before we go to work and is still at it when we get off."

Then, before Old Tang and the other first-time crossers could decide whether to run away with her, a subsequent event completely extinguished any thoughts of escape.

While running, the lady stumbled and fell to the ground. As she fell, her forehead hit a rock on the ground—and a sharp corner of the rock, at that.

After the impact, a large gash opened up on her forehead. She didn't even let out a cry of pain; she went silent on the spot.

Such a shocking coincidence left Old Tang and the others dumbfounded.

It was Hu Biao who reacted faster, shouting, "Why are you all just standing there? Hurry up and help her! If she dares to blackmail you, it's on me," before rushing toward the fallen woman.

Then, they realized there was no longer any need to worry about whether to help her or if she would blackmail them.

For Old Tang and the others could see that after Hu Biao checked her breath, he shook his head at them with a pained expression, the meaning quite clear:

No need to help; the person was already dead.

It meant that just as the crossing had begun, the number of team members had already decreased by one...