Not enough Japanese devils to kill? 1.4 billion people volunteer for the Battle of Shanghai.

Dusk fell after the battle...

Su Yue found a relatively intact wall next to the red flag on the bank building.

She took out a palm-sized projection device from her equipment bag and adjusted the angle.

Light shines from the device and spreads across the mottled wall, forming a virtual screen that is three meters wide and two meters high.

The moment the screen lit up, the light illuminated every young yet dirty face around it.

The comments don't "appear".

It surged forth.

Like a river bursting its banks, like a volcano erupting, like the roar of 1.4 billion hearts exploding simultaneously on this land—

[On the edge of the Taklamakan Desert]

Shepherd Ayiguli, holding a newborn lamb, spoke slowly and deliberately in broken Chinese to the phone camera:

"My grandfather said that in 1937 he wanted to go to Shanghai to fight the Japanese, but it was too far away. Heroes, I am praying for you in the driest place in the world."

Yongxing Island

Li Hai, a soldier guarding the island, stands with the deep blue sea behind him. He salutes the camera: "I am at the southernmost tip of our motherland! This sea was protected by your blood! Today, I watch over the sea for you! Heroes! This sea will always be China's sea!"

Mohe Arctic Village

Border guard Wang Bing, his eyelashes frosted over at his post in minus thirty degrees Celsius, spoke into the recorder on his chest: "It's cold, but my heart is warm. Because of you in 1937, I, in 2025, can stand here guarding the nation's border. Heroes, we have protected this northern frontier."

[Guizhou·FAST Sky Eye]

Standing beneath a 500-meter diameter radio telescope, the team of scientists said, "We are searching for the boundaries of the universe. But today, we discovered that the brightest star is not in the sky—it was in Shanghai in 1937. Heroes, your light, traversing eighty-eight years, has reached us."

Zhongshan Station, Antarctica

Under the polar day's sunlight, the expedition team unfurled a giant red flag. The station chief spoke into a satellite phone: "We are at the ends of the earth. But our hearts are in Shanghai in 1937. Heroes, the Antarctic ice melts for you."

Space: China's Space Station

Astronaut Wang Yaping photographed Earth from the porthole, and the outline of China was clearly visible in the image. Her voice came from space: "From an altitude of 400 kilometers, China is bright. The brightest point today is Baoshan. Heroes, the land you protect is beautiful from space."

"【Chongqing·Air Raid Shelter Ruins】Elderly people sit in front of the shelter they used to take refuge from the bombings: 'The Japanese bombed us for six years, but they didn't break us. Today, look at our children, they've been bombed back.'"

"【Jinan·Baotu Spring】An old man selling spring water scooped up a ladle of water: 'This spring water has been sweet for over a thousand years. Hero, come back and taste it?'"

"At Yuelu Academy in Changsha, an elderly professor said in the lecture hall: 'Classes are suspended today; watch the live stream. This is the best history lesson—living history.'"

"An ice cream vendor on Central Street in Harbin said: 'It's hot, the heroes must be thirsty. I'm donating 10,000 ice creams—even though I can't deliver them, I want to express my gratitude.'"

"[Shenyang·Shenyang Aircraft Corporation Workshop] The chief designer of the J-31 said to the camera: 'Our aircraft are now no worse than anyone else's. Heroes, the skies you flew back then are now protected by us.'"

There are many more—and many more.

……

These comments are not text.

It is blood, it is tears, it is scalding breath, it is the hearts of 1.4 billion people beating at the same time.

In front of the bank building.

More than seven hundred soldiers looked up at the wall.

Looking at those words that have been pouring in since 2025.

Eighty-eight years have passed; things have changed, yet nothing has changed.

A young soldier—the sixteen-year-old Shuanzhu—suddenly stood up.

He walked up to the screen, reached out, and tried to touch the scrolling text.

Fingers passed through the light and shadow, but couldn't touch anything.

But he touched something else.

I felt the temperature of 88 years ago.

He turned around, facing everyone and the camera, and shouted in a childish, tearful voice:

"Brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, grandparents—in 2025!!!"

"I'm Shuanzhu! I'm from Hebei! I'm sixteen years old!!"

"I...I miss my mother!!"

"But I'm not afraid anymore!!"

"Because I know—eighty-eight years from now!!—there will still be people who remember us!!!"

He suddenly raised the old rifle in his hand—the rifle was taller than him:

"I want to kill more Japanese devils!!!"

"I want to make you all in 2025—!!"

"To live a better life than now!!!"

Lei Gang wiped his face and walked to the screen.

This tall, burly man from Northeast China wiped his face—it was completely wet. He walked to the screen and pointed to the one with "Shenyang·Shenyang Aircraft Workshop":

"Hey, you guys who build airplanes! Did you hear that?!"

He turned around, dragged the empty-fired QJY-201 rifle out of his equipment bag, and slammed it heavily onto the ground.

"The guns you made! They're great!!!!"

"One burst! Wipe out a whole bunch of Japanese devils!!!!"

"Next time!! Bring more ammunition!!!"

"I'm going to beat them so badly they'll wet their pants at the sound of gunfire!!!"

Bian Yun stood behind everyone.

He watched all of this.

Looking at the soldiers in 1937 and their compatriots in 2025, they completed an impossible dialogue across the screen.

He pressed the communication button on his helmet:

"2025 Command Center, this is Bian Yun."

"Please convey this message to the people of the whole country..."

He paused, his voice choked with emotion:

"Their words...were received by the brothers in 1937."

"They said..."

Bian Yun raised his head and looked at the more than seven hundred pairs of bloodshot eyes:

"This new China..."

"It was worth it."