Courtyard House: Starting in 1938, kill enemies and loot equipment.

January 2026, 2 AM.

On the assembly line of an electronics factory in Dongguan, the incandescent lights stung the eyes. Zhou Ye's right hand, like a wound-up toy, mechanically tightened screws, while his left hand precisely hooked the capacitors on the conveyor belt. The calluses on his fingertips brushed against the cold circuit boards, numb and devoid of feeling.

On the third consecutive night of working overtime, the aches in his spine were excruciating. The pain relief ointment on his lower back had long since worn off, and his stomach felt empty, with only the astringent taste of cold water. He glanced at the electronic screen at the end of the assembly line; the production numbers were still jumping, and there were still four hours until he could leave work. His eyelids felt as heavy as lead.

"Zhou Ye! Are you dawdling? You can't even keep up with the metronome, are you just here to eat?"

The team leader's cursing exploded in his ears, and Zhou Ye snapped back to reality. His finger slipped, and the screwdriver slashed hard across the circuit board, leaving a hideous scratch instantly.

"One card wasted, fifty yuan deducted. This is the third time this month; another mistake and you're fired!"

The cold voice crashed down, and Zhou Ye opened his mouth, wanting to explain that he couldn't hold on any longer, but a tearing pain suddenly shot through his chest. It was as if an invisible hand was gripping his heart tightly, making even breathing a luxury.

He saw his hands trembling, saw the team leader's mouth still moving, and heard the roar of the assembly line and the ticking of the machines, but all the sounds seemed to be separated by a thick curtain of water, growing farther and farther away.

A burst of white light exploded before my eyes, and the world spun around me.

My last thought was that I'd lost this month's perfect attendance bonus, and I still hadn't figured out where to pay next month's rent...

In the instant his consciousness faded, Zhou Ye thought he was going to die.

But when I opened my eyes again, what hit me wasn't the smell of disinfectant from the hospital, but a thick, sweet, fishy smell mixed with the smell of smoke.

He coughed violently, his head throbbing, and his bones felt like they were falling apart. He pushed himself up to sit up, his palms touching not the rubber mats of the assembly line, but cold, blood-stained dirt, with charred wood chips beneath him.

The scene was one of utter chaos.

The low mud-brick house had collapsed on one side, the roof burned through, and the charred beams leaned precariously, still emitting wisps of smoke. The stove had fallen over, the iron pot cracked into three pieces, and the cornmeal inside was burnt black and stuck to the mud.

Not far away, a large hole was blasted into an earthen wall, and the firelight outside shone in, turning everything into a blinding red.

"Brother...brother...wake up..."

A weak, tearful voice whispered in his ear, and a small, cold hand gripped his sleeve tightly, trembling violently.

Zhou Ye turned his head and saw a pair of dark eyes filled with tears.

The girl was about five or six years old, so thin she was unrecognizable. Her withered yellow pigtails were haphazardly stuck to her cheeks, and her face was smeared with blood and ash. Only her eyes shone brightly, filled with fear and helplessness. Her small body was curled up in a ball, clinging tightly to him, as if grasping at the last straw.

"Brother, parents... parents and the like..."

The girl pointed to the stove, and Zhou Ye's gaze followed hers. His pupils suddenly contracted, and his blood seemed to freeze in that instant.

There were two people lying there.

A man and a woman, dressed in patched, coarse cloth, lay beneath each other. The soil beneath them was soaked in blood, turning a dark brown and forming a cold scab. A half-broken rusty bayonet was stuck in the man's chest; his eyes were wide open, and his hands remained in a crawling position, as if trying to protect something. The woman was hunched over, her back riddled with bullet holes, blood seeping from them and soaking through her coarse cloth. In her hand, she still clutched half a half-eaten cornbread, her knuckles white.

Those were the parents of this body, Mr. and Mrs. Zhou.

And he, Zhou Ye, a thirty-year-old factory worker who died suddenly on the assembly line, actually time-traveled.

He was transported to Zhoujiazhuang, a suburb of Beiping in 1938, and became a fifteen-year-old boy with the same name as him. Just then, the Japanese invaders launched a sweep, and his family was destroyed.

Fragments of memories surged into his mind, and the original owner's consciousness and his soul completely merged—this morning, a group of Japanese soldiers stormed into Zhoujiazhuang, burning, killing, looting, and committing all sorts of atrocities. His parents stuffed him and his younger sister, Zhou Xiaocao, into a hidden compartment under the stove, but they themselves were trapped inside the house by the Japanese soldiers and became victims of their blades.

The hidden compartment was blown open by the artillery fire, and he fainted. When he woke up, he had a different soul.

"Brother, I'm scared..." Zhou Xiaocao threw herself into his arms, her small body trembling like a leaf in the autumn wind, her sobs suppressed and desperate, "The Japanese devils... the Japanese devils are still outside..."

Zhou Ye hugged his sister's thin back, the bones digging into his palms and causing pain. The little body in his arms was burning hot, a fever from fright, but his fingertips were icy cold, and even her breathing was trembling.

In his previous life, he was an orphan who never met his parents and experienced the full spectrum of human emotions. He couldn't bear to see such separation from his family and such despair and helplessness.

In particular, this was his only close relative in this chaotic world.

Outside came the crude Japanese curses of the Japanese soldiers, the crisp sound of leather boots crushing wood, and occasionally a few pitiful screams from the villagers who had not yet escaped.

The smell of blood grew stronger, and the firelight illuminated Zhou Ye's face. His eyes, which had initially been blank, gradually hardened with a chilling killing intent.

In his past life, he endured humiliation and hardship, working like a beast of burden, eventually dying from exhaustion on the assembly line without even a proper funeral.

In this life, the land is shattered, the country is destroyed, he witnesses the tragic deaths of his loved ones and personally experiences the blood and fire of this chaotic world.

He doesn't want to be treated like a beast of burden anymore!

He wanted to make knives, guns, and sharp blades to cut down the invaders!

[A strong desire for revenge has been detected in the host; the killing intent level has exceeded the threshold—]

[The "Defeat the Enemy and Serve the Country" system is now officially activated!]

[The new player gift pack has been distributed; you can check it yourself!]

A cold, mechanical voice suddenly rang in Zhou Ye's mind.

Zhou Ye's heart skipped a beat, then he was overjoyed!

Goldfinger!

The time traveler's cheat code has arrived!

He suppressed his excitement, his consciousness sinking into his mind, whereupon a pale blue light screen instantly unfolded:

[Host: Zhou Ye (Soul Fusion Level 100%)]

Age: 15

[Physical Fitness: 6 (5 for an average adult male, with a base bonus from years of physical labor)]

[Strength: 7 (Son of a hunter, trained in rudimentary martial arts from a young age)]

[Agility: 6]

[Skills: None]

[Merit Points: 0]

[Bound Space: Ten Acres of Anti-Japanese War Farm Space (Not Activated, Requires Host to Kill an Enemy for the First Time to Unlock)]

[New Player Gift Pack: Steel Woodcutter's Knife x1, Basic Knife Techniques (Beginner) x1, Three-Day Emergency Rations x1, Emergency Containment Authority (Can mentally pull your only close relative into the system's temporary space to avoid fatal danger)]

[Urgent Alert: Three Japanese soldiers have been detected approaching the host, within 20 meters!]

[First kill mission triggered: Kill one invading Japanese soldier, reward 20 merit points, unlock farm space, and activate basic marksmanship (Type 38 rifle specialization)!]

As soon as the mechanical sound ended, clear Japanese conversation came from outside, along with the sound of leather boots stepping on the stone slabs at the gate.

Zhou Ye suddenly hugged his sister tightly, pressed her against the wall behind him, and his eyes were as cold as ice.

He raised his hand, and with a thought, a cold-gleaming steel woodcutter's knife appeared in his grasp, heavy and satisfying to hold. Instantly, basic sword techniques flooded his mind—simple, direct, ruthless, and deadly in every move.

He also activated the system's emergency containment authority. If his sister were in danger, he could pull her into an absolutely safe temporary space with a single thought.

Having made all the necessary preparations, Zhou Ye pressed himself against the cold earthen wall, listening to the footsteps outside growing ever closer.

The firelight illuminated his profile, revealing a taut jawline and a burning hatred of blood and fire in his eyes.

The Japanese devils are here.

In this life, blood debts must be repaid with blood!