Descendants of Zhang Xun

“The slogan is a bit outdated. Isn’t it at least a thousand years old?”

Zhou Lizhi said in a bored voice. It was quite a relaxed attitude considering that a tank was slowly coming over the ridge while firing its gun. Of course, it was a well-founded composure.

“A thousand years… It’s much older. Almost close to two thousand years, in fact.”

“Whether it’s a thousand or two thousand years. Anyway, it’s too old a slogan. They look Chinese, but what kind of rootless rebellion is this…”

The Chinese Black Dragon heavy tank was still approaching this building while firing its machine gun. Zhou Lizhi drew her pistol and strode towards the tank, aiming her gun. The Major shouted at the tank:

“I am Zhou Lizhi, Major of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China and instructor at Huangpu. Who is controlling the tank? Disembark immediately, identify yourself, and surrender!”

“The Republic will perish!”

A Chinese man who had poked his head out of the turret shouted through a loudspeaker.

“The people are being deceived by Chiang Kai-shek’s corrupt and superficial prosperity! History has gone in the wrong direction! The republic doesn’t suit foolish Chinese! History must return to the past!”

“It’s not just their words that are outdated, their ideology really is old…”

I muttered as I watched Zhou and the heavy tank face off from a distance. Tikhonov had somehow approached my side and let out a chuckle.

“It’s old, but is it wrong?”

“Pardon?”

“Who knows. Maybe what the Chinese are really looking for is a monarch to lead them. No, perhaps it’s not just the Chinese, but humans in general who are always searching for such a being. In fact, maybe it’s the revolutionaries and republicans who are truly insane?”

“That’s not something a communist would say…”

Before Tikhonov could respond to my words, the tank’s main gun spewed fire. Zhou calmly ducked her head to avoid the tank’s shell, then raised her pistol towards the tank again. For some reason, the small handheld pistol Zhou was holding looked much stronger and more frightening than the large heavy tank’s main gun.

“If you don’t disembark immediately, I’ll neutralize the tank. I’m not destroying it carelessly because the tank you hijacked is still state property, so comply quietly.”

This time the tank poured bullets towards the instructor. But knowing Zhou’s skills, none of us moved an inch and just watched her from afar. All the bullets fired directly at Zhou scattered in all directions and fell to the ground weakly with a pitter-patter.

Zhou Lizhi didn’t bother to deflect or block the bullets. The bullets avoided her on their own.

“Judging by your skills, you don’t seem to be awakened. Who put you up to this?”

“The Emperor of the Great Qing will return!”

Of all the many countries, why the Qing?

“The great Beijing didn’t need a school built by Chiang Kai-shek! Now that we’ve removed the cancer from the imperial capital, it’s time to return to the great China once again.”

“Are you saying that current China is not great? That might be something to say when the country is weak, but isn’t China strong enough?”

Zhou Lizhi seemed to be asking out of pure curiosity. The radical restorationists, seemingly knowing they were done for, still barked out their last resistance.

“When one Generalissimo falls, the Republic of China, pretending to be a great power with just a shell, will collapse again! The Chinese navy raised by Chiang Kai-shek is weaker than Japan’s navy, the Chinese army raised by Chiang Kai-shek lags behind the Soviet Red Army, and the Chinese air force raised by Chiang Kai-shek is no match for the US Air Force! While advocating for a free China, you repeat censorship and oppression, falling behind not only the United States but even neighboring Korea in cultural influence! You’ve created a crippled great power that can’t claim to be the best in the world in any aspect, and you’re acting like a superpower relying only on the territory and population passed down by the Qing ancestors. How can you call this a great China!”

“I’ve heard enough.”

Zhou pulled the trigger of her pistol. The Major’s bullet penetrated the tank’s turret armor and hit the body of the tank crew member who was leaning out over the cupola. She gestured to us and instructed:

“I adjusted the bullet’s power, so it probably didn’t penetrate his body. Come here and help pull him out. I won’t kill them, but I’ll take them in and hear more of what they have to say. Isn’t it quite interesting?”

“Ah, yes.”

I took the lead and ran to the tank, pulling out the radical restorationist who had been shot. The remaining three people who were operating the tank were dragged out of the tank one by one. The tank had no significant damage except for the large hole in the turret caused by Zhou’s pistol.

It was a truly anticlimactic commotion compared to the situation in Beiping where a nuclear weapon had exploded.

Catherine Duey skillfully removed the bullet from the rioter’s body and cauterized the wound with fire to close it. While Duey was closing the wound, there were screams of pain, but I was used to such sounds, so it didn’t bother me.

“The emperor… who received the Mandate of Heaven… will return… Aaaaaargh!”

“Eh, please stay still. At this rate, even the closed wound will open up.”

I could see some students’ faces turning pale, those who weren’t used to that kind of screaming. Soon, the National Revolutionary Army’s military police stationed at the school appeared and arrested all the perpetrators. These rioters who had infiltrated the school were not superhumans, so the military police could take responsibility and take them away.

“If there’s no additional commotion, I think we can end the emergency situation at this point. But since the national state of emergency is still in effect, we can’t completely lower our guard either.”

“How did those guys even get into this school in the first place when they’re not even superhumans?”

Churchill asked. Zhou shrugged as if she wanted to know that too.

“Beiping’s security has also been breached. I don’t think I should be blamed for that.”

“It’s strange. A sudden massive-scale terror attack in China demanding the restoration of the Great Qing. I don’t think China’s discipline has collapsed to the point of experiencing such an incident.”

Rebecca Katerfeld said. The atmosphere at the school was chilly. The incident at Huangpu ended as a minor happening, but an atomic bomb had exploded in Beiping.

For the first time in human history, an atomic bomb was used with the purpose of killing people. Moreover, it was used with the purpose of taking the lives of China’s superhumans… the lives of Chinese people and numerous men who had come to study in China.

This is an irreversible wound to China’s national prestige, and it’s also a military loss equivalent to the annihilation of several army corps, losing numerous talents who would have contributed to China’s future military power. Moreover, it’s clear that there will be a significant economic impact as global tension spreads due to this incident.

Anyway, the repercussions of this incident are difficult to explain in just a few words. Honestly, it’s such a major incident that I wonder if I should abandon my mission at Huangpu and return to headquarters immediately.

“An emperor… with the Mandate of Heaven…”

Zhou muttered. The Major turned to me and asked:

“Do you think such a thing could happen for that reason, Platoon Leader?”

“China is prospering. There are some contradictions, but it seems hasty to try to build a new world when the current one isn’t falling apart. I say this purely as a foreigner.”

“Hasty, you say… It sounds like you’re suggesting it could succeed if the timing was right.”

“I’m sorry. That wasn’t my intention.”

No matter how close we’ve become, she’s still an officer of the National Revolutionary Army. I didn’t want to give any reason for my head to roll over a misspoken word. When I suddenly reacted sensitively, Zhou chuckled and patted my shoulder.

“Let’s take everyone to the underground bunker for now. And after everyone’s in the bunker, follow me. I’ll show you something interesting.”

By now, the siren and broadcast sounds had stopped. However, the quasi-wartime atmosphere that enveloped the entire academy didn’t disappear instantly, and we had to endure the stares of numerous soldiers and uniformed cadets even as we walked to the bunker near the faculty dormitory.

In particular, there were Chinese who showed direct hostility towards the notorious Barbara Tikhonov and attempted to engage in combat.

That Chinese person backed off immediately when they saw Zhou Lizhi, who was leading us at the front, put her hand on her sword handle. The bunker we went down to by elevator seemed to be dug about 700m deep underground.

Our heads were spinning due to the high-speed elevator, and Tikhonov expressed regret, saying that if there was a bunker of the same depth in Beiping, it could probably withstand a nuclear attack.

Zhou Lizhi agreed with her words, but according to current information, unlike our case, the terrorist incident in Beiping occurred without any precursor or warning, so there was practically no one who could evacuate.

If that’s the case, can we really consider about a third of China’s superhumans dead? Especially in Beiping’s case, many active-duty generals held key positions as instructors, so it would have great significance not just as a school but as a military facility…

The elevator reached the lowest level of the bunker. Since it was confirmed that the terror was the work of restorationists, the special confinement of Tikhonov was called off. Catherine Duey clung to the Soviet colonel intimately again, as if she had never advocated for Tikhonov’s detention.

“I’m glad, Barbie. I was worried about what would happen if we were separated.”

“Yes, I’m happy to be able to stay with Katyusha too.”

“…What a creepy combo, I must say…”

I agreed with Churchill’s monologue.