Chapter 373: Yasukuni Shrine

Xiaoquan Jilang was trembling with fear, his teeth chattering incessantly, as he stammered, "Officer, it's useless. Those two are like gods; there is a defensive barrier outside their bodies. Bullets and shells cannot penetrate that barrier. They are existences we cannot possibly defeat."

"Coward! Xiaoquan Jilang, I'll count to three. If you don't fire, I'll blow your head off with one shot. One, two..."

The Major saw that it wasn't just Xiaoquan Jilang who didn't want to continue fighting; the other soldiers also had weak fighting spirits and were even wanting to kneel and beg for mercy, which made him furious.

This Major had been influenced by Bushido since childhood and was a fanatical supporter of militarism. What he wanted most was to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors, shedding blood and sacrificing his life for the rise of Dongying and the realization of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.

There were many such radicals in the Dongying military. For the sake of the Holy War, they were truly willing to abandon their lives; no matter how powerful the enemy was, they were brave enough to fight.

"Three! Go to hell!" the Major roared, about to pull the trigger.

But at that very moment, a dense mass of bullets, shells, and rocket fragments gathered on the defensive barrier in front of Meng Yifan. He gave his right hand a light wave, and the bullet and bomb fragments on the barrier shot out in all directions.

"Swish! Swish! Swish!" Countless Dongying soldiers had their bodies pierced by the shrapnel. A piece of shrapnel the size of a palm drilled a fist-sized hole in the Major's head, and the red and white brains inside sprayed out, splashing onto Xiaoquan Jilang's face.

"Ah!" Xiaoquan Jilang was sprayed head-to-toe with the warm brains. He screamed in terror and instantly lost control of his bowels.

More than a dozen soldiers around Xiaoquan Jilang were hit in vital areas by this wave of shrapnel and died instantly, while eight or nine others were severely wounded and fell to the ground, wailing in pain in pools of blood.

Xiaoquan Jilang was very lucky; the soldiers in front of him were either dead or injured, yet he, the coward, was miraculously unscathed.

Xiaoquan Jilang trembled violently. He knelt on the ground, prostrating himself before Meng Yifan, kowtowing repeatedly while muttering, "Mighty god, please forgive the mistakes I have committed. I am willing to bathe in your divine light, listen to your divine voice, and become your humble servant."

"Huh! This is... my believer?" Meng Yifan was in the middle of a slaughter when he suddenly felt a milky-white strand of Faith Wish Power drifting toward him.

Meng Yifan was very surprised. He and Dongying had only a blood feud; he had come to Dongying this time to seek revenge for himself and for the martyrs. From the start of the battle until now, at least a hundred thousand Dongying people had died at his hands. How could someone become his believer in such a hostile state? This was too absurd.

Meng Yifan followed the thread of faith and looked into the distance, where he saw Xiaoquan Jilang kowtowing incessantly and heard his prayers.

From the Game Panel, Meng Yifan also saw that Xiaoquan Jilang's Loyalty had reached eighty-three. This was already a sincere Subject, and under normal circumstances, he would not betray Meng Yifan again.

"Scared into submission by the killing, and now believing in the enemy so deeply—is this the character of the Dongying people?"

Meng Yifan smiled, and following the thread of faith, he said into Xiaoquan Jilang's mind, "I have heard your prayer. Xiaoquan Jilang, you are now my servant. Hide yourself and wait for my summons. Now, stand up and continue firing shells at me."

Xiaoquan Jilang was stunned for a moment, then looked in Meng Yifan's direction. Meng Yifan smiled at him slightly, which made him feel as if his soul had been cleansed; his whole body felt transparent, as if being looked at by Meng Yifan was the greatest honor.

"Damn, the Loyalty actually went up by three points. This guy is truly a freak. Keeping him to lurk in Dongying might be useful later." Meng Yifan was speechless about the Dongying devils.

Having received Meng Yifan's order, Xiaoquan Jilang stood up and continued firing rockets at Meng Yifan.

Meng Yifan and Zhang Sanfeng braved the heavy bombardment and continued to advance toward the Yasukuni Shrine.

It had to be said that many Dongying soldiers were brainwashed by Bushido; as long as their superiors gave the order, they would attack Meng Yifan and his companion without fear of death.

Every second, a large number of soldiers were wiped out. On Meng Yifan's Game Panel, the sound of Experience Value being credited was incessant. What surprised him even more was that as the killing continued, his believers were also constantly increasing.

Regarding these Dongying believers, Meng Yifan deliberately avoided their direction when launching attacks, letting them lurk in Dongying; they might be of great use later.

Soon, Meng Yifan and Zhang Sanfeng had arrived near the Yasukuni Shrine.

The Yasukuni Shrine enshrines the Dongying soldiers and their families who died for the country since the Meiji Restoration era, the vast majority of whom were Dongying officers and soldiers who died in the war of aggression against China and the Pacific War.

Since ancient times, Dongying's leaders would lead civil and military officials to personally pay respects at the Yasukuni Shrine, with a high level of ritual, second only to the government-supported shrines that worship the imperial family.

In the eyes of many ordinary Dongying people, the Yasukuni Shrine is filled with incense, solemn and dignified, and is a very sacred place where Dongying's heroes are enshrined.

But in Meng Yifan's eyes, it was gloomy, filled with baleful energy, and ghosts were floating about; it was like a Ghost Realm, a nest of devils.

Most of the old ghosts here had committed countless heinous crimes on the land of Shenzhou, crimes for which a hundred deaths could not atone.

That such a group of monstrously sinful old ghosts should receive such high-level worship was simply outrageous.

"Master, today, let the two of us destroy this place of evil," Meng Yifan said.

"Good! Yifan, you hold the line in the back, and let me take action to avenge the martyrs who died back then." Zhang Sanfeng was seething with hatred; just now, he had used his Heavenly Eye and had already seen several Class A War Criminals from that era inside the Yasukuni Shrine.

Although these old ghosts had long been dead, their Divine Souls had received the worship of the entire nation, allowing their soul-bodies to condense, and they lived quite comfortably with beauties by their sides.

"Master, be careful. The Yasukuni Shrine is not simple. This is the base camp of those old ghosts and the lair of Dongying cultivators. It won't be easy to destroy this place."

Meng Yifan's expression was grave. He had just used his Spiritual Power to carefully probe the Yasukuni Shrine and discovered that it not only had a Gathering Yin Array but also other Offensive Killing Arrays.

Not only that, but the Array here could also gather the Faith Power of the entire nation; even without Spirit Power, it could use Faith Power to drive the operation of the Array.

In Meng Yifan's perception, endless Faith Power was gathering from all directions like a surging, continuous river, completely shrouding the Yasukuni Shrine.

Amidst this endless Faith Power, the entire Yasukuni Shrine was shining brightly, radiating immense light, as if it were a divine palace where gods resided.

It could be said that as long as Dongying's Faith Power did not dry up, the Array within the Yasukuni Shrine would not stop operating. This was a great battle maintained by the power of the whole nation, and it was a holy land in the hearts of many Dongying radicals.

It was precisely because of such a place that those radicals, even if they died, could have their souls return to the shrine and enjoy the empire's incense for eternity.

To them, death was not terrible; in fact, as long as they performed meritorious service for the empire, the treatment they enjoyed after death was even better than when they were alive.