In just the blink of an eye, Lin Youde had crossed over.
One moment, he was holding his phone, ready to scan the QR code on a bus stop advertisement out of curiosity. The next moment, the bus stop sign vanished into thin air, and the phone in his hand was replaced by a rolled-up newspaper.
The paper's surface was unnaturally dark, and the pungent smell of ink assaulted his nose—printing technology in his era certainly didn't use ink that reeked like this. That's when Lin Youde realized: he had definitely traveled to another time.
Raising his head to take in his surroundings, he confirmed his suspicions. A vintage car rolled down the road before him, its antique design unmistakable. In his own time, a car like that would never be allowed on the streets—it would be tucked away in the private collection of some wealthy enthusiast.
The rest of the scenery reinforced his realization: he was no longer in 21st-century China. The quaint European-style houses and old-fashioned streetlights were long gone in his era, replaced by modern buildings or preserved as part of cultural or tourist zones. Yet here, these structures were vibrant, alive with everyday life.
Lin Youde took a deep breath, calming his nerves. He tried not to dwell on thoughts like, "How is a humanities major like me supposed to invent planes and tanks and make something of myself in this era?"
"First things first," he muttered to himself, "I need to figure out what time period I've landed in."
Glancing down, he checked his clothing. To his surprise, he was dressed rather sharply, giving the impression of a wealthy young man. That brought him a small sense of relief—it seemed starvation wasn't an immediate concern. Turning around, he caught a glimpse of his reflection in a nearby shop window.
The face staring back at him wasn't entirely unfamiliar, but it wasn't exactly his either. It was sharper, more handsome. Clearly, this wasn't a physical time jump but a soul transfer.
Unfortunately, unlike in the novels he'd read, his mind held no memories from the person whose body he now occupied. Typically, such memories were supposed to help the protagonist adapt to their new world, but Lin Youde wasn't so lucky. Even in time travel, the world isn't fair. There are tiers to this kind of thing,he thought bitterly.
With no other choice, Lin Youde resolved to start understanding this world from scratch.
Luckily, he had a newspaper right in his hands.
Eagerly, he unrolled the paper and focused on the largest headline across the page.
It was in German.
Not only did Lin Youde recognize it as German, but he also understood it.
The paper was titled *Münchner Forum Zeitung.
Lin Youde smacked his forehead. Munich? No wonder there were so many blonde-haired, blue-eyed, sharp-featured people around. At first, he thought he might be in the Shanghai International Settlement, where he could bump into Xu Wenqiang—or his real-life inspiration—but no, this wasn't China at all.
If he had landed in China—likely during the Republic era—his humanities background might've been useful to impress a few people. Despite his usual slacker demeanor, Lin Youde had been active in his university's debate team for over two years, nearly winning over the campus belle before the administration decided that hosting a debate team at a tech university was a waste of resources.
When the team was disbanded, Lin Youde joined the student council for a while, only to be kicked out later when a counselor caught him napping in the air-conditioned office during the summer.
But none of that mattered now. Convincing Chinese people was one thing; persuading foreigners was a completely different challenge. He often marveled at how different Chinese and Western thought processes were during conversations with foreign teachers at his university.
Still, he was now in Germany, and there was no choice but to accept the situation. Thankfully, for some inexplicable reason, he could understand German, so at least he wasn't completely lost.
Lin Youde continued reading the paper.
The date read April 5, 1930.
"Oh, great," he muttered. "Just in time for a certain mustachioed man's rise to power."
As images of countless time-travel novels featuring protagonists helping "that guy with the little mustache" flooded Lin Youde's mind, he spent about thirty seconds debating whether he should head to that beer hall to try his luck.
Unfortunately, he remembered with a pang of regret that the Beer Hall Putsch had happened seven years ago. By now, the man in question was already a significant figure in Germany—far beyond the reach of an ordinary Chinese nobody like himself.
Back to reading the newspaper, Lin Youde thought.
His eyes scanned the headline, and his jaw nearly hit the ground.
The bold German headline read: "The Emperor of Austria-Hungary Finally Concedes: Archduke Ferdinand to Inherit the Throne."
"What the hell? Ferdinand? Didn't you bite the dust in Sarajevo?" Lin Youde exclaimed, drawing curious glances from passersby. However, the famously stoic Germans quickly decided to pretend they hadn't seen or heard anything.
Lin Youde took a deep breath to calm himself.
If Archduke Ferdinand was still alive, it meant the assassination in Sarajevo hadn't happened. Austria-Hungary was still intact, which meant World War I hadn't broken out.
But here was the problem: the outbreak of World War I had many deep-seated causes. European countries had been preparing for war for years. Russia, for example, had an expansion plan scheduled for completion by 1918, at which point they would be fully prepared for war. Even if Austria-Hungary and Germany hadn't initiated conflict, Russia would have been forced to act; their fragile economy couldn't withstand such heavy military spending without a war to back it up.
Germany, too, had reasons to go to war: they needed Lebensraum, or "living space."
Austria-Hungary, with its dual-monarchy system rife with social tensions, also saw war as a means to resolve the persistent Balkan independence movements once and for all.
These concepts were deeply ingrained in Lin Youde's mind. To suddenly be told that Ferdinand's survival meant there would be no World War I was an idea he struggled to accept.
Determined to gather more information, Lin Youde continued flipping through the newspaper. Maybe the war had happened, and Austria-Hungary and Germany had won, which would explain Austria-Hungary's continued existence. While the odds of Germany winning weren't great, they weren't impossible either.
The front page was filled with articles about the succession within the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, including a congratulatory message from the German Emperor. After skimming the headlines, Lin Youde turned to the second page.
The first headline he saw made his jaw drop again:
"Civil War in the Eastern Empire: Ming Forces Overwhelmed by Combined Yamato-Korean Armies."
Ming? Yamato-Korean armies? What the hell is going on?
Hurriedly, Lin Youde read the article, and the first paragraph made his eyes widen like saucers, his eyeballs nearly falling out.
"As reported, the forces of the Ming Empire engaged in a fierce battle with the Yamato-Korean alliance on the outskirts of Fengtian City. Yamato troops annihilated the Ming Empire's 31st and 32nd Divisions..." Lin Youde read aloud, his voice trailing off as his brows furrowed deeper and deeper.
Just then, someone tapped him on the shoulder.
Instinctively, Lin Youde turned his head and saw a "stranger" with yellow skin and black eyes, just like his own.
"What are you doing, Dezi?" the man asked.
Dezi?
Lin Youde's heart sank. This must be someone who knew the original owner of this body. Unfortunately, he hadn't inherited a single memory from his predecessor and had no clue who this person was.
"Uh," Lin Youde hesitated briefly, then steeled himself. No one would suspect that the soul inside this body had been swapped. Just wing it,he thought. "Uh... Who are you?"
The moment the words left his mouth, Lin Youde wanted to slap himself. This is not how you wing it, you idiot! Where's your debate team improvisation skills?
The man chuckled, then asked, "That's quite the joke. Are you trying to avoid paying me back for the newspaper?"
Lin Youde glanced down at the paper in his hands.
The "stranger" did the same, his eyes skimming over the headline on the second page. With a sigh, he muttered, "Looks like Fengtian is going to fall. Forget about quelling the Yamato rebels; we might lose Korea too. Damn Brits—this whole mess is their doing."
"Independence? This..." Lin Youde stopped mid-sentence. Judging by how this person spoke earlier, these things seemed to be common knowledge in this world. Asking too many questions would definitely seem suspicious.
Even Lin Youde's earlier reaction of saying "Independence" had already elicited a strange look from the stranger.
"Uh..." Lin Youde quickly covered, "I mean, if they gain independence, that would be terrible."
"Exactly! The Eastern Isles are one of the most important sources of Divine Maidens for our Ming Empire. Losing them would drastically weaken our nation's power," the stranger replied.
"...Right," Lin Youde nodded with a serious expression, though inwardly he was screaming: What the hell are 'Divine Maidens'?
Lin Youde grimaced. *Not only was I not granted any cheats for this time travel, but I also ended up in an alternate timeline. Forget about the Republic of China—there's not even a Qing Dynasty here. So much for relying on historical knowledge to show off and bluff my way through.
Fortunately, the stranger seemed oblivious to Lin Youde's discomfort and launched into an enthusiastic discussion about current events—evidently, young people in any era enjoyed playing armchair strategist.
This worked to Lin Youde's advantage, as he desperately needed to understand this world. He played along, nodding and agreeing with an occasional "Hmm," "Oh," or "Yes," while carefully noting everything the other person said and organizing it in his mind. Occasionally, he would subtly steer the conversation to extract even more information. In moments like this, his skills as a former debate team ace truly shone.
From their conversation, Lin Youde pieced together that Divine Maidens were a group of women with extraordinary powers. According to the stranger, back in the day, the legendary Ming Divine Maiden single-handedly infiltrated Nurhaci's camp, killing him along with six of the Eight Banners, effectively ending the Jurchen threat. Because of her actions, figures like Yuan Chonghuan never even had a chance to shine.
However, the number of Divine Maidens was extremely limited. A nation possessing even a dozen was considered a global powerhouse. Over the past 500 years, however, the Western world had developed theories and techniques to create magical weapons usable by girls with even a trace of Divine Maiden bloodline. These weapons greatly increased their combat potential. These less-powerful girls armed with magical devices were called *Battle Maidens.
Modern Western armies relied heavily on Knight Orders, which consisted of Battle Maidens, their commanding Divine Maidens, and support troops providing logistics and protection.
Using this system, the Western powers had swept across the world.
The Spanish, with their Knight Orders, destroyed the Aztec Empire in Central America. The British and French crushed the Native American shamans and conquered North America.
The same Knight Orders defeated Ming armies on the battlefield, though the exceptional performance of Ming Divine Maidens slowed their advance. This forced the Western powers to switch from outright conquest to gradual infiltration and erosion.
In short, the general trajectory of this world still resembled Lin Youde's original timeline: the West overtaking the East. In his original world, this process was driven by the steam engine and the Industrial Revolution. Here, it was achieved through the mass production of magical technology harnessing the power of Divine Maidens.
Currently, the Ming Empire was in a state of semi-colonial, semi-feudal decline, much like the late Qing in Lin Youde's original world. A group of feudal intellectuals had launched a "Learn from the Barbarians" movement to save the crumbling empire. However, since the original timeline's Japan was part of the Ming Empire here, there had been no First Sino-Japanese War to crush their efforts. As a result, the movement hadn't yet collapsed entirely—though it hadn't succeeded either.
This led to many young people traveling abroad to find ways to revive the empire. The original owner of Lin Youde's body and his friend were part of this group.
As for the current civil war, it was essentially the "Eastern Isles Independence War," secretly supported by foreign nations.
To Lin Youde, this conflict was analogous to the Japanese invasion of China in his original timeline—a small island nation attempting to reverse its relationship with its suzerain state.
With this understanding, Lin Youde finally grasped the basics of this world and formed an initial plan: As a Chinese person, it's obvious I must choose to fight for national salvation.
However, given his current lack of resources or influence, there wasn't much he could do yet. For now, he decided to observe the situation and look for an opportunity to latch onto a powerful backer.
Lin Youde had no illusions about his abilities. If he'd had the charisma to rallythe masses with a single call, he wouldn't have been a couch potato gaming in his dorm back in his original world.
Of course, if he had cheats, it'd be a different story. Who wouldn't want to stomp their enemies with some overpowered ability? Unfortunately, despite having been here for a while now, the only "cheat" Lin Youde seemed to have gained was an inexplicable proficiency in German.
Still, Lin Youde wasn't the type to sit idly by. Having traveled to this alternate world, he at least wanted to experience its culture and customs. For instance, he could sit by the roadside with a folding stool and admire the plunging necklines of Western dresses...
By this point, Lin Youde was no longer as panicked as when he first arrived. His expression had calmed, and he could even chat naturally with the original body's friend, discussing current affairs.
Though he didn't know the guy's name, and his knowledge of politics was entirely secondhand from the friend himself, Lin Youde managed to refine and bounce back the information with a bit of his own spin. The friend didn't notice a thing. Whether that was a testament to Lin Youde's skills or his friend's obliviousness, he wasn't sure.
After chatting on the street for a while, the nameless friend suggested returning to the international student dormitory to continue their conversation. Lin Youde immediately agreed—he didn't even know where the dormitory was. Without this friend to lead the way, he'd probably have to sleep on the streets.
As they walked a few steps, Lin Youde suddenly thought of Little Mustache. He casually asked, "Hey, have you ever heard of someone called Adolf Hitler?"
"Adolf Hitler? No, never heard of him," the still-nameless friend shook his head.
Lin Youde sighed. It seemed like there was no chance for Little Mustache to make a show in this world.
But then the friend scratched his head and muttered, "The name Hitler does feel... familiar somehow."
"Familiar how?" Lin Youde pressed, but before the friend could answer, a commotion broke out on the road ahead. Both Lin Youde and his nameless companion looked up just in time to see two sidecar motorcycles riding side by side down the street, seemingly clearing the way for someone.
The sidecars were extravagantly decorated. The seats meant for passengers had been replaced by flagpoles, each hoisting triangular banners and swallowtail flags bearing Teutonic crosses that flapped in the wind.
"What's going on there?" Lin Youde asked his friend directly. By now, he had a decent grasp of the guy's thought process and was confident he could smooth over any suspicions his question might raise.
"Huh? I know you don't care about current affairs, but not knowing the Third Princess is returning from England is too much, don't you think? Especially since she's going to be the Divine Maiden protecting Munich in the future..."
Lin Youde smirked. So the body's original owner was also a shut-in oblivious to the world. That actually made things easier for him.
"The Third Princess is returning from England? I think I've heard something about that. Was she on a diplomatic visit?"
As soon as Lin Youde finished speaking, his friend looked at him even more strangely.
"Have you been cooped up in that attic for so long that you've gone daft? Diplomatic visit? According to the Treaty of Versailles, German Divine Maidens in their youth must study in England or France and can only return to Germany after turning sixteen. This Third Princess was sent to England right after being adopted by the Kaiser and has been there for fifteen years. She's only just returned."
Lin Youde's jaw almost hit the floor. The Treaty of Versailles?So World War I did happen in this world. On second thought, it made sense. Previously, he had assumed WWI didn't occur here because the Austro-Hungarian and German Empires still existed and Archduke Ferdinand was alive. But with the existence of Divine Maidens, royal families in this world likely wielded far greater power than in his original world. Even in defeat, they wouldn't necessarily lose their crowns.
It seemed WWI had indeed occurred, and Germany had been defeated. As a result, the nation's most critical combat resource—Divine Maidens—had to be sent to England or France for education from a young age, mirroring the restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles in his original world.
Lin Youde couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement. He suddenly realized that his historical knowledge might not be entirely useless after all.
At this moment, a convertible car, even more lavishly adorned than the lead motorcycles, entered Lin Youde's view. A blonde Western beauty sat in the car, smiling and waving to the crowd.
That must be the Third Princess, Lin Youde thought, squinting his eyes. Unfortunately, she was too far away for him to make out her features.
Just then, his nameless friend tugged on his sleeve and whispered, "Let's go. The plainclothes officers are coming this way. They don't like seeing people with yellow skin in occasions like this."
Lin Youde withdrew his gaze and indeed noticed a few men in long trench coats walking down the street, occasionally stopping to question those trying to catch a glimpse of the Divine Maiden.
His friend had already turned into an alley, and Lin Youde quickly followed. If he lost the guy, he wouldn't be able to find his way back to the dormitory.
"They don't like people with yellow skin?" Lin Youde asked.
"Yeah. Right now, theories are really popular in Europe, and many of our fellow students are having a tough time. Just last week in Frankfurt, a fellow student was beaten to death just because a Western girl thought he was being inappropriate."
Lin Youde clicked his tongue. Should've expected that.Even in a parallel world, the plight of Chinese people around the globe hadn't changed much.
But then again, maybe that was for the best.
Lin Youde licked his dry lips.
It's precisely this kind of hardship that provides the drive to fight.