When the official announcement representing the unconditional surrender of the Sakura Kingdom, accompanied by footage of Chongwen Gu Mao's headless corpse falling, was simultaneously transmitted back to the Great Xia Kingdom through major news media outlets.

The entire Great Xia Dynasty rejoiced!

Major online forums were overwhelmed with messages, and servers nearly crashed several times within seconds.

"We won? We really won?!"

"Holy crap! Am I dreaming? The Japanese nation that has been oppressing us for so many years has just surrendered like this?"

"It's true! It's been officially announced! The Marshal crushed that old bastard Chongwenguma's head!"

"Long live our Great Xia! Marshal Zhao is awesome! Principal Lin is awesome!"

"It's so dreamlike... I feel like I'm watching an epic sci-fi movie."

"I'm crying so hard. My grandpa was watching TV and almost fainted because he couldn't catch his breath. He's holding me and crying his eyes out right now."

Countless people who heard the news were moved to tears on the streets, in companies, and at schools, and strangers embraced and wept.

In this celebration, what is most touching are the veterans who participated in the brutal border war and witnessed their comrades die tragically at the hands of the Japanese.

The capital city, Xishan Martyrs' Cemetery.

A light drizzle was falling from the sky.

An elderly soldier with gray hair and missing his left leg, leaning on a cane and supported by a group of young people, stumbled to the rows of tombstones for unknown martyrs.

"Old Company Commander! Monkey! Dazhuang! Did you hear that?!" The old soldier pushed away the young man who was helping him up, collapsed onto a tombstone, tears streaming down his face. "We won! That damned Japan has surrendered!"

As he wept, he reached out and stroked the long-faded name on the tombstone, choking back tears as he said, "Marshal Zhao has avenged you! The once invincible Kujo family is utterly finished!"

"You can close your eyes now, you're down there..."

"Waaaaah... We finally did it... We finally did it!"

The young man next to him, his eyes red, gently comforted him, "Grandpa Li, don't get too excited. The company commander and the others would be very happy to hear this news from heaven."

"Excited... How could I not be excited!" The old soldier wiped away his cloudy tears, tilted his head back, letting the rain lash his weathered face, and laughed loudly. "I've lived for so many years just to wait for this day! To hear this good news before I die, I, Old Li, have no regrets in this life! Even if I were to go down to see my old company commander right now, I could stand tall and tell him, 'Our Great Xia has stood up!'"

Similar scenes are playing out in martyrs' cemeteries across the Great Xia.

Those long-buried sorrows and humiliations were completely released and washed away at this moment.

at the same time.

In stark contrast to the nationwide celebrations in Great Xia, a chilling nighttime purge is unfolding in major cities within Sakura Province.

Inside a hidden underground air-raid shelter on the outskirts of Tokyo.

More than twenty high-level professionals from the Sakura Kingdom, looking terrified, were gathered here.

They were all collateral descendants and loyal vassals of the Kujo family. After the deaths of Kujo Hiroharu and Oki Bunko, and the surrender of Sakura Province, they fled here in a sorry state.

"Lord Ying Shu, what should we do now? The Great Xia army has taken over the outer defenses of Tokyo and is searching for us everywhere!" A Rank A professional asked, his face pale and his voice trembling.

The middle-aged man, addressed as Lord Ying Shu, gritted his teeth, filled with resentment and fear: "What's the panic! A cunning rabbit has three burrows. This air-raid shelter is built with the highest level of insulation materials. Even an SS-level expert wouldn't be able to detect us with their mental power!"

“But...” another subordinate swallowed hard, “Are we just going to hide here like rats for the rest of our lives?”

"As long as we live, there is hope!" Kujo Hideki sneered. "What are the Great Xia people for talking about benevolence and morality? Once the storm has passed, with the covert help of the Western powers, we might just be able to make a comeback! As long as the blood of the Kujo family flows in our veins, the Great Sakura Empire has not been completely destroyed!"

"Yes! Lord Hideki is right!"

"We will never yield!"

Just as this group of people were encouraging each other and trying to find a glimmer of hope in their despair.

"Crack..."

A very faint, crisp sound suddenly rang out in the silent air-raid shelter.

"What's that sound?" Kujo Hideki turned his head and scanned the surrounding metal walls.

"The sound... is coming from underground." A perceptive professional lay on the ground, listening carefully, then his face turned deathly pale. "No, it's coming from... from Taro's body!"

Everyone turned to look at the «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» young professional named Taro in the corner.

"I...I don't know..." Taro said in a terrified voice, suddenly clutching his stomach. "It hurts! Something's biting my stomach!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a muffled "thud" was heard!

Taro's stomach burst open, and blood mixed with fragments of internal organs sprayed all over the ground!

"ah--!"

Amidst the horrified gazes of the crowd, a fist-sized, jet-black beetle with a metallic sheen crawled out from Taro's ripped belly.

Its mouthparts were still covered in fresh flesh and blood, and its compound eyes gleamed red.

"What...what kind of monster is this?!" Kujo Hideki was so frightened that he took two steps back and drew his katana from his waist.

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"

One after another, the sounds of disembowelment echoed inside the air-raid shelter!

The remnants who had just been clamoring to make a comeback were now clutching their stomachs, collapsing into pools of blood, writhing and screaming in agony.

One after another, soldier beetles emerged from their bodies.

These beetles are small in size but extremely fast, and their shells are so hard that ordinary swords and knives cannot even leave a white mark on them.

"Help! Don't come any closer!"

"Lord Hideki, save me!"

Hideki Kujo desperately swung his katana, slashing away two beetles that lunged at him, but he was soon horrified to discover that a small, bloody hole had appeared on his arm.

"No...no..." He felt something inside his body frantically gnawing at his internal organs, and the excruciating pain made him lose all fighting power.

In less than three minutes.

The air-raid shelter returned to silence.

More than twenty remnants of the Kujo family were reduced to mutilated corpses scattered on the ground.

No one knows who did it, and the Great Xia government didn't even send out a single soldier.

All that could be seen were the blood-soaked beetles crawling out of the corpses, turning into streaks of black light, burrowing back into the ground, and disappearing without a trace.

At the same time, similar horrific assassinations were unfolding simultaneously in various corners of major cities in Japan.

The remaining forces that originally belonged to the Kujo family didn't even have a chance to struggle before being completely wiped out by an invisible, terrifying force the moment they surrendered.

And it was during this power vacuum that...

An organization called the Divine Dynasty has risen to power within the Sakura Kingdom.

In Tokyo, the former headquarters building of the Kujo family has now been replaced with a plaque from the Shinto government.

In the spacious conference room, Shinichiro Nakamura, dressed in a sharp black suit, sat imposingly in the seat that originally belonged to Hiroharu Kujo as the head of the family.

Compared to when the Ōmiya family was wiped out, he possessed a greater composure befitting a person in a position of power.

“Lord Nakamura,” a trusted subordinate respectfully handed over a report, “we have taken over all of the Kujo family’s underground influence and businesses in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and other places. Those remnants who tried to resist... have all died unexpectedly.”

Shinichiro Nakamura took the report, glanced through it casually, and sneered, "As expected. With that lord's methods, the Kujo family won't even have any ashes left."

"My lord, our expansion is too rapid, which has aroused the suspicion of many other families," the confidant said worriedly. "Moreover, the Great Xia military..."

“You don’t need to worry about the Great Xia military headquarters; they’re our protectors.” Shinichiro Nakamura stood up, walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, and looked down at the city that had just been ravaged by war.

"Without the tacit approval and impetus of the Great Xia military, do you think we could have so easily replaced the Kujo family's position?" He turned his head, looked at the remnants of the Omiya family present, and said coldly, "Remember, we are no longer the Omiya family, we are the Divine Dynasty! Our mission is to manage this country well for that person and turn it into the most loyal dog of Great Xia!"

“Then... sir, the leader of the Divine Dynasty...” an elder from the Great Palace family hesitated before speaking.

"Watch your words!" Shinichiro Nakamura's eyes narrowed, and he interrupted him directly.

He couldn't hide his fervor.

"You have no right to inquire about the identity of the organization's leader. All you need to know is that he is known as the Ever-Changing Star Lord!"

"His will is the supreme command of the Divine Dynasty!"