Chapter 1: Traversing to Germany... Huh?

In the blink of an eye, Lin Youde had traversed.

Just a moment ago, he was holding his phone, about to scan a QR code on a bus stop advertisement to see what it was, and the next moment, the bus stop sign was gone, and the phone in his hand had turned into a newspaper.

The paper of the newspaper looked overly dark, and the smell of ink even rushed into Lin Youde's nostrils—modern newspapers no longer used such pungent printing techniques...

So Lin Youde knew for sure he had traversed. He looked around and indeed saw an antique car driving past on the road in front of him. In Lin Youde's time, such antique cars would never be on the road; they would be in the private garages of some tycoons.

The other scenery that caught Lin Youde's eye also clearly indicated that he was not in 21st-century China. Those old-style Western houses and street lamps had long been demolished in 21st-century China, and the few that remained had become cultural protection zones and tourist attractions, never filled with the vibrant life they saw now.

Lin Youde took a deep breath, steadied his emotions, and tried not to think about how he, a humanities student, could rise to prominence without knowing how to build planes or cannons.

"First," he said to himself, "I need to figure out what era I've traversed to."

After saying that, Lin Youde checked his attire and found that he was dressed quite properly, looking like a wealthy young man. This made Lin Youde slightly relieved—apparently, he wouldn't have to worry about starving to death for now. Then, Lin Youde turned around and saw his face in the shop window behind him.

The face was somewhat different from the one in Lin Youde's memory. While there were some similarities, this face was much handsomer than his original one. It seemed that Lin Youde had not traversed in his original body but had undergone a soul traversal.

Unfortunately, Lin Youde searched his mind but found no memories related to this era. In novels, soul traversal always came with the original person's memories to help the protagonist adapt to the new world, but Lin Youde had no such luck. He could only lament that the world was indeed unfair, even in traversal.

With no choice, Lin Youde had to start understanding this world from scratch.

Fortunately, he had a newspaper in his hand.

Lin Youde quickly spread out the newspaper and focused on the largest headline on the page.

It was in German.

Not only did Lin Youde recognize it as German, but he could also read it.

The newspaper was called the "Munich Forum."

Lin Youde couldn't help but hold his forehead. Munich? No wonder there were so many blonde, blue-eyed, high-nosed people around. At first, Lin Youde thought he was in the concessions of Shanghai, even getting a little excited at the thought of meeting Xu Wenqiang's prototype. But it turned out this wasn't China at all...

If he had traversed to China—probably the Republic of China—he might have been able to use his humanities knowledge to bluff his way through and influence people. Despite his usual appearance as a loser in the dorm, Lin Youde had participated in many social activities at the college and had been on the debate team for over two years, almost managing to date a college beauty.

Just as Lin Youde was about to succeed, the school leadership suddenly felt that a technical university shouldn't have a debate team and disbanded it—never considering why a technical university would have a public administration department.

After the debate team was disbanded, Lin Youde spent some time in the student council but was eventually kicked out when the counselor found him sleeping on the floor in the air-conditioned office of the student council during the summer.

Of course, all of this was irrelevant now. Bluffing Chinese people was one thing, but bluffing foreigners was another. Before traversing, the foreign teachers at his school always made Lin Youde realize the significant differences in thinking between Chinese and foreigners.

But now he was in Germany, and he had to accept it. Fortunately, Lin Youde somehow understood German, so he wasn't completely lost.

Lin Youde continued reading the newspaper.

The date was April 5, 1930. Oh, it was the time when Hitler was rising to power.

A series of novels about helping Hitler after traversal flashed through Lin Youde's mind. He spent thirty seconds thinking about whether he should go to that tavern to try his luck, but then he regretfully remembered that the Beer Hall Putsch had happened seven years ago. By now, Hitler was already a significant figure in Germany, and a Chinese loser had no chance of getting close to him.

He continued reading the newspaper.

Lin Youde scanned the front page, and his jaw almost hit the ground.

The headline in German read, "Austro-Hungarian Emperor Finally Concedes, Archduke Ferdinand to Inherit the Throne."

"What the hell, didn't Ferdinand die in Sarajevo?" Lin Youde's exclamation drew the attention of passing foreigners, but the meticulous Germans decided to pretend they hadn't heard anything.

Lin Youde took a deep breath to calm himself down.

If Archduke Ferdinand was still alive, it meant the Sarajevo incident hadn't happened, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire still existed, indicating that World War I hadn't broken out.

However, the outbreak of World War I had many deep-rooted reasons. European countries were preparing for war, especially Russia, which, according to its military expansion plan, would be fully prepared for war by 1918. At that point, even if the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany didn't start the war, Russia would. Russia's economy was already in shambles, and such military expansion would lead to economic collapse if it didn't go to war after completing its preparations.

Germany also had reasons to go to war, as it needed living space.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire also had reasons to go to war. Its dual monarchy system had accumulated many social contradictions, and the independence movements in the Balkans were ongoing. They desperately needed a war to solve the Balkan problem once and for all.

These views were deeply rooted in Lin Youde's mind. Suddenly being told that Ferdinand's survival meant World War I wouldn't happen was hard for him to accept.

Lin Youde decided to continue reading the newspaper to gather more information—perhaps the war had broken out, but the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany had won, which is why the empire still existed. Although the chances of Germany winning the war were not high, there was still a possibility.

The front page was filled with reports about the succession of the Austro-Hungarian throne, such as congratulations from the German Emperor. After scanning the headlines, Lin Youde turned to the second page. The first headline he saw made his jaw hit the ground again: "Eastern Empire Engaged in Civil War, Ming Army Defeated by Joint Forces of Japan and Korea."

Ming?

Joint forces of Japan and Korea?

What was going on?

Lin Youde hurriedly read the report in detail. The first paragraph made his eyes bulge like a frog's, almost popping out.

"The newspaper reports that the Ming Empire's army clashed with the joint forces of Japan and Korea outside Fengtian, and the Japanese army annihilated the Ming's 31st and 32nd divisions..." Lin Youde read aloud, his brows furrowing as he continued.

At that moment, someone patted Lin Youde on the shoulder.

He turned around out of habit and saw a "stranger" with the same yellow skin and black eyes.

"Dezi, what are you doing?"

Dezi?

Lin Youde thought he was in trouble. This was probably a friend of the original person, but he, Lin Youde, had no memories and didn't know who this person was.

"Uh." After a brief pause, Lin Youde steeled himself. No one would think the soul in this body had been swapped, so he decided to bluff, "Ah, I... who are you?"

After saying that, Lin Youde wanted to slap himself. Bluffing wasn't done this way, and it didn't show the adaptability of a former debate team ace!

The person laughed and asked, "You're playing a big joke, aren't you? Don't you want to pay me back for the newspaper?"

Lin Youde looked down at the newspaper in his hand.

The "stranger" also looked down at the newspaper, his gaze scanning the headline on the second page. He sighed, "It looks like Fengtian will fall. Now, not only will we fail to suppress the Japanese rebels, but Korea will probably become independent. Damn the British, this is all their doing."

"Independent? This..." Lin Youde stopped, realizing that these were common knowledge in this world, and asking too many questions would be strange.

Lin Youde's mention of "independence" had already made the stranger look at him strangely.

"Uh." Lin Youde quickly covered up, "I mean, independence would be terrible."

"Yes, Japan is one of the important birthplaces of our great Ming's divine maidens. Losing it would significantly weaken our empire."

"…Yes." Lin Youde nodded seriously, but inside, he was puzzled: What the hell are these "divine maidens"?

Lin Youde's face was grim. Not only had he not received any special abilities with the traversal, but he had also traversed to a parallel world where even the Qing Dynasty didn't exist. His plan to use historical knowledge to bluff and influence people was now in jeopardy.

The stranger didn't notice Lin Youde's expression and started discussing current events and making grand statements—apparently, young people in any era liked to comment on the world. This was to Lin Youde's advantage, as he needed to understand this world better. So, he responded with "uh," "ah," and "oh," while carefully noting down everything the other person said and organizing it in his mind. He even guided the conversation to gather more information—showing the skills of a former debate team ace.

It turned out that divine maidens were powerful girls. According to the original person's friend, Nurhachi was once killed by the most powerful divine maiden of the Ming, who also eliminated six of the eight banners, leading to the collapse of the Jurchen. As a result, Yuan Chonghuan never became a significant figure.

However, divine maidens were very rare. Having over ten was already considered a world-class power. In the past five hundred years, the Western world had developed a theory to produce magical weapons that could be used by girls with a thin lineage of divine maidens, significantly increasing their numbers. These girls, armed with magical weapons, were called "war maidens."

The knightly orders, composed of war maidens, their divine maiden leaders, and the support and protection troops, formed the main combat force of modern Western armies.

The Westerners used this theory to dominate the world.

The Spanish used knightly orders to conquer the Aztec Empire in Central America, while the British and French crushed Native American witches and conquered North America.

They also used war maiden knightly orders to defeat the Ming Empire's army, but the outstanding performance of the Ming's divine maidens forced the Westerners to slow down and gradually erode the empire.

In short, the general trend of the world was similar to the one Lin Youde had known before traversing.

In both worlds, there was a process of the West surpassing the East. In the original world, this was driven by steam engines and the Industrial Revolution, while in this world, it was driven by the magical technology that mass-produced the power of divine maidens.

The current Ming Empire, like the late Qing, was in a semi-colonial and semi-feudal state. To save the declining empire, a group of feudal intellectuals launched a movement to "learn from the West." However, since Japan in this world was part of the Ming Empire and there was no Sino-Japanese War, the movement had not yet failed—nor had it succeeded. Therefore, many young people traveled overseas to find ways to revitalize the empire, and the original person and his friend were part of this group.

The current civil war in the empire was a "Japanese independence war" supported by various countries.

In Lin Youde's view, this civil war could be compared to the Japanese invasion of China in the original world, as it was the island nation rebelling against its suzerain.

With this understanding, Lin Youde had a basic grasp of the world and a preliminary idea of what to do next: as a Chinese person, he should choose to resist the Japanese and save the nation.

However, he was alone and had nothing, so he couldn't do anything significant. He could only observe the situation and look for opportunities to join a powerful group.

Lin Youde didn't overestimate his abilities. If he had the power to rally the masses, he would have been a leader in the original world, not a loser in the dorm playing games.

Of course, if he had special abilities, it would be different. Who wouldn't want to use special abilities to dominate? But after traversing for a while, Lin Youde hadn't found any special abilities besides understanding German.

However, Lin Youde couldn't just sit around doing nothing. He had finally traversed, so he at least wanted to experience the customs and culture of this era. For example, he could sit on a stool by the roadside and watch the low-cut dresses of Western women...

At this point, Lin Youde was no longer as lost as when he first traversed. His expression was calmer, and he could even converse freely with the original person's friend, discussing current events—despite not knowing the person's name and his knowledge of current events coming entirely from the friend. Lin Youde refined and returned the friend's words, and the friend didn't notice at all, showing either Lin Youde's skill or the friend's lack of discernment.

After chatting on the street for a while, the friend suggested going to the student association to continue the conversation. Lin Youde agreed immediately, as he didn't know where the student association was and would have to sleep on the street if the friend didn't lead the way.

As they walked, Lin Youde suddenly remembered Hitler and casually asked, "Brother, have you heard of a person named Adolf Hitler?"

"Adolf Hitler? No, I've never heard of him." The friend, whose name Lin Youde still didn't know, shook his head.

Lin Youde sighed, realizing that this world had no place for Hitler.

But at that moment, the friend scratched his head and muttered, "The name Hitler sounds familiar..."

"What do you mean?" Lin Youde asked eagerly, but at that moment, the road ahead became noisy. Lin Youde and his friend looked forward and saw two side-by-side three-wheeled motorcycles driving down the street, apparently clearing the way for someone.

The motorcycles were extravagantly decorated, with the rear seats converted into flagpoles. Triangular and swallow-tailed flags with Teutonic crosses fluttered in the wind at the top of the flagpoles.

"What's going on?" Lin Youde asked the friend directly, confident that he could explain away any suspicion.

"Hey? I know you don't care about current events, but not knowing that the third princess is returning from Britain is a bit much, isn't it? After all, she will be the protector of Munich's divine maidens..."

Lin Youde pursed his lips. It seemed the original person was a shut-in, which made things easier for him.

"The third princess returning from Britain? I seem to remember something. Was she on a state visit?"

As soon as Lin Youde said that, the friend's expression became even stranger.

"Are you really that isolated in your attic? What state visit? According to the Treaty of Versailles, Germany's divine maidens must study in Britain or France during their youth and return at sixteen. So, after the third princess was adopted by the German Emperor, she went to Britain to study and stayed there for fifteen years before returning."

Lin Youde's jaw dropped. The Treaty of Versailles? So, World War I did happen... But he quickly realized that his initial assumption that World War I hadn't happened was based on the existence of the Austro-Hungarian and German Empires and Ferdinand's survival. In this world, with divine maidens, the royal families were much stronger, so losing the war didn't necessarily mean losing the crown.

Now it seemed that World War I had still happened in this world, and Germany had still lost. Therefore, they had to send their most important armed forces—divine maidens—to Britain and France for education from a young age, similar to the restrictions on Germany in the original Treaty of Versailles.

Lin Youde was quite pleased at this realization. His historical knowledge wasn't entirely useless.

At that moment, a more extravagantly decorated open-top car appeared in Lin Youde's line of sight. A blonde Western woman was smiling and waving to the crowd.

That was probably the third princess.

Lin Youde squinted, but the distance was too great, and he couldn't see her face clearly. At that moment, his friend, whose name he still didn't know, tugged at his sleeve and whispered, "Let's go, the plainclothes officers are coming. They don't like people with yellow skin at such events."

Lin Youde looked back and indeed saw a few men in long coats walking down the street, occasionally stopping people who tried to get a glimpse of the divine maiden.

At that moment, his friend had already turned into an alley, and Lin Youde hurriedly followed—losing him would mean he couldn't find his way back to his lodging.

"They don't like people with yellow skin?" Lin Youde asked.

"Yes, the Yellow Peril theory is popular in Europe, and many of our fellow students suffer greatly. Last week, a student in Frankfurt was killed just because a Western girl thought he had ulterior motives."

Lin Youde clicked his tongue. Indeed, even in a parallel world, the situation for Chinese people in the world hadn't changed much.

But, that was good.

Lin Youde licked his dry, cracked lips.

That gave him the motivation to fight.