Chapter 1245: Demise of a Nation

In the mortal realm, Cathay was perhaps the nation that harbored the most animosity toward Nippon.

During World War 2, the Cathayan Underworld managed to ward off the Nipponese forces after a herculean struggle. At the time, Cathay had been at its weakest and most vulnerable state in a very long time, and Nippon's soldiers had swept through the entire nation. If it weren't for the valiant resistance mustered up by the people of Cathay, things would've been far different from what they were in the present day.

It had only been several decades since that war, and many of Cathay's older generation still remembered those hardships. In addition to that, Nippon had never been sincere in its apology and frequently paid homage to the Yasukuni Shrine, so even in the newer generations, many of Cathay's citizens were still very discontent with Nippon.

However, no one would've ever been able to imagine that Cathay would be able to conquer Nippon in the underworld!

Not long ago, there had been widespread controversy surrounding the Nipponese Underworld, and countless netherworldly citizens of the Cathayan Underworld were urging the central government to attack. However, there was no clear verdict as to whether troops had been deployed as Hell had released no official reports on the matter. However, all of the Yin spirits of Ashmound knew that several dozen warships and hundreds of thousands of Yin soldiers had recently set off for the Hanyang Underworld. Some theorized that it was for a military drill, while others speculated that the troops had been deployed to patrol the sea. Very few of them were actually convinced that this was the beginning of an invasion against the Nipponese Underworld!

Furthermore, it had only been a few days, and the Nipponese Underworld had already announced their unconditional surrender!

Inside a certain restaurant, all of the patrons were staring at the television screen with stunned expressions, and many pairs of chopsticks had already dropped along onto the floor. They were listening to Izanami's unconditional surrender declaration with their mouths gaped wide open, looking as if they were primary school students listening to a lecture on quantum physics.

"... I hereby declare that the Nipponese Underworld and all of the armed forces in the Nipponese Underworld will be surrendering unconditionally to the Cathayan Underworld..."

They surrendered? Hold on, we actually invaded the Nipponese Underworld? This isn't a hoax, is it?

After 15 minutes, the unconditional surrender declaration drew to a conclusion, and all of the Yin spirits in the restaurant looked at one another with blank expressions, feeling as if they were in a dream.

With the arrival of a new era of peace, it had seemed like the Cathayan Underworld would never be able to exact its revenge on the Nipponese Underworld for what Nippon had done in the mortal realm. However, revenge had apparently just been exacted without any warning!

The entire restaurant was silent for a full 10 seconds, following which an elderly man abruptly sprang to his feet before yelling in a voice that was on the verge of tears, "Get me the best wine in the house!"

After that, the elderly man habitually dabbed at his own eyes. Even though Yin spirits had no tears, he was feeling extremely emotional, far more than he had ever felt during his time in the mortal realm.

He picked up his cup in a shaky manner, then held it up with both hands as he extended a bow toward the west. "Grandpa, Grandma... You can both rest easy now..."

The populations of all underworlds primarily consisted of elderly people who had died from old age, while young people who had died from natural causes only constituted a minority. In this restaurant, 90% of the patrons were elderly individuals, and for people of their age, even if they hadn't participated in the war against Nippon, they would've definitely been born not far away from the founding of the new Cathay, which meant that many of their older relatives would've been part of the war.

Thus, memories of those times would've still been fresh in their mind.

His voice seemed to have snapped everyone out of their reverie, and all of the Yin spirits in the restaurant immediately returned to life. Another elderly man slammed a hand down onto his table as he yelled, "Get me the best wine you have as well! Hurry! And give me an order of all your restaurant's signature dishes! Drink up, everyone!"

"I never thought I would ever see this day... Manager! Where are you? This calls for celebration!"

All of a sudden, the entire restaurant had erupted into a frenzy.

As Cathayans, everyone couldn't help but be excited to hear this news.

Even the restaurant patrons who were completely unfamiliar with one another were gathering like old friends, joining their table together and drinking to their heart's content. All of a sudden, the entire restaurant was filled with exuberance and vitality.

This was joy and excitement that came from the bottom of everyone's hearts!

"Many years ago, my father said he was going to fight in the war, and he never came back..." An elderly man downed the contents of his cup in one go, and his face immediately became slightly flushed. It was clear that he was not a regular drinker, but at this moment, he was drinking like there was no tomorrow.

"It's a similar story in my family. A few of my uncles and aunts were said to have traveled across half the nation with the Red Army, but we never heard from them again."

"The young people nowadays don't like to hear these stories anymore. They don't know what we've seen on the battlefields and in the trenches!"

"Let's drink to all our lost loved ones!"

"Cheers!"

All of the patrons of the restaurant, regardless of whether they knew each other or not, brought their cups together before throwing their heads back and downing their wine.

Similar scenes were unfolding across the entire nation.

The entirety of the Cathayan Underworld had erupted into a frenzy, but the city of Jinling was the most boisterous of them all.

The governor, administrative commissioner, and all of the officials of Jinling rose to their feet in silence, unable to believe what they were seeing.

On the streets, countless passersby were staring up at the live broadcast playing out on the large screens with dumbfounded expressions.

Inside a university, a professor's mouth was gaped wide open as he adjusted his own glasses in disbelief, while all of the students in the hall had risen to their feet with their eyes wide open.

The entire city was silent for a moment, but that silence soon gave way to thunderous cheers.

Countless elderly Yin spirits rushed home before pulling out the memorial tablets of their passed relatives, clutching the tablets in their arms as they bawled their eyes out.

Hell had been defunct for a century, so their parents and relatives were unable to enter the underworld, thereby making it common for them memorial tablets to be kept to commemorate those relatives.

"Can you see this?" An elderly man was sobbing so vigorously that his voice had turned hoarse. Yin spirits had no tears, but anyone could sense the power of the emotions in his heart. "The heavens have finally answered our prayers!"

After weeping for over 10 minutes, he suddenly clambered to his feet before pulling a candle out of a cupboard, then rushed toward the city center like a madman.

However, there were no longer any beast-drawn carriages available to be hailed at this point.

Thus, he rushed toward the city center on foot, but he quickly discovered that all of the streets leading to the central plaza of the city were already packed to the rafters.

Almost all of the Yin spirits were holding a candle, just like he was, and even though the streets were extremely packed, there was no shoving, and no one voiced any discontent. All of the Yin spirits were silently gathering toward the same place.

Only after a full half-hour did the elderly man finally arrive on the plaza, and at this point, the plaza was already filled with kneeling Yin spirits who had their palms joined together in prayer.

No one was saying anything, but gentle sobs could be heard. It seemed that everyone was reminiscing about that horrific era they had lived through, while also praying to their lost relatives.

At the center of the plaza was a stone plaque, upon which was written a line of bright red text in six different languages, namely Cathayan, Nipponese, Brittannian, Hindustani, Argosian, and Aegyptian.

"The resting place of over 300,000 Cathayan citizens from the Nanjing Massacre."

Below that was another short message: "Lest we forget."

The plaza was surrounded by antiquated tall buildings and shopping malls, but not a single one of the surrounding buildings dared to play any music in this moment. It was as if the entire city were observing a moment of silence in the wake of this historic event.

In reality, the Yin spirits on the plaza weren't in mourning or holding a memorial service. Instead, they were bidding farewell to those unforgettable memories and all of those names that were constantly on their mind.

This was the day on which all of those lost souls could rest easy in the knowledge that they had been avenged.

Most of the Yin spirits on the plaza were at quite an advanced age, and they were gathered before the stone plaque under a somber atmosphere. Each one was holding a lit candle, and looking down from above, it was as if the entire center of Jinling were a sea of candle flames, illuminating the black plaque at the center.

All of a sudden, the surrounding screens flickered slightly, and the broadcast of the Nipponese Underworld's unconditional surrender announcement that was playing on repeat finally faded. What had replaced it was an image of Qin Changxin.

"Good afternoon, everyone." Qin Changxin extended a bow toward the camera with a smile on his face. "I will now be announcing our Cathayan Underworld's intended arrangements after the unconditional surrender of the Nipponese Underworld. Firstly, the former ruler of the Nipponese Underworld, Izanami, and Susanoo-no-Mikoto, will immigrate to Everburn to live out the rest of their days."

This announcement didn't trigger any discussion. The general public didn't care what became of the former leaders of the Nipponese Underworld.

Qin Changxin seemed to be aware of this as well, and he immediately continued, "Secondly, the Nipponese Underworld will now become a province of the Cathayan Underworld. All of the officials that will be instated to oversee the new province of Nippon will be drawn from the Cathayan Underworld within the next month. In addition to that, I have been assigned with the role of the governor of Nippon province."

This announcement created a massive stir across the entire Cathayan Underworld.

The Nipponese Underworld had stood for thousands of years, yet it had ceased to exist! It had become Nippon province, a natural barrier to the east of the Cathayan Underworld, and from this point onward, the entirety of Eastern Asia had been unified!

"Thank the heavens!" In a small county to the west, an elderly man who appeared to be in his nineties was yelling with all his might, and his cheeks were flushed bright red from excitement. "I am so blessed to have been able to witness this!"

Qin Changxin's voice continued to echo throughout the entire Cathayan Underworld. "Through our investigation, we have deemed that the seven A-grade war criminals, Tōjō Hideki, Iwane Matsui, Akira Mutō, Seishirō Itagaki, Kōki Hirota, Heitarō Kimura, and Kenji Doihara will be relegated to the Path of the Beast of our Cathayan Underworld's six paths of reincarnation, where they will be confined for 200 years. At the same time, the main perpetrators of the Nanjing Massacre, Iwane Matsui and Hisao Tani, will be apprehended and taken to the city of Jinling, where their souls will be crushed beneath the commemorative plaque of the Nanjing Massacre for 300 years."

All of the netherworldly citizens were celebrating to their hearts' content, while the officials of the Cathayan Underworld were already looking ahead to the new opportunities that could be presented to them.

From village heads to provincial governors, there were countless vacant roles in the new province of Nippon! No wonder a nationwide examination was being conducted!

This was an exciting opportunity for all of the officials of the entire Cathayan Underworld!