My Grandfather's Story of the War Against Japan: Sequel

White.

Blinding white.

An endless, pure white radiance so suffocating it seemed like molten metal flooding every corner of his vision in an instant, scorching his retinas and stripping away all sensation. There was no sound, no touch, no sense of time passing, only this pure and violent light, as if it would dissolve and cleanse his very soul.

His consciousness drifted, tore apart, and reassembled in an ocean of light. The squad leader shielding them from fire, drenched in blood; Zhao Er's limp hand; his grandpa's shriveled corpse; the cold, deep cube of the seed vault; and the final, annihilating flash of white... Countless fragmented images spun like a kaleidoscope, flashing, colliding, and vanishing in the dazzling light.

Pain.

A deep, bone-piercing pain.

As if tens of thousands of red-hot steel needles were stabbing into every inch of his body at once, plunging into his nervous system! The dull ache in his back where falling rocks had struck him, the sharp pain from countless scrapes and cuts on his arms and calves, the stinging chill of frostbite after being soaked in icy river water, and the agony that seemed to come from the very source of life, as every cell was forcibly stretched, torn apart, and put back together... The moment his consciousness returned, all that pain erupted like a volcano held back to its limit!

"Aghhh!"

A hoarse, broken scream, utterly inhuman, forced its way from deep in his throat! His body jerked upward as if struck by a massive electric current, then crashed heavily back down!