The Code War

In the Shanghai concession, programmer Chen Guanchao spends his days surrounded by typewriters and telegraph codes. When the Marco Polo Bridge Incident breaks out and war sweeps across the country, he accidentally intercepts a Japanese military cipher. The Juntong secret service coerces him into deciphering it on charges of treason. While fleeing, he plunges into the Huangpu River, hanging by a thread. At death’s door, he unexpectedly gains a golden finger. He can see traces of characters rearranging in midair, deduce the patterns behind encrypted messages, and anticipate the enemy’s movements. Code becomes his weapon, and logic his shield. He uses algorithms to lay traps, write ciphers, and turn the tables on pursuers, throwing the Japanese communications network into chaos. While others fight with guns and cannons, he wins through sheer intellect, planning miles ahead. Within the enemy’s intelligence network, he becomes the most elusive and deadly presence of all. The Japanese secret service is furious and hunts this invisible foe across the country. From foreign trading houses in the concession to cave dwellings in the Taihang Mountains, from Sihang Warehouse to the Nanjing surrender ceremony, he will ultimately rewrite the course of the entire war, one line of code at a time.