Empire of Fortune: A Tycoon's Return to WWII

The road, pockmarked with craters, resembled a face covered in pimples. The entire street had turned into a wasteland, with smoke lingering over the city. Destroyed buses and car wrecks lay scattered across the street, and in the massive craters, broken water and sewage pipes gushed out clean water and filth, turning the street into a foul cesspool. The ear-piercing air raid sirens had stopped. Yi-An Li wandered through the street in a daze, hoping that the apocalyptic scene before him was just a dream. But it was all too real. Just moments ago, he had been carrying a bundle of goods, ready to deliver them to his roommate who sold things on the street after work. As usual, she set up a stall, and he occasionally helped out. In the blink of an eye, he found himself in an unfamiliar street. Red double-decker buses, red phone booths, and policemen with black helmets blowing whistles—all seemed like something out of an old movie from London. After all, in 21st-century London, one would never hear air raid sirens, see panicked pedestrians, or witness propeller-driven fighter planes zooming through the sky. Although disoriented, Yi-An Li followed the fleeing crowd and ran into a nearby subway station. Then came the deafening explosions, and the impact left him in a prolonged state of shock. After an indeterminate amount of time, the air raid ended. As he left the subway station with the throngs of people, Yi-An Li wandered through the streets of London like a headless chicken, unsure of how many streets he had traversed. Finally, exhausted, Yi-An Li sat on a bench by the roadside, trying to catch his breath. Face reality! Looking down, he saw a half-torn old newspaper floating in a puddle at his feet, with the headline: “From One Victory to Another! North African German Troops Surrender to the Allies!” North African German troops surrender? He checked the date on the newspaper: May 13, 1943. This was truly a time-traveling situation! After traveling through time, Yi-An Li had to face an unavoidable reality—he was penniless and without a place to stay. Wandering the streets of London wasn’t a viable long-term solution. What should he do next? It was indeed a bit troublesome. Having read plenty of web novels, he knew that physical time travel was the most tragic of all time-travel methods, without exception. Physical time travel meant that he had no legal identity in this world, nor could he expect a plot where his father was a wealthy man and he could just squander money. Right now, the chance to find a wealthy father was gone, but the likelihood of ending up on the gallows was growing. During wartime, an unidentified foreigner wandering the streets... this combination was a sure sign of a spy! If he wasn’t hanged, who would be? He didn’t know how long he had been walking, but with both thirst and hunger, Yi-An Li felt increasingly uncertain. Fortunately, London, recently bombed, was full of running fire trucks and ambulances. Nobody paid him much attention, not even the police. After all, an Asian who could still “wander” the streets of London at this time was definitely not Japanese. Japanese residents in Britain had been imprisoned years ago, experiencing the full extent of British hostility. What to do? Well, he’d have to take things one step at a time. Yi-An Li, who had worked hard in a first-tier city after graduating from university, had long learned to adapt to circumstances. In fact, worrying was useless. In these chaotic times, not being mistaken for a spy was already a blessing. But it seemed like things were not too far off. As dusk fell, the police who had no time for him would soon have time to deal with him. He pulled out a cigarette from his bag and sighed helplessly. He’d smoke a cigarette first, and then try to calm down. At that moment, a British man approached. When Yi-An Li was holding out the cigarette, the man’s eyes lit up upon seeing the camel on the cigarette box. Before Yi-An Li had even lit the cigarette, the man came forward and asked eagerly: “Sir, are you smoking Camel cigarettes?” Could he smell it? Yi-An Li was indeed smoking American Camel cigarettes, the kind without filters, which, according to some, were strong enough to last two hours. To identify the brand directly was quite impressive—even a dog’s nose might not be that precise. Yi-An Li nodded, and upon seeing this, the British man’s face showed delight as he exclaimed: “Is it really Camel cigarettes? Haha, I could tell just by the smell, haha…” In fact, the man had seen the Camel logo on the cigarette pack and, eyeing the cigarette in Yi-An Li’s hand, tentatively asked: “Sir, do you have more Camel cigarettes?” “What?” The man said directly: “If you have more, I can offer a penny for each cigarette! What do you think, sir?” “A penny?” Although the man’s behavior was quite puzzling, for Yi-An Li, who was penniless, hungry, and thirsty, this was undoubtedly a stroke of good fortune. “A penny…” After a moment of contemplation, seeing the man’s eager gaze, Yi-An Li flicked open his lighter. As the lighter’s lid opened with a crisp “ding,” the British man’s eyes widened in astonishment. That sound was definitely from a Zippo lighter. Camel cigarettes and a Zippo lighter—these were authentic American goods! You couldn’t even buy them with money! “Sir, if you sell me that Zippo lighter along with the cigarettes, I’ll offer you 4 pounds and 6 pennies, no matter how many cigarettes you have left. What do you think?” The man, biting the bullet, offered a high price. Camel cigarettes and a Zippo lighter were symbols of status. With these two items, he’d be the coolest guy in town! “Hmm…” Seeing the man’s intense desire, Yi-An Li thought for a moment and said: “There are 17 cigarettes left in my pack… I’ll keep five and sell the rest to you for 5 pounds. How does that sound?” One had to save some provisions for oneself. This was the last stubbornness of a smoker. Hearing this, the British man was immediately overjoyed: “Of course, that’s fine.” It must be said that when a man encounters something he likes, he’s just as irresistible as a woman. Twelve cigarettes and a Zippo lighter. He managed to sell them for 5 pounds! Receiving the banknotes from the man and looking at the equivalent of nearly half an A4-sized sheet of money, Yi-An Li couldn’t help but feel a bit excited. Finally, money! He hadn’t lost face as a time traveler, having earned his first bucket of gold on the very day of his time travel.