For Liang En, finding a desperately needed lantern at the exhibition was certainly a cause for celebration. However, he also wished to uncover the origins of this lantern, as understanding its history was crucial to him.
This lantern would mark the very beginning of a new skill for him, hence unraveling its origins was of great importance. Fortunately, in this era of the internet, accessing various information had become much easier, allowing Liang En to quickly discover the name on the lantern’s brand.
Vladimir Perić, born in the winter of 1919 in Yugoslavia, had an average family background. His diligent study habits not only earned him a place in secondary school but also led to his successful admission to a business school in Belgrade.
These were undoubtedly tough times for him as he had to work part-time to support his education. Thankfully, he graduated with excellent grades and began working at the Belgrade Mortgage Bank from 1938.
In 1940, he secretly joined the Communist Party and was transferred to a bank branch in Sarajevo, where he worked until the German invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941.
That same year, at the age of 22, Vladimir became a proud guerrilla fighter. He quickly started underground resistance activities with other members.
Together with his comrades, he secretly urged Sarajevo's wealthy to provide financial and material support to the Jewish community in the city, while covertly escorting guerrillas into Sarajevo for assassination and sabotage missions.
For operational convenience, Vladimir adopted the codename "Walter," and thus the guerrilla "Walter" became a household name.
Indeed, this person was the prototype for the brave guerrilla depicted in the famous Yugoslav film "Walter Defends Sarajevo."
Over the following years, the guerrilla now known as Walter achieved remarkable feats. In 1942, he reached the stronghold of Tuzla, launching a successful sabotage operation against the local German forces and puppet government.
The operation significantly damaged the local German intelligence network, forcing a halt to the pursuit of guerrillas and other resistance groups. That same year, due to his outstanding performance, he was appointed as the deputy political commissar of the Eastern Bosnian guerrilla unit.
In 1943, Walter was appointed as the secretary of the Sarajevo Guerrilla Committee by the regional guerrilla leaders. By then, Walter had risen to the rank of captain and was assigned new combat missions—to reorganize the local underground resistance that had been disrupted.
With Walter's help, the local resistance began recruiting strong, young people, quickly bolstering the guerrilla ranks.
Walter also established connections with guerrilla bases in other regions, providing the Sarajevo guerrillas with funds, weapons, and intelligence to strengthen their forces.
By June 1944, Walter, now the overall commander of the Sarajevo guerrillas, organized large-scale strikes and protests in the city center and suburbs, resisting the harsh occupation.
At that time, Walter also maintained numerous disguises to facilitate his movements, including at the bank where he had previously worked. This was precisely the origin of the lantern Liang En had found.
Entering 1945, the Yugoslavs began a full-scale counter-offensive. However, the process was not smooth, as in Sarajevo, the Germans destroyed many guerrilla strongholds.
At that time, as the person in charge, Walter led his guerrillas in purging internal traitors and launched a counterattack, just like the movie "Walter Defends Sarajevo," regaining the initiative.
Unfortunately, Walter did not live to see the final victory. In April 1945, as Yugoslavia was on the brink of liberation, Walter fell in battle.
It was April 5, 1945, a typical day, when Walter led his guerrillas into the local cigarette factory for inspection.
Previously, the city's post office, hospital, and factories had all seen his presence. Walter did this to prevent the Germans from sabotaging these facilities during their retreat or surrender.
While inspecting the factory, a squad armed with a mortar spotted them and opened fire, grievously wounding Walter, who was rushed to the hospital and died the following day at the age of 25.
On the very day of Walter’s death, Sarajevo was officially liberated. The guerrillas and all of Sarajevo’s military and civilians achieved final victory, but the brave Walter fell on the eve of victory.
On April 9, a grand funeral was held for Vladimir Perić, attended by over 15,000 people. He was buried alongside his fallen comrades in the local cemetery.
People memorialized this legendary guerrilla in various ways, most famously through the 1972 film "Walter Defends Sarajevo," which was artistically crafted based on his life.
This explains why the lantern was so effective; it told the story of a hero who bravely defended his homeland against invaders.
Liang En also felt that Walter’s spirit aligned
well with the positive attributes of the cards, thus being accepted by the card and becoming the cornerstone of this skill.
This relieved Liang En, as the exclusive light, often associated with thieves and robbers, was no longer a concern. Now, with the lantern’s story, his worries were unnecessary.
Liang En’s concern wasn’t due to some moral compulsion but because many of his card abilities were linked to his alignment, and any shift could pose problems.
The presence of this lantern was easily explained; everyone knew that after entering the 1990s, a brutal civil war had erupted on the Balkan Peninsula.
Such items were likely to have left Yugoslavia during this conflict, then traveled through many unknown ways before finally arriving here.
Nevertheless, Liang En had found what he needed, and that very night, he managed to gather some gold and crystals to arrange a simple magical ritual as required by the cards, completing the final step of crafting the card.
“The effect is very impressive.” Watching the room brightly lit only within his sight, Liang En nodded in satisfaction.
Unexpectedly, a new card 【Detection (N)】 appeared, evidently gathering enough information about the hero from the old movie to even produce a card.
Liang En speculated privately that cards would likely appear more frequently, with more promotions than in the past, allowing information to spread more widely and more easily coalesce into various cards.
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