# 1606
Chapter 1601: Special Squad Meeting
"No clearance?"
Lin Qiye saw the three large characters on the screen, his brow furrowing immediately. "Even I don't have clearance?"
With Lin Qiye's current status in the Night Watch, he could be said to be second only to one person. If even he didn't have access to this file, it meant the file should be in Zuo Qing's possession... Why would a Han Dynasty ancient scroll have such a high security level?
In this file, why would his own name appear? And was it related to the mysterious little boy inside him?
The more Lin Qiye thought, the stranger it seemed. He decided to find a time to properly ask Zuo Qing about this.
"Nearly forgot, there's one more thing..."
Lin Qiye's fingers danced rapidly across the keyboard:
—Red-haired girl, Chloe
He had previously promised 27 that he would find that girl for him, but now he couldn't use his miracle powers, and throwing sticks was clearly not an option... Reluctantly, he had to start searching through the Night Watch intelligence network.
To Lin Qiye's surprise, the search actually returned several files.
Strangely, these files spanned a wide range of years. The earliest one was also from the Han Dynasty... And the most recent one was from six years ago.
What the hell? Could this girl named Chloe have been alive from the Han Dynasty to the present?
Was she the second Jialan?
Full of doubts, Lin Qiye clicked through these files one by one. He could open all the others, but the Han Dynasty file still denied him clearance.
In most of these files, the Night Watch personnel stationed at the borders reported seeing a red-haired girl walking out of the mist together with a figure completely shrouded in smoke. On one occasion, they had even requested to enter Great Xia. In response, Ye Fan, the Commander-in-Chief of that year, met with them personally and subsequently granted them seven days of free movement within Great Xia.
However, there was no record of what was discussed during that meeting.
Lin Qiye flipped past these sighting reports, his pupils constricting as his gaze swept across a particular line.
"This is..." he murmured to himself.
On the flickering computer screen, a line of text was bolded and enlarged:
—Chloe, Forbidden Ruins Sequence 001, Unnamed, Suspected Agent of Western Holy Church's Holy Sovereign Yeland.
...
"We should be the first ones here, right?!"
A business vehicle stopped at the Night Watch headquarters, and Xia Simeng hopped out first, gazing at the eastern morning glow with a confident smile.
"...Captain, we don't need to rush this much, do we?" The other members of 【Phoenix】 Squad climbed out of the vehicle with dark circles under their eyes, yawning repeatedly. "The meeting doesn't start until nine, right? It's only past six now..."
"Arriving early shows our 【Phoenix】 Squad has sincerity! As long as we leave a good impression on Lin Qiye... Ahem, Lin Director... it'll be easier to get time off later."
Xia Simeng gave Tong Sheng a meaningful look, and the latter silently retrieved a large red plastic bag from the trunk, clutching it to his chest and following behind Xia Simeng with his head bowed as low as possible.
The 【Phoenix】 Squad members walked into the headquarters and headed straight for the conference room. The moment they pushed open the door, Xia Simeng's smile instantly froze.
She saw that the spacious conference room was already filled with people.
Around the wide oval conference table, eight figures draped in black cloaks sat upright like sculptures, their wide-brimmed hats hiding their features, their auras mysterious and cold.
Compared to them, the six young men and women on the opposite side appeared restless. They had no cloaks of their own, their clothes dusty, as if they had just returned from begging in some remote corner.
Seeing the 【Phoenix】 Squad members push through the door, these young people immediately stood up and began greeting them respectfully.
"Why did all of you arrive so quickly?" Xia Simeng stared at the two teams, her eyes wide. "I can understand 【Spirit Medium】 since they flew here on a divine artifact... But what about you lot? The reserve team shouldn't have your own plane, right?"
Fang Mo coughed lightly and said, "Senior Xia, we took the high-speed rail overnight... We just had to transfer a few times along the way."
Xia Simeng's lips twitched slightly. She sighed helplessly and led her team to sit at the other end of the conference table.
In the 【Spirit Medium】 Squad, Wu "Old Dog" slightly lifted his hat brim. Glancing at the large red plastic bag in Tong Sheng's arms, he said in surprise:
"What's that? Cigarettes? Captain Xia... The new Director just took office. You're not planning to bribe him with this, are you?"
"Uh..."
Xia Simeng was momentarily speechless. She had intended to arrive earliest and secretly give this thing to Lin Qiye... But she hadn't expected to be the last one here. Her expression turned awkward.
"These are our Captain's treasured collection." Tong Sheng answered through gritted teeth.
Wu "Old Dog" gave her an odd look, then nodded. "Can't tell from looking... So Captain Xia enjoys cigarettes and drinks in private?"
"Hehehehe, force of habit, force of habit. I can't function without a whole carton every day." Xia Simeng forced a laugh. "Tong Sheng, come, light me a... No, I mean, just one stick... one cigarette."
Tong Sheng pulled out a cigarette and stuffed it into the stiff Xia Simeng's mouth, then silently lit it.
"Cough cough cough..." Xia Simeng burst into violent coughing.
Just then, two figures walked into the office one after another.
Lin Qiye was carrying a file. The moment he walked in, he saw Xia Simeng coughing with a cigarette pinched between her fingers. His brow furrowed, and he said seriously:
"Captain Xia, smoking is prohibited in the conference room."
Hearing this, the figure behind him, Shen Qingzhu, froze mid-motion and silently stuffed the cigarette he'd just placed at the corner of his mouth back into his pocket.
"Cough cough cough... Sorry, sorry!" Xia Simeng crushed the cigarette butt, flustered as she pushed back her disheveled hair, sat upright as if nothing had happened, though wisps of white smoke still rose from her nose...
The other members of 【Phoenix】 Squad wished they could bury their heads in the ground at that sight.
Lin Qiye set down the file and took the seat at the head of the conference table. His gaze swept across everyone present, and he smiled slightly.
"Since everyone is here, let's start early."
"Everyone here is familiar to me, so I won't bother with introductions... Starting today, I will temporarily serve as the Director of the Night Watch Special Operations Department."
Clap clap clap—!
Enthusiastic applause rang through the conference room. Fang Mo and the others wore smiles on their faces, clapping desperately until their palms turned red.
"Before the meeting officially begins, I would like to announce something, in my capacity as the Director of Special Operations..." Lin Qiye's expression gradually grew serious, and the entire conference room fell into absolute silence.
"Starting today, the Snow burial Plan will be activated for the former Squad 004 【Mask】 and the former Squad 005 【Nightfall】..."