# 336
Chapter 336 – Captain Lin Qiye
Lin Qiye was speechless.
The three beside him nodded repeatedly as they listened to Ye Fan. They knew better than anyone just how monstrous Lin Qiye’s potential was.
A freak among freaks?
Wasn’t that Lin Qiye himself?
“Of course, you’ve got plenty of problems—your strength isn’t enough, your seniority is lacking, and there’s the risk of mental illness… So whether you can actually serve as captain is hotly debated among the Night Watch high command.”
Ye Fan paused, then continued, “Therefore, I’m not asking you to become the captain of the fifth special squad right now. You need to use action and time to prove to everyone that you’re qualified.
Besides, forming a special squad isn’t that fast…”
Hearing this, the doubt in Lin Qiye’s eyes deepened.
“Then what exactly do you mean…?”
“Form a reserve team.” Ye Fan spoke slowly.
“A reserve team?”
“A special squad that, for the moment, isn’t officially recognized by the Night Watch.” Ye Fan pulled out a file and handed it to Lin Qiye.
“On paper, this team doesn’t exist. It doesn’t belong to any ordinary city garrison squad, yet it’s not in the special-squad roster either. The team is like a ghost, performing the duties of a special squad. Whenever a city or uninhabited zone encounters an incident the local team can’t handle, it goes there and helps solve it.”
Baili Pangpang couldn’t help asking, “If the team doesn’t exist and there’s no file on it, how can it prove its identity to the local Night Watch unit?”
Ye Fan spread his hands helplessly. “No file means no way to prove anything.”
“If we can’t prove who we are, why would anyone believe us?” Cao Yuan frowned. “A squad that claims to be special but isn’t in the records suddenly shows up—no one will trust that. They might even get suspicious and draw their weapons…”
“So the best approach is to avoid direct contact with the local Night Watch team.” Ye Fan said calmly. “That’s one of the test requirements for the reserve team. Since it’s a special squad, it must be able to deal with any situation on its own. Without any outside help—even under pressure from both sides—it must complete the mission perfectly. Only then can it make extraordinary decisions under extreme conditions.”
After listening for a long while, Lin Qiye frowned and said, “So this reserve team… is a ghost squad that carries out the duties of a special team?”
“You could put it that way.” Ye Fan nodded. “Once the conditions for becoming a true special squad are met, the reserve team will immediately be upgraded to the fifth special squad and take on its unique functions.”
“What conditions?”
“First, the squad must have at least six and at most nine members.
Second, the captain—you—must reach the peak of the Sea Realm.
Third, every member besides the captain must have crossed the Sea Realm threshold.
Fourth, the squad must have a record of killing an Infinite Realm enemy above its own level.
Fifth, the squad must have rendered major service and earned a collective star-level merit or higher. The medal must belong to the entire squad; individual medals don’t count, so the one you got in training camp doesn’t qualify.”
Lin Qiye fell into thought after hearing the list.
Apart from the first, every condition was a hard-power benchmark; fulfilling them all at once would be anything but simple.
“What exactly is the special function of the fifth special squad?”
Ye Fan shook his head. “I can’t tell you that yet. The fifth squad’s function is top secret; only when you officially become its captain will you have clearance to know.”
Lin Qiye hesitated. “If I refuse to be this… reserve captain, what happens?”
“It’s your right to choose. If you refuse, nothing will happen to you.” Ye Fan smiled. “However, I pulled you out of the psychiatric hospital with this document. If you reject it, the document becomes invalid and I’ll have to haul you back to Sunshine Psychiatric Hospital for observation—say, three to five years…”
Three to five years?
The corner of Lin Qiye’s mouth twitched. Could the threat be any more obvious?!
He glanced at Baili Pangpang, Cao Yuan, and An Qingyu. All three were staring at him, eyes shining with anticipation…
“By the way, may I ask,” Lin Qiye suddenly thought of something, “if I take the job, do I pick the reserve members myself, or does Night Watch high command assign them?”
“You’re the captain; you have absolute choice over recruits. You even have the special right to enroll non-Night Watch personnel directly. If you spot someone with great potential outside the organization, you can skip the review and training phases and make them a Night Watch member—provided they’re willing.
If you can’t find suitable teammates, you can apply to high command; they’ll give you a list of promising Night Watch members, and you have the authority to draft any of them.”
The corner of Ye Fan’s mouth curled up. “That’s just the reserve captain’s authority. A real special-squad captain’s power is far greater… greater than you can imagine.”
Lin Qiye turned to glance at An Qingyu; the latter blinked at him, smiling without a word.
He had the feeling that the破格-enrollment rule had been tailor-made for An Qingyu…
“There’s one more thing I can let slip.” Ye Fan seemed to recall something and spoke again.
Lin Qiye looked up.
“The fifth special squad’s function… is related to the outside of the Fog…”
Lin Qiye’s pupils shrank the instant he heard those words.
Outside the Fog?
What lay outside the Fog? The ruins of other countries? Air that killed with a single breath? Or… the Outer Gods entrenched in their divine kingdoms?
Two names flashed through Lin Qiye’s mind:
Loki, Gaia.
Unconsciously, his fists clenched and a strange light flared in his eyes.
Perhaps this was his best chance to confront the Outer Gods?
After a long silence, unable to find any reason to refuse, he drew a deep breath and said slowly:
“All right. I accept. I’ll be the captain.”