# 337
**Chapter 337: The Original Squad**
Hearing this, Ye Fan’s face broke into a smile.
“In that case, these documents are yours. Once you reach shore, the first mission briefing will be sent to this phone. Get there quickly.”
He handed Lin Qiye a phone sealed in a plastic pouch, then stood slowly. “Don’t worry too much—this is only a reserve team, still in its infancy. The tasks I give you will be simple at first; the difficulty will ramp up only after the squad matures.”
“I have one more question,” Lin Qiye said.
“Go ahead.”
“Since we can’t reveal our identities or make contact with the local Night Watch, how will you know we were the ones who completed a mission?” Lin Qiye asked. “Say we reach a city, eliminate a Mystery—how will you tell whether we did it or the local Night Watch team did?”
“Easy.” Ye Fan smiled. “After you kill a Mystery or finish any task, just leave a unique mark nearby—an object, a symbol, whatever you like…”
Lin Qiye nodded thoughtfully. “Understood.”
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going.”
“Wait!”
Ye Fan turned back.
“Can you give us a lift to land?” Lin Qiye asked shamelessly.
They were too far from shore—no supplies, no boat. At their current speed it would take two more days to reach the nearest coast.
Ye Fan chuckled, shook his head, stepped off the ice boat, and vanished into the mist.
“A special squad must handle any situation alone. Your evaluation has already begun… Captain Lin.”
With those last words he disappeared, leaving only the lonely ice boat adrift on the endless sea.
Lin Qiye sighed and sat down.
He’d expected this, but the thought of wasting two more days at sea depressed him.
The moment he sat, three pairs of eyes locked onto him.
“What are you looking at?” he asked, unnerved.
“Captain Lin,” Baili Pangpang blurted, “aren’t you going to say something?”
“Like what?”
“A special squad! Great Xia’s fifth special squad!” Baili Pangpang looked exasperated. “Countless people covet the captain’s seat. You’ve got it and you’re about to build the elite of the elite—aren’t you even a little excited?”
Lin Qiye considered. “Why be excited? Sounds like a thankless job.”
Baili Pangpang: …
Cao Yuan’s mouth curved upward. “Whatever the case, it’s good news. Who’d have thought that joke in training camp would come true…”
Lin Qiye felt a pang of nostalgia. Escaping prison had somehow made him reserve-captain of a special squad. A year ago he’d only wanted to stay in Cangnan, serve ten quiet years as a Night Watchman, then go home to Auntie. Now he was setting out on a far, far longer road.
He pulled several pages from the file, handing two to Cao Yuan and Baili Pangpang.
“Sign.”
They blinked, took the sheets.
“This is…”
“Reserve-team application,” Lin Qiye said, smiling. “As captain of the fifth special squad’s reserve, I sincerely invite you both to join… my squad.”
Baili Pangpang’s hands trembled. Suddenly he leapt up, rocking the boat.
“Hahaha!! Dad, did you see? Your boy’s gonna be a special-squad member! Damn it—let’s see who dares call me a useless rich kid now!”
He howled at the sea, fat frame quivering, the whole ice boat swaying.
Lin Qiye’s mouth twitched, but he only gave Cao Yuan a wry smile.
Cao Yuan stayed calm. He bit his finger, pressed a bloody thumbprint onto the corner of the page.
“You could’ve waited for ink on shore,” Lin Qiye said.
Cao Yuan shook his head. “Ritual matters.”
Baili Pangpang followed suit, biting and stamping his print. Details could be filled in later.
Lin Qiye tucked the two sheets away and turned to An Qingyu.
“How about it? Want to try being a Night Watchman?”
An Qingyu scratched his head shyly. “Will you ban my dissections?”
“As long as they don’t endanger society, they’re allowed,” Lin Qiye said after thought.
An Qingyu smiled at the rising sun, inhaled, exhaled.
“I’m in.” He took the form. “Life in the sewers was getting dull. With you, truth might be closer… I’ll risk this life for that.”
He pressed his bloody thumbprint.
Lin Qiye collected the three applications and looked over his teammates, satisfied.
“All signed. That makes four; we need only two more to meet the first requirement.”
“Will you ask Night Watch HQ for a list?” Cao Yuan asked.
Lin Qiye shook his head. “No rush. A stranger drafted from another squad might not fit. We’ll wait—better candidates may appear.”
“I agree,” Baili Pangpang chimed.
Lin Qiye gazed ahead, resolve hardening.
“Let’s move. Once we hit land, the real journey begins…”
Baili Pangpang nodded, pulled out [Wind-Thunder Scroll], swung it hard at the stern!
Propelled by wind and lightning, the ice boat carrying four youths sliced through the waves and vanished beyond the horizon.