# 339
Chapter 339
First Mission
Clack-clack-clack-clack…
A green-skin train eased away from the platform, its steady rumble rising as it gathered speed along the rails.
In one carriage four boys sat face-to-face, sharing a table less than a meter wide already crowded with orange peels, a small packet of goji berries, and a steaming thermos cup.
Next to them perched a fifty-something grandpa and a girl barely ten.
The four boys exchanged glances and sighed in unison.
On these old-style trains, two long benches face each other, three people to a bench, forming a cramped six-seat cubicle with only a tiny table—and the old man beside Lin Qiye had clearly annexed it.
“Good girl, have another orange!” The grandpa peeled a fresh one and beamed as he offered it across to the little girl.
She shook her head so hard her long braids whipped, “I can’t! You’ve made me eat six already!”
The old man studied the orphaned orange, then sighed and popped it into his own mouth. “Can’t let it go to waste…”
Another round of eye-contact among the boys. Baili Pangpang opened his mouth, closed it again…
Lin Qiye signaled the others; they huddled, whispering.
“Qiye, we’re the fifth special squad—why are we stuck on a rattling green-skin? Other squads zip around in transports! We look pathetic.”
“We’re still a reserve squad. Reserves don’t get planes.”
“At least let us take a high-speed rail!”
“Too remote. No high-speed line goes there; only this train gets close, and after that we still need a bus.”
Cao Yuan frowned. “We lost a day at sea, now we’re crawling along. What if the situation worsens? Local Night Watch only calls us when they’re overwhelmed.”
“It’s special—no immediate threat to civilians. If it turns urgent, Commander Ye will airlift us.”
The old man shot them an odd look, sipped his tea, and intoned,
“Tingting, study hard, be useful. Don’t copy those petty thieves—vermin of society!”
Lin Qiye & Co.: …
The carriage was tiny; the message, loud.
Baili Pangpang bristled, half rising, but Lin Qiye pressed him back.
Can’t blame the grandpa—four luggage-less teenagers muttering together do look suspicious.
Conversation killed, they slumped into naps.
A quarter-hour later the girl squirmed. “Grandpa, I need the toilet.”
“Coming, coming.” The old man stood, hesitated, then dragged a woven bag from under the seat onto his shoulder and escorted her away, shooting the boys a warning glare.
The instant they vanished the four swooped on the table, shoving orange peels aside.
“That geezer actually thinks we’re thieves—us, the fifth special squad!”
“Let it go; he meant well. Focus on the mission.”
Lin Qiye laid his phone down and opened the map.
“Destination: Anta County.”
“Never heard of it.”
“Small county under Tianhe City, edge of Xing’an Mountains—pretty much Great Xia’s northernmost town. Past the forest is the border,” An Qingyu adjusted his glasses.
“That remote?” Cao Yuan raised an eyebrow. “What’s the job?”
“Three days ago Anta’s Night Watch reported large ant-type mysterious in the northern forest, estimated River to Sea Realm. They requested backup.”
“River or Sea? Can’t the locals handle that?”
“Not every city has Guangdong’s manpower,” Cao Yuan sighed. “Most二线、三线城市 lack Sea Realm agents; some remote posts don’t even have River Realm. A possible Sea-level threat justifies the call.”
“Fair.”
Lin Qiye continued, “We start at Anta, push north into the forest, locate and eliminate the target. Problem: the forest is vast and maze-like; newcomers don’t come out. Average temperature is –5 °C, dropping toward –15 °C or lower as winter bites.”
He looked each teammate in the eye.
“Prepare for long-term survival in extreme cold.”