# 794
Chapter 795: "Training"
The black jeep sped along the road.
"Captain Lin, do you want to swing by our Squad 006's headquarters first?" Zhang Zhengting, who was driving, turned his head to look at Lin Qiye. "Two years ago in that battle, our squad didn't even get to exchange greetings with you face to face. Everyone's been a bit遗憾—uh, I mean, disappointed about that. Since you all are here in Shangjing now, how about we grab a meal together and get acquainted?
Coincidentally, Captain Shao will be back from his meeting tonight, and he's been wanting to have a chat with you for a while."
Lin Qiye was slightly stunned. After a moment of hesitation, he nodded. "Sure, no problem."
Thinking about it, although his group had fought against Squad 006 back then, they hadn't even seen a single member of Squad 006 except Yuan Gang. Though it was merely a battle of auras, they had still injured the others, so it was only right to pay a visit.
As for Squad 006's captain, Shao Pingge, Lin Qiye had wanted to meet him several years ago.
From the intelligence he'd gathered, this Captain Shao Pingge had once been known alongside Chen Muye as the "Black and White Twin Evils" of Shangjing, and they were extremely close. Through him, Lin Qiye might be able to learn more information about Chen Muye.
Moreover, two years ago, Shao Pingge had risked being dismissed from his position to privately give them the铭牌 left behind by the【Blue Rain】squad before they had officially registered as a special squad. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to enter the Mist, let alone rescue Zhou Ping.
That favor carried significant weight.
Seeing Lin Qiye agree, a gleam of joy appeared in Zhang Zhengting's eyes. He stepped on the accelerator and quickly drove toward Squad 006's headquarters.
...
Shortly after, the vehicle came to a gentle stop in front of an ancient-style courtyard.
Lin Qiye and the others stepped out of the car and followed Zhang Zhengting to the courtyard's entrance. The latter opened the door, stepped aside, and made a gesture for them to enter.
"Huh?" Baili Pangpang had just walked through the door and was stepping on the brand-new blue bricks on the ground with his foot, when he asked in confusion, "Your furnishings here all look quite old-school, but these bricks... why are they all so new?"
"..."
Zhang Zhengting helplessly spoke up, "You'd have to ask them about that."
Baili Pangpang froze, seemingly unable to understand what Zhang Zhengting meant. An Qingyu leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Two years ago, we shattered them..."
Baili Pangpang had an epiphany.
Zhang Zhengting lightly cleared his throat to ease the awkward atmosphere, saying, "This courtyard has been here for over sixty or seventy years. Back then, the captain of the Shangjing City squad bought this courtyard, and it's been used as Squad 006's headquarters ever since. Though the personnel have constantly changed, this place has remained the same.
Over there is where our squad members live, over there is the captain's office area, and further over there is the daily training grounds..."
As they walked, Zhang Zhengting introduced this courtyard to Lin Qiye and the others.
"Captain Shao Pingge is at a meeting right now, and Vice-Captain Yuan Gang is still out on business, so there are about eight or nine squad members in the compound currently..."
"Eight or nine members?"
Hearing this number, Lin Qiye was stunned. "That can't be right, can it? The Night Watch has a maximum squad limit of nine members, right? And last time we came, your squad didn't seem to have this many people..."
"That was already two years ago." Zhang Zhengting explained with a smile. "Over these two years, the Night Watch has significantly increased recruitment quotas for new soldiers. The number of new recruits last year was probably about double what your cohort had, and this year it seems to be expanding to three times that...
With so many new recruits being taken in, once they graduate, the fresh blood injected into each squad will be more substantial. Our Shangjing City Squad 006 now has five members who are new recruits from these past two years."
"Why recruit so many new people suddenly?" Baili Pangpang asked in confusion.
"Because there's a war coming." An Qingyu pushed up her glasses and answered the question for Zhang Zhengting. "When I was at Sunken Dragon Pass before, I was wondering—why would a war fort stationed on the border only have this few Night Watch members? But when I calculated it, I found this phenomenon was actually quite normal.
The number of Night Watch in Great Xia has always been limited. Based on the need to guard various cities, there simply weren't enough hands to be mobilized to defend the war forts, so that definitely wouldn't work. Therefore, the most direct solution is to recruit more new soldiers to increase the Night Watch's numbers.
The influx of large numbers of recruits has caused Night Watch squads everywhere to increase their personnel. Once the experience transfer between veteran and new soldiers is basically complete, the twelve war forts will正好—uh,恰好—be completed.
If I'm not mistaken, at that time, the higher-ups will mobilize most of the veteran soldiers into the war forts, leaving the newer soldiers with less experience to guard the various cities."
An Qingyu paused, then continued:
"When that day arrives, it means... the war is really coming."
Zhang Zhengting glanced at An Qingyu with a hint of surprise, then nodded. "That's right, that's indeed the reason."
As they spoke, the group had arrived outside the training grounds.
"Calculating the time, our squad members should be training now. Let's go in and take a lo—hmm??"
Zhang Zhengting had just walked to the entrance of the training grounds when his entire body suddenly froze in place.
In the training grounds, several squad members were standing in separate corners—one person was hugging a moss-covered artificial mountain, gazing with tender affection; another was squatting in front of a mouse hole beneath a pillar, confessing love to an ant passing by; and there were two burly men holding each other's hands, gazing at each other with profound affection, as if they were about to kiss at any moment...
Outside the training grounds, Lin Qiye and the others witnessed this scene and simultaneously turned to stone.
"This..." Baili Pangpang couldn't help but swallow hard. "Your squad's usual training exercises are all this... passionate?"
He had a nagging feeling they'd just discovered some incredible secrets about Squad 006...
Would they be silenced?!
"No..."
Zhang Zhengting seemed to have thought of something, and his brow immediately furrowed. "It's Zhenzhen?"
Zhang Zhengting quickly walked up to those squad members, reached out, and heavily knocked on their foreheads. The struck members stared blankly for a moment before their eyes regained their sparkle.
"Zhengting?" One of the members saw the slightly dark-faced Zhang Zhengting before him and froze for a moment. "What happened to me..."
"You were caught in Zhenzhen's God's Ruins." Zhang Zhengting's gaze swept over the surroundings. "Where's Zhenzhen? Where did she go?"
That squad member opened his mouth, a bitter smile forming at the corner of his lips...
"Zhenzhen... ran away from home."