# 835
Chapter 835: Welcome to Hell
Lin Qiye's words rang out, echoing through the spacious interior.
The new recruits downstairs fell into simultaneous silence.
"It is precisely for this reason that I hope you all prepare yourselves mentally." Lin Qiye's gaze swept across those youthful faces. "Your training will be more brutal than any previous cohort, and our training methods will also be quite special..."
Lin Qiye lowered his head and slowly placed the Sun Wukong mask back onto his face.
The dim light in the room flickered as Lin Qiye and his six companions stood in the shadows, draped in crimson cloaks. That Sun Wukong mask grinned silently in the darkness.
Lin Qiye raised his hand and pressed it gently against the empty air.
Around the interior training ground, gorgeous magic arrays lit up one after another. A terrifying surge of energy rippled outward from within these arrays.
One after another, "Mysteries" of varied forms and terrifying appearances, dressed in deep teal orderly uniforms, stepped out from the magic arrays. Their gazes fixed upon the surrounded recruits, emanating a chilling, monstrous aura.
Their realms were predominantly at the "Pool" realm, with a few at the "River" realm.
These suddenly appearing "Mysteries" had completely stunned the recruits in the training ground. They frantically crowded toward the center, trying to distance themselves from the surrounding "Mysteries." Their eyes were filled with panic and shock.
"'Mysteries'! So many 'Mysteries'!!"
"Where did these monsters come from?"
"Damn it, why are there so many?"
"Wait! I need to confirm something! Is that man standing up there really not the villain!?"
"True... Which normal Night Watch would raise so many 'Mysteries'?"
"..."
This move of summoning "Mysteries" had stunned not only the recruits but Instructor Yuan and the others as well.
They anxiously turned to look at Lin Qiye. Only after receiving a reassuring nod from him did they slightly relax... Thank goodness Lin Qiye could control these "Mysteries."
But at the same time, a question arose in all their minds:
Just how many tricks does Lin Qiye have up his sleeve?
They probably couldn't have imagined that the "Mysteries" appearing in the training ground were merely the tip of the iceberg of Lin Qiye's vast orderly army.
Originally, Lin Qiye's asylum had over three hundred orderlies. After the battle at Sunken Dragon Pass, this number had surged to over four hundred, with the largest group being "Mysteries" at the "Pool" and "River" realms. With Lin Qiye's current mental reserves, he could summon nearly a hundred orderlies of this level in one go.
This number was absolutely sufficient to manage these six hundred-plus new recruits.
In the shadows of the second floor, Lin Qiye looked down at the recruits and spoke calmly:
"From now on, there are only two things you need to do...
Survive, and learn."
Lin Qiye raised both hands, and those nearly one hundred orderlies roared in unison, each emanating their own might. The roaring echoed through the spacious interior like thunder, causing some of the more timid recruits to collapse directly onto the ground.
"Rookies..." A smile curled beneath Lin Qiye's mask. "Welcome to hell."
...
Jialin Pass.
Zuo Qing finished reviewing the last document, slumped back in his chair, and turned his gaze toward the window, only to see towering steel walls. He sighed helplessly.
"Commander, are you missing Shangjing?" Chen Moyu, standing beside him, asked.
"No, I'm just wondering when this war will end." "Commander, the war hasn't even started yet." Chen Moyu said with a helpless smile.
Zuo Qing didn't respond, only shrugging. "Who knows? The waters of this war run far too deep. Perhaps in places we cannot see, this war has already begun silently..."
Zuo Qing paused, as if remembering something. "By the way, what about the [Mask] Squad? It's been so many days—why haven't they returned to report?"
"They haven't."
"Strange... Could they have gone off on a pleasure trip?" Zuo Qing frowned, puzzled.
Chen Moyu smiled. "After all they've been through, it's normal for them to want more rest."
Zuo Qing was silent for a moment, his brow furrowed tighter and tighter, but finally he shook his head.
"No, Wang Mian isn't the type... Moyu, use my phone to call Wang Mian and check on the situation. If everything is fine, tell them their leave is extended—they can relax and play for a few more days before returning."
"Yes."
Chen Moyu turned and walked out of the office.
Zuo Qing sat in his seat, feeling uneasy for reasons he couldn't explain.
Just then, the office telephone rang.
Zuo Qing picked up the receiver.
"Hello?"
"..."
"Yuan Gang? What's wrong?"
"..."
"Church of the Ancient Gods?" Zuo Qing froze slightly, then his expression grew grave. "I understand. Write me a detailed report on this incident. As for your punishment... I'll decide after I've reviewed the documentation."
After speaking, Zuo Qing hung up and sat at his desk, lost in contemplation.
The call from Yuan Gang was to report the unexpected incident at the training camp. Though no casualties had occurred, the hidden meaning behind this matter was something Zuo Qing couldn't afford to ignore.
Yuan Gang hadn't said it directly, but he had subtly hinted—he had found no problems when reviewing the recruits' files. If what he said was true, then the problem lay elsewhere in Night Watch's processes.
Zuo Qing closed his eyes, and images of the entire Night Watch recruitment process flashed through his mind: from proposal, to initial screening of recruits, to information collection and compilation, to secondary screening, and finally verification and archiving...
Knock knock knock!
Urgent knocking打断了Zuo Qing的思考。
"Come in," he said, opening his eyes.
Chen Moyu strode in from outside the door holding Zuo Qing's phone, his expression grave.
"Commander Zuo, Wang Mian's phone signal is out of service. I've also tried calling all other [Mask] Squad members and can't get through..."
"What?"
Zuo Qing stood up from his chair, his brow tightly knit. "Can't get through?"
"Yes, I've already asked the technical department to track the phone signal locations. We should have results soon."
Zuo Qing stood before his desk, his heart sinking completely.
The [Mask] Squad would never just disappear like this. If all members' phone signals were unreachable, it meant something must have happened...
But Zuo Qing couldn't understand it—they'd only been given a few days of leave. What could have gone wrong?
His gaze drifted to the landline phone on his desk, and at the same time, the incident Yuan Gang had reported surfaced in his mind. Faintly, he seemed to see a conspiracy targeting Night Watch slowly emerging.
The Church of the Ancient Gods invading the training camp, the [Mask] Squad going missing.
Were these two incidents somehow connected?