“By the way, Senior…”
Lin Mo suddenly poked Chu You with his finger and said, “The two action squads sent from headquarters for reinforcements have been confirmed.”
Chu You was taken aback when she heard this.
She turned her head to look at Lin Mo by her side, her tone giving away nothing.
“Oh? Which two squads?”
There were a total of twenty-seven action squads under Beifu Headquarters, with each squad typically led by two Golden Crow-level Swordbearers acting as captain and vice-captain, and the rest of the team comprised of Silver Hawk Swordbearers.
To choose two out of the twenty-seven squads—surely the odds of something unexpected happening wouldn’t be so high…
“The twenty-third squad just finished their border-clearing mission and happened to run into this external support assignment for Nanwan Province,” Lin Mo lowered his gaze slightly toward Chu You, “They volunteered to participate in this field operation.”
“And the other squad?”
Chu You nodded and then asked about the other team.
Lin Mo’s expression didn’t change, but there seemed to be some flicker of emotion deep in his eyes.
He spoke calmly, “…Deputy Commander Qin personally assigned them. Codename [Night Hunt]—the seventh tactical squad of Beifu Headquarters. They’ll be heading to Nanwan along with the twenty-third.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Chu You’s pupils visibly contracted.
“You—” Her voice unconsciously rose, her face full of disbelief, “Are you serious? You’re not lying to me?”
“Yeah, it’s true.”
Lin Mo answered earnestly.
Chu You subconsciously gripped the hem of her clothes, suddenly feeling a surge of bitter resentment at the unfairness of fate.
The perfect fake death plan had already been seen through by Lin Mo, who somehow managed it—and on top of that, he’d brought Gu Qiancheng, that headache-inducing troublemaker, here too.
She’d already accepted Gu Qiancheng coming to Binhai.
But now… those guys from the seventh squad were coming to Binhai as well—what the hell was going on?
This news gave Chu You a much deeper sense of crisis than when Gu Qiancheng first came to Binhai.
The reason was simple—Before she faked her death and left the Swordbearers, her position was precisely that of Night Hunt’s, in other words, the seventh tactical squad’s captain!
Counting herself, there were seven of them in all.
Even if they hadn’t known each other since the very start, they’d supported each other along the way until now.
From the newly established twenty-seventh tactical squad, which didn’t even qualify for a codename, to advancing hand-in-hand into what was now the Night Hunt seventh tactical squad, Chu You had spent most of her time as a Swordbearer with those seventh squad teammates.
Yu Chan, Flower Demon, Mongoose, Blacksmith, Shadow, Qingluan—so many familiar codenames, so many faces that seemed like just yesterday they were bidding each other good night.
From some perspectives, the members of the seventh squad probably understood her even better than Lin Mo did.
Chu You stood rooted to the spot, feeling an icy chill spread through her body.
Gu Qiancheng coming to Binhai and seeing through her identity—aside from some panic, Chu You didn’t feel much else; after all, that guy was really hard to feel any guilt or unease around.
But if those squadmates came to Binhai and—by pure bad luck—discovered her identity… She honestly didn’t know how she’d face them.
“Senior, if you’re worried…”
Lin Mo noticed Chu You’s bad state and his tone grew gentler, “I’ll drag Gu Qiancheng over and teach him how to use that comms platform you mentioned. Once he’s learned, you can go home and rest.”
Chu You took a deep breath, then gently shook her head.
“No, I’m fine.”
Lin Mo didn’t try to persuade her again.
Instead, he tentatively took Chu You’s hand, his grip very light.
Her fingertips were ice-cold, with a faint but unmistakable tremble.
Lin Mo tightened his hold slightly, as if trying to pass on some warmth to her.
“Don’t overthink it, Senior.”
“I don’t know why Old Qin specifically named the seventh squad for support, but I can promise you—neither I nor Gu Qiancheng reported even a single word about your situation to headquarters.”
Lin Mo held Chu You’s hand, lowering his voice, “Things have come to this—what matters most now is keeping your cover.”
“Mm. Let’s go eat, I’m hungry.”
Chu You replied in a calm tone, her head lowered so her expression couldn’t be seen.
Lin Mo didn’t say anything more, and accompanied Chu You into the cafeteria.
However, the moment the two of them stepped into the cafeteria, they instantly drew the attention of nearly every Swordbearer who was eating there—including Gu Qiancheng, who had just sat down, and Xia Ji, who was next to him.
Both almost simultaneously turned their gazes toward the pair at the door.
Chu You, in her bad mood, didn’t notice anything amiss at first.
But Lin Mo sensed something off at once and paused in his steps.
“What are you doing…” Lin Mo stopped, and Chu You stopped as well, then instinctively looked up and asked him.
She shouldn’t have looked up, but now that she did, she noticed that most of the people in the cafeteria were looking at her and Lin Mo.
At that moment, Xia Ji’s eyes lit up from her spot on the little stool by the long table, while Gu Qiancheng leaned back, hands relaxed behind his head, a mischievous grin spreading across his face as he deliberately drawled, “Yo~yo~yo—who’s this? Bringing your romance all the way into the cafeteria? Hahaha… Xia Ji, look at those two—they can’t even eat without holding hands, like conjoined twins~”
At that, Chu You’s breath caught.
It was almost as if her body moved in slow motion as she slowly lowered her head….
Within her field of vision, her right hand was naturally and firmly held by Lin Mo’s slender fingers.
It was as if she’d been set up for a scene.
She shot Lin Mo a bewildered look, her eyes silently asking: What is going on here?!
Lin Mo met her gaze without any change in expression, his tone as flat as if discussing the weather, and leaned in slightly to whisper so only the two of them could hear: “You didn’t look well outside just now, so I just…”
“Then why aren’t you letting go now?!”
Chu You practically gritted her teeth as she squeezed out the words, trying to pull her hand free.
However, though Lin Mo’s hold looked casual, it was unyielding.
To the onlookers in the cafeteria, who couldn’t hear the actual conversation, all they saw was Chu You with her head lowered, leaning close to Lin Mo, muttering something in a low voice, and blushing ever so slightly—no matter how you looked at it, it seemed like a shy girl acting coy with her boyfriend.
At that moment, Old Wu, the leader of group nine, who was busy scarfing down braised pork, was attracted by Gu Qiancheng’s shout.
He looked up and immediately broke into a grin.
He gulped down the meat, his face animated as he looked across at the leader of group eleven.
“Tsk, look! Our Lin Minister, always so serious, and now here he is, showing off his love in public—nice!”
Across from him, the group eleven leader tapped his chopsticks against his tray and teased in a lowered voice, “Well, he’s in his twenties after all. At that age, the fire burns strong~ I get it, I get it!”
Old Wu raised his brows and his grin turned wicked.
He leaned closer and whispered teasingly, “What, are you jealous?”
“Hey now—you’re only forty, aren’t you? Don’t tell me you’ve already… hehehe, pfft, listen to my foul mouth, spouting uncomfortable truths!”
The group eleven leader’s face instantly froze, as if he’d had his tail stepped on, and he glared at Old Wu, his voice raising slightly, “Get lost! Don’t talk nonsense! I’m doing just fine! Fit as a fiddle!”
“See, see—you said nothing, but look how flustered you got! Isn’t that basically a confession?”
Old Wu, pleased with himself, picked up another piece of shiny braised pork and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing with delight as he looked at the two figures standing at the door, hand in hand, and sighed contentedly: “Ah, youth really is wonderful!”
“You’re young, not a damn baby!”
Inside the rumbling aircraft cabin, a dark-skinned, brawny man in a Swordbearer uniform with a Golden Crow badge on his chest glared at the little girl before him.
The girl wore her hair in double ponytails, dyed in a gradient from white to pink, and her carefully tailored Swordbearer uniform was pinned with a Silver Hawk badge that rose and fell with her breathing.
“Blacksmith, stop making a big deal out of nothing!” the girl retorted angrily, standing barely as tall as the man’s shoulder but matching his aura, “I just don’t want to see that bastard Lin Mo, so what?!”
At her words, the brawny man called Blacksmith drew a sharp breath, his face turning sour.
“This is a direct order from Old Qin—what do you want me to do? Don’t you know what a military order is? Qingluan, it’s time you grew up!”
As soon as she heard this, Qingluan’s eyes filled with tears.
She sniffled, took a step back, and complained, “…When the Captain was alive, she never talked to me like this.”
At the mention of ‘Captain,’ Blacksmith’s expression froze, and his entire demeanor visibly deflated.
“Anyway, now isn’t the time for you to be willful.”
“All right, enough.”
At that moment, a tall woman who had been leaning against the cabin wall suddenly spoke up.
“Qingluan, we all know Captain doted on you the most, and we also know that since Captain’s death… you haven’t been able to accept it.”
As she spoke, she walked over and stood between Qingluan and Blacksmith, her tone deepening, “But it’s not just you—Blacksmith, me, Yu Chan, Shadow, Mongoose, we all feel the same.”
“But we are Swordbearers. Keeping the city stable and the people safe is our duty. Did you forget what the Captain herself taught you?”
“Flower Demon Sis, I…” Qingluan sniffled again, her aggressive posture instantly crumbling.
Flower Demon glanced at Qingluan, then turned to look at Blacksmith, who was standing silent and gloomy.
She said mildly, “Enough, Blacksmith. When Qingluan gets something good to eat, doesn’t she always think of you first? You’re a man in your thirties, why are you quibbling with a little girl?”
“Sigh, I’m not quibbling, it’s just…” Blacksmith slowly raised his head, letting out a heavy sigh, his mood gloomy.
“It’s just… every time Qingluan mentions Captain, I feel awful.”
There were only six people left in Night Hunt now—all of them personally hand-picked by the Captain back then.
Their divine rank wasn’t the highest, and their individual strength wasn’t the greatest, but in just a few years with the newly-formed squad, they’d made a name for themselves—so much so that Deputy Commander Qin personally bestowed them the [Night Hunt] codename.
“Why suffer in silence?”
A short-haired girl sitting cross-legged in the corner looked up at the group, her face expressionless.
“Just because we’re on duty doesn’t mean we have to act all nice with Lin Mo, nor does it mean we can’t mess with him, right?”
At those words, Qingluan, who had been downcast just a moment ago, suddenly looked up at the short-haired girl, her brows lifting.
“Mongoose Sis, are you saying…?”
“Isn’t your Mongoose Sis being clear enough?”
From deeper in the cabin, a woman stepped out, wearing a Swordbearer uniform draped with a white lab coat, a pair of gold-rimmed glasses perched on her nose, her hair coiled up.
She wore a gentle smile and said, “Lin Mo’s transfer to Binhai was so rushed that we Night Hunt folks didn’t get to give Captain’s little sidekick a proper send-off. Now that we have the chance to make up for it—why not?”
As her words fell, a shadowy, vaguely human-shaped creature suddenly leapt from the darkness in the corner of the cabin, its voice stiff but resolute…
“Yeah, let’s get him!”