One person: Starting with the Snow Drinking Blade

Lu Linglong looked down at the two booklets in her hands, her fingertips gripping the spines until they turned slightly white. She was silent for three seconds, then looked up and stared directly into Nie Lingfeng's eyes, her lips pursed, and a soft but extremely firm voice escaped her throat: "I'm not afraid of hardship."

Nie Lingfeng looked into her eyes. There was fire in them, but it wasn't on the surface; it burned slowly beneath the surface. He nodded, saying nothing more, only replying, "Okay. First, memorize the incantation, then start practicing the basic sword stance. Ask me if you don't understand anything."

"Yes, Master!"

Lu Linglong, clutching two booklets, turned and ran back to her room, her ponytail swinging between her shoulder blades, her steps as fast as if springs had sprung from her feet. Nie Lingfeng stood there watching her back for a few seconds, his gaze passing over her head and landing on the branches of the old locust tree, where a new leaf was sprouting a tiny green tip from the side of a withered branch.

Bu Jingyun's swordsmanship... it's a path paved with bitterness and pain. He wasn't sure if Lu Linglong could hold on until the end.

But he was willing to give her the chance to go in and try.

Three days passed faster than expected. On the evening of the last day, as Nie Lingfeng was putting away the rattan chair in the yard, his phone vibrated. The screen lit up, and the caller ID showed an internal short number from headquarters. He answered with a "hello," and on the other end was the secretary from Chairman Zhao's office. Her tone was polite and brief, asking him to come to headquarters early the next morning for a meeting to discuss important matters in person.

At 8:30 a.m. on the fourth day, when Nie Lingfeng pushed open the door to Chairman Zhao's office, there were already half a circle of people sitting inside.

Zhang Chulan was nestled on the left side of the sofa, a lumbar pillow behind his back, a half-empty cup of green tea in front of him. His hair wasn't completely dry, clearly he had just showered and rushed over from his dorm. The zipper of his hoodie was only half-zipped up, revealing the wrinkled collar of a T-shirt underneath. He was looking down at his phone, scrolling through something. When he saw Nie Lingfeng come in, he raised his hand as a greeting, mumbling a drowsy "Good morning, Brother Nie—" the last syllable clearly showing his sleepiness.

Chen Duo sat in the middle of the sofa, holding Xiao Yun in her arms. The little girl was wearing a pink and white onesie and cotton socks with bunny ears on her feet. She was intently munching on an animal cookie, her cheeks puffing out. When she saw Nie Lingfeng enter, she immediately put down the cookie, slid down from Chen Duo's arms, and after landing, ran over and hugged Nie Lingfeng's leg, looking up at him: "Daddy!" Then she turned and pointed to the fruit plate on the coffee table, "Yunyun wants to eat that." Nie Lingfeng bent down and picked her up. She immediately nestled on his shoulder and continued chewing the rest of the cookie, a small crumb falling onto the shoulder of his coat.

Feng Baobao sat at the other end of the sofa, her katana lying horizontally on her lap, unsheathed. She leaned against the cushions with her arms crossed, her eyelids half-closed, as if catching up on sleep or waiting for someone. Hearing a noise, she opened her eyes a crack, glanced at Nie Lingfeng, and then closed them again.

Master Wang sat in a single chair by the window, holding a white porcelain covered bowl in his hand. He casually skimmed the foam off the lid, appearing calm and composed. Beside him, Zhang Lingyu sat upright in a straight-backed wooden chair, her back ramrod straight, her hands resting properly on her knees, like a student entering a classroom waiting for the teacher to call her name.

Lu Linglong sat at the end of the table, clutching a half-open booklet. When she saw Nie Lingfeng enter, she instinctively sat up straighter, closed the booklet, and placed it on her lap. She glanced at him more frequently than the others, and a slight, barely suppressed smile played on her lips.

About three minutes later, Chairman Zhao came out of the inner room, holding a thin kraft paper document bag in his hand, the opening of which was tied twice with waxed thread. He walked behind his desk and sat down, placing the document bag on the table. He didn't rush to untie it, but first scanned everyone present, his gaze lingering on each person's face for a moment before moving away.

"Everyone's here." He untied the waxed thread from the file folder, pulled out two sheets of paper, unfolded them, and placed them in the center of the table. "I called you all here today to announce something."

He paused, then turned the paper to face everyone. The title was printed in bold, three sizes larger than the main text. Zhang Chulan, sitting in the closest seat, squinted at it, his gaze lingering on that line of text for a moment.

"The company has decided to establish a special team," said Chairman Zhao, briefly summarizing the key points of the two sheets of paper. "They will be mainly responsible for two aspects: First, eliminating the remaining influence of the 'Polaris Council' both domestically and internationally, including the hidden dangers they planted in their early experiments and the communication nodes that have been lurking to this day; second, tracking down the movements of Qu Tong and the Yaoxing Society, and figuring out their structure and next steps."

"To put it bluntly," Chairman Zhao's tone became more even, "it's about handling cases that ordinary superhuman police can't handle, cases involving high-level conspiracies, and cases requiring a high degree of secrecy. The company gives you independent operational authority; you only need my approval to allocate resources and personnel, without going through the middle management approval chain."

The office was silent for a few seconds. The air from the air conditioner vent slightly lifted a corner of the paper before it fell back down.

Then Zhang Chulan put down his phone and asked the question everyone wanted to know: "So—who's leading the team?"

Chairman Zhao's gaze swept across the table and landed on Nie Lingfeng.

"Xiao Nie, come here."

Nie Lingfeng was supporting Xiaoyun with one hand so she could reach the strawberries on the coffee table. Hearing this, he paused, turned his head to look at Chairman Zhao. After a moment, he handed the strawberries to Xiaoyun, gently placed the child back on Chen Duo's lap, and sat up straight.

"Chairman Zhao," he began, his tone casual, "I can lead the team temporarily."

He paused for a moment, then changed the subject, a very faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth: "But you can't keep picking on the same sheep over and over again, can you? I just got back from Nathan Island, the sea breeze on my legs hasn't even dried yet, and you're already giving me work again. Let me make this clear—I can take on the job, but you also need to hurry up and find a successor. Once you find a suitable one, I can retire."

"puff--"

Zhang Chulan had just picked up his cup and taken a half-sip of green tea when he sprayed it all back into the cup. Tea leaves splashed out and stuck to his chin. He frantically grabbed a tissue to wipe his mouth and hands, his eyes wide open: "Brother Nie, what did you say?! Retirement?!"

"What, is that not allowed?" Nie Lingfeng glanced at him sideways, his expression as calm as if they were discussing what to have for dinner. "I'm a married man, after all. I'm always flying all over the world. Who's going to take care of Xiaoyun? Today, when I held her, she fell asleep on my shoulder for a little while—it's unreasonable for a father to be out fighting and killing while his child is sleep-deprived."

"But—how old are you! Retiring so early is way too much!" Zhang Chulan crumpled the tissue into a ball and placed it on the table, his expression a mix of shock and amusement. "With your skills and experience, it's such a waste for you to retire!"

"You can't retire when you're young? Who says so?" Nie Lingfeng picked up his teacup and blew on the floating leaves. "The list of achievements I've accumulated over the years is thicker than all your homework notebooks in your entire life. It's enough to keep me from having to worry about food and clothing. Retire early and enjoy life, what's wrong with that?"

Zhang Chulan opened his mouth for a moment, then blinked.

As Chairman Zhao listened to the conversation, his eyes lowered as he untied another piece of string from the document bag. A slight smile played at the corners of his mouth, which he then pressed down to straighten. He untied the last loop of waxed thread, pulled the pages out completely, and laid them flat. Looking up at Nie Lingfeng, he asked, "Your plans to retire, have you been thinking about it for a while now?"

"To be honest, I started thinking about it after returning from the Northeast. And after this trip to Nathan Island," Nie Lingfeng blew away the floating leaf on the rim of his cup and took a sip, "I'm even more determined."

"Then why did you take this mission?"

"Because you asked." Nie Lingfeng put down his teacup, his tone becoming slightly more serious. "I can't refuse. But I have to be upfront about the unpleasant aspects—I can lead the team for a while, but you need to prioritize finding someone. Don't delay. Once I'm sure he can handle this, I'll leave and go home to take care of my kids."

"You're hardly the captain of a special team," Chairman Zhao shook his head helplessly, pushing the papers in his hand to the center of the table. "You're here to work for me with strings attached."

"Of course," Nie Lingfeng replied matter-of-factly. "Even when you're working, you need to have the right mindset. If the pay is agreed upon, you're more likely to stay on for a long time."

The tension in the office lasted less than three seconds before relaxing. Master Wang Ye couldn't help but laugh out loud from behind his teacup, almost spilling the tea. Zhang Chulan buried his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking. Even the straight line at the corner of Zhang Lingyu's mouth turned up a few millimeters, though he quickly suppressed it. Chen Duo looked down at Xiaoyun playing with strawberries, her hair falling down to obscure her expression, but her earlobes were slightly red. Lu Linglong opened her booklet, covering half her face, leaving only her crescent-shaped eyes visible.

"Alright, alright." Chairman Zhao waved his hand with a smile, his voice unusually light. "I promise you. Find a suitable successor as soon as possible, and I'll let you go. Is that alright?"

"That's more like it." Nie Lingfeng picked up his teacup again and took a sip, his shoulders and back noticeably relaxed compared to before.

Chairman Zhao stopped laughing, straightened the paper, and his expression returned to its usual composure.

"Alright, it's settled then. The special team is officially established—codename 'Dawn'."

He ran his fingertip across the page, reading the names on the list: "Captain Nie Lingfeng. Team members: Chen Duo, Zhang Chulan, Feng Baobao, Wang Ye, Zhang Lingyu, Lu Linglong."

"Main mission: Investigate the remaining forces of the Polaris Council and the movements of Qu Tong and the Yaoxing Society. Routine cases involving supernatural beings are outside your scope of responsibility; the company will assign other temporary workers to handle those. You have independent operational authority and report directly to me, bypassing middle management procedures. If you require any supplies, information, or external support, I will have them allocated immediately."

He closed the file folder, his gaze sweeping over everyone: "Anything else you want to ask?"

The group exchanged glances. Zhang Chulan opened his mouth but then closed it again. Wang Ye put down his covered bowl and shook his head. Zhang Lingyu sat upright like a pine tree, his expression unchanged. Lu Linglong held the booklet, pursed her lips, and nodded vigorously.

"Alright, meeting adjourned."

Everyone stood up one after another. Zhang Chulan stretched vigorously as he stood up from the sofa, his spine cracking a series of sounds. After letting out a long breath, he turned to Nie Lingfeng and grinned: "Dawn Squad...that's a pretty good name! It immediately gives off that vibe, like a righteous army."

The motion-sensor lights in the corridor turned on just as he reached the center, and the morning light streaming in from the window behind him stretched his shadow long.

"A nice-sounding name is useless," a voice drifted leisurely from around the corner of the corridor, "the key is to make a splash."