The Professional Rankings, in twelve volumes, each bearing the name of my lord.

The images of Wang Miao and the barbell man in the detention cell began to fade.

The time to maintain this illusion is almost up.

Losing a B-level illusionist didn't bother Song Gua much; there were plenty of illusionists out there, and plenty of opportunities.

Wang Miao's sudden change left Song Gua somewhat bewildered.

Wang Miao is probably the person Song Gua has ever met in this world who adheres to the strictest standards of professional and social ethics.

He's actually choosing to coexist with the Barbell Man in pursuit of power?

Did the fact that his entire team was wiped out during the invasion of Glory City Abyss really affect him that much?

"Wang Miao, although we are not familiar with each other, we have cooperated a few times in the past. I still want to advise you to pull back from the brink. It's not too late."

The fading phantom of Wang Miao suddenly burst into laughter.

"The people I cherish, love, and admire!"

Either leave me, or lurk beside me and try to take advantage of me!

Yunshan City! Shangjing City! Glory City! It's always the same!

What are you pretending to do, offering kind advice?

Isn't Ah Kun an undercover agent too?

I remained true to myself, fulfilled my duties, and followed the rules, yet they gave me attitude, suppressed me, and bullied me!

I worked tirelessly for the cause of the Special Bureau, sacrificing my own time and interests, yet I was unaware of my own weakness and could not protect anyone!

Obeying the rules will only bring you loss, weakness, betrayal, and indifference!

I'd rather choose chaos!

Amidst these roars, the phantoms of Wang Miao and the bell-ringer vanished.

Song Gua scratched his head, puzzled.

Where did Wang Miao go?

Yanzu asked in the regional network.

"Old scoundrel, I have a question."

"You noticed it too."

"Hmm, if Wang Miao turned evil to become stronger, he didn't become stronger after merging with the Barbell Man, did he? The Barbell Man himself is a weakling. He can't survive on Blue Star by relying solely on mental attacks and these illusionary tricks."

"Was the barbell still there during the day? Is Wang Miao alright?"

"That's normal. Wan Jianyi was still in the building during the day. Before he left, he handed over and checked all the work to make sure there were no problems."

"Oh... the last person Wan Jianyi met at the Special Affairs Bureau was Wang Miao, right?"

"Yes, is there some hidden meaning?"

"From your memories, I see that Wan Jianyi went to Ye Chen's place today and summoned a lot of people from the research department. I wonder what he arranged..."

For some reason, a bold idea popped into Song Gua's mind.

He always felt that there was more to Wang Miao's descent into darkness than met the eye.

It might be related to Wan Jianyi!

Wang Miao, the symbiotic barbell, is not strong. He needs to complete one more step to become stronger.

Just now, the Phantom of the Barbell said, "Get that thing!"

When I think of Ye Chen.

What this thing is is already obvious.

"Dark Dagger!"

The Seven Dark Artifacts each possess bizarre abilities, but they are mostly not used for anything productive.

Only the Dark Dagger enhances combat power!

Back then, even a mere first-stage cultivator like Ye Chen, wielding a dagger, required ten high-level investigators and the use of advanced illusionary treasures to suppress him.

The Dark Dagger's combat prowess is beyond question!

"Yanzu, contact the higher-ups at the Special Affairs Bureau immediately! Wang Miao is planning a sneak attack on the Special Affairs Bureau's research department; he wants to steal the Dark Dagger!"

Song Gua swapped positions, taking Yanzu into his body, then swapped back, releasing him.

"Old rascal, are you sure? It's so late at night, if I wake up the boss, I'll easily get yelled at."

"Idiot! This is your once-in-a-lifetime chance to climb into the middle ranks of the Special Affairs Bureau!"

"Wang Miao is actually quite nice to me..."

"Don't worry, I've already moved Brother Monkey to Yunshan City. He'll bring people to protect Wang Miao's daughter!"

I'm going to the research department to stop Wang Miao. He took away the man who robbed the barbell, which is a serious crime. The authorities won't let him off the hook.

After stopping him, I will take him away from Shangjing City!

Your merit this time is just a bonus; don't feel guilty about it.

Yanzu nodded emphatically.

"good!"

Clearly, Yan Zu has a more gentle personality, unlike Song Gua who is ruthless.

However, Song Gua was not malicious.

Rather, he knew that Wang Miao was destined to fail.

What's the point of stealing the Dark Dagger?

The spirit of the weapon is in the hands of the bandits!

If Wang Miao makes a move, regardless of whether he succeeds in grabbing the dagger or not, his fate is predictable.

The Song hexagram indicates a tendency to achieve multiple goals with a single action.

He chose to help Wang Miao, and also chose to use Wang Miao's affairs to help Yanzu rise to power.

At the same time, he also wants to steal the Dark Dagger!

Searching Yan Zu's memories, Song Gua burst through the window and flew towards the Special Bureau's Research Department building, which was just across the street.

The two security guards downstairs heard the commotion coming from upstairs and immediately looked up.

"Hey, aren't those bandits?"

"When did these bandits break into our building?!"

"Oh no, they're going to dock my pay! I need to contact my boss right away!"

……

Special Bureau Research Department.

This is the site for researching and maintaining some of the high-tech equipment used by the Special Bureau.

For example, common special location detectors and electromagnetic capture nets are developed, maintained, and produced here.

Meanwhile, the research and development department in Shangjing City also has a large-scale underground research institute.

In Lab 9 here, there are several complex pieces of equipment that can work together to accomplish a task.

—To extract the dark artifact that was fused with someone's life and soul.

It's important to know that the Dark Artifacts have been on Earth for over a thousand years.

The struggle between humanity and them has seen many ups and downs, with both sides experiencing victories and defeats.

During this process, the celestial beings occasionally intervened in these struggles on Earth.

Because the celestial beings were divided into two factions, the interstellar faction and the return faction, and there were internal disagreements among them.

Therefore, occasionally, the interstellar faction would support Earth's technology so that Earth could help them deal with the return faction.

Alternatively, if the Dark Star forces are making too much noise on Blue Star, the Returnists might proactively provide technological support to help Blue Star overcome its difficulties.

Many things in the Special Bureau that don't conform to normal technological levels come from technological support from celestial beings.

This includes Yu Xunyi, who was inside the Third Research Institute of Xichuan City, which was previously attacked by the Dark Compass.

In fact, they were all products of support from celestial beings, rather than independently developed by Earthlings.

Wearing a white hospital gown and with his hands handcuffed in Abyss Rock, Ye Chen once again entered Laboratory No. 9, the place that haunted his nightmares even in the dead of night.

The process of withdrawing the dark dagger is long and painful.

But for the sake of freedom and to return to Nanshui City, Ye Chen has been enduring it.

The person in charge of the extraction procedure was an elderly scientist with white hair.

He patted Ye Chen on the shoulder.

"Congratulations, Ye Chen, it's all over for tonight."

"Uncle Shen, didn't you say it would take another week?"

"Before leaving, Chief Wan specifically instructed us that he did not want any remnants of his work during his tenure to cause trouble for those who came after him. Therefore, he entrusted us to speed up the process tonight and complete the final separation in one go."

That's why everyone's working overtime until this late.

You might be in more pain than usual tonight, can you bear it?

Ye Chen has been here for more than half a year, dealing with these staff members every day, and they are all very familiar with each other.

Ye Chen's resilience earned him the admiration of the people here.

"That's great! Then I can get back to Nanshui City sooner. Uncle Shen, you don't need to worry about me. Just follow your procedures and complete the separation process!"