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

"By the Dark Emperor, Kanshilatu serves you!"

Above the Dark Compass, wisps of gray mist, interspersed with lightning, rose.

Within this gray mist, a pair of purple eyes opened, uttering eerie sounds and speaking in a language incomprehensible to Earthlings.

The shadowy figure that resurrected the Dark Compass was also speaking to him in a similar language.

"Kanshilatu, why is it that after a whole Dark Star year, you seven Overlords, along with 100,000 Aberrant Beasts, have failed to complete the task I assigned you on Blue Star?"

Within the dark compass, a look of embarrassment appeared in those purple eyes.

"By the Dark Emperor, we have overlooked a huge problem, which we only discovered after fully understanding the science of Earth."

"What?"

"The flow of time is different."

"time?"

"What feels like only a year on Dark Star has been a thousand years on Blue Star!"

Why?

"Because the dark star is not orbiting a star, but rather a black hole."

According to the theory of general relativity, the super-strong gravity of a black hole warps the surrounding spacetime, causing time to pass more slowly.

This phenomenon is called gravitational time dilation...

"Alright, I don't want to hear you give me a science lesson. We are spirits, and science doesn't apply to us."

"Uh... but science applies to Dark Star. You thought the 100,000 mutant beasts were constantly marching to Blue Star through the gap, but in reality, the time intervals between their arrivals were very long, which allowed the people of Blue Star to eliminate them one by one."

"But isn't the gap on the moon supposed to be able to release a large number of spirits at once? There doesn't seem to be a time difference between it and the Dark Star."

"The gap on the moon is the result of the Dark Watch sacrificing its own original soul power two hundred years ago, injecting the power of time correction rules into it, so that it can be synchronized with the Dark Star."

It is precisely because of this that we have been able to open up a battlefield on the moon and fight against the Earthlings and the celestial beings to this day.

However, the pocket watch seems to have severely damaged his spirit because of that sacrifice; I feel his declining intelligence might be related to it.

The Dark Emperor remained silent for a while.

"Forget it, none of these things matter now. Because of the appearance of the bandits and Song Gua, the Heavenly Destiny Clan will accelerate their plans. We just need to wait for the right opportunity and use their strength against them."

"But now, the cross and dagger are missing, and the bronze mirror, pocket watch, scales, and gold seal are all in the hands of the bandits. Even if we want to use their strength against them, the seven of us would need to be together, plus your real body being present, right?"

"My main body is still on Dark Star. I have already prepared a way to teleport it here, so it's not a big problem."

As for the pocket watch...

I believe that by then, the bandits will have no choice but to hand them over to me.

"Does Song Gua intend to just stand by and watch Blue Star turn into a dead star?"

"The Dark Emperor is brilliant!"

A gray mist, crackling with lightning, surged from the compass, simultaneously teleporting the two dark figures away.

……

"I am B! A is dead, so my promotion to A is only right! What right do you have to object!"

In a secret basement in North America.

The Night Owl's top brass are gathered here for a meeting to discuss who will be the lead.

Before this, they had already fought many times around the world because of this issue.

The Night Owl Thieves never advocate for violent solutions; they always succeed through their professional skills or ingenuity.

They've actually started fighting over who should be the boss.

Although no one died in these fights, everyone was injured to some extent, and the fighting was quite fierce.

To be fair, they can't be entirely blamed for this.

In the past, the leadership of Night Owl was always passed down through the Jia family.

Jia Shilan's grandfather passed the "Jia" to Jia Shilan's father, who then passed it on to Jia Shilan.

Counting upwards, it's all the same.

This generation should have been like this.

Unfortunately, perhaps because she had spent so much time in North America, Jia Shilan never married or had children, and her death was sudden.

This caused the Jia family's lineage within Night Owl to be abruptly cut off.

If there's another person surnamed Jia, and the Night Owl's higher-ups, out of gratitude for their former master, support their young master to rise to power, that wouldn't be out of the question.

So, who should be the leader became a big problem.

"Who told you that B is the second-in-command? Our A, B, C, and D are just code names; there's no hierarchy among them!"

"Yeah, go drink your Coke! What have you done to the organization besides indulging in carbonated drinks all day?"

"We already determine code names based on merit points, so why not use merit points to decide who gets to be Agent A?"

"You certainly have the most merits, but to be a leader, you must command respect. You either need the strongest power or the highest wisdom! Which one do you possess?"

"Since neither of us will give in, let's just break up! That'll save us from arguing!"

"Fine, let's break up! I'll take a portion of the team and leave; we can always start a new organization!"

"Everyone, calm down. Our Night Owls have a history of several hundred years. It would be such a pity to disband like this."

The nine Heavenly Stems were arguing fiercely at the round table.

The twelve Earthly Branches stand behind the Heavenly Stems they support, trying to smooth things over and prevent the conflict from escalating.

The sixty-year cycle members stood on the outer edge; they could only watch the show.

Seeing that their argument was going nowhere, Xin Chou, who was standing on the outermost edge of the sixty Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, suddenly stepped forward.

"The fourth most wanted organization in the world has fallen into such internal strife because of the death of one person. It's really shameful."

Yi slapped the Coke bottle flat in his hand.

"Who's making sarcastic remarks! Xin Chou? Have you fucking gone mad? How dare you? Do you even have the right to speak here! You're fired!"

Xin Chou removed his mask, revealing a face that shocked everyone present.

"The Song hexagram?!"

"Is it really the Song Dynasty hexagram? The Song Dynasty hexagram from the bandit dice game?"

"That's right! It's him! I watched the whole moon broadcast a month ago, and it's definitely that handsome face!"

"Shocking! In our Night Owl gang, even a bandit's dice only gets you a bronze mask!"

The clone Xin Chou had already infiltrated the ranks.

The Song hexagram is simply a matter of swapping positions.

"What are you doing!"

Tiangan Dizhi and the others watched as Song Gua walked onto the round table where they were negotiating, standing high above under the dim chandelier, hands on his hips, looking arrogant and domineering.

"Jia sacrificed herself; the one who killed her was the evil Federal Divine Transformation Group!"

If you truly believe in the Night Owl organization's beliefs, you should join the bandit uprising and avenge A!

From now on, I will take on the role of "A" to prevent you from fighting amongst yourselves any further.

In the ensuing uprising, based on military merit, once everything has settled, I will award the title of "A" and the Night Owl organization to the person among you with the highest military achievements!

Every organization has its strengths, and the Night Owl has an irreplaceable and important function.

The rebels need you!

B was unconvinced.

Why should we listen to you?

Song Gua glared at him, his murderous aura blazing!

So frightened was B that he fell off the chair.

"This is a notification, not a discussion!"