Chapter 65 Locking Blood and Grinding Blood: Lin Ye Squats on the Lord's Face to Negotiate

On the other end of the Abyss Rift was a city.

It wasn't a player main city like Dawn City; it was a black, silent, dead city. The walls were black, the streets were black, and even the sky was black. There were no NPCs, no players, and no living things. There were only Abyss Monsters—dense crowds of Abyss Monsters—crammed into every street, every building, and every corner.

Lin Ye stood at the exit of the rift, looking at this dead city, and said one thing.

"This place is suitable for opening a branch."

Beside him, Su Qinghan's mouth twitched. Fatty Wang's eyes lit up, Pojun remained expressionless, and the Lord of Destruction stood at the very back, his three-meter-tall frame hunching his neck like an elementary student who had done something wrong.

Fatty Wang leaned in: "Brother, are you serious? Opening a branch here? There isn't even a living person here; who are we going to sell to?"

Lin Ye pointed at the Abyss Monsters filling the streets: "Sell to them. They drop Abyss Crystals; we'll collect them, process them, and sell them back to them. It's called a circular economy."

Fatty Wang froze for three seconds, then gave a thumbs up. The purple flames in the Lord of Destruction's eyes flickered wildly; it wanted to say something, but remembering the Labor Contract it had just signed, it swallowed its words.

Lin Ye stepped forward and walked into the dead city.

The Decay Domain activated instantly, and dark purple and pale gold light illuminated the black streets. Abyss Minions surged forward like a tide, only to fall like wheat being harvested. Abyss Elites rushed up and fell. Abyss Commanders pounced and fell. Lin Ye walked at the very front alone, leaving a ground covered in Abyss Crystals behind him. Fatty Wang followed with the material-gathering team, their hands nearly cramping from picking things up.

"Brother! We can't fit any more purple ones!"

"Throw away the gold ones and only pick up the orange ones."

"There are a lot of gold ones too!"

"Then call more people over."

Fatty Wang opened the guild channel and roared. In less than ten minutes, all three hundred employees of the Unscrupulous Business Center arrived. Each carrying an empty backpack, they swept through the dead city's streets like a plague of locusts. Baskets of purple Abyss Crystals were transported back to Dawn City, the Business Center's warehouse was filled with gold Epic Crystals, and they even needed to open a dedicated storehouse to store the orange Legendary Cores.

The dead city was huge; Lin Ye walked for two hours and still hadn't reached the end. However, the Abyss Monsters no longer dared to approach. They retreated to the sides of the streets, standing against the walls like two rows of black statues. Lin Ye walked between them, and not a single one dared to move.

At the end of the road was a black palace. Standing at the palace gates were two Abyssal Lords. They weren't Speaker-level like the Lord of Destruction, but lower-tier Lords; however, they were still Level 80 BOSSes. Seeing Lin Ye, the two Lords let out low growls simultaneously.

Lin Ye glanced back at the Lord of Destruction.

The Lord of Destruction stepped forward and spoke a sentence in Abyss Language to the two Lords. The purple flames of the two Lords flickered violently at the same time, and they both moved aside. Lin Ye walked inside, with the Lord of Destruction following behind like a tour guide.

The interior of the palace was vast, with a black throne at the center. An Abyssal Lord sat upon the throne. It was covered in dark red scales, and its eyes were two clusters of burning deep purple flames. Its physique was a size smaller than the Lord of Destruction, but its aura was even more gloomy.

Lin Ye glanced at the Lord of Destruction.

The Lord of Destruction whispered: "The Lord of Corrosion, one of the three Great Speakers of the Abyss Council. My colleague."

The Lord of Corrosion stared at the Lord of Destruction, the purple flames in its eyes flickering with angry light: "You brought a human into the Abyss City; you have betrayed the Abyss Council."

The Lord of Destruction was silent for a few seconds, then said one thing: "I signed a Labor Contract."

The purple flames in the Lord of Corrosion's eyes extinguished for a split second before reigniting even more intensely than before. It stood up from the throne, its dark red scales flaring out like a bristling beast.

"You signed what?"

"A Labor Contract. I must hand over ten God-tier items and a thousand epic abyss crystals every week. Breach of contract triggers the Decay Debuff, effective permanently."

The Lord of Corrosion was silent for a full ten seconds. Then it turned to Lin Ye, the purple flames in its eyes shrinking into two small dots.

"You are Ye the Wicked."

Lin Ye nodded: "You know me?"

"The entire Abyss Council saw the Lord of Destruction's Domain of Destruction being suppressed by you," the Lord of Corrosion's voice was low, "But I am not the Lord of Destruction; my Corrosion Domain is stronger than its Domain of Destruction. If you want me to sign a contract too, defeat me first."

A wicked smile curled on Lin Ye's lips as he took a step forward. The Lord of Corrosion also took a step forward, and the dark red Corrosion Domain spread out from beneath its feet. The two domains collided in the center of the palace, the dark purple light of Decay and the dark red light of Corrosion intertwining with a piercing sizzling sound.

The combat log flickered wildly.

"Corrosion Domain has dealt 15% Max HP damage to you (Abyss Corrosion effect)."

"Purification Form in effect; Abyss Corrosion effect reduced by 50%."

"Actual damage is 7.5% Max HP."

"Your Decay Domain is countering the Corrosion Domain; energy consumption rate is normal."

Lin Ye glanced at the log. The Lord of Corrosion's domain was weaker than the Lord of Destruction's; when the Lord of Destruction fully released its domain, it dealt 20% per second, while the Lord of Corrosion only dealt 15%. With Purification Form active, the actual damage wasn't even 8%. With this little damage, he wouldn't die even if he just stood there and let it hit him.

The Lord of Corrosion also realized this problem. Its Corrosion Domain was an inescapable killing move for human players, but to Lin Ye, it was like an itch. It increased the domain output, the dark red light surging as the corrosion effect doubled.

The combat log jumped again.

"Corrosion Domain effect doubled; actual damage is 15% Max HP."

Lin Ye still didn't move. At 15%, he wouldn't die even after ten seconds. Su Qinghan, standing behind him, could top him off with a casual heal. The purple flames in the Lord of Corrosion's eyes began to shrink; it realized the domain was ineffective against Lin Ye. It retracted the domain and charged directly, its dark red claws lunging for Lin Ye's throat.

Lin Ye sidestepped the attack and slapped a stack of the Decay Debuff onto the Lord of Corrosion. One stack, 1%. The Lord of Corrosion didn't care and turned to strike again. Lin Ye dodged again and applied another stack. Two stacks, 2%. The Lord of Corrosion still didn't care. Three stacks, four stacks, five stacks.

By the tenth stack, the Lord of Corrosion's speed slowed down.

It looked down at the debuff icon on itself; the stacks had already reached twenty. With 20% true damage per second plus the attribute-stripping effect, its attack power, defense, and speed were all plummeting. It wanted to dispel it, but couldn't. It wanted to resist, but couldn't.

Lin Ye had stopped moving. He just stood in the center of the palace with his arms crossed, watching the Lord of Corrosion grow slower and weaker under the torment of the Decay Debuff. At fifty stacks, the Lord of Corrosion's health was locked at 0.5%. It wouldn't die, but it couldn't move either. It slumped in front of the throne, its dark red scales dull and lusterless, the purple flames in its eyes reduced to two faint, tiny dots.

Lin Ye walked up to it and squatted down. He squatted right in the Lord of Corrosion's face.

"Will you sign?"

The purple flames in the Lord of Corrosion's eyes flickered, but it didn't speak. Lin Ye added another ten stacks of the debuff. The Lord of Corrosion's body convulsed violently.

"Will you sign?"

Still no answer. Ten more stacks.

"I'll sign."

The Lord of Corrosion's voice was as raspy as if it were being squeezed out of a crack in the ground. Lin Ye pulled the Labor Contract out of his backpack and placed it in front of the Lord. Using the last of its strength, the Lord of Corrosion pressed its mark onto the contract.

Lin Ye stood up and put the contract back into his backpack.

"From today on, you are called Laborer Number Two." He turned to look at the Lord of Destruction, "You are Number One, and it is Number Two. You two will hand over the same items every week. If you're short by even one item, the debuff doubles."

The Lord of Destruction bowed its head, while the Lord of Corrosion lay paralyzed on the ground. Two of the three Great Speakers of the Abyss Council had become laborers.

Fatty Wang poked his head in from the doorway: "Brother, there's a treasure vault behind the palace. The door is locked, and I can't open it."

Lin Ye looked at the Lord of Corrosion. The Lord of Corrosion didn't move. Lin Ye then looked at the Lord of Destruction. The Lord of Destruction walked to the back of the palace and reached out to push open the treasure vault door.

Inside the treasure vault, golden light soared to the heavens.

God-tier items were piled like mountains. epic abyss crystals were piled like mountains. Legendary Abyss Cores were piled like mountains. There was also a pile of things Fatty Wang didn't even recognize, but just looking at the glow, he knew they were even higher than Legendary grade.

Fatty Wang's legs went weak.

"Brother, this is enough for us to sell for three years."

Lin Ye walked in, casually picked up a dagger shimmering with rainbow light, glanced at it, and threw it back: "Three years? You underestimate the Abyss too much." He turned to look at the Lord of Destruction, "How many more Lords are in the Abyss Council?"

The Lord of Destruction was silent for a few seconds: "Forty-seven mid-tier Lords, and over three hundred low-tier Lords."

"Call them all here. Starting today, the Abyss Labor System is officially in effect. Speakers will hand over ten God-tier items plus a thousand Epic Crystals per week. Mid-tier Lords will hand over five God-tier items plus five hundred Epic Crystals per week. Low-tier Lords will hand over one God-tier item plus a hundred Epic Crystals per week. For those who don't pay, I will personally come to negotiate."

The purple flames in the Lord of Destruction's eyes flickered violently, then it lowered its head: "I will go notify them."

Lin Ye walked out of the treasure vault, with Su Qinghan following by his side.

"Do you really plan to turn the entire Abyss Council into laborers?"

"Why not? They invaded the game world, killed NPCs, looted players' equipment, and caused so many people to lose levels. Now making them work to pay off their debts is only natural."

Su Qinghan looked at him and couldn't help but smile: "You talk about being unscrupulous, but you're actually venting anger for the players who were killed by the Abyss Monsters."

Lin Ye didn't respond, instead pulling out space-time judgment from his backpack and weighing it: "Let's go to the next Abyss City. Forty-seven mid-tier Lords, over three hundred low-tier Lords—we'll talk to them one by one. If we can't reach an agreement, we fight; once they're beaten into submission, then we talk."

He stepped out of the palace, with Su Qinghan, Pojun, and Fatty Wang leading the material-gathering army following behind. The Lord of Destruction and the Lord of Corrosion stood at the palace gates, watching Lin Ye's silhouette disappear at the end of the black street.

The Lord of Corrosion's voice was raspy: "He's going to pluck the entire Abyss Council bald."

The Lord of Destruction was silent for a long time before saying: "Not just bald, he's going to pluck us until there's not even a scrap left."

Meanwhile, Lin Ye had already reached the gates of the second Abyss City. Standing at the city gates were six Abyssal Lords, all mid-tier. They had already received the notification from the Lord of Destruction and knew the fate of the Lord of Corrosion. The six Lords stood in a row, and seeing Lin Ye approach, they all lowered their heads simultaneously.

Lin Ye pulled six Labor Contracts from his backpack and threw them over.

"Sign them."

The six Lords took the contracts and pressed their marks at the same time. Not a single one resisted. Lin Ye took back the contracts and stepped into the second Abyss City.

Behind him, Fatty Wang led the material-gathering army as they swarmed in.