Chapter 70 Abyss Protection Package sold out, all players on the server.

Lin Ye was the first to sense the black aura pouring out of the Abyss Rift.

It wasn't seen with his eyes; it was the feedback from his Decay Domain. His domain had always been connected to the Abyss Rift, like a tentacle reaching into the depths of the abyss. Suddenly, the tip of the tentacle transmitted a wave of pressure—not the kind of pressure from an Abyss Council member, but something heavier, purer, a pressure like the deep sea that made it hard to breathe.

Lin Ye closed the world channel and walked to the edge of the Abyss Rift. Deep inside the rift, the crack on the black seal was still widening. The black aura pouring out was sparse, as faint as a wisp of smoke. But every time a wisp of aura landed on the floor of the abyss, it corroded a pit into the ground.

The Lord of Destruction also sensed it. It stood behind Lin Ye, its three-meter-tall body trembling. It wasn't trembling from fear, but from its origin being suppressed. The Lord of the Abyss was its creator, the source of all Abyss Council members. When the source awakens, the tributaries naturally tremble.

"How much longer?"

The Lord of Destruction's voice was unsteady: "For the seal to crack completely, about three days. For it to wake up, about five days. For it to recover to the point of being able to move, about seven days."

Lin Ye nodded: "Seven days. That's enough."

He turned and walked back to the Unscrupulous Business Center. Fatty Wang was squatting in the third-floor VIP room, staring blankly at the backend data. On the screen, the sales curve for the Abyss Protection Package looked like a vertical stick, stabbing straight upwards. The third batch of overseas packages had been snapped up as soon as they went online, and the fourth batch was fully booked even while still on pre-sale.

"Brother, all packages are sold out. Basic packages, advanced packages, top-tier packages, overseas versions, the stock hoarded by scalpers—all gone. Not a single one left."

Lin Ye glanced at the data: "How many people are still in line?"

Fatty Wang switched to the reservation page. The number of people in line was 1.2 million. Not 12,000, but 1.2 million. Players from global servers were all in line—Chinese Server, Korean Server, Japanese Server, US Server, European Server, and even South American and African servers. When scrolling down the reservation page, there was no end in sight.

"Brother, 1.2 million people. Our material inventory can't hold up."

"Then limit purchases. Limit each person to one basic package per week."

Fatty Wang shook his head: "I already limited it. It's still not enough. The materials handed in by the Abyssal Lords each week are only so much. Forty-seven mid-level lords plus over three hundred low-level lords, plus five overseas council members—the weekly output of artifacts is about two hundred, and epic crystals are twenty thousand. A single basic package requires ten epic crystals, so twenty thousand is only enough for two thousand packages. 1.2 million people fighting for two thousand packages, the ratio is six hundred to one."

Six hundred people fighting for one package. This wasn't doing business anymore; it was a lottery. On the world channel, people were already selling their queuing spots, with one queue number being hyped up to 50,000 gold coins.

"Wocao Wuqing: I have 30,000 queue numbers, does anyone want them? 50,000 gold coins each."

"Brick-Moving Expert: You're selling 30,000 numbers for 50,000? I have 8,000 numbers, I'll sell them for 30,000 gold coins."

"Invincible Sword God: Stop hyping it up. Brother Ye will definitely find a way."

"Yes Little Follower: What way can Brother Ye have? There are only so many Abyssal Lords, and the material output is limited. Unless he finds new Abyssal Lords to sign contracts with."

Lin Ye looked at the messages on the world channel and suddenly asked Fatty Wang: "Have any wild Abyssal Lords been found?"

Fatty Wang flipped through the report submitted by the Lord of Destruction: "Found a few. There are three wild lords in the depths of the Chinese Server's abyss, two in the Korean Server, one in the Japanese Server, two in the US Server, and three in the European Server. Eleven in total. They are all lone wolves who haven't submitted to the Abyss Council. Their strength is stronger than mid-level lords but weaker than council members."

"Sign them all. How much can the material output increase?"

Fatty Wang did the math: "Fifty more artifacts per week, and five thousand more epic crystals. We can release five hundred more packages. But it's still a drop in the bucket. 1.2 million people fighting for 2,500 packages, the ratio is still nearly five hundred to one."

Five hundred to one. Still not doing business, still a lottery. Lin Ye leaned back in his chair, fingers tapping on the armrest.

Su Qinghan suddenly spoke: "Can you make the Abyssal Lords work overtime?"

Fatty Wang was stunned: "Overtime?"

"Yes. Right now they hand in materials once a week. If you change it to twice a week, the output doubles."

Fatty Wang's eyes lit up, then he looked at Lin Ye. Only Su Qinghan dared to suggest making Abyssal Lords work overtime, and only Lin Ye dared to do it. Lin Ye thought for a moment and opened the cross-server channel.

"Cross-server channel Night: Notify all Abyssal Lords, starting this week, the frequency of handing in materials is changed to twice a week. The quantity of artifacts remains the same, hand in half each time. The quantity of epic crystals remains the same, hand in half each time. If there are any problems, speak now."

The cross-server channel was silent for a full thirty seconds. Then the Lord of Dark Erosion replied.

"Japanese Server Lord of Dark Erosion: No problem."

Then the Lord of Despair.

"US Server Lord of Despair: No problem."

Then the Lord of Plague.

"European Server Lord of Plague: No problem. But Brother Ye, is there overtime pay for working overtime?"

The corner of Lin Ye's mouth twitched. An Abyss Council member asking for overtime pay—if this got out, global players could laugh for a year.

"Overtime pay is calculated based on the commission ratio. For the extra materials handed in, the commission ratio will increase by twenty percent."

The Lord of Plague replied instantly: "Signed. Starting overtime today."

Other Abyss Council members followed suit. Not one opposed it. It wasn't because they didn't dare, but because a twenty percent increase in commission was indeed tempting. The Abyss Council members were already earning tens of millions of gold coins in commission every month, so a twenty percent increase meant earning millions more. For millions of gold coins, what was a little overtime?

Fatty Wang recalculated: "Handing in twice a week, output doubles. We can release five thousand packages. But it's still not enough. 1.2 million people fighting for five thousand packages, the ratio is twenty-four to one."

Twenty-four to one. Much better than before, but still a lottery. All server players were still in line, and the number of reservations was still rising. Once five thousand packages were released, they would be snapped up instantly. What about the people who couldn't get one? The Abyss Rift was still widening, and the Lord of the Abyss would be able to move in seven days. Seven days later, if the Lord of the Abyss attacked the city, what would players without an Abyss Protection Package use to hold it off?

On the forum, someone had already posted.

"OP Rogue Little Mage: Brother Ye, I'm a rogue player on the Chinese Server. I've tried to grab an Abyss Protection Package three times and failed. I know the quantity is limited, and I don't blame Brother Ye. I just want to ask, if the Lord of the Abyss attacks the city, what will happen to us players without packages?"

First floor reply: Wait for death.

Second floor reply: Delete account and quit the game.

Third floor reply: Go kneel at the entrance of the Unscrupulous Business Center.

Fourth floor reply: Are you serious upstairs?

Fifth floor reply: Serious. Brother Ye couldn't possibly ignore rogue players. He says he's unscrupulous, but he knows better than anyone. When the Lord of the Abyss attacks the city, he will definitely take action. It doesn't matter if you can't get a package, as long as Brother Ye is here, Dawn City won't fall.

The sixth floor was a reply from Lin Ye.

"Night: The fifth floor is right. Don't panic if you can't get a package. On the day the Lord of the Abyss attacks the city, I will be standing at the gate of Dawn City. If it wants to enter the city, it will have to step over me first."

The forum exploded. All server players collectively took screenshots and reposted. The number of people in the reservation queue stopped rising, not because no one was queuing, but because after seeing this sentence from Lin Ye, many people voluntarily quit the queue.

"Wocao Wuqing: Brother Ye said he would take action, so why should I still grab a package? Let the quota go to those who need it more."

"Brick-Moving Expert: I quit too. Brother Ye is standing at the city gate, can the Lord of the Abyss even get in? What a joke."

"Invincible Sword God: Quit, quit. Brother Ye alone is the strongest package on the server."

The number of reservations dropped from 1.2 million to 800,000, and it was still dropping. Fatty Wang looked at the backend data, his mouth open wide enough to fit an egg: "Brother, one sentence from you, and 400,000 people quit the queue."

"It's not one sentence. It's that they trust me."

Lin Ye stood up and walked to the window. The streets of Dawn City were full of players, setting up stalls, chatting, repairing equipment, squatting in corners staring blankly. The Abyss Invasion version had only ended a few days ago, and the city had already regained its vitality. The blacksmith shop reopened, the weapon shop resumed business, and the apprentice at the potion shop was back at the door shouting. The NPCs killed by the Abyss Monsters hadn't resurrected, but the system had generated new NPCs to take their places. The old blacksmith's apprentice became the new blacksmith, the weapon shop owner's daughter became the new owner. The city was still the same city, and the people were still the same people.

Seven days later, the Lord of the Abyss would bring the purest energy from the depths of the abyss to impact this city. Whether the city walls could hold, he didn't know. But he had to protect the players in the city.

"Fatty."

"Here."

"Release all the remaining packages. No purchase limits anymore. Sell as many as you can. Until they're all sold."

Fatty Wang was stunned: "No limits? Then the scalpers will sweep them all up."

"Let them sweep. Even if they sweep them, they'll just sell them to players. In the end, players will use them anyway."

Fatty Wang nodded, opened the mall backend, and turned off the purchase limit. The remaining Abyss Protection Packages were instantly snapped up. Those who got them posted screenshots on the world channel, while those who didn't cursed the scalpers on the world channel. It was as lively as the New Year.

Su Qinghan walked to Lin Ye's side: "What do you plan to do in seven days?"

Lin Ye took the abyss Decay helmet out of his backpack and put it on: "First, go sign the eleven wild Abyssal Lords. Then come back and go into seclusion. The Lord of the Abyss has 50,000 attributes, I currently have 23,000. It's more than double the difference. Within seven days, I must raise my attributes to at least 35,000."

"How to raise them?"

Lin Ye looked in the direction of the Abyss Rift: "The efficiency of reverse contagion is too low. I plan to go down directly. Go down to the edge of the Sealing Land, and before the seal completely cracks, extract the source energy of the Lord of the Abyss from the rift."

Su Qinghan's face changed: "Are you crazy? The seal hasn't completely cracked yet, the consciousness of the Lord of the Abyss is awake. If you get close to the Sealing Land, it will attack you directly."

"That's why I have to wear this equipment." Lin Ye patted his breastplate, and the abyss Decay breastplate made a dull metallic sound, "Eight SSS-grade items, 300 layers of debuff, 3% per layer. Abyss Resonance weakens its attributes by half. It has 50,000 attributes, weakened by half leaves 25,000. I have 23,000, a difference of 2,000. It's doable."

Su Qinghan looked at him and was silent for a long time. Then she turned and walked into the room, and when she came out, she had already changed into a full set of holy priest equipment.

"I'm going with you."

Lin Ye shook his head: "The abyss energy in the Sealing Land is too thick, your Purification Form can't hold up."

"Even if I can't hold up, I have to go. If you go down alone, who will heal you? Po Jun's Indomitable Will only lasts ten seconds, how many layers can you stack in ten seconds? You can't stack 300 layers, the Lord of the Abyss will slap you to death in one hit."

Lin Ye looked at her, and she looked at Lin Ye. They stared at each other for three seconds.

"Fine. But you stand outside the Sealing Land. I'll go in to extract energy, and you support from the outside. If I can't hold on and pull out, you heal me. Once I'm healed, I'll go back in. Repeatedly extract, until it wakes up."

Su Qinghan nodded: "Deal."

Po Jun walked in from the door: "I'm going too. Indomitable Will is ten seconds of invincibility, it can hold out at critical moments."

Fatty Wang also stood up: "Brother, I..."

"You stay and watch the shop."

Fatty Wang opened his mouth, then wilted. He knew he would be a burden if he went, but being told that directly still stung a little.

Lin Ye patted him on the shoulder: "It's not that I think you're a burden. It's that Dawn City needs someone to guard it. Once the Lord of the Abyss wakes up, all global Abyssal Lords will listen to its commands. At that time, whether the Lord of Destruction and the others can resist the commands of the Lord of the Abyss, no one knows. You have to stay here and watch them."

Fatty Wang's eyes lit up: "Watch them? Can I do it?"

"You can. You have the European Emperor constitution, they won't dare to move against you."

Fatty Wang puffed out his chest like a general entrusted with an important task. Lin Ye turned and walked toward the door, with Su Qinghan and Po Jun following behind. When he reached the door, he paused.

"Fatty."

"Here!"

"Print out the employment contract for the Lord of the Abyss. Write the terms clearly: one hundred artifacts per week, ten thousand epic crystals. Contract duration: ten thousand years. Breach of contract triggers the Perpetual Decay Debuff, no upper limit on layers, effective permanently."

Fatty Wang was stunned: "Brother, it hasn't even woken up yet."

"Prepare in advance. Save us from being in a rush later."

The corner of Fatty Wang's mouth twitched, then he ran off to print the contract.

Lin Ye stepped out of the Unscrupulous Business Center. The sunlight of Dawn City fell on him, and the eight pieces of the abyss decay set shimmered with a deep dark purple light in the sun. Players on the street automatically made way, no one spoke, everyone was watching him.

He walked toward the Abyss Rift. Su Qinghan followed on his left, and Po Jun followed on his right. The sound of the three people's footsteps echoed on the stone road. At the edge of the Abyss Rift, the Lord of Destruction, the Lord of Corrosion, the Lord of Shadow, and the Lord of Flame stood in a row. They sensed what Lin Ye was about to do, and the purple flames in their eyes flickered simultaneously.

"The four of you guard here. I will go down to the Sealing Land myself. Within seven days, no matter what happens, no one is allowed to approach the rift."

The four Abyss Council members lowered their heads simultaneously. Lin Ye took a deep breath and stepped into the Abyss Rift. The dark purple light swallowed his figure. Su Qinghan and Po Jun followed closely behind. The rift was like a huge black mouth, swallowing the three of them.

In the deepest part of the abyss, the Sealing Land. On the black seal, that crack widened a bit more. Deep in the crack, a pair of purple eyes slowly opened. A hundred times purer and a hundred times thicker than the purple flames of the Abyss Council members.

The Lord of the Abyss had awakened.