Chapter 71: The Abyss's Hierarchical System for Hiring; Bosses Become Subordinates

When the purple eyes in the Seal Grounds opened, Lin Ye was signing contracts. Not with the Lord of the Abyss, but with eleven wild Abyssal Lords.

He had walked all the way down from the Abyss Rift, blocking every wild lord he encountered in their lairs. One was hiding in a lava river, one was concealed under a pile of bones, and one had sealed itself in ice to play dead. Lin Ye dragged them out one by one and signed the contracts one by one. When he finished signing the eleven lords, a surge of energy came from the direction of the Seal Grounds. It wasn't the kind of fluctuation from the Abyss Council, but a tremor that shook the entire Abyss ley line.

The Lord of Destruction stood behind Lin Ye, the purple flames in his eyes shrinking to the size of needle tips.

"It has awakened."

Lin Ye put the eleven contracts into his backpack: "It woke up quite punctually."

He strode toward the Seal Grounds. Su Qinghan and Pojun followed behind, and the four Abyss Council members followed at the very back. The closer they got to the Seal Grounds, the denser the Abyss energy became. Black mist permeated the air, and every breath felt like swallowing sandpaper.

Su Qinghan cast a Purification Shield on herself and Pojun, while Lin Ye walked at the front with his Decay Domain active. The dark purple and pale golden light pushed the black mist back three meters, forming a clean passage.

They arrived at the Seal Grounds.

It was a huge circular space. The ground was engraved with seal patterns, and dim golden light flowed deep within the lines. The golden light was already very weak, flickering like a bulb about to run out of power. A crack had opened in the center of the sealing array, and the black energy surging out was as thick as ink. Deep within the ink, a pair of purple eyes floated in mid-air, staring at Lin Ye without any emotion.

"The second inheritor of the Decay Talent."

The voice did not come from the crack; it appeared directly in Lin Ye's mind. It was deep, thick, and sounded like the movement of the earth's crust slowed down tenfold.

Lin Ye stood at the edge of the sealing array: "Lord of the Abyss?"

"It is I."

"Since you're awake, come out. Stop squatting in the crack and acting mysterious."

The purple eyes in the sealing array were silent for a moment. It had lived for who knows how many tens of thousands of years, had been sealed for ten thousand years, and had seen countless opponents. This was the first time it had encountered someone who told it to stop acting mysterious the moment they opened their mouth.

"Are you not afraid of me?"

"Afraid of what? You can't even break free from the sealing array right now. How much power from your prime can you have left? Thirty percent? Twenty percent? I'd bet less than twenty percent."

The purple eyes remained silent for even longer.

Lin Ye had guessed right. The sealing array hadn't fully cracked yet, and the Lord of the Abyss currently had less than twenty percent of its prime strength. Twenty percent of fifty thousand attributes was ten thousand. And Lin Ye's current attributes were twenty-three thousand. He was crushing it with double the attributes.

The Lord of the Abyss clearly realized this too. It stared at Lin Ye for a long time, then said: "You are not here to seal me."

"No. Why would I seal you? If I seal you, who will work for me?"

The purple eyes contracted violently. It hadn't heard the word "work" ten thousand years ago. But hearing it from Lin Ye's mouth ten thousand years later, it instantly understood the meaning.

"You want me to work for you?"

"What else? Your Abyss Council is all working under me. The Lord of Destruction, the Lord of Corrosion, the Lord of Shadow, the Lord of Flame, plus forty-seven mid-level lords, over three hundred low-level lords, and eleven wild lords. They have all signed employment contracts. Now, you are the only one left."

The Lord of the Abyss was silent for a very, very long time. Then it did something that petrified the four Abyss Council members. It laughed. It wasn't an angry laugh, nor a mocking laugh, but a laugh that genuinely found something funny. The low laughter echoed in the Seal Grounds, shaking the golden light on the seal patterns.

"Ten thousand years ago, the first inheritor tried his best to seal me. Ten thousand years later, the second inheritor stands before me and asks me to work for him." Its laughter gradually subsided, and the purple eyes stared at Lin Ye, "Do you know why the first inheritor could only seal me, rather than kill me?"

"Why?"

"Because Abyss energy and the Decay Talent share the same origin. If he killed me, the Decay Talent would also disappear. He was the inheritor of the Talent, and I am the source of the Talent. If the source is cut off, the river naturally dries up."

Lin Ye narrowed his eyes. The Lord of Destruction hadn't told him this information. He didn't know if it was because he didn't know, or if he didn't dare to say it.

The Lord of the Abyss continued: "So you cannot kill me. If you kill me, your Talent will be gone. If your Talent is gone, all the Abyssal Lords you've recruited will lose control. The employment system you've built will collapse instantly."

It paused for a moment.

"You are not here to make me work. You are here to negotiate with me."

Lin Ye looked at those purple eyes. He was silent for a moment, then laughed.

"You're right. I am here to negotiate. But you got one thing wrong."

"What thing?"

"I don't need to kill you. I can release you from the sealing array and then apply a permanent Decay Debuff on you. Three hundred stacks, three percent per stack. Nine hundred percent true damage per second. Can you withstand that in your prime?"

The Lord of the Abyss did not answer.

Lin Ye answered for it: "You can't withstand it. Because the Decay Talent evolved after it was separated from you. The Decay Talent from ten thousand years ago could only seal you. The Decay Talent from ten thousand years later can kill you. If you don't believe me, you can try."

The Seal Grounds were as quiet as a grave.

The Lord of the Abyss stared at Lin Ye, no emotion visible in its purple eyes. It had lived too long, so long that it had forgotten what it felt like to be threatened. But this human before it said the cruelest words in the calmest tone.

"Your conditions."

Lin Ye pulled a stack of contracts out of his backpack. It wasn't the version Fatty Wang printed for one hundred artifacts per week. It was another one, with much more detailed terms.

"The Abyss Employment Grading System. You are the Lord of the Abyss, the source of all Abyss energy. Your contract is different from other Abyssal Lords. I won't collect your artifacts, nor will I collect your Epic Crystals."

The purple flames in the eyes of the Lord of the Abyss flickered.

"Then what do I pay?"

"Abyss Origin. Deduct one percent once a week, until one hundred weeks are up."

The Lord of the Abyss was silent. One percent didn't sound like much, but that was the Abyss Origin. It was the root of all Abyss energy. If one percent were extracted, its power would be permanently reduced by one percent. If one hundred weeks were completed, its origin would be drained. By then, it would still be the Lord of the Abyss, but only an empty shell.

"You might as well just kill me."

Lin Ye shook his head: "If I kill you, the Talent will disappear. If I drain your Origin, the Talent remains. You become an ordinary Abyssal Lord, and I continue to be the inheritor of the Decay Talent. A win-win."

The purple flames in the eyes of the Lord of the Abyss flickered violently. It wanted to say this wasn't a win-win at all, but the words were swallowed back. Because it had no bargaining chips. Lin Ye could kill it, but it couldn't kill Lin Ye. Lin Ye could drain its Origin, and it couldn't stop him. The initiative was in Lin Ye's hands from beginning to end.

"I can sign. But I have one condition."

"Speak."

"I want to be the Abyssal Director of the Abyss employment system. I will be responsible for the scheduling, output, and performance reviews of all Abyssal Lords."

Lin Ye was stunned for a moment. He thought the Lord of the Abyss would ask to reduce the deduction percentage or extend the contract term. Instead, it wanted to be the Director. The Lord of the Abyss, the source of all Abyss energy, actively requested to be the Personnel Director.

"Why?"

The voice of the Lord of the Abyss was deep: "I've been sealed for ten thousand years, I might as well stay busy. Since I have to work, I might as well be the biggest foreman."

Lin Ye's mouth twitched. He turned the contract to the last page and added a line to the additional terms. The Lord of the Abyss will serve as the Abyssal Director of the Abyss employment system, responsible for the scheduling, output assessment, and overtime arrangements of global Abyssal Lords. Annual salary to be negotiated.

Then he threw the contract into the sealing array.

The Lord of the Abyss used energy to roll up the contract and took a look. After reading it, it was silent for a moment.

"What does 'annual salary to be negotiated' mean?"

"It means your salary is not fixed. If you do well, you get a raise; if you do poorly, money is deducted. I will set the performance review standards."

The Lord of the Abyss was silent again. It had lived for who knows how many tens of thousands of years, and this was the first time it had been choked by the four words 'performance review standards'. But in the end, it pressed its energy seal onto the contract.

The system popped up a golden announcement. Not a server-wide announcement, but a global announcement. All servers, all players, and all Abyss Monsters received this message at the same time.

"Global Announcement: Player 'Ye the Wicked' has signed the 'Abyss Employment Grading System' with the Lord of the Abyss. The Lord of the Abyss will serve as the Abyssal Director of the Abyss employment system. Global Abyssal Lords are now included in a unified management system. The era of Abyss employment has officially begun."

Global players were collectively stunned.

The cross-server channel collapsed directly. It wasn't lag; it was a crash. The volume of messages was too large, the server couldn't handle it, and it exploded. It took three minutes to recover.

After recovery, the first message on the cross-server channel was from the Lord of Dark Erosion.

"Japanese Server Lord of Dark Erosion: The Lord of the Abyss is the Director? Does that mean we report to it from now on?"

Lin Ye replied: "Correct. It is your new leader. From now on, hand over the materials every week, and it will submit them to me collectively. Performance reviews will also be its responsibility."

"Japanese Server Lord of Dark Erosion: What are the performance review standards?"

"Artifact output, crystal purity, overtime hours, and endorsement performance. Four indicators, each accounting for twenty-five percent."

The cross-server channel went quiet. Then the Lord of Despair sent a message.

"US Server Lord of Despair: Endorsement performance accounts for a quarter of the total performance? Does that mean the advertisements we shot before count?"

"They count. The endorsement commissions for the Lord of Dark Erosion and the Lord of Frost have already been included in the performance. You two are currently tied for first place."

The Lord of Plague wasn't having it.

"European Server Lord of Plague: Tied for first? They only shot one advertisement! I shot three!"

"One of the three you shot didn't pass the review. The content involved false advertising."

"European Server Lord of Plague: What did I advertise?"

"You said in the advertisement 'Buy the Abyss Protection Package, and the Lord of the Abyss will escort you personally'. The Lord of the Abyss was still in the sealing array at that time. If that's not false advertising, what is?"

The Lord of Plague didn't dare to speak.

The voice of the Lord of the Abyss suddenly cut into the cross-server channel. Its account was one Lin Ye had just registered for it, with a black dot for an avatar and the name "Abyssal Director".

"Abyssal Director: Lord of Plague, ten points deducted for false advertising. Bottom of the performance ranking for this quarter, year-end bonus cancelled."

Global Abyssal Lords collectively shivered. On the first day the Lord of the Abyss became Director, it started deducting performance points. This life was impossible to live.

Lin Ye closed the cross-server channel and looked at the Lord of the Abyss in the sealing array.

"The contract is signed, and you're the Director now. Can you come out now?"

The Lord of the Abyss was silent for a few seconds: "The sealing array hasn't fully cracked yet. If I come out now, it will consume a large amount of Origin. If the Origin is consumed, what will you extract?"

Lin Ye thought about it: "Then you stay inside for now. When the sealing array fully cracks, you can come out to work. During this time, work from inside the sealing array and manage the global Abyssal Lords remotely."

The Lord of the Abyss agreed.

Lin Ye turned and walked out of the Seal Grounds. Su Qinghan and Pojun followed behind, and the four Abyss Council members followed at the very back. When they reached the exit of the Abyss Rift, Fatty Wang's message popped up.

"Bro! The number of reservations for the global Abyss Protection Package has exceeded five million! Five million!"

Lin Ye glanced at the data. Five million players were queuing up to buy the package. After the news of the Lord of the Abyss signing the contract spread, the number of reservations soared directly from eight hundred thousand to five million. Everyone wanted to see what the Abyss Protection Package would look like after the Lord of the Abyss became the Director.

"Start a new tier. Launch the Director Escort version of the package. Basic version is fifty thousand gold coins per week, with the Lord of the Abyss providing remote escort. Advanced version is five hundred thousand gold coins per week, with an avatar of the Lord of the Abyss providing escort. Top-tier version is five million gold coins per week, with the Lord of the Abyss providing personal escort."

Fatty Wang was stunned: "Bro, the Lord of the Abyss providing personal escort? Can it come out?"

"It can't come out before the sealing array cracks. It can come out after it cracks. Sell the packages first, and fulfill the escort service after it comes out."

Fatty Wang gave a thumbs up. A package with personal escort from the Lord of the Abyss, five million gold coins per week. This price was absurd to the extreme. But what was even more absurd was that it was snatched up as soon as it went online. One hundred top-tier packages, sold out in thirty seconds.

In the cross-server channel, those who snatched them were crazily posting screenshots. Those who didn't were scolding scalpers. It was as lively as a New Year's celebration.

The Lord of the Abyss was in the sealing array watching the messages in the cross-server channel, a flash of indescribable light in its purple eyes. It had lived for who knows how many tens of thousands of years, and had never thought that one day it would be sold by humans as a commodity. But it wasn't angry. Because in the sales of the top-tier packages, it had a ten percent commission.

Ten percent of five million gold coins was five hundred thousand gold coins. One hundred packages meant fifty million gold coins. It had been sealed for ten thousand years, and on the first day it woke up, it became a top-tier worker with an annual salary of billions of gold coins.

The Lord of the Abyss was silent in the sealing array for a long time. Then it opened the cross-server channel and sent a message.

"Abyssal Director: When will the second batch of the Abyss Protection Package Director Escort version go online?"

Global players collectively laughed out loud.

And at this moment, Lin Ye had already walked out of the Abyss Rift. The sunlight of Dawn City fell on him, and the eight pieces of the abyss decay set shimmered with deep light in the sun. Global Abyssal Lords stood behind him, and the Lord of the Abyss was working for him in the sealing array.

He stood in the Dawn City square, looking up at the sky. The sky was very blue, and the clouds were very white. Everything was very good.

Except for the message Qin Wentian sent in the cross-server channel.

"Qin Wentian: Brother Ye, the Lord of Flame of the Korean Server's Abyss City just ran away."