Chapter 79: The Abyss Core Unlocked, Global Players Team Up and Get Crushed to Tears

The day the Lord of the Abyss broke the seal, it rained in Dawn City.

It wasn't system weather, but energy rain caused by the overflow of abyss energy.

Dark purple raindrops fell from the sky, corroding small pits wherever they landed on the city walls.

Players hid inside buildings, watching the direction of the Abyss Rift through the windows.

Lin Ye stood at the edge of the rift, the raindrops bouncing off him automatically.

The eight pieces of the abyss decay set shimmered with a deep black-purple light in the rain.

Su Qinghan stood to his left, and Pojun stood to his right.

Fatty Wang squatted at the entrance of the Unscrupulous Business Center behind them, clutching the printed employment contracts in his arms.

The four Abyssal Councilors stood in a row: Lord of Destruction, Lord of Corrosion, Lord of Shadow, and Lord of Flame.

The purple flames in their eyes pulsed in unison with the same rhythm, as if welcoming, yet also as if worshipping.

Deep within the rift, cracks had spread across the entire surface of the sealing array.

The golden seal patterns extinguished one by one.

Each time one extinguished, the energy at the bottom of the abyss grew a fraction more intense.

When the very last seal pattern went out, the whole world went quiet.

The rain stopped.

It didn't stop gradually; it stopped instantly.

All the dark purple raindrops suspended in mid-air, frozen for about three heartbeats.

Then, they all fell to the ground at once.

A hand reached out from the Abyss Rift.

Dark golden scales covered every inch of skin, and the nails on the five fingers were pure black.

That hand pressed against the edge of the rift, leaving five finger marks imprinted in the rock.

Then came the second hand.

With both hands bracing against the sides of the rift, he tore it open with force.

The rift was ripped into a massive opening, and the Lord of the Abyss walked out from within.

He looked taller than he had in the sealing array—over three meters, nearly four.

Dark golden scales covered his entire body, each scale engraved with natural patterns.

His purple eyes were no longer just flames, but two solidified energy cores.

He stood at the edge of the rift, looking down at Lin Ye.

Lin Ye looked up at him.

"You're quite a bit taller than you were in the sealing array."

The voice of the Lord of the Abyss was as deep as tectonic movement.

"The seal suppressed my physical form."

"And now? How much of your strength has recovered?"

The Lord of the Abyss was silent for a moment.

"Seventy percent. The remaining thirty percent needs time to recover after being sealed for so long."

Lin Ye pulled the abyss decay set longsword from his backpack.

The Lord of the Abyss raised his right hand, and the purest source energy from the bottom of the abyss condensed into a sword in his palm.

Two swords, one human and one Lord of the Abyss, stood on either side of the Abyss Rift.

The global live stream started simultaneously.

The number of online viewers rocketed from zero to one hundred million in less than three seconds.

From one hundred million to three hundred million took less than ten seconds.

Players from all servers worldwide flooded in.

The barrage of comments was as dense as another rainstorm.

Both moved at the same time.

Lin Ye's sword thrust toward the chest of the Lord of the Abyss.

The Lord of the Abyss's sword slashed toward the top of Lin Ye's head.

The two swords collided in mid-air, exploding into a ring of shockwaves.

The shockwave swept across the entire bottom of the abyss, sending rocks flying and cracking the earth's veins.

The four Abyssal Councilors retreated a step in unison.

Lin Ye retreated half a step. The Lord of the Abyss didn't budge.

In terms of strength attributes, the Lord of the Abyss had the upper hand.

But Lin Ye's sword had an extra layer on it.

Decay Debuff, one layer.

The Lord of the Abyss looked down at the debuff icon that had appeared on his wrist, the purple energy cores in his eyes contracting slightly.

"Your sword is faster."

Lin Ye didn't speak; his second sword strike was already out.

Then the third, the fourth, the fifth.

His sword didn't slash; it thrust.

Each strike aimed for a single point: the wrist of the Lord of the Abyss where he held the sword.

One layer, two layers, three layers, five layers, ten layers.

The sword of the Lord of the Abyss began to feel heavy.

The attribute-crippling effect of the Decay Debuff had taken hold.

His strength attribute began to drop from seventy percent: sixty-eight percent, sixty-five percent, sixty-three percent.

The Lord of the Abyss stopped passively taking hits.

He gripped the sword with both hands, raised it above his head, and slashed down.

There was no technique, just pure strength crushing down.

Lin Ye blocked with his sword horizontally, and the two blades collided again.

This time, Lin Ye retreated a full three steps.

The web of his hand went numb from the shock.

The Lord of the Abyss didn't pursue, standing where he was.

"Your debuff can weaken my strength. But my base strength is too high. Even after being weakened, I still suppress you."

Lin Ye shook his numb hand.

"Then I won't just weaken it. I'll drain it directly."

He activated Decay Domain.

A black-purple light surged out like a tsunami, enveloping the entire bottom of the abyss.

Three hundred layers of debuffs were applied to the Lord of the Abyss simultaneously.

The attribute-crippling effect changed from two percent per layer to three percent per layer.

The strength attribute of the Lord of the Abyss plummeted wildly from sixty percent.

Fifty percent, forty percent, thirty percent, twenty percent.

The purple energy cores in the eyes of the Lord of the Abyss contracted violently.

He could feel his strength being drained away, flowing along the reverse contagion chain of the debuff and into Lin Ye's abyss decay set.

The Lord of the Abyss laughed.

A low, rumbling laugh echoed through the bottom of the abyss.

"Reverse extraction. You've drained thirty percent of my source energy."

Lin Ye raised his left hand.

The abyss corrosion sword was also drawn.

With dual swords in hand, the light of the Decay Domain brightened even further.

The Lord of the Abyss said nothing more.

He raised his sword, and all the energy at the bottom of the abyss converged toward him.

The abyss energy in the earth's veins, the abyss energy in the air, the abyss energy from the four Abyssal Councilors.

Even the golden energy remaining from the sealing array was absorbed by him.

His size surged again.

Four meters, four and a half meters, five meters.

The patterns on his scales turned from dark gold to pure gold.

The purple energy cores in his eyes shone like two suns.

This strike was a full-power blow at seventy percent of his strength.

Lin Ye raised both swords, crossing them above his head.

All eight pieces of the abyss decay set lit up simultaneously.

Black-purple light surged from him, forming a shield above his head.

The sword of the Lord of the Abyss slashed against the shield.

The world went quiet for an instant.

Then, the shockwave exploded.

Half of the entire bottom of the abyss was collapsed by the tremor.

The four Abyssal Councilors were blown away by the shockwave, crashing into the rock walls.

The walls of Dawn City cracked in a dozen places.

The live stream feed shook violently, and the signal was interrupted for a full three seconds.

When the feed recovered, Lin Ye was still standing.

The rock beneath his feet had crumbled into powder, and his legs were sunk in up to his knees.

But his dual swords were still crossed above his head; the black-purple shield had cracked, but hadn't shattered.

The sword of the Lord of the Abyss had been deflected.

The Lord of the Abyss looked at the notch on his blade and remained silent for a long time.

"You didn't counterattack."

Lin Ye pulled his legs out of the rock powder.

"If I had counterattacked, you'd be gone. The contagion chain of the reverse extraction is strongest when you unleash your full power. One-third of the power from that strike of yours was just drained into my set. Now my attributes are on par with yours."

The Lord of the Abyss looked down at the debuff icons on his body.

Three hundred layers, not a single one missing.

"I lost."

Lin Ye sheathed his swords.

"You didn't lose. You just haven't recovered to your prime yet. When you recover to one hundred percent, come back and fight again."

The purple energy cores in the eyes of the Lord of the Abyss pulsed with an indescribable light.

After a long silence, he lowered his head.

"Where is the contract?"

Fatty Wang ran over from the entrance of the Unscrupulous Business Center, holding up that stack of employment contracts.

The Lord of the Abyss took the contract, flipped through it, and pressed his energy seal onto the last page.

The system issued a global announcement.

"Global Announcement: The Lord of the Abyss has signed a Labor Contract as a Director with the player 'Ye the Wicked'. Position: Director of the Abyss Employment System. Annual salary: Negotiable. Contract duration: Ten thousand years."

Global players went collectively silent.

Then the cross-server channel exploded.

"Wocao Wuqing: Ten thousand years? The Lord of the Abyss signed a ten-thousand-year contract?"

"Brick-Moving Expert: No, is ten thousand years the point? The point is that it's a Labor Contract! Not an employment contract, but a labor contract! Does it come with social insurance and a housing fund?"

"Data Emperor: It's in the contract terms. Abyss Source Fragments cover social insurance and the housing fund."

"Invincible Sword God: Holy crap, Abyss Source Fragments covering social insurance and the housing fund."

"Yes Little Follower: Brother Ye, any work arrangements for the Lord of the Abyss on his first day?"

Lin Ye looked at the Lord of the Abyss.

The Lord of the Abyss thought for a moment.

"First, take inventory of all Abyssal Lord stockpiles worldwide. Then, adjust the supply structure of the abyss protection packages. I'll design the abyss auxiliary skills for those eight version bosses on the Test Server. I'll have the framework for the Abyss Guard built within three days."

The cross-server channel went silent again.

Then the Lord of Flame sent a message.

"Korean Server Lord of Flame: Director, what about me?"

The Lord of the Abyss glanced at him.

"You stay in the warehouse. You still haven't made up for the thirty points deducted for stealing ore last time."

The Lord of Flame wilted.

Lin Ye turned and walked out of the bottom of the abyss.

Su Qinghan and Pojun followed behind him.

Fatty Wang followed at the very end, hugging the signed contract.

The four Abyssal Councilors climbed down from the rock walls and followed behind the Lord of the Abyss.

The rain in Dawn City had stopped completely.

Sunlight fell through the gaps in the clouds, shining onto the city walls that were cracked in a dozen places.

Rogue players walked out of the buildings and looked up at the sky.

Lin Ye stood at the highest point of the city wall, looking at this city.

The exclusive title of Global Spokesperson glowed with golden light above his head.

The abyss decay set shimmered with a deep black-purple light in the sunlight.

Su Qinghan stood beside him.

"The Lord of the Abyss has broken the seal, the contract is signed, and he's now the Director. What's next?"

Lin Ye looked into the distance.

"Wait. Wait for him to recover to one hundred percent. He said he wants to fight again once he recovers to one hundred percent."

"Are you confident?"

Lin Ye shook his head.

"No. But I don't need to be."

"Why?"

Lin Ye's mouth curled into that wickedly unscrupulous smile.

"Because he has already signed a ten-thousand-year contract. Win or lose, he's still the Director. There's no termination clause in the contract."