Chapter 80: Carrying a cot and squatting in front of the BOSS, brainwashing the Lord of the Abyss via global live stream.

The day after the contract was signed, the Lord of the Abyss officially started work.

He set up his office on the original site of the sealing array at the bottom of the Abyss. He remodeled the golden patterns of the sealing array into a desk, and molded the remaining sealing energy into a chair. The Lord of the Abyss, standing over three meters tall, sat on that golden chair with a thick stack of performance review forms for the Abyssal Lords placed in front of him.

The Lord of Destruction stood in front of the desk, head bowed, reporting the inventory data of the Abyssal Lords worldwide. The Lord of the Abyss listened while writing and sketching on the performance review forms. He paused when he reached the page for the Lord of Flame.

"The Lord of Flame has three records of stealing ore. The first time, thirty points deducted; the second time, thirty points deducted; the third time, another thirty points deducted. That adds up to ninety points. His annual bonus for this year has been completely wiped out."

The Lord of Destruction said in a low voice, "He has been performing well recently. He caught twenty-three attempted robberies."

The Lord of the Abyss was silent for a moment. "Merits and demerits cannot offset each other. The bonus points for the attempted robberies will be given according to the standard, and the penalty points for stealing ore will be deducted according to the standard. Bonus points are bonus points, and penalty points are penalty points. If the annual bonus is wiped out, it is wiped out."

The Lord of Destruction dared not speak again.

A folding bed was set up next to the desk. Lin Ye lay on it, legs crossed, holding a cup of virtual tea in his hand. The folding bed had been brought over by Fatty Wang from the Unscrupulous Business Center, who said that since Brother Ye was working hard supervising the bottom of the Abyss, he needed a place to rest. Lin Ye thought it made sense, so he lay down. He hadn't gotten up since.

The global livestream was on. The camera was aimed at the Lord of the Abyss behind the desk, as well as Lin Ye on the folding bed next to the desk. The number of online viewers was stable at around two hundred million, and the comments were scrolling by rapidly.

"Wocao Wuqing: The Lord of the Abyss is reviewing performance forms, while Brother Ye is lying to the side drinking tea. This scene is too surreal."

"Brick-Moving Expert: Brother Ye isn't here to supervise; he's here for a vacation."

"Invincible Sword God: Even a folding bed is set up; he's planning to stay for the long haul."

"Data Emperor: The way the Lord of the Abyss reviews the performance forms is more serious than my boss."

Lin Ye took a sip of tea and tilted his head to glance at the performance form in the Lord of the Abyss's hand.

"The Lord of Flame's annual bonus is gone; what about next year?"

The Lord of the Abyss looked up.

"Next year will be calculated anew. This year's accounts are settled this year, and next year's accounts are calculated next year."

"Then will he have any motivation next year? The annual bonus is all gone; in the new year, it doesn't matter if he works more or less. If it were you, would you do it?"

The Lord of the Abyss was silent. He had lived for tens of thousands of years and had never thought about the impact of a wiped-out annual bonus on employee motivation. Lin Ye put down his teacup and sat up from the folding bed.

"The purpose of performance reviews is to give employees motivation, not to crush them. It's right to deduct points for the Lord of Flame stealing ore, but the bonus points for catching twenty-three attempted robbers should also be honored. Merits and demerits cannot offset each other, but you can advance the bonus points to him."

"Advance them?"

"Yes. His performance score is currently negative ninety. You advance him ninety points to bring him back to the zero-point line. These ninety points aren't given for free; they are deducted from his performance score for next year. Next year, he will have to accumulate an extra ninety points to get his annual bonus. This way, he has motivation this year, and he will have motivation next year."

The purple energy core in the Lord of the Abyss's eyes pulsed, and he was silent for quite a while.

"Where did you learn this stuff?"

Lin Ye lay back on the folding bed.

"It's a tactic capitalists in the real world have used for centuries. Advance bonuses, installment repayments—always motivated, never finished paying back."

The Lord of the Abyss was silent for even longer.

"You humans are truly terrifying."

Lin Ye didn't respond, just picked up his teacup and continued drinking. The Lord of the Abyss picked up the performance review form and wrote a line on the Lord of Flame's page: Advance ninety points, to be deducted from next year's performance. After writing, he put down the pen and looked at Lin Ye on the folding bed.

"My contract is signed for ten thousand years."

Lin Ye nodded.

"Ten thousand years. No termination clause."

"I know. What I want to say is, ten thousand years is enough for you to turn the Abyss Council into what?"

Lin Ye put down his teacup, sat up from the folding bed, and looked at the Lord of the Abyss.

"It's not about what I turn the Abyss Council into; it's about what you turn it into. You are the director; daily management is your business. I only handle setting rules, approving performance, and lying here drinking tea."

The purple energy core in the Lord of the Abyss's eyes pulsed.

"You set the rules. First: Abyssal Lords are not allowed to attack players. Second: The price of Abyss materials is determined by the market; monopolies are not allowed. Third: The price of the basic version of the Abyss Protection Package is permanently locked at one hundred gold coins."

"Anything else?"

Lin Ye thought for a moment.

"Fourth: The Abyssal Lords' annual bonuses cannot be paid in Abyss Origin Fragments. Change it to gold coins. They have no place to spend the gold coins they save, so they will naturally spend them in the players' hands. Consumption drives the market, and the market drives package sales. When package sales go up, your commission goes up too."

The Lord of the Abyss was silent for a long time.

"You even want a cut of the Abyssal Lords' annual bonuses."

"Otherwise? Do you think my annual salary of one billion as a global spokesperson just blew in on the wind?"

The Lord of the Abyss said nothing more. The comments on the global livestream were already laughing hysterically.

"Wocao Wuqing: Brother Ye even wants a cut of the Abyssal Lords' annual bonuses; capitalists would be moved to tears."

"Brick-Moving Expert: Brother Ye's level of unscrupulousness has leveled up again."

"Invincible Sword God: The Lord of the Abyss has been given a whole afternoon of management lessons."

"Yes Little Follower: The Lord of the Abyss now has nothing but KPIs in his head."

The Lord of the Abyss picked up his pen again and wrote the four rules Lin Ye mentioned in his notebook. After finishing, he looked up.

"What about the fifth rule?"

Lin Ye stood up from the folding bed, walked to the desk, and looked at the Lord of the Abyss.

"The fifth rule, and also the most important one. You are the director for ten thousand years, not to manage the Abyss Council for me, but to manage it for the players. If players are killed by Abyss Monsters, you have to handle it. If players are bullied by Abyssal Lords, you have to handle it. If players can't afford the Abyss Protection Package, you have to find a way to make them afford it. You are not my director; you are the players' director. Do you understand?"

The purple energy core in the Lord of the Abyss's eyes pulsed violently, and he was silent for a very, very long time. Then he stood up, his nearly four-meter frame bending down, and lowered his head.

"Understood."

The comments on the global livestream paused for a full three seconds. Then they erupted like a volcano.

"Solo Little Mage: That last line from Brother Ye, 'You are the players' director,' made my tears fall."

"Brick-Moving Expert: Brother Ye talks about being unscrupulous, but his heart is all for the solo players."

"Invincible Sword God: The Lord of the Abyss bowed his head to Brother Ye. He wasn't beaten into submission; he was convinced."

"Data Emperor: Not convinced, but brainwashed. Brother Ye spent an afternoon brainwashing the Lord of the Abyss with management studies."

"Yes Little Follower: The Lord of the Abyss now has nothing but serving players in his mind."

Lin Ye turned and walked back to the folding bed, lay down again, and picked up his teacup. The Lord of the Abyss sat back down, picked up his pen, and continued reviewing the performance review forms. The performance review forms on the desk were piled very high, and the Lord of the Abyss was reviewing them very seriously. He wrote comments on every page and calculated scores on every page. Lin Ye on the folding bed drank tea and occasionally offered a remark or two.

"The Lord of Destruction's inventory accuracy is good; add five points."

"The Lord of Corrosion's endorsement performance has slipped; deduct three points."

"The Lord of Shadow's player satisfaction is full marks; add ten points."

The Lord of the Abyss noted them down one by one. In the livestream, on the original site of the sealing array at the bottom of the Abyss, a nearly four-meter-tall Lord of the Abyss sat behind a golden desk, with a folding bed set up beside it, on which lay a player wearing a black and purple suit. The two figures, one large and one small, one high and one low, were reviewing the same stack of performance review forms.

Fatty Wang ran over from the Unscrupulous Business Center and stood at the office door.

"Brother! The frameworks for the eight BOSSes of the Abyss Guard have been set up! The planning department says they can be online for testing within three days!"

Lin Ye nodded.

"Have the planning department send over the BOSS skill descriptions; let me take a look."

Fatty Wang transmitted the file. Lin Ye opened it and took a look. Sealing Guard, skill is Invincible Shield. Starfall Guard, skill is Attack Bonus. Galaxy Guard, skill is Full-Screen Clear of Minor Monsters. Eight guards, eight support skills. He finished reading and handed the file to the Lord of the Abyss.

The Lord of the Abyss took the file and flipped through it.

"The Galaxy Guard's full-screen clear skill has too long a cooldown. Change it from sixty seconds to thirty seconds."

Lin Ye tilted his head and looked at him.

"Are you the director or am I the director?"

The Lord of the Abyss was silent for a moment.

"You are."

Lin Ye turned his head back and continued drinking tea.

"Then change it to thirty seconds."

The Lord of the Abyss noted it down in the notebook. The global livestream comments exploded again.

"Wocao Wuqing: The Lord of the Abyss changes a skill cooldown, and Brother Ye decides it in one sentence."

"Brick-Moving Expert: Above the director is the CEO. Brother Ye is the CEO."

"Invincible Sword God: The Lord of the Abyss is the director, Brother Ye is the Chairman of the Board."

"Data Emperor: The Abyss employment system now has a Board of Directors."

Lin Ye sat up from the folding bed and looked at the Lord of the Abyss.

"After the Abyss Guard goes online, you lead the team yourself. Take the eight guards and go help the solo players farm dungeons. Farm for a week to make up for the material shortage for the solo players."

The Lord of the Abyss nodded.

"What after farming for a week?"

"After farming for a week, your power will have almost recovered to ten percent. Then we'll have another fight."

The purple energy core in the Lord of the Abyss's eyes pulsed.

"And after the fight?"

Lin Ye lay back down on the folding bed.

"After the fight, you continue being the director, and I continue lying here drinking tea."

The Lord of the Abyss was silent for a long time, then lowered his head and continued reviewing the performance review forms. The performance review forms were piled very high on the golden desk, and Lin Ye drank tea on the folding bed next to the desk. On the original site of the sealing array at the bottom of the Abyss, two figures, one large and one small, were reviewing the same stack of forms.

The livestream image froze on this scene. The comments scrolled line after line.

"Yes Little Follower: The era of working in the Abyss has officially begun."

At this moment, deep in the Abyss Rift, a pair of eyes that had been sleeping for tens of thousands of years slowly opened. They were deeper and purer than the purple of the Lord of the Abyss. The Lord of the Abyss sensed it; the pen in his hand paused, and he looked up at Lin Ye. Lin Ye also sensed it; the hand holding the teacup paused slightly. The two exchanged a glance and simultaneously looked toward the deepest part of the Abyss Rift. Something in the darkness there was awakening.

The voice of the Lord of the Abyss was low.

"Above the Abyss Council, there is another layer."

Lin Ye put down his teacup.

"What's it called?"

"Abyss Origin. The starting point of all Abyss energy. This branch of the Abyss I belong to is just its offshoot. It has slept for tens of thousands of years, and today it has awakened."

Lin Ye stood up and drew the Abyss Decay longsword from his backpack.

"Let's go."

The Lord of the Abyss put down his pen and stood up from behind the desk. One human and one Abyss strode toward the depths of the rift. The folding bed was still set up in its place, the teacup was still steaming, and the performance review forms were still spread out on the desk. In the livestream, the two figures disappeared into the darkness.

Fatty Wang stood at the office door, watching their backs, then turned to look at Su Qinghan. Su Qinghan had already changed into her Divine Priest set and strode to follow them. Pojun carried the Abyss Barrier shield and also followed. The four Abyss Council members exchanged a glance and simultaneously strode forward.

In the livestream, one figure after another walked into the darkness at the deepest part of the Abyss Rift. The comments went quiet, and then were flooded with the same sentence.

"Brother Ye, take it down."