Chapter 81: Signing a Lifetime Employment Contract, the Lord of the Abyss Becomes a Materials Supplier

The livestream screen was still frozen on the original site of the seal at the bottom of the abyss. Behind a golden desk sat the nearly four-meter-tall Lord of the Abyss, with a folding cot set up next to it, on which Lin Ye was lying. The number of global online viewers stopped at 230 million, and the barrage was scrolling so fast it was making the livestream platform's servers smoke.

Lin Ye sat up from the folding cot and pulled a stack of contracts from his backpack. It wasn't the version Fatty Wang had printed for one hundred artifacts per week, but another one, with terms so detailed that the purple energy core in the Lord of the Abyss's eyes contracted.

"Lifetime employment contract. Ten SSS-grade artifacts and one thousand epic abyss crystals per week. Material purity must be no less than 95%, and artifact grade must be no lower than legendary. Delivery time is Monday at midnight; a one-day delay results in a 1% commission deduction."

The Lord of the Abyss took the contract, its purple eyes scanning every clause. It stopped when it saw the last line.

"The contract term is lifetime. My lifetime or yours?"

Lin Ye crossed his legs: "Yours. You are the source of abyss energy and have lived for tens of thousands of years; this bit of time doesn't matter. I am a human, at most a hundred years or so. If you sign for a lifetime, it's equivalent to working for me until you die. It's a good deal."

The Lord of the Abyss was silent for a good while. Having lived for who knows how many tens of thousands of years, this was the first time someone had defined "lifetime" so clearly.

"Signed."

The Lord of the Abyss raised its right hand, abyss source energy condensing into a mark at its fingertips, which it pressed onto the end of the contract. As the mark landed, the golden patterns on the original site of the seal all extinguished, then all lit up again. It wasn't the golden color of the seal, but the golden light of a contract taking effect.

The system popped up a global announcement.

"Global Announcement: The Lord of the Abyss has signed a lifetime employment contract with player 'Ye the Wicked'. The Lord of the Abyss will submit ten SSS-grade artifacts and one thousand epic abyss crystals weekly. The contract term is the Lord of the Abyss's lifetime. The breaching party will suffer cross-dimensional Decay backlash."

Global players were collectively stunned. The cross-server channel crashed immediately, exploding for a full two minutes before recovering.

"Wocao Wuqing: A lifetime contract? The Lord of the Abyss's lifetime? How many years would that be?"

"Data Emperor: The Lord of the Abyss is the source of abyss energy, and its lifespan is measured in tens of thousands of years. Brother Ye signing this contract is equivalent to finding a permanent material supplier."

"Brick-Moving Expert: Ten SSS-grade artifacts and one thousand epic abyss crystals per week. Does the Lord of the Abyss have enough in its own inventory to pay that?"

The Lord of the Abyss clearly thought of this question too. It opened its own Abyss Core inventory list, and its purple energy core contracted violently.

The inventory list was projected onto the livestream screen. There were thirty-seven SSS-grade artifacts and 8,400 epic abyss crystals. At a consumption rate of ten artifacts and one thousand crystals per week, the inventory wouldn't last two months.

Lin Ye tilted his head to look at the list: "Not enough?"

The Lord of the Abyss was silent for a moment: "There are unmined abyss source veins deep within the Abyss Core. I will go dig them myself."

Global players collectively burst into laughter. The Lord of the Abyss, the source of abyss energy and creator of all Abyssal Lords, was now going to go mining itself.

"Invincible Sword God: The Lord of the Abyss mining itself—Abyss Minions would be stunned just seeing it."

"Yes Little Follower: Not just stunned, they'd be too scared to dig. The boss is personally in the mines; would the subordinates dare to slack off?"

Lin Ye stood up from the folding cot and walked in front of the Lord of the Abyss. He was nearly half the height of the Lord of the Abyss, but the momentum was completely reversed.

"Mining is your business. I only look at the delivery list on Monday. If one item is missing, I deduct a 1% commission; if ten are missing, I deduct 10%. If you fail to meet the standard for four consecutive weeks, the contract will automatically trigger the breach clause."

The purple energy core in the Lord of the Abyss's eyes pulsed: "What is the breach clause?"

"Cross-dimensional Decay backlash. Your abyss source will be reverse-extracted and injected into my Talent core. How much is extracted depends on the degree of the breach. A total breach means it will all be drained."

The Lord of the Abyss was silent for a long time. When it signed the contract, it thought "the breaching party will suffer cross-dimensional Decay backlash" was just a standard system phrase. Now it realized it was a hidden clause handwritten by Lin Ye.

"You planned this long ago."

Lin Ye lay back down on the folding cot: "How can I be a boss if I don't plan well?"

Footsteps came from the direction of the entrance to the bottom of the abyss. Fatty Wang ran in holding a stack of ledgers, followed by Su Qinghan and Pojun. Fatty Wang placed the ledgers on the golden desk.

"Brother, the global sales statistics for the Abyss Protection Package are out. Three thousand copies of the Abyssal Director Escort Edition were sold, eight thousand copies of the Lord of the Abyss Clone Escort Edition were sold, and 150,000 copies of the Basic Edition were sold. Total revenue is 4.7 billion gold coins."

Lin Ye tilted his head to look at the Lord of the Abyss: "The commission for the Abyssal Director Escort Edition is 10%. Three thousand copies means 300 million gold coins. It's yours."

The purple energy core in the Lord of the Abyss's eyes brightened. 300 million gold coins; that was enough to buy quite a lot of equipment for mining the abyss veins.

Fatty Wang added: "However, Director, your commission needs to be taxed first. A 5% cross-server transaction tax and a 3% cross-dimensional energy conversion fee. The actual amount received is 276 million."

The light in the Lord of the Abyss's eyes dimmed again. Having lived for who knows how many tens of thousands of years, this was the first time it felt heartache over being taxed.

Su Qinghan walked to Lin Ye's side and lowered her voice: "The official game planner is lurking in the livestream, and they haven't left. They said they want to talk to you about the subsequent versions."

Lin Ye looked at the livestream screen. Indeed, someone was lurking in the corner of the screen, with an ID bearing the title of Official Game Planner, their hands shaking as they spammed rockets in the barrage.

"Let him in."

The official game planner scrambled into the bottom of the abyss and stood in front of the golden desk. He looked at the nearly four-meter-tall Lord of the Abyss behind the desk, then looked at Lin Ye lying on the folding cot, and swallowed hard.

"Brother Ye, the Lord of the Abyss is now your material supplier. The core items for the next three versions are all related to the Lord of the Abyss. Can you ask it to leave some for us?"

Lin Ye sat up from the folding cot: "Leave how much?"

The planner held up three fingers: "Leave three artifacts and three hundred epic crystals per week. We will use them for version event rewards."

Lin Ye looked at the Lord of the Abyss. The Lord of the Abyss was silent for a moment: "Three artifacts and three hundred crystals, deduct it from my commission. It will not affect the submission amount stipulated in the contract."

Lin Ye nodded: "Fine. The deducted portion will be made up from your commission. It won't affect my receipt of goods."

The purple energy core in the Lord of the Abyss's eyes pulsed violently. It had just finished calculating the tax and realized it received less than expected, and now it had to have its commission deducted to cover the version event. On its first day of work, it hadn't seen any money, but it had already filled two holes.

The planner seemed relieved as if granted amnesty, thanked him repeatedly, and exited the bottom of the abyss. The livestream barrage exploded again.

"Wocao Wuqing: The Lord of the Abyss is getting money deducted on its first day of work; that's even more miserable than my job."

"Brick-Moving Expert: Taxed, charged fees, commission deducted—the Lord of the Abyss's payslip is probably negative."

"Data Emperor: It's not negative. The Director's commission base is huge; even after deductions, there's still over 200 million. But the deduction process is too realistic."

Lin Ye stood up from the folding cot, walked to the Lord of the Abyss, and patted its arm.

"Work hard. If you get first place in the performance review for four consecutive quarters, I will apply for independent operating rights for you."

The purple energy core in the Lord of the Abyss's eyes lit up: "Independent operating rights?"

"Yes. Independent operation of the Abyss Council; you be the CEO, I'll be the Chairman of the Board. You set the operational details, I set the strategic direction. We can discuss the profit-sharing ratio later."

The Lord of the Abyss was silent for a moment, then lowered its head: "I will obtain independent operating rights."

Fatty Wang muttered from the side: "Brother, you are just dangling a carrot in front of the Lord of the Abyss."

Lin Ye tilted his head and glanced at him: "If you dangle the carrot well, the employees will be highly motivated. Have you ever seen a boss who doesn't dangle carrots?"

Fatty Wang shut his mouth.

Footsteps came from the entrance to the bottom of the abyss again. This time it was the Lord of Destruction, who walked to the Lord of the Abyss and knelt on one knee.

"Director, forty-seven mid-level Abyssal Lords of the Abyss Council have assembled. Awaiting your orders."

The Lord of the Abyss stood up, its nearly four-meter-tall body casting a huge shadow behind the golden desk.

"Notify all Abyssal Lords: starting from today, submit materials before midnight every Monday. A one-day delay will result in a 10-point deduction in performance score. Three consecutive weeks of late submission will disqualify them from the year-end bonus evaluation."

The purple flame in the Lord of Destruction's eyes pulsed, and it lowered its head to accept the order, then turned and walked out of the bottom of the abyss.

Lin Ye watched the back of the Lord of the Abyss, the corners of his mouth curling up. The director of the abyss employment system had officially started work. Forty-seven mid-level Abyssal Lords, over three hundred low-level Abyssal Lords, and five overseas council speakers were now all under its management. And he only needed to sit on the third floor of the Unscrupulous Business Center on Mondays, drinking tea and waiting for the Lord of the Abyss to personally deliver the materials.

Su Qinghan walked to his side: "Do you really intend to let it operate independently?"

Lin Ye lay back down on the folding cot: "Dangle the carrot first. Let's wait until it brings the Abyss Council up to standard. If it does well, I'll really give it, and if it doesn't, it can continue being the Director."

Su Qinghan couldn't help but laugh. This person talked about dangling carrots, but in his heart, he had already left a path for the Lord of the Abyss. If it could lead the team well, he would delegate power; if not, it would continue to be trained.

Lin Ye sat up from the folding cot and looked deep into the bottom of the abyss. There were still unmined abyss source veins there, and the Lord of the Abyss was leading the Lord of Destruction toward the mineral veins.

"Let's go, back to Dawn City."

Su Qinghan followed, Pojun followed, and Fatty Wang followed, holding a stack of ledgers. On the livestream screen, the performance review form was still spread out on the golden desk at the original site of the seal at the bottom of the abyss, the Lord of the Abyss's chair still held residual warmth, and the folding cot was still set up in its place. The first day of the Abyssal Director's employment began with mining.