Chapter 64: Labor Contract

Following Ladong and the others, Zhai Guangyi once again encountered the old man who had been standing at the village entrance earlier. Ladong explained their purpose to him, and after understanding, the old man nodded and shakily made his way into the house.

Soon after, one Magic Circle after another began to appear in the sky, swirling continuously around the entire village. A massive Transparent Barrier started to spread over the entire settlement, its scale astonishingly vast.

And it wasn’t just one barrier—there were three in total. The closer to the center, the more saturated with Magic Power the barriers became, appearing virtually indestructible.

Zhai Guangyi hadn’t expected such a small, rundown village to possess such a formidable Defensive Barrier. It was truly exaggerated—like someone with very little money insisting on installing a safe at home to protect the mere dozen or so coins they had.

Due to the activation of the Magic Circles, the villagers all came out to see what was happening. Upon noticing the barriers being raised, everyone began packing their belongings and hurried toward the village chief’s house at the center of the village.

The barriers consisted of three layers, with the innermost offering the strongest defense. The fact that such a powerful barrier could still be used was proof enough of how formidable Ladong’s ancestors had been. Even after eighty-two generations, such heritage remained.

At that moment, an arm reached up from below the Cliff, gripping its edge and pushing forcefully. The figure leaped up in one smooth motion, landing steadily atop the Cliff.

It was a red-skinned Demon Human with a single horn on its head, its entire body crimson, hair jet-black, and a magnificent longsword hanging at its waist. Its clothes were covered in mud and dust, likely from scaling the Cliff, indicating it couldn’t fly and had expended considerable effort to climb up.

Appraisal.

Race: Red Oni King (Hong Ren)

Level: 69

Life Value: 4000

Magic Power: 20,000

Strength: 9000

Defense: 1200

Speed: 320

Judging solely by attributes, aside from Strength, his other stats were nothing remarkable—even somewhat mediocre. Given that he couldn’t fly, he likely posed little threat to Zhai Guangyi.

In that case, Zhai Guangyi decided to observe how he intended to deal with the Magic Circles. By watching him attack the barriers with his Skills, Zhai Guangyi could gauge his overall strength. If his power proved insufficient, Zhai Guangyi planned to eliminate him directly.

Hong Ren did not immediately attack the Defensive Barrier. Instead, he brushed the dust off his clothes, straightened the tie around his neck, and drew the longsword from his waist. Holding it steadily with both hands, he placed it on the ground before kneeling formally on the floor.

What did this mean? Did he intend to block Zhai Guangyi’s way indefinitely, preventing him from leaving? But Zhai Guangyi had Satiety Fruits—he could stay inside forever if needed.

“Noble Primordial Spirit, greetings. I am pleased you have ceased your escape. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Hong Ren, one of the eight executives serving the great Demon King, the Honored One.”

Zhai Guangyi hadn’t expected Hong Ren to be so polite. His tone and attitude seemed genuinely friendly. However, Zhai Guangyi remained on guard, ignoring his words and staying vigilant of his movements. He even summoned a High-Rank Fire Spirit, preparing for any possibility.

“I come with no ill intent. Our King is in great need of talented individuals like yourself, which is why he dispatched me to extend an invitation for you to join us.”

“You’ve been chasing me all this way, yet you claim to have no ill intentions!”

After all, Zhai Guangyi had killed Shabi, and now Giant Goblins had surrounded the forest’s perimeter. How could that not be malicious? Zhai Guangyi didn’t believe it.

Hong Ren shook his head and spoke in a gentle tone.

“You started running away before you even made contact with us. How could you possibly know our goodwill?”

“Your army surrounded us, your magic locked onto us—none of your actions were without malice. If I didn’t run, wouldn’t I be an idiot?”

Zhai Guangyi tightened his grip on the Flying Staff and exchanged some free High-Explosive Magic Crystals from the store. Though he had never used them before, since they were labeled “high-explosive,” they were probably meant to be used like grenades.

“The reason we mobilized the army and surrounded the forest’s perimeter is because our people were harmed. It was a necessary measure.”

“Exactly, we already have a conflict. So why are you sitting here telling me all this?”

Feicui had said that he might be the only Primordial Spirit left now. Moreover, for a powerful Demon King, he should be very useful, so the Demon King wouldn’tt let him go so easily. Hong Ren must be up to something.

“Because you are important. As I said, our King greatly needs talented individuals like you. In human society, when interests outweigh conflicts, conflicts cease to exist.

You are more valuable than a Demon Goblin who has received a Blessing—even countless times more valuable. Take a look at this to understand the benefits structure of our Demon King’s Army.”

Hong Ren pulled a scroll from his wide sleeve and tossed it toward the Defensive Magic Array. He then retreated to the edge of the cliff, raising his hands in a harmless gesture. Even the longsword on the ground remained in place, still a considerable distance from Hong Ren.

Zhai Guangyi hesitated for a moment and asked Ladong to remove a small section of the barrier. He summoned an Ice Spirit to retrieve the scroll and examine it.

Of course, Zhai Guangyi had already performed an Appraisal on the scroll within the array—it was just an ordinary contract scroll, posing no threat.

Though Ladong felt something was off, he trusted Zhai Guangyi’s judgment and asked the Clan Leader to help control the array, opening a gap.

The Ice Spirit slowly drifted out of the barrier. Zhai Guangyi kept his eyes fixed on Hong Ren until the Ice Spirit retrieved the scroll and returned to the first layer of the barrier. Only then did he check the Ice Spirit’s vision.

However, it could only return to the first layer of the barrier. For safety’s sake, the Ice Spirit was not allowed to bring the scroll inside the barrier.

Zhai Guangyi controlled the Ice Spirit to open the magic scroll and was startled by the text on it.

“A Labor Contract?”

Zhai Guangyi hadn’t expected it to be this, and it was even a Labor Contract with a Magic Contract attached. This type of Magic Contract had strong binding power, and on it, Zhai Guangyi also saw the Demon King’s true name.

Party A: Demon King Mephistopheles

The contract contained incredibly detailed labor terms, including social insurance and housing fund, with benefits meticulously outlined, even extending to family members.

For example, the family members of the Annual Outstanding Employee could also enjoy the noble Blessings of the Demon King. The Honored One Demon King had vast resources and could not only grant Blessings but also offer rewards in Skill Points, just like Zhai Guangyi.

However, there is no base salary; everything is distributed according to labor, with a performance-based assessment system. But the higher-ups promise that as long as Zhai Guangyi joins, he will be directly promoted to a leadership position, with a status equivalent to that of the Eight Demon Generals.

He will be given thousands of Skill Points, Purple Quality Equipment custom-made by the Great Masters of the Demon Capital, and a property under the Demon King City in the Demon Capital, where he can bring his family to live. He can even enjoy paid leave—it all sounds incredibly tempting.

Zhai Guangyi himself felt tempted to defect just looking at it. The benefits were simply too good. In comparison, the benefits he offered to Xiong Batian and Xiong Er were quite ordinary. They were still using blue-quality weapons, and their houses were still Small Wooden Huts.

This only strengthened Zhai Guangyi’s determination to focus on development. This Demon King was poaching people right under his nose—how outrageous! If even he, the boss, were lured away, who would lead the Magical Beasts inside the Forest to make a living?

Yet, as Zhai Guangyi looked at the list of benefits, he fell into deep contemplation and inner struggle.