UNDERGROUND SOVEREIGN

Chapter 3: The Title Deed

Chapter 3: The Title Deed

The Land Registry Office sat in the basement of the City Council building smelling of moldy parchment, dried ink and cheap tobacco. It was where the kingdom buried forgotten paperwork and forgotten land.

Behind an oak counter, an elderly clerk named Oswald leaned back in his chair picking his teeth with a brass pin. He didn't even bother looking up when the bell above the door chimed.

"Registry is closed for lunch in twenty minutes " Oswald drawled, his voice dry as leaves. "If you're here to file a dispute over a pig pen, come back on Tuesday."

Han walked up to the counter. Placed a heavy leather portfolio on the wooden surface.

"I'm not here for a dispute, " Han said, his tone steady. "I'm here to purchase the deed for Sector 99."

Oswald paused, lowering the brass pin. He pulled his spectacles down his nose and peered over the counter at Han’s worn vest and scuffed boots. A low mocking chuckle rasped from the man’s throat.

"Sector 99? The old obsidian pit in the east?" Oswald snorted, shaking his head. "Kid that hole was condemned three years ago. The mana veins are dead and the tunnels are unstable. The soil is so poisoned with sulfur you couldn't grow weeds in it. The city’s been trying to auction it off for five hundred gold just to clear the taxes but even the scrap metal merchants won't touch it."

"Then it shouldn't be a problem for you to sell it to me, " Han replied, pulling out five wax-sealed Royal Treasury notes—each denominated in one hundred gold pieces—and placing them side by side on the counter.

Oswald’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull. He froze, his hands hovering over the paper pile. Five hundred gold in high-grade royal notes sitting on his stained desk.

"Where... Where did a laborer get this kind of gold?" Oswald stammered, instantly straightening his back.

"Its tender was verified by the Royal Auction House less than an hour ago, " Han said smoothly. "Are you going to process the transfer or do I need to speak to the Chief Registrar?"

"No! No need for the Chief " Oswald squeaked, shuffling through a stack of filing boxes behind him. He pulled out a yellowed scroll bound in faded red ribbon and laid it flat on the counter. "The deed for Sector 99—all ninety kilometers of surface mountain and subterranean mining rights down to the mantle line."

Oswald dipped a quill in ink and pushed the parchment toward Han. "Sign at the bottom. Once the city seal hits this paper the land is yours. No refunds mind you. Even if the mountain collapses tomorrow."

Han took the quill.

As his fingers touched the paper his Future-Value Appraisal flared behind his eyes. A soft blue translucent glow covered the deed and glowing letters hovered over the text:

[Target Document: Sector 99 Territorial Deed]

[Current Market Value: 500 Gold (Tax Debt Clearance)]

[Post-Collapse Value: Infinite / EX-Rank]

[Property Attributes: Absolute Sovereignty Clause Included (Under Astral Law subterranean domains down to the mantle line cannot be seized by Guilds or Royalty during a National Emergency).]

A subtle cold smile touched the edge of Hans lips. Absolute Sovereignty Clause. The kingdom's old legal framework had been designed centuries ago to protect noble vaults but because no one cared about Sector 99 the clause remained fully intact on the draft deed.

Han pressed the quill to the paper. Signed his name in firm sharp strokes: HAN.

Oswald grabbed the heavy brass city stamp, slammed it onto the red wax seal at the bottom of the page and handed the scroll to Han. "Congratulations, kid. You are officially the owner of ninety square kilometers of worthless rocks."

DING.

A sharp crystalline chime echoed inside Han’s mind as the heavy scroll settled into his hands.

[Property Acquisition Confirmed!]

[Subterranean Domain Registered: Sector 99 (Aethelgard Subterranean Haven)]

[System Master Interface Unlocked!]

[Current Territory Status: Unfortified / Raw Ley-Node]

[Construction Points (CP) Unlocked: 10,000 CP (Bonus for acquiring an EX-Rank Ley-Node Core)]

Han rolled up the deed, tucked it safely inside his coat pocket and walked out of the registry into the bright afternoon sun.

He didn't waste a second. He had six hundred gold pieces remaining in trade notes and 99 days left before the sky broke.

He walked toward the Lower Slums—the narrow muddy alleyways where the city dumped its disgraced, blacklisted and forgotten workers. This was where the men who actually knew how to build lived. Not the arrogant guild masters who sat in air-conditioned offices. The master stone-cutters, runic masons and pipe-fitters who had been cast aside after their bodies broke.

Han stopped in front of a sagging wooden tavern called The Broken Anvil.

He pushed the door open. The smell of ale and stale tobacco hit him immediately. Sitting in a corner booth alone staring blankly into a half-empty wooden mug was an old man with silver-streaked hair and a crooked spine.

Master Builder Vance.

In this timeline Vance hadn't been dragged down into the dark by Gloom-Crawlers. He was still here alive, sitting in a tavern with dirt under his fingernails and despair in his eyes because the Paragon Guild had fired him weeks later for being "too old for active duty."

Han walked over. Slid into the bench seat across from him.

Vance blinked, his bloodshot eyes taking a moment to focus. "Han? Kid... What are you doing here? Did Mark let you off early?"

"I quit, Vance, " Han said softly. "I tore up the contract."

Vance sighed, shaking his head. "You fool. Mark will have the guild guards hunting you for your debt."

"Mark’s debt is settled and I'm done building garrisons for Leon " Han said. He reached into his coat, pulled out a stack of gold treasury notes and laid them flat on the sticky wooden table between them.

Vance froze. He stared at the gleaming stack of gold, his jaw dropping low, his pipe almost falling out of his mouth. "W-What... Han, where did you get that? Did you rob a bank?!"

"I bought Sector 99, " Han said quietly, leaning forward. "The entire mine.. I'm building something new down there Vance. A sanctuary."

Vance stared at him like he had lost his mind. "Sector 99? Han, that mine is a death trap! The lower shafts are collapsing the mana is dead—"

"The mana isn't dead " Han interrupted, his voice laced with an authority that made the older man hush instantly. "The elites only looked at the surface veins. Down the core is alive. In three months Vance, a storm is coming that will make the surface world uninhabitable. I need a master builder who knows how to lay deep-stone foundations."

Han slid a contract across the table—a custom parchment he had drafted on his way

"I'm offering you five gold pieces a day. Ten times what the Paragon Guild paid you " Han said. ". More importantly: permanent guaranteed housing for you, your daughter and every worker you bring with you. Clean water, hot heat and absolute safety."

Vance’s hands shook as he looked at the gold on the table at Han’s calm unwavering eyes. There was no deceit in Han’s face— the deadly seriousness of a man who had already seen the end of the world.

"How many men do you need?" Vance asked, his voice rough.

"Every blacklisted mason, dwarf smith and discarded builder in the slums " Han said, a sharp glint, in his eye. "Tell them the Doomsday Landlord is hiring