UNDERGROUND SOVEREIGN

Chapter 9: The Fifty-Day Mark

Chapter 9: The Fifty-Day Mark

By day fifty before the Mana Collapse Sector 99 had quietly disappeared from the news and that was exactly how Han wanted it.

To the world the sudden silence from the old obsidian mine meant one of two things: either the reckless kid who bought it had gone broke or the cavern had finally caved in on him. Overseer Vane, now demoted to a desk in the basement of the Paragon Guild’s administrative wing, was too terrified of further embarrassment to bring it up again. Radiant Leon was busy doing press tours in front of the rising sky fortress at Mount Aethelgard.

Meanwhile four hundred feet below the earth the War Foundry was humming.

The metallic tang of melted ironwood granite and hot oil filled the air on Level 3. Massive steam pistons slammed down with thundering precision shaping heavy slabs of freshly smelted Mithril-Iron into interlocking blast panels. Blue sparks rained down as dwarven smiths wearing new leather aprons provided by the Haven welded runic conduits onto the inner framework of the main vault doors.

Han stood on the catwalk above the smelting floor watching the operation with a cup of black coffee in his hand.

"The third inner seal is set, " Sylvia said, stepping up beside him on the metal grate. She carried a leather binder stuffed with supply manifests, financial ledgers and signed labor agreements. "We’ve stocked grain, dried fruit and preserved meat on Level 1 to feed five thousand people for three full years. That’s not counting the hydroponic harvests, which are already yielding their crop of fresh greens."

Han took a sip of his coffee. "What’s our total population now?"

"Four hundred and twenty-eight " Sylvia replied without needing to check her pages. "That includes the builders, the engineers, the blacksmiths and their immediate families. Everyone has been assigned quarters on Level 1 or Level 2 depending on their skill classification and work hours. No one is sleeping on the floor."

She closed her binder and looked at him, her grey eyes sharp. "Word is spreading in the lower slum districts, Han. Workers are talking. They see our supply wagons coming in buying up materials with real gold and they see our people going home well-fed with coins in their pockets. I’ve had sixty people show up at the perimeter gate this week begging to sign on."

"What did you tell them?"

"I turned them away, " Sylvia said calmly. "Just like you instructed. We only accept labor, engineers or individuals with specialized survival utility right now. The rest will have to wait for the registration phase when the surface destabilizes."

Han nodded approvingly. "Good. If we take in many untrained mouths before the structure is fully automated it will strain our internal security. Every person here right now needs to know how to maintain a pipe, weld a plate or run a crop line."

"Speaking of security, " Sylvia added, leaning against the railing, "a scout from the Royal Land Bureau dropped by this morning. He was asking questions about our water consumption and structural permits."

Han smiled thinly. "And?"

"I gave him fifty silver pieces, showed him a forged environmental compliance certificate and told him we were running a low-yield mushroom farm, " Sylvia said, a dry humor flickering across her face. "He took the money. Promised to lose our file for six months."

"I knew hiring you was the ten gold a week I’d ever spend, " Han said, letting out a short chuckle.

Before Sylvia could reply, the heavy iron lift platform at the end of the catwalk groaned, its gears grinding as it rose from Level 4.

Vance stepped off the platform wiping grease from his face with a rag. His gray hair was pulled back in a leather tie and despite the exhaustion in his posture his eyes were bright with a fierce renewed purpose.

"The Level 4 foundation is cleared Han," Vance called out his voice booming over the sound of the steam hammers below. "We hit the granite floor. The automated drills finished carving out the ring for the divine barrier anchors."

Han walked over to the edge of the catwalk looking down at the heavy lift mechanism. "How are the dwarf teams holding up?"

"They’re working like men possessed, " Vance said, letting out a grin that showed a missing tooth. "They’ve got meals every six hours, warm baths after their shifts and no guild overseer standing over them with a whip threatening to dock their pay. You couldn't drag them out of this mine with a team of oxen."

Vance stepped closer, his smile fading into a look of heavy seriousness. He looked out over the sprawling organized chaos of the foundry floor, the glowing furnaces, the pristine steel walls, the hundreds of workers building something truly indestructible.

"I’ve been a master builder for forty years, Han, " Vance said softly, his voice dropping so only Han and Sylvia could hear him. "I’ve built mansions for lords who didn't even know my name. I’ve built garrisons for heroes who looked at me like I was dirt under their boots.. This..." He gestured around the subterranean cavern. "This is the time in my life I feel like I’m building something that actually matters."

Han looked at the man seeing the quiet gratitude in his weathered face. It was the man who had died beside him in the cold darkness of a sealed shaft in another life sacrificed for the comfort of a hero who didn't care.

"It matters, Vance, " Han said softly, his grip tightening slightly around his coffee mug. "Because when the sky falls this is the place where people like us get to live."

A sudden sharp chime vibrated inside Han’s mind.

DING.

[System Milestone Reached!]

[Sanctuary Progress: 50% Complete.]

[Structural Integrity: Grade-S Fortress.]

[Current Construction Points: 28,400 CP.]

[Time Remaining Until Great Mana Collapse: 49 Days, 23 Hours, 59 Minutes.]

Han closed the floating notification with a flick of his wrist.

Fifty days left. Halfway there.

He looked toward the transit tunnel leading up to the surface. There the sun was still shining. Nobles were still drinking wine Radiant Leon was still taking grand photos in front of his gilded sky fortress and the world was completely blind to the nightmare racing toward them.

"Sylvia " Han said, turning back toward the catwalk exit. "Double our orders for copper and high-grade insulation glass, from the regional markets. Spend whatever gold we have left in the trade account."

"All of it?" Sylvia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"All of it, " Han replied, his eyes dark and resolute. "In fifty days paper gold won't buy a slice of bread. Only steel, warmth and food will have any value."

He walked toward the lift ready to descend to Level 4.

"Let's go build the barrier."