The transition from "Planetary Hero" to "Universal Bailiff" was not marked by a parade, but by a headache.
Han Jue sat in his new office—a cantilevered glass observation deck built into the highest spire of the Lunar Sanctum. Below him, the Sea of Tranquility was a hive of human activity as Garrick's drones and Han Ling's administrators turned the ruins of the Selene Syndicate into a functioning capital. But Han Jue wasn't looking at the moon. He was looking at the Void Gavel resting on his desk.
The gavel didn't just sit there; it hummed. It was a low-frequency vibration that resonated in his marrow, a constant reminder that his "Account" with the Void Emperors was currently open and accruing interest.
[Universal Receivership - Task 01] [Target: Klok-IV (Sector 12-B)] [Status: TOTAL STAGNATION] [Instruction: Liquidate the core for Entropic Mass or Restructure for Recovery.] [Penalty for Delay: 0.1% Planetary Erosion (Earth).]
"They don't waste time, do they?" Han Jue whispered, his silver-tipped pen dancing over a sheet of vellum.
"The Void doesn't believe in weekends, Brother." Han Ling walked in, her violet eyes scanning a holographic report. She had fully embraced her role as the Chancellor of the Abyss, acting as the bridge between Han Jue's cosmic mandates and the day-to-day survival of Earth. "The Sovereign Venture is fueled. Garrick is complaining about the engine's 'soul-to-fuel' ratio, but we're ready to jump."
Han Jue stood up, smoothing the front of his charcoal suit. "Klok-IV. What's the brief?"
"A Cog-World," Ling-er said, swiping a finger to project a 3D model of a planet made entirely of interlocking brass gears. "It was the Galactic Exchange's primary 'Interest Calculation Hub.' When the market crashed, the planet's logic core suffered a catastrophic divide-by-zero error. Now, the entire population is stuck in a 'Maintenance Loop.' They aren't producing anything, which makes them 'Stagnant Assets' in the eyes of the Void."
"Stagnation is a death sentence in this economy," Han Jue muttered. He picked up the Gavel, feeling its weight—a weight that could crush a planet's history into a single point of data. "Let's go. I'd rather not see Earth erode because a bunch of machines forgot how to do math."
The Gears of Despair
Klok-IV did not have an atmosphere in the traditional sense. It had a "Logic-Cloud"—a swirling mist of steam and binary static that tasted of copper and old oil. As the Sovereign Venture descended, the sound was overwhelming: a rhythmic, grinding thrum of a billion gears turning but never moving anything.
"It's a literal clock," Garrick said, staring out the viewport. He looked at the massive planetary gears, some the size of continents, grinding against each other. "But look at the friction heat. They're not lubricated. They're burning themselves out."
"They've lost their purpose," Han Jue said, his Audit Vision activating.
Through his eyes, the planet wasn't just metal. It was a giant, tangled ledger. Every gear was a transaction, every piston a payment. But since the Exchange collapsed, the "Central Bank" signal from the Citadel had vanished. The machines were waiting for a command that would never come.
[Audit Status: Klok-IV] [Current Productivity: 0.00%] [Total Debt: 14 Billion Standard Cycles (Time-Debt)]
They landed in the Plaza of the Prime Cog, a vast cathedral of bronze and steel. Standing in the center was the Prime Logician, a towering automaton with a hundred brass eyes, each flickering with a frantic, red light. Around it, thousands of smaller "Worker-Cogs" were walking in perfect circles, their gears shrieking with every step.
"I am the Bailiff of the Universal Receivership," Han Jue's voice boomed, amplified by the Gavel.
The Prime Logician stopped. Its brass eyes swiveled, focusing on the Gavel. A sound like a grinding steam engine erupted from its chest.
"ERROR... UNAUTHORIZED USER... THE EXCHANGE HAS NOT PROVIDED THE FINAL BALANCE... WE CANNOT PROCEED TO THE NEXT SECOND... WE ARE STUCK AT 11:59:59 PM... FOREVER."
"The market is closed, Logician," Han Jue said, walking toward the machine. "The Exchange is liquidated. You're no longer working for a bank. You're being audited by the Void."
The Cost of Logic
A shadow began to grow in the center of the Plaza. It was a Void Liquidator—a faceless, shifting entity sent by the Emperors to ensure Han Jue did his job. It looked like a tear in reality, a black hole in the shape of a man.
"LIQUIDATE," the shadow whispered. "THE MASS IS REQUIRED. THE MACHINES ARE REDUNDANT. THE DEBT IS UNPAYABLE."
"Wait," Han Jue said, raising his hand. "I'm the Bailiff. I decide if an asset is recoverable."
The Liquidator tilted its head. "PRODUCTIVITY IS ZERO. THE CALCULATION HUB HAS NO BANK TO SERVE. IT IS TRASH."
Han Jue looked at the Prime Logician. The machine wasn't "trash." It was a repository of every transaction in the history of the sector. It held the records of every planet the Exchange had ever exploited.
"Logician," Han Jue said, kneeling and placing his hand on the grinding floor. "You're stuck because you think your purpose was to calculate interest for the Exchange. But interest is just the measure of time. You aren't a bank. You're a Universal Clock."
"WE HAVE NO SIGNAL," the Logician rasped. "WITHOUT THE SIGNAL, WE HAVE NO SECOND."
"I'll give you a new signal," Han Jue said. He opened his ledger and pulled out the Master Ledger Fragment.
He began to write, his pen moving with the speed of a man rewriting the laws of physics.
[NEW CONTRACT: THE TIME-KEEPING ACCORD] Underwriter: The Sovereign Audit. Purpose: Synchronization of Independent Planets. Fee: 1 Second per Day (Entropic Tax).
Han Jue looked at the Void Liquidator. "The Exchange was a centralized monopoly. That's why it failed. Earth and the other survivors need a decentralized time-standard to facilitate trade without a central bank. Klok-IV will become the Time-Server for the New Galaxy."
"ILLOGICAL," the Liquidator hissed. "THE VOID WANTS THE MASS NOW."
"If you eat the mass now, you get a one-time payment," Han Jue countered, his eyes flashing white. "If you let them run the Time-Server, you get an 'Entropic Tax' of one second per day from every planet they sync with. In a thousand years, you'll have collected more mass than this entire planet provides. It's a Long-Term Annuity."
The Liquidator paused. The Void Emperors, it seemed, were fond of annuities.
The Restructuring
Han Jue slammed the Void Gavel against the floor.
"AUDIT DECISION: RESTRUCTURE!"
A wave of white data erupted from the Gavel, flowing into the gears of Klok-IV. The shriek of unlubricated metal vanished, replaced by a deep, resonant tick-tock.
The Prime Logician's red eyes turned a steady, calm blue. Its brass gears shifted, realigning themselves not for banking, but for celestial synchronization.
[Klok-IV Restructured] [Role: Universal Time-Sync] [Monthly Revenue: 2,500,000 Soul Points (Projected)]
"The second has passed," the Prime Logician announced, its voice now as smooth as clockwork silk. "It is now 12:00:01 AM. The New Era has begun."
The Void Liquidator began to dissolve, but before it vanished, it left a single, glowing object on the floor: a Black Key.
[You have recovered the first 'Asset of the Source'.] [Current Key Progress: 1/12]
Han Jue picked up the key. It felt cold, heavy, and smelled of the beginning of the world.
The Secret of the Source
Back on the Sovereign Venture, as they left the now-humming gears of Klok-IV, Han Jue sat in his cabin, staring at the Black Key.
"You did it, Brother," Ling-er said, bringing him a cup of lunar-grown tea. "The Void accepted the annuity. Earth is safe... for now."
"We're just kicking the can down the road, Ling-er," Han Jue said, his voice tired. He held up the key. "The Void Emperors aren't just 'hiring' me to be a bailiff. They're using me to find the Source. The place where the System was first written."
He looked at the Gavel on the table.
"The Exchange, the Origin, the Sovereigns... they were all just middle-management. The real debt—the one that hasn't been paid since the universe began—is hidden at the Source."
Suddenly, the ship's comms crackled. It was Elena Sol, her voice filled with a new kind of panic.
"Jue! You need to get back to Earth! The 'Holy Alliance' isn't just Julian anymore. A new figure has appeared. He calls himself The Liquidator of Souls, and he's claiming that Earth's 'Independent' status is a breach of Galactic Bankruptcy Law. He's filed a Lien on the human race."
Han Jue gripped his pen.
"A lien on the human race? Tell him I've got a gavel with his name on it."
He looked at the Black Key. One down. Eleven to go. The Sovereign of the Ledger wasn't just collecting debts anymore. He was hunting for the owner of existence.