Chapter 87: Open Bounty

The war reached Manhattan as a list of names rather than soldiers.

The bounty changed behavior before the first hunter reached Earth. People began photographing Jace from outside the barrier. Two remote claims offered Safe Zone residents relocation credit for identifying his movements. Emily recorded the offers and the people who refused them. Olivia warned everyone that refusal itself might become valuable evidence to the Houses.

One family accepted a relocation offer and left the block. Jace watched them go without revoking shelter on the way out. Emily filmed that too. The record needed to show that leaving him was allowed before anyone could claim staying with him proved loyalty.

Jace hated the attention more than the threat. A bounty turned every stranger into a possible transaction and every friend into somebody the System could try to price. The worst part was that some residents seriously considered the relocation offers. He did not stop them. Freedom that existed only when people stayed loyal to him was another kind of cage.

SUCCESSION WAR DASHBOARD

Candidate: Jace.

Verified Bloodline: ZERO-PROTOCOL.

Active Claims: 17.

Valid Claims: 17.

Physical Forces Present: 0.

Incoming Legal Actors: 23.

Pending Entry Petitions: 41.

Jace looked at the final two numbers.

"That escalated efficiently."

Alexander Rook studied the same list.

"Twenty-three is small."

"For a block in Manhattan?"

"For a succession war."

Penelope Ardent gave him a tired look.

"Your House solves too many problems with armor."

"It solves the ones I am assigned."

Charlotte remained near the edge of the projection, reading each incoming permission. Her own House had moved down the rankings after she revised its claim.

HOUSE CLAIM STRENGTHS

House Rook: 64%.

House Sunchain: 58%.

House Ardent: 46%.

House Velorum: 43%.

House Orison: 39%.

Remaining Houses: 12.

Jace opened the smaller claims with Breach Sight. Two had no legal ancestry. Three depended on a Crownline extinction certificate the System had already disproved. One asserted that Earth itself belonged to a House that had never visited it.

"That one feels ambitious."

Penelope followed his gaze.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to NovelPhoenix for the genuine story.

"Challenge it."

"On what grounds?"

"They filed through a dead registry."

"How do you know?"

She did not answer. Instead, an Ardent provenance record appeared beside his panel.

FILE ORIGIN

Registry Node: Destroyed.

Last authenticated update: 4,812 cycles ago.

Current filing authority: DUPLICATED.

House Ardent seal flickered.

Penelope looked away. Charlotte noticed.

"You leaked him restricted provenance."

"I corrected an inaccurate record."

"Your House will call that leaking."

"My House calls many things by the name most useful to it."

Jace filed the objection.

LEGAL CLAIM DEFENSE

Claimant: House Orison.

Grounds: Invalid registry origin.

Evidence Strength: 89%.

Challenge submitted.

CLAIM INVALIDATED.

Active Claims: 17 -> 16.

Overflow Experience: +1,500.

LEGAL CLAIM DEFENSE PROFICIENCY UNLOCKED

Proficiency: 0% -> 8%.

FACTION SYSTEM EXPANDED.

The dashboard changed.

[FACTION WAR FUNCTIONS UNLOCKED]

Claim Tracking.

Bounty Tracking.

House Standing.

Entry Permissions.

Hostile Legal Status.

Challenge Defense.

Reputation by Faction.

Jace looked at Penelope.

"Your mother going to be upset?"

"Probably."

"Comforting."

"She'll be more upset if the bad record becomes precedent."

That told him more about House Ardent than an allegiance screen could. Alexander selected another claim.

"This one is false too."

Penelope blinked. "How do you know?"

"It says my House endorsed it."

"Did you?"

"No."

He filed his own objection. Two minutes later, another claim vanished.

Active Claims: 16 -> 15.

Legal Claim Defense: 8% -> 13%.

Alexander looked at Jace.

"This does not cancel my challenge."

"Wasn't planning the wedding."

Alexander's expression remained perfectly serious. Penelope rubbed her forehead. Charlotte's mouth started to curve. It didn't finish the job. Then the bounty board opened.

BOUNTY NETWORK

Target: Candidate Index ZERO.

Current Authorized Bounties: 6.

Kill Bounties: PROHIBITED while succession rights remain unresolved.

Recovery Bounties: 3.

Blood Proof Bounties: 2.

Capture Bounty: 1.

Charlotte stepped forward.

"Open the recovery postings."

The first offered House standing for delivering Jace alive. The second offered Charge. The third carried a Sunchain seal. Charlotte froze.

HOUSE SUNCHAIN RECOVERY BOUNTY

Target: Jace.

Condition: Alive.

Required Delivery:

Candidate body.

Crownline blood.

Active mind preferred.

Reward:

Noble petition credit.

Recovery commission.

Charlotte's face became very still.

"I did not authorize this."

Eleanor, still unable to override CROWN, examined the filing.

"House charter authorization."

Charlotte's eyes moved to the authorization chain. A clause older than she was. A clause older than Theodore's recovery.

HEAD CLAIMANT AUTHORITY

Emergency bloodline preservation bounties activate automatically when an eligible extinct-class heir is verified outside House custody.

Charlotte stared at the words.

"Cancel it."

SYSTEM RESPONSE

Cancellation requires full House Council vote.

Current vote window: 72 hours.

Jace looked at her.

"You own the House?"

"I lead it."

"Apparently different."

She did not defend herself. That was new. Charlotte reached into the projection and revoked her personal sponsorship. The bounty remained.

HOUSE SUNCHAIN STANDING

Charlotte Sunchain:

Internal Compliance: 100% -> 84%.

Recovery Claim Strength: 58% -> 51%.

Her projection flickered. Penelope watched her carefully.

"You didn't have to do that."

Charlotte's eyes stayed on the bounty.

"Yes. I did."

The incoming hunter list refreshed.

INCOMING LEGAL ACTORS

Licensed Recovery Agents: 9.

Bloodline Brokers: 4.

House Duelists: 3.

Registry Officers: 2.

Independent Claim Hunters: 5.

First possible arrival: 02:18:41.

James's crews were still outside reinforcing a wall against enemies who had not yet entered the city. That was the shape of the war. Someone filed a claim in another star system. A worker in Manhattan had to move concrete. Jace used Penelope's provenance to invalidate two more fraudulent claims.

Active Claims: 15 -> 13.

Legal Claim Defense: 13% -> 22%.

Pending Overflow Experience: 54,000 -> 58,000.

No loot appeared.

Nothing dropped onto the floor.

The reward was four fewer legal reasons for strangers to own him. The System considered that enough. Then every House projection stopped speaking. A new bounty had entered above them all.

OPEN CROWNLINE BOUNTY

Target: Jace.

Condition: LIVING BLOOD REQUIRED.

Reward:

Immediate Noble Title.

Registered Estate.

Succession Petition Right.

Issuer: SEALED.

Eligibility: OPEN.

Alexander's expression hardened. Penelope went pale. Charlotte read the reward once. Then again. Across the Dyson Ring, thousands of unranked petitioners became legally capable of buying nobility with one vial.

The first person to deliver Jace's living blood would be made a noble.