Walker in Modern World

After taking a rest, he quickly sent a text to Maya and gave her one-time access to the warehouse.

She replied with an "Ok" emoji.

A few minutes later, he appeared in the Kalyan family's guest room, where Rajiv was residing.

He opened the window and looked outside. It was afternoon here as well. Since it was the same world, the time difference remained the same with the twenty-third century.

Sanjay stepped out of the room. As he exited, a servant came running and asked if he needed anything, but Sanjay declined and went out to the lawn for a walk.

According to the servant, Rajiv was still out and hadn't returned since their last meeting. He had left a message for Sanjay, asking him to stay as long as he wanted. Due to important business, Rajiv might need to travel elsewhere.

Realizing that Rajiv wouldn't be arriving anytime soon, Sanjay decided to spend his time relaxing and sat on a nearby bench.

Just then, a person who looked like a servant came running.

"Sir, someone from the Ministry of Finance has come to meet you."

"Oh, they arrived early," Sanjay muttered. He had been expecting officials from the ministry to discuss his land allocation, but they had come sooner than expected. Perhaps the king wanted to secure the steel supply as quickly as possible and had pushed the ministry to bind him to the nation without delay.

Sanjay was not wrong. Steel was of utmost importance to the kingdom. With hostile nations surrounding them, they needed to arm themselves as soon as possible to prepare for any potential conflict.

Sanjay made his way to the designated guest hall, where the Minister of Finance was seated with a few of his officers.

As soon as Sanjay entered, the minister stood up and greeted him.

"Hello, Sanjay."

"Hello."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the minister got straight to the point.

He spread out a map of the kingdom on the table—it was a vast expanse of land.

"Sanjay, these five locations are available for the baron title. You can select any one of them," the minister said, pointing to five marked circles on the map.

Sanjay took a moment to think. "Can you tell me about the geography of these plots of land?"

The minister understood Sanjay's concern. Since he wasn't a noble before, he wouldn't be familiar with the strategic advantages and benefits of different lands.

"Well, two of these plots are classified as level two, another two are level three, and the last one is a level four plot," the minister explained.

Before Sanjay could ask what the levels meant, the minister continued with a detailed explanation.

"Basically, we have assigned levels to each plot, with level one being the highest and level five being the lowest. Level one plots contain iron and gold ores. Level two plots are primarily used for farming. Level three plots are suitable for raising animals, with some sections viable for agriculture. Level four plots are mostly located near level one or level two lands, which means, if planned carefully, the owner could charge a small tax for passage through their territory. Level five plots, however, are mostly barren and entirely uninhabitable."

"Based on each level, the tax on the land differs, along with the size of the land granted. For a level one plot, as a baron, you will receive the least amount of land, whereas for a level four plot, you will receive the most."

Sanjay now understood what each plot of land represented, but he couldn't decide which one he wanted.

"Sorry, Minister, can you give me a few minutes to decide? Please enjoy some tea in the meantime," he said.

The officials exchanged glances before nodding in agreement.

Servants arrived, bringing tea in fine cups along with some snacks for them to enjoy.

Excusing himself, Sanjay quickly rushed to his room, shut the door firmly, and disappeared within seconds.

In the future world, he appeared in his hotel room. As soon as he arrived, his mobile phone connected to the network.

Wasting no time, he searched for the key areas on the map where the richest mineral deposits were located—areas that could be efficiently extracted using twenty-first-century technology. The AI quickly analyzed the data and marked the regions of interest.

Comparing the AI-generated map with the one he had memorized from the medieval world, Sanjay jotted down some quick notes in his notebook.

Once he was satisfied, he saved the information on his phone and returned to the medieval period.

Hardly ten minutes had passed since he left, and by the time he reentered the guest hall, the officials had just finished their tea.

Without saying a word, Sanjay picked up a piece of chalk and marked a specific area on the outskirts of the city. It was an isolated region, surrounded by nothing but seawater.

Seeing the marked location, which didn't fall under any of the pre-selected plots, the minister frowned. However, before he could voice his objection, he took a closer look and was visibly shocked.

"Is this piece of land available?" Sanjay asked, hopeful.

"Well, no one rules this land currently," the minister admitted. "But I strongly advise against choosing it."

"Why is that?" Sanjay asked, curious about the minister's hesitation.

"Because this land is completely uninhabitable. It's even worse than a level five plot," the minister said with a serious tone.

Sanjay was taken aback. He hadn't expected such a mineral-rich location to be deemed uninhabitable. However, it was possible that due to the high concentration of minerals, the soil had become infertile.

But for him, that wasn't a disadvantage—it was an opportunity.

"Can you please sanction this piece of land for me? I feel like the view from this place will be quite nice," Sanjay said, pretending that he was choosing it for the scenery.

Meanwhile, the minister was thinking, What view? If the view was so great, would this land still be ownerless?

"Well, Sanjay, I can grant you this land. But remember, you cannot change your decision in the future. Under the law, you are also forbidden from abandoning or gifting your land to anyone else. Do you agree to these terms?" the minister said in a stern voice.

"Yes, I agree."

Huff... The minister sighed internally. He had tried his best, but if Sanjay refused to listen to his advice, there was nothing more he could do. The king had instructed him to allocate a decent plot of land suitable for a baron, which was why he had prepared a level two, medium-sized farming estate. But Sanjay had rejected it. Perhaps he would have to inform the king that he had done his best.

"Alright. Since the plot of land is uninhabitable and classified as the lowest level five, you will be allocated twenty thousand acres, and your tax will be 200 gold coins per month," the minister stated while taking out the land deeds and handing them over.

Sanjay happily accepted and bid them farewell.

After making a few preparations, he planned to leave for his new land.

The most abundant mineral in that area was none other than lithium. Additionally, there were massive deposits of gold and rare earth minerals scattered throughout the land.

The discovery of such a vast amount of minerals in this relatively small area had once caused a huge uproar in the twenty-first century of this world. It was even considered one of the largest mineral deposits in history—until much larger reserves were discovered on the ocean floor.

By the twenty-third century, however, the only natural resource that retained significant value was gold. After extensive space mining, an abundance of minerals had been found throughout the solar system, making most earthly resources far less valuable.

Still, Sanjay knew that these minerals could fuel his business in his own world. With future-world technology at his disposal, he had the potential to build a multibillion-dollar empire if he planned properly.

After writing a letter regarding his departure, he went to meet Tarun, the clothing manager, to inform him about his new land and that he would be conducting business from there moving forward.

Sanjay also met with several merchants involved in the slave trade and purchased around ten thousand people—two thousand for security and the rest for labor. The deal cost him a significant sum, as the group included men, women, and children with strong physiques.

Sanjay, however, saw this as an opportunity to give them a better life. At the very least, they would be workers under his rule rather than suffering as slaves.

The workers would arrive at the land in about one month, as he didn't have the means to transport all of them immediately. For now, only around five thousand workers would be traveling with him.

Sanjay then set off for his new land. It was so remote that the journey would take seven days. He transferred as many supplies as he could to the modern world before beginning his travels.

At this moment, he really wished he could drive a car. However, he wasn't sure how people would react if they saw such a machine in this era.