The Underground was the name Rick gave to an unnamed organization he was introduced to during his early teens. The organization had no set structure and no true leading figure, and many would even argue they weren't an organization at all. Rather, they could be considered a networking effort slowly developed during the period between the two world wars, focused on taking advantage of the poor living conditions many citizens had been left in. Due to how unstable and unregulated many smaller regions were and how much attention was focused on the war, several individuals decided to collect a number of people in immediate need of financial help. Using their poverty and fear, they would lure them into different illegal functions under a promise of a better future.

There is no clear timeline as to how the Underground came to be initially. It's suspected that a lot of different criminal leaders gained influence during the first world war and found themselves gravitating to the poor and disadvantaged parts of the country, one of which was Krylovgrad oblast. They operated completely separately at first but found use in each other's company, soon becoming fairly interconnected and benefiting from one another monetarily. A lot of the operations became reliant on this cooperation during the World War II specifically, which is when the true networking between different sections became the core value of the Underground. The leaders often built their hotspots and offices in abandoned basements under the apartment structures, due to how well hidden and easily concealable they were from the public.

The hierarchy, although impossible to clearly define, could be somewhat observed through the monetary gain certain sections made compared to the others. Those responsible for risky missions, specifically high-ranked hitters involved with clean eliminations of reputable officials, were typically the best paid and usually had secret  connections to leading officials outside the Underground, while the street fighters and smugglers made the least amount of money, placing them at a much lower hierarchical branch. This, however, didn't mean they were treated any differently, and both relied on each other and depended on their mutual cooperation for the success of specific missions. Although there were many functions and subcategories, the main branches the Underground mostly relied on were as follows:

— STREET FIGHTERS — The lowest pay was regularly distributed through the street fighting rings, operated by so-called “trainers”; bosses that collected poor and desperate individuals around the streets, luring them into joining underground fighting shows which people could bet on and pay to watch. The money would then be distributed between the fighters and the trainers, where the winning party would often take the entire earnings of a specific fight. There were no rules between the fighters, and the last man standing usually took the win, their height being the only measurement trainers used to pick pairs. The fights were lead in the abandoned basements and were often fought, thought not exclusively, between teenage boys and young adults. Older fighters (thirty years old and above) were frequently the ones who had joined the Underground prior to World War II, as most trainers past World War II began joining efforts with a few different branches and almost never kept their fighters in the game for longer than a decade. Some street fighters were sold to other trainers for a certain price, typically if they were good enough to be transferred.

— GLADIATOR FIGHTERS — Usually a path the underperforming fighters took up, gladiator fights were introduced after the World War II ended and were fought between fighters without their full consent. Often times, trainers who were in charge of underperforming fighters would opt to “get rid of them" by slowly introducing a mixture of intoxicating substances that provoked aggression, putting them in cage rings with other similarly conditioned fighters, and letting them fight to death. These fights were often the last resort trainers took up to make any profit from these individuals, as the gladiator fights were by far the best paid branch of street fighting within the Underground.

— TRADERS — Connected to all branches of the Underground, traders were typically surgeons of various types, mostly, but not exclusively, in touch with high-risk-low-reward businesses. Particularly referring to the street fights, they would collect the deceased fighters and use any valuable parts of their bodies while discarding the rest within the sealed poolrooms where the remains were cremated in bulk. Often times, they collected bodies from any branch that needed thorough forensic cleaning and sold whatever vital parts they could use, making them one of the most profitable sections of the network.

— ASSAILANTS/APPRENTENCES — The “better” outcome of some more successful street fighters was becoming their trainers' personal apprentice. Typically, this referred to becoming their personal assailant and working in any function they were offered for a monthly pay or mission fees. This included debt collecting, guarding the offices, guarding the Underground hotspots, body guarding the trainers, hunting for escapees, or becoming involved in any field their trainers decided they would be suited for while still remaining connected to their trainers who acted as their agents. Apprentices were expected to never deny a work offer, do as they are told, be available 24/7 and stay loyal to their trainers.

— HITTERS — Coming in several “quality” choices, hitters had different payment ranks depending on their experience and expertise. There were cheaper types, often a hit-and-run type of eliminations without cleanups, that were often done by assailants of trainers who were trying to climb their way into the hitters category, as it was one of the highest earning branches. The middle choice typically included the traders being present on site to make sure there is no evidence left, and were usually done by the more skilled, trained hitters who specialized and exclusively did this type of work only. Typically, they were working in small groups (2-3 people) under the gang bosses rather than trainers. The highest paid and highest ranked hitters were those dealing with high risk eliminations involving higher status individuals with much more eyes on them. They were regularly hired by the business or political rivals of these individuals, making these branches much more involved with the “surface” world than any of the other sections. These hitters frequently came in larger structured teams, as per necessity, and included thorough strategy planning, clean up, public relations dealings, manipulation of the media… they were also highly trained individuals, often older and coming from military and law enforcement backgrounds, led by the most skilled hitters of the bunch. These hitters also scouted and recruited new members throughout other branches, often times either within the heist groups or assailants.

There were many more branches such as traffickers, weapon smugglers, money launderers, drug lords, etc. who all connected together, but the common structure consisted of differently ranked leaders who each had a social status within their own branches and a different social status within the general Underground. The main rule shared among everyone, however, was that no one, under any circumstances, is allowed to leave the organization alive if they become aware there is any networking going on. Anyone involved with eliminations and high-risk missions were also prohibited from leaving. Low ranked figures such as street fighters and drug dealers who didn't have a deeper connection to the Underground as a network were often not monitored, but anyone who had ever come in touch with any branch other than their own had to be hunted down if they happened to disappear without a notice. This wasn't a rule that was ever spoken about, but was something nearly everyone in the Underground quickly became very aware of, which is why positions such as apprentices were so popular among nearly all sections. They were usually the ones hunting for the occasional escapees, being directly reminded of their own fate if they happened to cross any boundaries. Often times, depending on the rank and years spend within the Underground, most individuals were also forbidden from knowing where certain locations were, such as the carcass pools or boss hotspots/specific upcoming mission details.

The Underground was, sadly, a highly profitable and highly predatory network that was connected to the officials in one too many ways. They were sort of a “public secret” which made them incredibly hard to expose as certain branches were often protected and overlooked by leading figures and authorities as they also had benefited from them. Although mostly focused on Eastern Europe, they operated globally, especially after the international travel became more easily accessible, making them impossible to escape from entirely, as they had eyes nearly everywhere.