I couldn't yet understand what was happening. In fact, I wasn't too worried about the jail situation worst-case scenario I'd get dad to bail me out for beating up these kids, and if there was ever a trial, it would be too late since the Integration is only a few days away.

But what's this with me being the owner of that site and who is this guy? I'm damn sure my dad can't even afford an hour of this guy's time, he clearly looks like a bigshot lawyer.

This only leaves one answer to this question. The Dilberts.

Not half an hour later, the situation was completely reversed and it was the lawyer now that was throwing accusations and threatening jail time at the parents.

Suddenly, an officer came over and asked me if I want to proceed with charges against the kids that assaulted me.

Which was completely mind-boggling to me.

"Nah, I'll let them off the hook this once," I said as I looked at the parents. "This once only. If they come at me next time, they'll have to take full responsibility for their actions." I said.

"Can we leave now?" I asked the officer.

"Yes, you can, I'll just have you sign some agreements and you can be on your way."

The lawyer took the agreements in hand, made a quick skim through the contents, and nodded for me to sign.

Once everything was done and handled. I and dad left the station leaving the group of parents behind us talking among each other about what happened and how they should 'Discipline' their children for screwing up big time.

"Son, you've been acting very strange lately. I don't want to pry into your personal matters, but are you okay? You're not doing something illegal?" he asked.

"No, hell no, why would you say that?" I said to dad.

"Well… you've been going out late at night, hanging out in places like that private hospital, and apparently you have some pull to manage to get a lawyer from such a prestigious company to back you up. Also what the heck is that site ownership thing? You have land in downtown, a single square foot of a plot like that is about five grand…"

"Well, that part I still don't understand yet, but don't worry I'm not doing anything shady," I said.

"I trust you son, but be careful," he said.

"Don't worry pops," as we were talking, a car stopped in front of us, it was a black SUV and the back door opened up.

"Isn't this the same car that was waiting for you this morning?" Dad asked.

"Yep, let's hop on," I said as the two of us walked up the car.

"Mr, Newman,"

"Yes,"

"Yes,"

Both I and dad answered at the same time.

Which would be awkward from now on.

"Just call me Lucas," I said.

"Right," the driver said, "Your presence is requested. But only you," he said.

"This is my dad, the least you can do is offer him a ride home,"

"It's okay son, I'll take a cab," dad said.

"Hell no, he'll drive us home first, won't you?" I said.

"Yes, of course."

The driver then moved forward and took a detour heading towards pour home.

"Does mom know about what happened?" I asked dad.

"Oh, no, thankfully no."

"Well, we might as well try and keep it a secret from her, she'll only worry for nothing." I said, "After all, nothing bad happened so what she doesn't know won't hurt her."

"Yeah, I'll keep it in mind."

Soon, we arrived at our house and dropped dad off.

"Son, be careful."

"Stop worrying so much," I said, "I'll be fine. I'll come back for dinner, so don't worry."

"Right, take care." He said and left.

The driver then continued on, driving me through downtown until he arrived in one of the highest buildings in the vicinity.

"Get into the lobby, someone should be waiting for you there," he said.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Right," I said as I walked out of the car. And headed into the building's entrance.

Before I could even walk in, security came and stopped me.

"I'm afraid that I haven't seen you here before, what business do you have here?" he asked.

"I'm invited, Lucan Newman, I should have an appointment here," I said.

"One moment please," he said.

Then he talked through his sleeve, mentioned my name, and soon nodded.

"Please, excuse me, you may come in," he said and opened the glass door for me.

I walked inside and looked around. It was a massive lobby with not a single seat in sight and only one desk where a receptionist was waiting.

"Mr. Newman," she said, "Please follow me," she said and I did as told.

Soon the two of us arrived at an elevator, she swiped a card and the elevator opened up for us.

Destination, top floor.

The elevator sped through the floors until we arrived at the highest floor.

"Please go in, Mr. Dilberts is waiting for you."

The whole floor had a single room that had faded glass. Which I presumed to be where Dilbert was.

So I moved towards the room and knocked.

"Lucas, come in," he said.

Once I was inside, I was surprised to see the lawyer from earlier here again.

"That will be all," the lawyer said and took his briefcase and walked, "Now if you'll excuse me," he said and left.

"Good, sit, Lucas," Dilbert said as I took a seat in front of him.

"I never thought you were a guy that makes trouble like this," he said.

"Oh, believe me, I was very kind to them. You seem to forget that I lived in a lawless world for twenty years, life becomes very, very cheap without laws. They got out of this practically scot-free."

"That's some dangerous stuff you're saying."

I sighed, "Unfortunately, you'll get used to it. Anyway, I don't suppose you called me here for just this?" I asked.

"Not really, but the material you supplied us, it would have taken us an incredible amount of research before we can get some results but thanks to your input, we can begin production next week."

"Well, before you start production, I'll need to talk to you about some matters. I told you before that the integration will start in about four days. But it'll hit Oakland in at least a month. You'll have one month to pull something really really ugly."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You should have a facility northeast of old town right?" I asked.

"That's highly classified information, how did you… oh, from the future. Right right," he said.

"Anyway, Get your trucks armed up and ready, welded steel protection on the windows and bladed sides. You'll need them when the time comes for transporting materials. Also, you'll need to fortify this building. How many floors are empty here?"

"A great majority of them are empty why?" he asked.

"Once the integration starts, money will be pretty flimsy, and won't even be enough to give anyone loyalty to you. What I ask you to do is, to bring all your security personnel and their close relatives here. They won't betray you then, and won't run away when shit hits the fan, because their family is here."

"That's close to extortion and hostage." Dilbert's said.

"They'll thank you for it," I said.

"Okay, that can be done easily. What about the crystals?" he asked.

"The integration will start with many dungeons popping out, a lot of them will come from within the city. For the first few weeks, nothing dangerous will happen, but unless cleared, a dungeon break will happen." I said.

"Could you explain it better?" he said, "I practically don't understand half of what you're saying."

"Right, I don't think you were into games a lot…" I said.

"Games?"

"As ironic as it might sound, yes, games. But only you don't get a redo. Game over means you're dead.

A dungeon is basically a location, it could be underground or overground, it could also be underwater, it has its own ecosystem and monsters living in it. A dungeon hosts monsters inside it, and a boss most of the time."

"Most of the time?"

"Yes, sometimes there could be multiple bosses and even hidden bosses, those are very annoying to deal with because hidden bosses are usually far stronger than bosses."

"Okay, so what's a boss? Like leader?"

"Something like that, he is the master of the dungeon, and the rest are his minions. To clear a dungeon, one needs to kill the minions and take out the boss. Once a boss dies they won't come back again and one can close the dungeon then."

"Okay, what is the dungeon break then?" he asked.

"A dungeon break is when the Boss Monster is left unattended for a prolonged period of time. Once that happens, they can overpower the protective barrier that is holding the monsters in, and unleashes all the monsters inside the dungeon into the world."

"That sounds very dangerous, but if that's the case, wouldn't it be best if we assault the dungeons before they release the monsters and kill the boss wouldn't that be for the best?" he said.

"Yes, that's basically what we should be doing, but the world is unfair. We can't kill the bosses with guns and bullets, and all electronics are disabled inside the dungeon. Gunpowder is useless, C4 and explosives that aren't System made are completely harmless to the monsters. You can even nuke a level 1 rat and he'll shrug it off." I said.

"Then how are we supposed to fight back? isn't this an execution?" he said.

"That's where the second unfair thing comes in. Not all monsters are from dungeon break. The integration is basically a release of monsters into the world, unfairly into civilization. The people who'll manage to take out monsters will get their first gear and weapons that'll help them fight the dungeon creepers… but those who can't kill the monsters…" I didn't need to finish my words.

"You said that casualty rate is going to be pretty big."

"The first integration will reduce the world population by half," I said.

This made John take a deep breath, it wasn't something easy to accept.

"That's why to save as many as you can, you need to be prepared. Anyway, there is something you need to obtain." I said.

"What is it?"

"There was a dungeon in the middle of the city that opened up and caused a huge deal of problems later on, but it was a good source of crystals once it was suppressed. The idea is, you need to obtain it now. And fully control it. Once you have the supply of crystals funneling into your personal storage I'll help you make gear that can kill monsters. You'll be able to arm many people and that will increase their survivability. Not only that they'll be able to take control and push back the monsters. The idea is to take down the dungeon as soon as it manifests."

"Tell me, where is this potential dungeon," he asked.

"You already bought the deed to it and ironically, it's under my name for some reason."

"Huh? That construction site?" he said.

"Yes. Dungeons don't usually spawn in habitable areas, the abandoned dungeon site near the university was left unattended for a while and caused a lot of chaos. But once it was suppressed, the university, since it was close to it, became a powerful base against monsters since the people who lived there could easily mine for the crystals and create weapons and armor in the university to fight back." I said.

"Hmm. that was a stroke of good luck, still, it is yours for now," he said.

"Don't worry, once that dungeon opens up, I'll make sure to clear it. But since we signed the contract, I'll need you to process the crystals and supply your security staff with magical weapons. I'm also not greedy, we'll split the profit. Since I won't be needing the entirety of the crystals in that dungeon anyway."

"Good, that's handled, how about you tell me more about what's going to happen."

"Gladly. Now listen well."