I try to open the glass door, and it's locked. The door doesn't rattle. It's unmoving. I hear a voice inside say, "We're closed! We haven't had a chance to even open! Go away!"

I peer inside, seeing a relatively empty shopfront with someone hiding behind the counter. A pair of Felidae ears are sticking out.

"Free Chains, open the damn door."

My lawyer stands up to look at who's at the door, and when he realizes it's me, he pushes a button under the counter, unlocking the door.

I walked inside with my tamed beasts. I gave Free Chains a blank look.

"..."

"Ellis! I'm so glad you are okay! I'm in a tough predicament, but I'm glad you pushed for sturdy buildings. A great business mind must prepare for any situation, even the ones unthinkable."

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

"...I'm between houses right now, and I've been living here since you bought the place. I was going to ask you about renting a room at one of your buildings - for a discounted price - once you came around, but you never did."

"How are you 'between houses.'"

"I got into a legal dispute with my landlady and- Can we not talk about this right now? What the fuck is going on? What were those messages you sent moments before everything went to shit?"

"I saw a god of madness moments before midnight, so I maniacally told everyone to prepare for something."

"You can see visions? Nice. No, not nice! What should we do? I'm not prepared for any of this bullshit."

"Why are you the only person I know freaking out about the general situation. Is someone you love on death's door?"

"It's the implications of a lawless society. How in the hell is a [Lawspeaker] supposed to live in a world filled with anarchy?"

"I'm going to go around and earn some good boy points. If you see my assistant, tell her. I'm sure she will be filled with jubilee. Also, happy Remembrance."

"Happy what? What the fuck are you saying right now of all time-"

His words get cut shot as I give him his Remembrance present. A whopping 1.5 million credits.

"-Since our centralized currency won't be affected by the ongoings-"

"Don't care. See ya. I'm probably going to bring the injured here. Get ready."

"Can you stop the looters? Our neighbors will appreciate it, and good relations are a must when starting fresh in the business."

"Sure, whatever."

I stand outside and yell as loud as I can, "YO! IF YOU CONTINUE TO LOOT, I'M GOING TO HAVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT."

No one pays any mind, but a few people recognize me. With a hand wave, I send Khan to stop the looters. Non lethally. With minimum flesh tearing.

I'd be more 'nice' with my approach if the people here looted groceries or necessary amenities. However, the surrounding stores are jewelry shops and enchanted items.

Magic items worth anything wouldn't be vulnerable enough to be looted, but I digress.

The average level of the looters is around 100, but they have nothing against my Khan. Dozens of people were 'corralled' in front of my building, and most couldn't resist Khan.

What would you do if a flying shark - larger than you - descended from the sky and grabbed you in its maw, only to drag you into the sky?

And once you started to resist, more sharks arrived. You can try to kill them, but good luck, chump.

"Hey, man! What the fuck is this?"

Now what? It's not like I'm going to throw them in prison... I have an idea to maximize being a good person: threats and cooperation.

I stick my empty hand in front of Rob, and he hands me a shovel. I throw the shovel so it embeds into the concrete in front of the man who raised his 'concerns.' Looking closer, that guy gave me 'advice' earlier.

"If you have the energy to run around and steal shit while the enforcers are busy elsewhere, then you have enough energy to help me dig people out of the fucking rubble."

"Someone else will do it, man. I'm trying to at least get something good out of this situation. Shits fucked, you know?"

"Was I asking? Go home and stay there or do something and help your fellow man. If I catch you, any of you, back on this bullshit, I'm beating your ass until the enforcers stop me."

Some of the looters flee immediately. I don't stop them since I'm not trying to get slave labor here. Some of them stay where they are, afraid I'll pick them off with my tamed beasts if they leave now. Seeing that I'm allowing them to go without issue, most of them leave.

Only a handful of people stay behind and join my 'cause.' A man who was quiet the entire time spoke up after looking around.

"Hey, I wasn't a looter. I was just looking for my friend who was working during the Remembrance. Can we start over there first?"

"Sure. Where?"

"Corner store. If I find a bottle of alcohol that survived, can I take it and leave an IOU?"

"I don't care."

"It seemed like you would care. You know, after that declaration."

"Leaving an IOU after trying to save someone is different from pillaging shops when the owners are stuck inside. Let's get moving."

Rob produces the tools needed and points out where any survivors are, if any, while my other tamed beasts share a similar job as before.

Duchess can use her [Telekinesis] to move any precariously placed rubble and evacuate the injured. Prometheus can put out fires and 'consume' the debris we remove. It doesn't seem he likes eating concrete, but I don't force him.

I eat a chunk when no one's looking. I share the same sentiment with Prometheus. Bland and dusty.

Flash Gordon is good at breaking 'hard' materials, but that might harm the people trapped since Flash Gordon is so strong. Instead, I have him 'break up' 'paths' to 'dig sites' so people can find their footing.

Khan's job is different now. Not only can we use him as dig markers, but I'm also using him to recruit more people. Looters, rioters, basically anyone walking on the street, he'll 'convince' them to follow him back to me.

Unlike this time, I don't give an obvious out, leading people to make the incorrect assumption that I'm forcing them to do manual labor.

When people took breaks, I had them create signs to tape onto Khan so people could read [FOLLOW ME, NOW]

An owner of a painting gallery that we uncovered gave us the supplies. Quite a nice person.

Due to not wanting to aggravate my life force, I'm not digging all the time. I'm taking more breaks to supervise, give directions, and use my mana to heal myself.

Since I'm rationing my mana for myself, I can't heal the wounded. Unfortunately, anyone critically injured in the incident would probably be dead. The golden window has unfortunately passed. That doesn't mean the people we uncover aren't at death's door.

Potions and minor healing skills from my recruits are all we have for now.

There are more people than I thought trapped under buildings. I don't have Rob dig anymore and just run around finding people. I tell people where to excavate since Rob can indicate when someone has a 'weak lifeforce,' usually indicating they are on the verge of death.

Sometimes healthy people, grateful to be uncovered, join the effort after eating something and getting any injuries checked.

A dozen people turned into two dozen. People picked up on what I was doing and came to help. That turned into three dozen. More looters were found, and our numbers turned to five dozen.

Eventually, I had over one hundred people armed with shovels under my command.

I always stressed to let the more perceptive people see if the structural integrity is fucked and call for someone with the appropriate skills.

At this point, we had three designated healers and someone with an architect class who would go around to the marked locations and call out where to be careful digging instead.

Someone who knew water magic played to their strength and just offered drinking water to the workers and the injured. Something I could do with my mana organ, but I won't rain on their parade.

"HEY!"

Everyone turns their head at me.

"Rob has told me something. Something important. There is no one left to be saved."

Some people cheered, and some seemed relieved for one reason or another.

"So we move to where there are more people!"

There are mixed reactions, but positive ones are more prevalent.

We won't drag the injured behind us in this march, so I moved them to my building with a few healers. I quickly pop into my mansion and commandeer some mana and health potions from Rain. Where she kept them, I don't know.

Regardless, with a crate of healing potions and a dedicated healer, I leave Free Chains to watch over the incapacitated.

I lead our operations to the closest residential district. Not the estates where the rich are, but where apartment buildings are aplenty.

As we moved, we recruited more people to our cause. They probably saw us in action, but without an 'invitation' didn't join us.

I'm in front. I'm paving the path for the men and women willing to get their hands dirty and help those in need, and you know what happens? The enforcers show up. Finally! But I know that this isn't necessarily a good thing. Please don't let this happen. Oh god, they're setting up a barricade.

An enforcer wearing a helmet with full facial coverage holds up a megaphone and speaks into it. "Disperse now!"

"Hey, are you the same enforcer those other two times? Didn't you detain me after that Ken member killed that guy and threatened me with it after the vest bombing?"

"Mr. Vincere, please disperse your mob."

The people in my 'mob' start whispering to each other. The barricade isn't just the enforcer with a megaphone. There are multiple armed people in ballistic armor aiming weapons at the crowd. Mostly at me.

"There might be a misunderstanding. What do you think I'm doing?"

That wasn't an answer they liked. They don't respond to me. I turn to my recruits and reassure them. "Don't worry. I got this."

I walk towards the barricade alone.

"Don't move any closer, Mr. Vincere!"

"Then shoot me. I'm going to walk over and conversate with you, gents."

I advanced another step and got shot in the head.

Critical Hit!

-1,200

(-300)

[Resistance: Piercing 700 > 701 (801)]

The bullet fractured my skull before ricocheting off somewhere. Blood starts dripping down my face and gets into my eyes.

"Augh. Fuck, I need my head. Good thing you didn't poke an eye out, or else I'd have to beat your ass."

I'm not the only one bleeding. The enforcer that shot me is in worse shape than I am. If that shot did a 7th of my health, the reflected damage did about a third of his.

"What have we learned? Hurts, doesn't it? Megaphone dude. The one that keeps popping up whenever I'm involved with something. Let me tell you something."

"Mr. Vincere, we warned you on multiple occasions. You have now harmed an enforcer."

"Not really. You wouldn't arrest a wall because some dumbass ran into it and broke their nose."

"What is it you wish to convey."

"We're not a mob. We're a search party. Saving people and shit. We aren't a very organized squad of rioters or anything like that."

My search party clammers in support.

"Yeah, we're not doing anything wrong!"

"We're doing your jobs!"

"Why'd you shoot him? He didn't do anything wrong."

"Let us help people!"

"You better not shoot at us! When things go down, I see red!"

"Mr. Vincere, you must understand how we must feel. The kin of the Silver Conqueror leading a large group right after a world-shaking cataclysm. Society has not fallen, but your actions may lead to a domino effect due to the government's current vulnerability."

"No. No revolt today. Just save people from the rubble and stop. Also, stopping looters and rioters, if you are interested in knowing. Oh shit. I'll be right back. I got a prior appointment."

It's been an hour. I do a 180 and walk away. I tell my search party I'll be right back because of a family thing and don't get shot while I'm gone.

I pay no heed to the orders of the enforcers as I disappear into the crowd and make my way back to Master Giles' estate. I leave Khan to protect my people while the other tamed beasts can more easily sneak away back to me.