Chapter 423 - 281: Zog’s Armory Was Stolen?

Chapter 423: Chapter 281: Zog’s Armory Was Stolen?

It was late winter in the woodlands outside Deepwater City. The temperature wasn’t high to begin with, and being far from the urban heat island effect made it even colder.

A troop of agile figures weaved through the trees. They wore only thin tracksuits, and steam rose from their bodies, their sweat turning to mist in the cold.

These were detectives undergoing a training exercise.

Besides the uneven ground, the woodland was also filled with various obstacles.

These included hurdles, trenches, high and low walls, and monkey bars...

To accommodate the superior physique of the people here, Zog had upgraded the 400-meter obstacle course to a 4-kilometer one.

Looking at it now, he had perhaps gone a bit overboard with the upgrade.

The detectives in training were suffering, their bodies swaying as they gasped for breath, their pace slowing to a crawl.

Just then, a petite young woman broke away from the main group. Her movements were swift and her stride was steady, and she soon left everyone else in the dust.

Until a person in a different uniform stopped her.

"Starling, Crawford wants to see you. He’s in his office."

"Thank you."

"Cut!"

Zog shouted, ending the filming for the first scene.

"Very good."

After some training, Little Devil Starling looked just like a real detective.

This scene was shot in the early morning. Afterward, they had to hurry into the city to film the scenes inside the police station.

That scene required many extras, all played by local workers who were in a hurry to finish and get to their real jobs. Meanwhile, Starling’s superior, Crawford, was being played by the city’s actual chief of police.

To wrap up this rather complicated scene as quickly as possible, the crew in the woods immediately began packing up their equipment, ready to rush to the police station.

On set, however, a slim young man with naturally curly hair stood watching the busy crew, his thoughts a mystery.

Zog glanced in his direction.

That was Lavin, the actor playing Buffalo Bill. He was a newcomer.

The story was that he’d fled to Twin Tower City as a refugee, where he’d been scraping by in the slums as an extra. He was discovered by Huan in a Magic Shadow Drama produced by the Shepherd’s Theater Troupe, played a few minor roles, and showed great talent.

He was then recommended to audition for *Silence of the Lambs*, where he was chosen on the spot to play Buffalo Bill.

Lavin had his fair share of shortcomings. He had no formal acting training, no experience filming a feature-length Magic Shadow, and his Common Tongue wasn’t quite standard—an issue he was currently cramming to fix.

But his strengths were striking, and his demeanor was a perfect fit for the character of Buffalo Bill.

Melancholy, androgynous, and a man of few words—he was a perfect match for the profile of a psychopathic serial killer.

However, his role didn’t involve much screen time, and his first scene wasn’t for a few more weeks. As a result, he had nothing to do on set at the moment.

Film production isn’t a process where the same group of people works from beginning to end. It’s more like a bus ride. Only the core members, such as the director and producers, stay on for the entire journey. The rest of the staff are like passengers who get on at certain stops, ride for a while, and then get off to go about their own business.

Of course, on some particularly accident-prone bus routes, the "driver" might get swapped out mid-journey.

And Lavin, apparently, was a passenger who had gotten on the bus far too early.

The travel and lodging arranged for him weren’t scheduled for this early, yet he had shown up in Deepwater City on his own.

He hadn’t even notified the crew when he arrived. Instead, he put his extensive experience as a wanderer to use and became a homeless man on the streets.

The benches in Deepwater City’s parks didn’t have railings welded onto them, which at least saved him from sleeping on the ground.

The appearance of a homeless man in the city quickly drew attention, because the place originally had no homeless population. There was a labor shortage so severe that even those who weren’t able-bodied could find work, to say nothing of a perfectly healthy man.

Thus, this handsome man who had chosen homelessness quickly became a mobile city attraction. A crowd of children followed him everywhere, and his fame grew until word finally reached Zog.

When Zog first found out, he assumed Lavin either had a peculiar hobby or was engaging in some kind of performance art.

Hadn’t Keanu Reeves spent a period of time looking like a homeless man himself?

Creative types can’t be explained by common logic.

However, when the crew managed to contact him, his answer was remarkably concise.

He just didn’t have anywhere to stay.

As for why he’d arrived ahead of schedule...

It was because he wanted to understand the entire process of making a Magic Shadow from scratch. He wanted to make one himself someday.

But when asked what kind of Magic Shadow he wanted to film, he would stop giving straight answers.

In Lavin’s own words: "There’s no point in telling people about a dream you haven’t achieved."

Zog had always had a soft spot for eager learners.

So, he found a place for him to stay and gave him permission to observe on set, even for scenes he wasn’t in.

’He could learn whatever he wanted, as long as he didn’t disrupt the shoot.’

Deepwater City had no shortage of empty rooms, so providing someone with lodging was a simple matter.

But Lavin insisted on paying for the room later at the standard hotel rate.

Principled.

Zog certainly wasn’t hurting for a few Copper Coins, but since Lavin was insistent, he didn’t turn him down.

’You can’t strip a man of his last shred of dignity just to show off your own kindness.’

’If it were me, and someone offered me a free place to stay, I’d never insist on paying. You need a thick skin to live comfortably. Being obsessed with saving face just makes you suffer.’

"How’s it going?"

As the crew packed up their equipment, Zog went over to chat with Lavin.

"I’ve learned a lot," Lavin replied, "but there’s one thing I’m very confused about."