Chapter 425 - 281: Zog’s Armory Was Stolen?

Chapter 425: Chapter 281: Zog’s Armory Was Stolen?

At the same time, he was also one of the unfortunate.

Fleeing war was no vacation; the journey was fraught with hardship and danger.

So when he and thirty-odd other unfortunate souls, crammed into a rickety little cabin where breathing itself was a struggle, drifted into Twin Tower City, he was the last surviving member of his family.

He had never understood why so many of his countrymen still threw themselves into the fray when the odds were so hopelessly stacked against them.

Now alone, Lavin understood. There was no grand reason. If he were still in the City State, he wouldn’t choose to leave either.

But he still lacked the courage to return to his homeland and face the enemy.

And so he loathed his own cowardice, hiding in the slums and living out his days in a listless haze.

Only news of the war back home could rouse him, however slightly, from his stupor.

However, since both warring parties were insignificant players on the continent, hardly anyone cared.

They were the kind of places where if you asked a hundred people on the street, ninety would say they had never heard of them, while the other ten would say, "Oh, I think I’ve heard that name before... Hmm, where was it again?"

So news about the war was scarce.

War was nothing rare. Throughout all of history, it had been one endless conflict after another.

Aside from the initial announcement of the war, which had made the front page once, any subsequent updates could only be found much later, tucked away in the margins of a newspaper.

Few people cared about the fate of a small nation.

For Lavin, none of this scarce news was ever good.

The Villain Kingdom held an absolute advantage, far surpassing the Augustine City State in troop numbers, professionalism, and equipment.

To Lavin’s even greater despair, even at this moment of life and death, the City Federation had still not truly united.

Perhaps the Villain Kingdom had promised it would not push any further after occupying the main district of Augustine City, and the other cities in the federation took them at their word, offering little aid.

But when a wolf enters the sheepfold, how can it be satisfied with just one lamb? If it promises to eat no more, will it truly stop?

Perhaps they could never unite. For as long as Lavin could remember, his grandfather had taught him of the historical evils committed by the other cities. He imagined the children in those cities were raised on similar stories.

It was a federation in name only. A great pioneer had once unified the entire region, and out of respect for him, they maintained the pretense, but internally it had long since fractured into warring factions.

Thus, in this war, only the remaining forces of Augustine’s main city were putting up a desperate resistance.

There was nothing Lavin could do.

Until he unexpectedly became an actor.

He quickly realized the immense power that creative works possessed.

A single great work could reach countless people.

From that moment on, he had a new goal: he would make a Shadow of Evil about the suffering of Augustine City and show it to the world.

Perhaps then, people would take notice of the war, and his homeland might receive some aid.

Even if no help came, even if Augustine City was doomed to fall, the world had to know of the atrocities committed by the Villain Kingdom and their backers, the Loman Empire.

A purpose gives a man drive.

Lavin began to learn everything he could about producing a Shadow of Evil, drafting a script and learning that the organization at the pinnacle of the industry was called Zog Film Studio.

So when Huan recommended he try out for the production of *Silence of the Lambs*, he immediately agreed and landed a relatively important role.

Eager to see the legendary Zog Film Studio for himself, he arrived in Deepwater City well before the appointed time.

Lavin hadn’t even thought about lodging. Sleeping on the streets was all too normal for him.

When he arrived in Deepwater City, the first thing to shock him wasn’t Zog Film Studio.

It was something called a Type 56.

He didn’t know what it was; the thing was completely beyond his comprehension. But the power of the Type 56 was something he would never forget.

One morning, he awoke in a small, remote park.

After wandering the city for a few days, Lavin had learned that this park was on the outskirts. He chose to sleep here because mischievous kids were unlikely to find him.

Parents warned their children not to wander to the city’s edge, telling them it was dangerous and that Magical Beasts would carry them off.

Lavin had assumed it was just a story parents told to scare their children.

When he was a child and refused to sleep, his mother used to scare him by saying that Magical Beasts ate children who wouldn’t go to bed.

Once, to test whether Magical Beasts really did eat sleepless children, he had forced himself to stay up all night.

As it turned out, there weren’t.

But his mother, upon discovering he hadn’t slept all night, was far more terrifying than any Magical Beast.

However, the reality in Deepwater City was a little different.

The parents here weren’t lying.

There really were Magical Beasts.

When he awoke, he found a Snake Chicken Beast, its body covered in sharp spines, crouched low less than twenty meters away, its forked tongue flicking in and out.

Clearly, it was in a hunting stance.

Lavin frantically looked for something to defend himself with, preferably a long stick of some kind. Humans were at a disadvantage in unarmed combat; using a tool was the only sensible choice.

At the critical moment, he heard someone yell.

"Get down!"

He looked back and saw the city police.

’If I remember correctly,’ he thought, ’the police are the ones in charge of public safety.’

Just the other night, while he was wandering the streets, an officer had approached to ask if he was having any trouble.