Chapter 427 - 282: Zog Doesn’t Want to Wade into Muddy Waters

Chapter 427: Chapter 282: Zog Doesn’t Want to Wade into Muddy Waters

Zog had considered many possibilities for who might secretly climb the wall into the gun works.

A teenager, goaded on by his friends and getting carried away. People that age were prone to doing crazy things.

Some influencer desperate for fame, filming a video titled "Putting on a show for you all, today I’m bravely storming the gun works."

In short, whoever did something like this definitely wasn’t a normal person.

Then he saw the "spy" who’d been dragged in. And he really wasn’t normal—it was Lavin.

’Huh?’

"You... why did you climb the wall into the gun works?" Zog asked.

’Don’t tell me Lavin got too into character, actually thinks he’s Buffalo Bill, and has gone insane.’

Lavin lowered his head and said nothing.

"You don’t really think staying silent is going to work, do you?"

In the past, forcefully using the Soul-Searching Technique might have carried the risk of scrambling the target’s brain.

But now that he had mastered the Memory Magic from the Elves, there was no hiding any secrets!

Just as Zog was about to use Magic to investigate the matter, Lavin spoke up.

"Augustine City needs the Type 56 Magic Shotgun. That weapon will save millions of lives. They’re in desperate need of a weapon to fight back against the Villain Kingdom."

"So you climbed the wall into the gun works to get the blueprints for the Type 56?"

Lavin nodded awkwardly.

Mr. Zog had already helped him so much, yet here he was, trying to steal from him.

If he weren’t so desperate to find a way to save his countrymen, he would never have done something so ungrateful.

"And if you got the blueprints, could you guarantee you could actually manufacture them?"

Zog wasn’t just bragging. In the current Feilin, the Type 56 was something of a jewel in the industrial crown.

A real jewel, not some trivial component hyped up as a major breakthrough in a breathless article.

Even if the Perron Research Institute in Twin Tower City wanted to copy it, they would need to study it for some time at the very least.

As for Augustine City...

Zog recalled that he’d vaguely heard Augustine City was under attack, and had been for a while now.

But he didn’t know the specifics, nor was he interested in finding out. After all, war was bad for the corporation’s business. Who has the time to follow a Shadow of Evil series or play games when there’s a war on? Fortunately, the conflict’s reach wasn’t very wide.

Most regions on the Continent were obscure and underdeveloped. They lacked the ability to independently produce things that were commonplace in developed areas, to say nothing of Magic Firearms packed with cutting-edge technology.

Asked this by Zog, Lavin suddenly froze.

He had never considered this problem. In his limited understanding, if you had the blueprints, you could naturally produce the item.

Seeing him stunned, Zog understood.

"You’ve got to be kidding me. You never even thought about it?"

"I..."

"Are you an idiot?"

It was rare to meet someone with such a simple way of thinking.

"Then... is there any chance you could provide some weapons to Augustine City? They really need help."

It was clear Lavin genuinely wanted to save his countrymen. He just wasn’t very bright.

"Sure," Zog replied. "They can buy them. Zog Armaments is having a grand opening sale! Buy ten Type 56s, get one free. Ten percent off for bulk purchases. Buy over a hundred at once, and we’ll throw in a case of ammunition for every ten guns."

Zog spoke about selling weapons with the same energy as a supermarket announcing a grand opening sale on snacks and produce.

"But they’ll have to wait. They’re not for sale just yet."

Advanced weaponry was always in high demand on the market. Being able to consistently provide high-quality, advanced weapons...

’It’s a license to print money!’

The only problem was that Zog didn’t currently have the capacity for mass production. He needed to expand his output.

Furthermore, Zog didn’t want to start by selling his most advanced model. His plan was to wait until the gun works had roughly figured out an upgrade path and developed a more High Level version before selling the current Type 56.

This way, he could guarantee he could "squeeze the toothpaste tube" year after year, constantly releasing new models. It would also ensure that competitors couldn’t copy his most advanced version.

Lavin lowered his head in silence.

"I get it. You can’t afford them either," Zog said. "Then you’re just dreaming!"

"If you could provide us with some weapons for free, the Augustine People will forever remember your kindness! The world needs this kind of justice!" Lavin said emotionally.

"Whoa, whoa! That’s guilt-tripping. This is textbook guilt-tripping. What’s my relationship with the Augustine People? You want me to spend my own money to deliver justice?"

Aid was something Zog might offer on his own initiative, but for someone to pressure him into it with lofty, empty words was just shameless.

"I’m sorry. It’s just... I just can’t see any hope anymore..."

Lavin sighed, as if he had lost his last ounce of strength. "After I die, I beg you to bury me facing west. That is the direction of my home."

Then he put on an air of someone calmly facing death.

"Ooh, la la!"

Zog said with exaggerated sarcasm, "Bury you facing west? Give me a break. You were trying to steal something. Stop acting so self-righteous. Who said you were going to die?"

"But... I’m not?"

In Lavin’s mind, death was the only possible outcome for him.

"If you die, I’ll have to find a new actor. We’ve already filmed a lot of the Shadow of Evil."

Zog never felt that what Lavin did was particularly serious—not worth killing him over, anyway. But he definitely had to be punished.

"Let me think... when he infiltrated the gun works, did he cause any damages?" Zog asked, looking at War Axe.

War Axe hesitated. "Uh... should there be damages, or... shouldn’t there be?"

"There should probably be some."

"Um, he... when he climbed the wall, he, yes, he damaged the gun works’ wall. We must, uh, we must completely renovate the entire perimeter wall."