Chapter 428 - 282: Zog Doesn’t Want to Wade into Muddy Waters

Chapter 428: Chapter 282: Zog Doesn’t Want to Wade into Muddy Waters

"Is that all? Anything else?"

"Also, also... oh, right! The squad members guarding the armory were severely traumatized. Now, now they’re receiving treatment from a psychologist. We have to pursue compensation for psychological damages."

"So, how much would all that be, roughly?"

"Seventy or eighty..."

War Axe had originally planned to say seventy or eighty Gold Coins. In his mind, that was already an outrageous ripoff, since catching Lavin had taken about as much effort as catching a chicken.

But seeing Zog’s encouraging little look, War Axe had no choice but to say, "Seven or eight hundred thousand Gold Coins."

After saying it, he felt his conscience being tormented. ’I’m no longer a good Beastman.’

"Excellent! Ah, I mean, what a terrible shame," Zog exclaimed, slapping the table. "I never thought you’d cause so much damage. Well, there’s nothing to be done. You’ll probably have to spend the rest of your life paying off your debt to the Group."

As he spoke, he pulled out a Contract. "After *Silence of the Lambs* is finished, you have many more projects to act in and many commercials to take on. You have no right to refuse until the debt is paid off."

Lavin dazedly signed his name. He still hadn’t recovered from the fact that he wasn’t going to die.

’I’m so lucky,’ he thought.

But he didn’t know that what actually awaited him was a lifetime of grueling, thankless labor.

Still, it wasn’t a huge problem. ’Who isn’t a corporate slave these days? It’s still better than being a vagrant.’

Lavin left with the Contract. His last hope now was to make the Shadow of Evil that would expose Villain’s crimes and let the world know of his people’s tragic plight.

After Lavin left, Zog gave War Axe a thumbs-up.

’As expected of a Beastman who’s been with me for a while. His intelligence has clearly improved. He’s learned the Zog Group’s corporate culture very well.’

War Axe, however, left sullenly. ’The Beastmen of today are less and less like those of the past,’ he thought. ’We’re no longer a race filled with honor.’

It wasn’t just him; the other Beastmen in the tribe had changed too.

The world was changing, and they were changing with it.

Back in his office, Zog mulled over the Augustine City problem.

He had no intention of sticking his claws into this war.

The Loman Empire, which supported Villain, was also a potential market for Zog.

Although they hadn’t adopted the Divine Remains Network, they had imported some of his toys and Demon Vision devices.

’Small profits are still profits.’

Antagonizing the Loman Empire right now was not a good option.

But the Type 56 really did need an opportunity for exposure.

Weapons weren’t exactly suitable for direct advertising on the internet or on Demon Vision.

The best advertisement would be large-scale use on a battlefield, producing actual combat results.

If this war could garner enough attention, it might be a very suitable demonstration platform.

How could he get people to pay attention to this war?

And how could he get the Type 56 to flow into the battlefield without offending either side?

In Zog’s ideal scenario, it would be like DJI—declare that you refuse to weaponize your products and don’t sell to either warring party, but in reality, the battlefield is full of them.

’Get paid while standing tall!’

But how could he pull that off?

Zog thought for a long time but couldn’t come up with a solution. He just arranged for someone to look into it.

"Forget it, I’ll set it aside for now," Zog muttered to himself.

The commercial model of the firearm hadn’t been designed or manufactured yet anyway. He could just see how things played out later.

’Motion is the fundamental property of things; it is developmental, it is change. Therefore, even if I came up with a plan now, it wouldn’t necessarily fit the actual situation in the future.’

Zog had successfully found a suitable excuse for his inability to come up with a plan.

’Give up when you should give up. Never waste energy on internal friction.’

’Damn, he was so clever!’

With the farce of breaking into the armory temporarily concluded, Zog returned to the filming of *Silence of the Lambs*.

Lavin seemed unaffected and continued to dutifully complete his filming tasks. Or perhaps he was affected but didn’t show it, which would only prove he was an even better actor.

The highly anticipated Raul also got out of prison and arrived on set. When they first met, Zog almost didn’t recognize him.

The original Raul—kind, friendly, a 100% pure good guy, even a model of morality—now looked like a dangerous, gloomy viper.

His entire being radiated an aura that warned people away. Just seeing him stand there made you feel like the death penalty would be letting him off easy.

According to the Beastman Warrior in charge of his security, after spending some time in prison, Raul became a legendary figure there. He had fabricated several heinous crimes for himself, all with highly credible details.

The Beastmen hadn’t been of any help at all.

When the prison boss came for Raul, he was originally planning to hold a "welcoming ceremony."

For this group of serious offenders who would likely never see a member of the opposite sex again, the so-called welcome usually involved treating the new, weaker inmates as if they were.

Most inmates went through this ordeal. You could choose the front or the back. If you resisted, both would be "developed."

The prison guards didn’t care about these things. Feilin’s prisons were for labor, not rehabilitation.

You’re sent here for punishment, so how could they let the prisoners have a good life?

Besides, the prison where Raul was "studying life" housed people who would never return to society, not until the day they died.

So, as long as it didn’t reduce the labor force, the guards pretended nothing happened.

At that moment, the Beastmen were about to start a fight to rescue Raul, but he, relying solely on the aura created by his superb acting, made the prison boss hesitate, not daring to make a move.

Afterward, Raul vividly described to the boss the long list of crimes he had "committed."

The details were rich, the imagery intense. He described the texture of every part of the human body, the best ways to cook them, and how, after eating the choice cuts, he would turn the "kitchen scraps" into beautiful works of art.

He did all this while running a finger over the boss’s body as he spoke.

"That poor bastard threw up all over the floor," said the Beastman Warrior in charge of security. "After that, Mr. Raul became a prison legend. No one dared to mess with him again."

’Impressive,’ Zog couldn’t help but marvel.

’It’s a good thing I roped Raul into acting. With his talent, if he’d become some kind of con artist, he would have ended up as a truly heinous criminal. The entertainment industry has saved society from a menace.’

"Also, while in prison, Mr. Raul liked to stare intently at people, taking notes as he watched. The other inmates all whispered that he was selecting ingredients. Every single one of them was scared to death."

"So that’s how he observed and learned from the serious offenders?"

"Not just that. I suspect he really *was* selecting ingredients," the Beastman Warrior said with a completely serious face.

"Huh?"

"The textures he described... they didn’t sound fake. Beastmen don’t like to eat their own kind," the Beastman Warrior said, looking aggrieved, as if he’d truly been protecting someone who shouldn’t have been protected.

Raul had acted so well he’d even fooled his own people.

During the subsequent filming, Raul’s scenes were almost all done in one take, with no need for reshoots.

The few scenes that required multiple takes were only because the actors performing with him made mistakes.

Throughout the entire shoot, Raul remained in a state where he was indistinguishable from his character. He was Hannibal, and Hannibal was him.

He dragged down the originally cheerful and laughter-filled atmosphere on set, making it oppressive.

To better match the character in the script, Raul voluntarily chose to use a non-permanent aging spell, turning himself into a man in his fifties or sixties.

As a result, his appearance was no longer the familiar, middle-aged Raul everyone knew.

The atmosphere became even more oppressive.

During this time, Asmodis also visited the set. After sorting out the household registration system, he finally had a chance to visit Feilin.

The trip was already a month later than originally planned.

On set, Asmodis’s eyes immediately locked onto Raul.

"This man is absolutely Devil material. It’s a shame he’s a Human!"

The Lord of Hell was the only one these days who could see Raul and still manage to laugh.

It was a deeply unsettling laugh.

But the good news was that, thanks to Raul’s supreme professionalism, the rest of the shoot went extremely smoothly. Not only did he act well himself, but he also helped the other actors get into character quickly.

And just like that, *Silence of the Lambs* was quickly completed and released without any large-scale promotion.