The Red Dragon Lord is OP, but Insists on a Pop Culture Invasion!

Chapter 251: Chapter 211: Whether the Twin Towers Are Chaotic or Not, Zog Has the Final Say (Part 2)

Too bad there’s no BGM. It makes things feel a little stiff.

High Tower Hero took off his cowl, revealing Soron’s shiny bald head in the moonlight.

"Whew, I’ve dished out some justice once again. I’m just so great. Just as I thought, there’s no trouble in my city that I can’t solve, hahaha..."

Soron, Twin Tower City’s most famous Legendary Mage, was living out his superhero dream.

As the most prestigious person in the city, he’d have a good chance of winning if he ran for City Lord.

But his ambitions didn’t lie there. His dream had always been the same as in his youth: to protect civilians from danger.

For many years, he had been putting his ideals into practice in all sorts of ways.

But as time went on, he started to feel a bit tired, feeling that the rush he got from dishing out justice no longer matched the effort he was putting in.

It wasn’t that dishing out justice wasn’t satisfying anymore. It just... wasn’t *as* satisfying.

Until he saw a comic called "Batman" in a Zog Comics magazine.

Oh, *that* was awesome.

A famous playboy by day, a warrior of the night.

No one knew his identity; he fought evil in solitude.

It was practically a story drawn just for him.

So, naturally, he began cosplaying as Batman—capturing the spirit, if not the exact look.

Granted, his backstory wasn’t nearly as tragic, and he had no time to live the high life by day; he was always at the Zog Group, working on Magic Language.

But his nightly activities helped him rediscover the passion of his youth.

And unlike Batman, who faced all sorts of powerful enemies and got himself into miserable situations,

he was the great Soron, and in Twin Tower City, he was invincible!

...

Well, okay, maybe not *that* invincible.

Except for that money-grubbing dragon, that dragon’s golden paramour, and their other kinsman who was always acting like a little brat.

He, Soron, was invincible!

It was for this very reason that he dared to so "brazenly" play the hero around the city.

Because, theoretically, there was no risk; the three he couldn’t beat weren’t so bored they would go out and wreak havoc.

’Speaking of which, where did that old rascal Zog run off to? I haven’t sensed his presence at all these last two days.’

Just like Batman in the comics, High Tower Hero Soron also had contingency and tracking plans for every opponent worth watching.

Granted, the contingency plan for Zog was empty, but he had still made it. You can’t say it doesn’t exist if you’ve already created the folder.

’Where did Zog run off to?’

Soron pondered. Based on his understanding of Zog, whenever that guy disappeared for a while, there was a high probability he was about to pull some big stunt.

This made him a little uneasy.

As for Zog, he was currently in the Dark Nether Realm.

He was there for one reason: to recruit the final mentor for *Feilin’s Best Songs*.

He couldn’t think of a more suitable choice than the Spider-Elf Queen, Roline.

She had a deep understanding of music, possessed professional-level skill, and was receptive to all kinds of genres. She could even listen to the songs of the Underground Discard, and actually quite liked a few of them.

She also enjoyed creating all kinds of experimental music. Whether that music was actually listenable was another matter, but it felt very high-level.

Most importantly, having the leader of the Zor Race on the mentor panel would be a huge publicity draw.

The Zor judge in the previous blade-forging competition didn’t get much screen time, but a mentor on *Feilin’s Best Songs* would have far more opportunities to shine.

It might even help to significantly improve the bad reputation of the Zor Race.

Promoting unity among all intelligent races was one of Zog’s goals.

The most righteous a Red Dragon had ever been.

Of course, a large part of Zog’s motivation for achieving this goal was to create a better environment for making money.

A harmonious and stable society is better for business.

Eliminate the barriers between races, and forget globalization—a continent-wide economy could become a reality.

And so, Zog came before Roline once again.

The Spider-Elf Queen’s usual spawn point: her concert hall.

Roline had created another wild project: the Skeleton Soldier Corps.

As an Elf who had also studied in the Necromancy School, she found that Skeleton Soldiers perfectly executed her every intention as a conductor. They carried out her commands absolutely, with no delay and no artistic interpretation of their own.

They were much more reliable than living Zor.

Roline had thus pioneered the first research in the history of the Necromancy School dedicated to specializing Skeleton Soldiers for musical performance.

If one had to point out a flaw, it was that watching this orchestra perform felt genuinely chilling.

That’s what Zog thought, anyway.

Watching this band of skeletons perform for over ten minutes, he wasn’t sure if it was a physical sensation or a psychological one, but regardless, he felt a little cold.

If even he felt uncomfortable, he couldn’t imagine what it would be like for an Ordinary person to listen to this stuff.

There was a good reason this concert hall rarely had an audience.

Finally, Roline concluded her performance.

"Which elves are you here for this time?"

She asked without turning around. She was used to it—every time Zog came, he would take a few Elves away.

The population drain from the Zor City State was so severe, and this Red Dragon was entirely to blame.

Most of those left in the city now were either elderly Zor or children who had yet to come of age.

Nothing but left-behind Elves.

"I want you," Zog said, getting straight to the point.

"Huh?" For once, Roline’s tone wavered.

"I need you to be a mentor on a music variety show. Interested?"

"No." Roline refused without a second thought.

"But this show will air during prime time! It can be seen anywhere with a Magic Vision Device. You know about the Magic Vision Device, right? It’s one of our products. In case you don’t have one..."

"I know."

Roline cut off Zog’s tendency to launch into a sales pitch anytime, anywhere.

Some of the Zor who worked abroad had brought back Magic Vision Devices when they returned to visit family. According to them, however, the Dark Nether Realm didn’t get a signal yet, so they could only watch recordings on Magic Crystal Stones.

Roline had watched a few and found them uninteresting, especially a recording of a show called the blade-forging competition, which to her surprise, featured a great many Elves.

After learning that this show was also produced by the Zog Group, Roline had been furious for a time, believing Zog had betrayed their pact and sided with the Elves.

But this was an unfair accusation against Zog. First of all, Zog would never side with a specific race. He sided with money.

Secondly, the Zog Group’s cooperation with the Elves ran much deeper than just filming a show.

"You really won’t consider it?"

"I have no need for meaningless fame. It would only be an extra burden."

"The pay is extremely generous."

"I am Queen Zor. I do not lack for wealth."

Zog curled his lip in disdain. ’Yeah, right. Keep pretending,’ he thought. ’Just look at this concert hall. It hasn’t been renovated in ages. It looked just like this when I saw it hundreds of years ago. The paint is even peeling off the walls in places.’

’If the Zor City State was really that rich, would its entire able-bodied workforce have run off to work for me?’

’For every young Zor, the coming-of-age ceremony was basically a Teleportation Array leading straight to the Zog Group.’

’The Zor City State was known as Feilin Xiaodongbei.’

"Trust me, this will only be good for the Zor Race. It might even help the Zor reintegrate into society."

Roline fell silent for a moment. To be honest, she was tempted. The Zor Race had suffered greatly since their schism with the Elves. Of course, a large part of that suffering was their own fault.

After a moment’s thought, she still refused. "The Zor Race does not need such pity. I am very busy with official duties right now. Please leave."

’Busy with official duties, my ass.’

’Every time I come here, Roline is in the concert hall composing. What kind of busy City Lord acts like this?’

Since it had come to this, Zog could only resort to his ultimate technique.

"There are Elves participating in this show, too."

"Are you provoking me?" Roline’s voice was filled with anger.

Her anger was mostly confined to her voice, however. Even on her home turf, she couldn’t beat Zog. But if Zog really had defected to the Elves, she was confident she could make him suffer for it.

"No. To be specific, the Elves are participating as contestants. You’re the mentor. You can..."

Zog hadn’t even finished speaking when Roline cut him off. "I’ll participate."

She appeared nonchalant, but her eight legs had already begun to tap excitedly on the floor.

"Let me say this up front: you don’t have to pick the Elf contestants, but don’t act too radically when you’re dealing with them."

"No! On the contrary, I *will* choose the Elf contestants! I’ll make them study under me, and then those contestants will take my songs back and perform for all the other Elves! All Elves will listen to my music! They will all listen to my music! Gye heh heh..."

Zog’s face was a mask of question marks. ’Figures,’ he thought. ’You really can’t stay underground for too long. The lack of sunlight really does a number on your sanity.’

"Then it’s a deal. Oh, right, when you get to Twin Tower City, don’t teleport directly into the city. Go to the outskirts first, and I’ll come get you."

Zog was afraid that a Legendary Spider Elf suddenly materializing in Twin Tower City would cause a panic.

He had no idea if she’d actually taken him seriously.

Let’s just hope nothing goes sideways.