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

Chapter 255: Chapter 213: Monster Girls Are the Most Popular (Part 2)

"I, Roline, ruler of Blai City, have no need to arrive from the outskirts when visiting any city on the Continent."

"Oh, that’s so impressive. Why don’t you go visit the center of the Holy City of the Church right now? I’ll wait for your good news. If you can make it back in one piece, I’ll work for you from now on. The Zog Group can be renamed the Roline Group."

Zog immediately called her bluff.

He then looked at the man in the strange, tight-fitting suit, feeling the figure was vaguely familiar.

’How can I get him to play along and spin this event, which almost became a bloody conflict, into a "nice little accident"?’

After all, the whole thing had been broadcast live, with hundreds of thousands of pairs of eyes watching.

"You..." As Zog started to speak, he caught a familiar scent on the other man—mostly familiar, but with a hint of what must be perfume. "Are you Soron?"

"I’m not!" Soron denied at once.

"Stop pretending. I recognized your scent. Plus, with a Defense Array of this caliber and that build... you’re the only one among all the Mages who specialize in Defense."

Zog rubbed his nose, wondering why Soron had doused himself in so much perfume.

He’d always had strong opinions about the local nobility’s habit of wearing perfume. It wasn’t the act itself, but they all applied it so heavily. It was very unpleasant for creatures with a sensitive sense of smell.

"Alright, fine, I’m Soron," Soron confessed, seeing there was no use hiding it. "Don’t tell anyone about this, or... or else I’ll..."

Soron thought for a long moment, then realized he had no leverage against Zog.

"I’ll... I’m begging you."

"Why are you..."

Zog wanted to ask Soron why he was dressed like that, though he had to admit he’d done similar things himself.

But when he wore his Flame Dragon Armor, it was secretly, in the privacy of his own office for his own amusement. He’d just been unlucky enough to be discovered.

’Or maybe Soron has been repressed for too long, and putting on a physical mask lets him take off his mental one...’

"Don’t ask!" Soron cut him off, embarrassed. It was as conspicuous as the elephant in the room, but as long as no one mentioned it, they could all pretend it wasn’t there.

"Can I ask what’s going on now?"

Roline asked from the side.

She felt as though she’d caused some trouble, but not a very serious amount.

"Just pretend he came to welcome you."

"Oh, is that so?" Roline nodded. ’So my guess was correct. I really am a proper queen who understands etiquette.’

"As for you," Zog continued, turning to Soron, "when you face the reporters, here’s the story: the Spider Elf is a peace envoy traveling the world to break the stereotypes other races have of the Zor. She came to Twin Tower City to participate in a variety show, and a small misunderstanding occurred because she was unfamiliar with the rules of Human cities."

Zog had concocted a half-true explanation.

"She’s here to be on a show?" Soron asked in surprise.

He could tolerate a few Zor in the city, but a Legendary Spider Elf was simply too dangerous.

"Yes, for Feilin’s Best Songs, as a mentor," Zog said, seeming to notice Soron’s concern. "Don’t worry, there won’t be any problems. She’s actually quite fond of peace. And, theoretically, I’m far more dangerous than she is."

Roline was, indeed, relatively peace-loving. After becoming queen, she had been engrossed in music, with no interest in leading the Zor into constant warfare. Whatever her personal motivations, she had factually ended the Zor’s long-standing state of war-crazed fervor.

This had also caused the Zor City State to become poor, turning it into little more than a labor-sourcing base for the Zog Group.

"Er..." Soron considered this. It actually made sense. After all, the city already had three Ancient Dragons. What’s one more Legendary on top of that? As they say, when you have enough debt, you stop worrying.

"Anyway, it’s time for you to face the reporters. You don’t have any issues with the story, do you?"

"Why do I have to face the reporters?"

Soron despised reporters, whether from newspapers or Magic Vision. It used to be tolerable, but things changed after clickbait headlines and fake news began appearing in the papers.

Reporters would lay all sorts of traps during interviews. You had to be extremely careful when answering questions; otherwise, a casual remark could be twisted into something else entirely and plastered on the front page the next day.

And he couldn’t show them any attitude, or the next day would be an even bigger media frenzy.

"You’re a better talker than I am, why don’t you answer the reporters?" Soron said.

"I’m the owner of the Magic Vision Station. Anything I say would be met with skepticism. Whereas you, er, what was your hero name again?"

"High Tower Hero."

"High Tower Hero. You wouldn’t want everyone to find out your real identity, would you?"

A threat. A naked, blatant threat.

But Soron was helpless. He couldn’t win in a fight against Zog.

A moment later, the Defense Array dispersed. Zog and Roline had already left, leaving him alone to face a swarm of reporters.

Just a few minutes ago, there had only been one reporter.

Whenever there was big news, these guys would swarm in like sharks smelling blood.

’They certainly are dedicated, I’ll give them that...’

Facing a forest of cameras and countless microphones, Soron recited the story Zog had prepared for him.

"Excuse me, but what caused the craters on the ground? Did you destroy it during your ’misunderstanding’ of a fight?" one reporter asked.

The question caught Soron off guard. Zog hadn’t prepped him for this one. ’Does that mean I can improvise?’

The mask on Soron’s head truly seemed to unlock his inner shackles. He was about to let loose.

"Ahem." He cleared his throat pretentiously. "Speaking of the battle sparked by this misunderstanding... it was an earth-shattering, evenly matched struggle! You may look at this Spider Elf and see nothing special, but she is, in fact, a Legendary Necromancer..."

"WOAH!" The reporters gasped. A Legendary! That was huge news.

"However, it was I, High Tower Hero, the righteous guardian of Twin Tower City, who ultimately proved superior!"

"You just mentioned that you protect Twin Tower City and can defeat a Legendary being. Does that mean you have what it takes to challenge Master Soron?" another reporter asked, laying a huge trap for the High Tower Hero before them.

Soron smiled faintly and replied, "Not in the slightest. My power isn’t even one ten-thousandth of Master Soron’s. He is my eternal idol, the greatest Mage on the Continent. Even the legendary Zog cannot break through his Protective Magic."

’What? Zog just poked through his protective Elemental Wall as if it were a sheet of paper.’

’That wall was erected by High Tower Hero. What’s that got to do with Soron?’

"Oh, Master Soron... no words of praise in this world are sufficient to describe his greatness! I shall forever follow in his footsteps..."

While Soron was shamelessly singing his own praises in front of every media outlet in the city, Zog teleported Roline to the studio for Feilin’s Best Songs.

The staff on set were more curious than afraid of the bizarrely-shaped new mentor.

The Dark Nether Realm was a common setting in legendary tales, and the Spider Elf was a classic villain, so everyone had heard of them, but no one had ever seen one in person.

People who haven’t experienced true danger for a long time tend to lack a basic awareness of it. Someone even wanted to touch one of her spider legs.

And Roline actually agreed.

She seemed to enjoy the feeling of not being treated like a dangerous creature.

"It feels kind of fuzzy! That’s so weird!" the young staff member who’d touched her leg said excitedly.

"Wow, eight legs... I kind of want her to step on me..." an assistant director muttered from afar.

However, Roline’s hearing was a bit too good; she shot the director a contemptuous glance.

"Oh, she looked at me like I’m trash. I’m in love..."

Zog scratched his head, speechless. This bunch of employees was an embarrassment to dragonkind. The good news, however, was that their acceptance of Monster Girls seemed quite high. These were Ordinary people, which meant the Magic Vision Device audience would likely be just as receptive.

Amid the cheerful and harmonious atmosphere, only Xiaode, the lone Zor, was scared stiff.

’I have to be a mentor alongside the Queen... a mentor with the Queen... Isn’t that overstepping my bounds? Am I going to die...?’

Zog led Roline to a conference room and handed her a piece of sheet music.

"Since you don’t have much of a reputation in Human society yet, you need to perform a song to win over some fans."

Roline looked down at the sheet music. The title was long and rather strange.

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence