Chapter 525 - 329: The Dragon Is Here!

Chapter 525: Chapter 329: The Dragon Is Here!

Zog finished putting on his tuxedo.

It was meticulously tailored, with ample space for his wings and tail. Perfectly form-fitting, it didn’t hinder his movement whether he was walking on all fours, standing upright, or flying.

High praise.

The artisans of the Royal City were truly worthy of their reputation. Those who crafted luxury goods for the Royal Family certainly knew their stuff.

Zog didn’t stop for any interviews, heading straight into the venue.

He didn’t need to rely on frequent media appearances to boost his exposure.

He himself was the biggest "light source" there was.

The People’s Choice and Media Choice awards had already been presented over the past two days.

Just as Zog expected, the results were wildly different.

This was actually a normal phenomenon. The media, having seen a relatively large number of films, inevitably developed more "discerning" tastes as their viewing volume increased.

It wasn’t just the media, either. Even within the general audience, a gap in aesthetic tastes existed between hardcore enthusiasts and casual viewers.

In almost any field involving aesthetics, tastes tend to become more "niche" as one’s understanding deepens.

In and of itself, it was no big deal.

Agree to disagree, right?

Pity about the awards ceremony.

Now, the fans were questioning whether the media, whose choices diverged from the public’s, could truly speak for the masses.

Meanwhile, those who supported the media’s picks were busy arguing that popular choice didn’t equate to professional excellence.

It might sound a bit complicated, so let’s simplify.

One side cursed, "Stop being so pretentious, you niche-loving snob!" The other shot back, "You’ve clearly never had anything good in your life."

Something along those lines.

And since there was no single, undisputed masterpiece that was head and shoulders above the rest, neither side could convince the other.

The online arguments had whipped the hype for the final day—the day of the "Academy of Professional Judges" awards—into a frenzy.

They were all waiting to see who would win the final awards, hoping to use the results as ammunition to win their arguments.

Zog found the whole thing hilarious.

’Because the Academy’s winners were going to be completely different from the other two!’

It was perfectly in line with Zog’s expectations.

Only by being different could they showcase the distinction between the awards. Then, people would argue over which award held more prestige, and in the future, there would likely even be talk of a "Grand Slam."

’It was all about the buzz!’

After signing some autographs outside, Zog headed into the main hall.

The entire awards ceremony felt a bit like an annual gala for the entertainment industry, with an audience composed entirely of its own professionals.

They had chosen a comedian as the host, and the ceremony’s overall style was light and entertaining. The host would mercilessly roast the assembled stars.

However, all the jokes were cleared with their targets beforehand, to prevent some star from snapping and marching on stage to punch the host.

Amid wave after wave of roaring laughter—it was impossible to tell whether it was forced or genuine—the ceremony proceeded in an orderly fashion.

Zog sat in the front row with the cast and crew of *Silence of the Lambs*, waiting to collect the biggest award of the night: Best Picture.

On stage, Lavin was weeping uncontrollably as he recounted the hardships he had endured to complete his film.

He and his Augustine production team had won the Jury’s Choice Award in the test screening category.

It was certainly something to get excited about, but Lavin seemed a little *too* excited; he nearly blurted out how much money he owed the Zog Group.

Thankfully, the backstage crew was experienced. Citing that he had exceeded his speaking time, they lowered the microphone, physically silencing him.

However, Zog’s attention wasn’t on the stage.

An officer from the Deepwater City Police Department was whispering in his ear.

"Multiple patrols outside the city have reported abnormal behavior among the Magical Beasts. They are no longer responding to our intimidation tactics and appear highly agitated. This is unrelated to any Devil influence. We suspect a more dangerous creature is present within the wastelands. An investigation team was dispatched, but they were unable to identify the specific species. So far, we’ve only found some tracks. The Chief deems the situation urgent and decided to inform you immediately."

After rattling off his report, the officer handed over a file containing photos of the tracks they’d found.

Zog showed little reaction to the officer’s report. ’Dangerous Magical Beasts? No big deal.’

’Any creature that didn’t contribute to the Zog Group’s bottom line was a creature that could be eliminated.’

But when Zog opened the file, he froze.

The file contained several photos, all of them of footprints.

Zog hadn’t studied much Feilin biology; normally, he couldn’t identify a creature from its tracks alone. But these prints, no matter how he looked at them, looked exactly like Dragon Claws.

’Dragons in the wastelands outside Deepwater City?’

’Impossible.’

And from the looks of it, there was more than just one.

When he’d first chosen the site for Deepwater City, Zog had flown over a radius of several hundred miles. He hadn’t found any trace of other Dragons, and had even marked the area as his own territory.

He’d marked it with a Magic Mark.

He was a civilized Dragon, after all, long past the rather unhygienic, primitive method of scent marking.

The Dragon Race was extremely territorial.

Doudou, who couldn’t care less about territory, was an outlier even among outliers.

Normally, a single territory would be ruled by one adult Dragon or one family. In very rare cases, a few weaker Dragons might band together, but their numbers would never reach double digits.

But judging from the footprints provided by the police department, there were tracks from more than a dozen individuals in the photos alone.

’Have I kicked a dragon’s nest?’

That would explain why the Magical Beasts weren’t afraid of the patrols anymore. Compared to a patrol officer, a Dragon was far more terrifying.

The problem was, according to the rules of the Dragon Race, brazenly trespassing on a marked territory was considered a grave provocation.