Chapter 526 - 329: The Dragons Are Here

Chapter 526: Chapter 329: The Dragons Are Here

The owner of that territory had an unlimited right to defend it against any trespassing dragons.

If trespassers were killed as a result, other dragons would only scorn them for their foolishness.

That’s why Zog couldn’t figure out what was going on with this cluster of dragons.

Judging from the footprints, the dragons were of various ages—mostly adults and sub-adults, with a few older ones and several juvenile dragons. Despite their numbers, they posed no threat to Zog.

Honestly, he could just lock the gates and let Doudou handle them.

This composition looked like several families fleeing together, not some reckless young dragons looking for their own territory.

With older dragons in the group, they should have recognized Zog’s mark.

Although he didn’t socialize much with his own kind, legends about him were widespread among the Dragon Race.

Back in the day, he was a famous idol among dragons.

After thinking it over, Zog could only conclude that these dragons hadn’t noticed his mark.

"Here’s the plan," Zog ordered. "Your police department can stand down on this for now. I’ll handle it."

"Understood!"

Zog planned to personally seek out these dragons tomorrow to determine their intentions.

If they were an unlucky family of dragons who had lost their territory, he’d persuade them to leave. If they were here to seize his land, he’d give them a good thrashing and kick them out.

Using lethal force was out of the question. The dragon population was scarce, so he had to show some consideration for his own kind.

"What’s wrong?" Furin asked from her seat beside him.

"A lot of dragon footprints were found in the wilderness outside Deepwater City," Zog answered truthfully.

"A lot of dragon footprints? Are you sure it’s not Doudou’s clones up to some shenanigans again?"

"No, the footprints are different." At this, Zog suddenly remembered that Furin, unlike him, still kept in contact with other members of the Dragon Race. "Have you heard about any families losing their territory recently?"

"Recently? No, I haven’t."

"Don’t you keep in touch with other dragons pretty often?"

"I do. I contact them once every two or three years."

"You call every..."

Zog wanted to retort that contacting them once every two or three years hardly counted as "often," but on second thought, for an Ancient Dragon, that was actually quite frequent.

"What are you going to do?"

"I’m going to find them."

"I’ll go with you."

"No need. Judging by the footprints, there aren’t any particularly powerful dragons among them. They can’t do anything to me."

"I’m worried about what you’ll do to *them*," Furin said, rolling her eyes. "The Dragon Race’s living space is already shrinking. We can’t afford to have internal conflicts. It’s best to drive them off without attacking if you can."

’Am I really such a violent dragon in your eyes?’

Furin nodded without hesitation.

"But I don’t even pillage anymore! I sell things! There’s never been a dragon as benevolent as me in the entire history of the Dragon Race. Okay, except for Doudou."

"But you’ve only been selling things for a few years. For the thousand years before that, you were a very violent dragon."

In the end, Furin and Zog agreed to go find the other dragons after the ceremony and banquet. Delaying could lead to complications.

The awards ceremony continued, lasting nearly three hours before they finally got to the Best Picture award.

The presenter held the envelope, trying their best to build the suspense, as the camera panned to each of the nominated film crews.

Finally, after a dramatic musical sting, Zog and the crew of *Silence of the Lambs* erupted in ecstasy, "unable to believe" they had actually won the highest honor.

*Silence of the Lambs* became the biggest winner of the Demon Shadow Festival.

In addition to several other awards, it swept the highest honors from both the Academy Jury and the Media Selection.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t a grand slam; they didn’t win the Fan Choice award.

The audience for thrillers was still a bit too niche.

This was the biggest problem with the Fan Choice award. Due to the influence of a genre’s audience size, some exceptionally high-quality films were perhaps destined never to win the popular vote.

Thus, no award was perfect; each had its own biases and limitations.

The entire crew—a massive, motley crew of Devils and Dragons—shuffled onto the stage.

Due to time constraints, everyone could only give a brief speech. Finally, after Zog’s acceptance speech, the awards ceremony officially came to a close.

That was the end of the part broadcast on Demon Vision.

The banquet that followed was a completely private industry event.

It wasn’t some scandalous after-party, just a standard banquet where winners celebrated and ambitious people discussed next year’s projects.

These sorts of occasions often led to new projects being greenlit haphazardly. Doing business over dinner was an international custom, after all.

All banquet attendees had the choice of private car service or teleportation, with transportation options entirely up to them.

Zog and Asmodis walked out of the venue together, chatting about making another big Devil movie next year—something that would be both critically acclaimed and a box office hit.

"I’m not just bragging, but if we hadn’t made a thriller, I definitely would’ve taken all three awards," Zog boasted as he walked, though he had no actual ideas for what to film next. He was just shooting the breeze.

Suddenly, Furin yanked on his arm.

"What is it? I’m in the middle of a big business deal here."

"Look at the sky."

"What’s there to see? It’s pitch-black."

"No, Dragons."

"Dragons? What dragons?"

"The dragons we were planning to find. I don’t think we need to go looking for them anymore," Furin said, pointing at the night sky.

It finally clicked for Zog, and he immediately looked up.

There, nearly thirty shadows were circling in the night sky.

A flock of dragons.

They were of various sizes and colors, gliding with wings outstretched as they slowed down, searching for a place to land.

Countless passersby also noticed the strange sight in the sky. They all looked up and let out waves of cheers.

That’s right, cheers. No one panicked, and no one ran. They all thought it was just another new event in Deepwater City.

After all, there was a new event here almost every week.

Plus, today was the closing day of the Demon Shadow Festival. It was perfectly reasonable for the Zog Group to hire a bunch of dragons for a performance.

To make matters worse, the festival’s closing ceremony was crawling with reporters, and the frenetic flashing of cameras faithfully recorded the moment.

Zog hadn’t been this nervous in a long time.

It wasn’t because he was afraid of these dragons.

After seeing them with his own eyes, he was even more certain that they were pathetically weak.

Rather, he was afraid of the possibility of a conflict breaking out.

Although Zog’s intention was not to lift a claw, what if he had to?

As weak as these dragons were, there were still several adults among them. If a real fight broke out, collateral damage would be unavoidable.

The area was so densely packed with people right now that an immediate evacuation was impossible. If a thousand or so people were injured or killed, it would be over. A major scandal. The tourist-friendly city image he had worked so hard to build would be completely ruined.

Asmodis, on the other hand, was practically buzzing with excitement.

"Am I about to witness the Dragon Race fighting over territory? Need any help? Devil-for-hire services, first time’s half-price."

"What are you so excited about?!"

After a few seconds of hesitation, Zog made a decision. If these dragons were here for him, regardless of their intentions, he had to lead them away first.

He spread his wings and took flight, heading toward the flock of dragons, preparing to lead them to a more deserted area.

Dragons themselves weren’t inherently destructive; they just loved treasure. If they were here to seize territory, their target would be Zog, so there was no reason for them to destroy the city.

However, just as Zog took to the air, several of the adult dragons from the flock began to descend.

They landed right in the open square in front of the venue.

Seeing this, Zog grew furious.

’What is the meaning of this? I offer you an easy way out and you spit in my face?’

Just as Zog was contemplating how to minimize the damage, the actions of those adult dragons left him stunned in mid-air.

The dragons maneuvered their massive bodies with extreme caution, as if terrified of bumping into any of the onlookers.

This slightly clumsy but endearing movement sparked another wave of cheers from the crowd.

Furin, who had already formed an Illusion Array between her hands, froze, unsure whether she should activate it.

After a series of strenuous movements, the adult dragons finally managed to flip themselves over. They lay with their vulnerable bellies facing up, squirmed a little, and said in the Dragon Language, "Great Zog, please accept our respects."

Now Zog was completely bewildered.

’What’s going on?’

Exposing their bellies. It was the ultimate gesture of submission among the Dragon Race, the most shameful and debasing act imaginable. Even Doudou wouldn’t do that while being ganged up on.

From Zog’s perspective, it was as if he’d been expecting a fight, only for his opponent to rush forward, drop to their knees, and perform three loud kowtows.

’What’s the big idea? I’ve never heard of dragons begging their elders for New Year’s money.’