Chapter 458 - 296: Zog Plans to Lend a Hand

Chapter 458: Chapter 296: Zog Plans to Lend a Hand

Zog looked at the Magic Crystal Stone before him.

He had rarely seen a Magic Crystal Stone so thoroughly ravaged.

Not only was it shattered into several pieces, but there were also multiple scorch marks.

"You want me to repair this?" Zog asked, looking at the two people and the Half-Elf before him.

"Yes. It contains footage that will absolutely shake the entire Continent—the destruction of the Augustine Safety Zone," the leader replied.

"Hmm..." Zog grunted.

’At this rate,’ he thought, ’what started as a war between two minor powers is bound to become the most-watched event on the entire Continent.’

’And being in the spotlight makes for a good "stage."’

’It’s the perfect opportunity for some charity work to improve the company’s image.’

Image was crucial. The Zog Group was currently the ultimate conglomerate—the Tencent of social media, the Activision of gaming, and the Bandai of toys, all rolled into one.

Consumers had always complained, but they kept buying anyway.

’That’s not good enough.’

’I want consumers to buy our products with reverence!’

Many corporations had done similar things. Though they were usually bastards, they managed to get some good press for a while through a bit of charity PR.

After all, they were still doing good deeds. Judge the action, not the motive. It was better than doing nothing at all.

"We can pay."

The leader, thinking Zog was hesitating because he didn’t want to do the repairs, spoke up at once.

"No, there’s no need for payment. I’ll arrange for someone to repair it. If this were a job you had to pay for, you wouldn’t be seeing me. Elsa, give this to Professor Moore’s team. If they can’t handle it, contact the Mage Guild."

"Thank you, thank you so much."

"Don’t mention it. It shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Go on back and wait for the good news."

’I wonder how they managed to get these Magic Crystal Stone fragments out,’ Zog mused. ’Judging by their level, they don’t seem to have long-range teleportation. To have made it out of the warzone on foot... they must be something special.’

After seeing the adventuring party off, Zog began to ponder what level of aid would be appropriate.

’Providing supplies is the most direct approach, of course. But while the supplies themselves are easy to get, transporting them into the warzone is not.’

’Besides, plenty of other organizations are already gathering supplies to aid the Augustine City State. They don’t need one more from me.’

’End the war?’

’I don’t have that kind of power, you know.’

Wait!

Zog suddenly had a brilliant idea.

’Right now, many people have fled the city state and have nowhere to go. Meanwhile, Deepwater City is short on people and needs labor.’

’But accepting refugees isn’t something to be done lightly.’

’He’d seen too many cases where refugees caused problems, especially those with religious affiliations.’

’They were a bit like a virus.’

’The kind that’s hard to cure.’

Zog had no intention of performing such selfless acts as "feeding his own body to a tiger or slicing his flesh to feed an eagle."

He planned to be selective about who he accepted.

"Elsa, here’s the plan. Set up a refugee camp on the border where most of the refugees from Augustine City are pouring out. We’ll provide medical care and supplies," Zog ordered.

"What?" Elsa thought she had misheard. "Did you just use a rather shocking word? ’Refugee camp?’"

"That’s right. Re-fu-gee caaamp."

"Ah!" Elsa shrieked.

"What are you screaming about?"

Elsa hurriedly pulled out her phone. "This won’t do! I have to inform Master Furin at once! Her male dragon has been swapped out for an impostor!"

"Hey, is it really so strange for me to set up a refugee camp?"

Elsa nodded furiously.

"What if I told you I was planning to round up all the refugees and send them to Hell to mine ore?"

"Yes! Now that sounds right!"

"Right, my ass! Can’t I just do something good for once?"

Seeing that Zog didn’t seem to be joking, Elsa finally got serious.

She had always been a rather kind-hearted girl. After her own monthly salary crossed the threshold into the high-income bracket, she had sponsored many poor students who couldn’t afford an education.

Since she had changed her own fate through knowledge—though luck certainly played a big part, of course—she felt she should provide the same opportunity to others in need.

To be honest, after working with him for these past few years, Elsa was certain Zog wasn’t a bad dragon. Otherwise, he wouldn’t give his employees such good benefits. His only flaw was a certain... obsession with Gold Coins.

That’s why something like a refugee camp—all investment, no return—was something Zog should have been incapable of doing.

"Of course, we will be selecting a portion of the refugees to send to Deepwater City as a labor force. But we won’t grant them citizenship right away. They’ll need to complete several years of labor and pass some assessments before they can become citizens," Zog said.

Deepwater City residency might not be attractive to people from other big cities, but to homeless refugees, it was a hot commodity.

There would be no handouts for refugees here, either. Everyone had to work hard. No work, no food.

Even with a social security system in place, it wouldn’t protect those who wanted a free ride.

The entirety of Deepwater City belonged to Zog. He didn’t need to pull these kinds of stunts to trick people for votes.

Then again, those people who played these games for votes and ended up getting played themselves, actually believing their own rhetoric... they were a special kind of amazing.

"As for how we’ll choose... before any refugees enter the camp, we’ll tell them that the god they believe in has sent a messenger to save them. Then, we watch who starts praying on the spot, especially those who pray with exceptional piety."

"Understood. You need the most devout believers," Elsa said.

"No, I don’t want the most devout ones. Who wants that crap? The less they believe in gods, the better."

He just couldn’t get along with them. Zog had never been able to get along with fanatics.

He could at least understand believing in someone like the Magic Goddess; at least she still existed.

But believing in a god who was long gone?

He just couldn’t comprehend it.

"As for the especially devout ones, encourage them to go back and fight. If they can’t even defend the land their god bestowed upon them, what kind of devout believers are they?"