Chapter 459 - 296: Zog Intends to Help Out

Chapter 459: Chapter 296: Zog Intends to Help Out

’Outside help is always just that—help. If you want to achieve ultimate victory, you still have to rely on yourself.’

"Among those who aren’t deeply religious, try to select the educated ones with specialized skills. Once they arrive in Deepwater City, don’t house them together. Disperse their living quarters and scatter their job training assignments."

Another important factor for social peace and stability is to reduce the formation of cliques.

This isn’t just about who’s friends with whom. It refers to forming a community of shared interests with its own internal rules, the kind that can become its own power base.

In an agricultural society, this was a necessary means of survival. But in an industrial one, it’s a social structure that’s incompatible with the new mode of production.

The most typical examples are gangs, feudalistic clans whose family rules supersede national law, and—oh, an even more absurd example—noble families that inbreed to ensure a "pure bloodline."

’It’s not like they’re purebred dogs, so where does all this ’pure bloodline’ talk come from?’

And what about people from the same hometown, arriving together in a strange new city?

A breeding ground for gangs!

That’s why they must be broken up, to physically increase the difficulty of forming cliques and factions.

"Then, before these people become citizens, we’ll pack their schedules with mandatory classes. That’ll leave them with no time to socialize with each other. By the time they’ve integrated into Deepwater City, the need to form cliques with people from back home won’t be as strong."

After he finished speaking, Zog thought for a moment, wondering if he’d missed anything.

"Oh, right. No proselytizing is allowed in Deepwater City outside of designated religious sites."

’The perks of being a Lord—in my own territory, my word is law.’

"However, if anyone wants to build a religious site in the city, deny all applications. The only exception is the Church."

’It can’t be helped. If I can’t deal with the Church, can’t I at least deal with the refugees?’

"Oh, and one last thing. Send a film crew to the refugee camp. There’s a lot of promotional content we can create."

’Doing a good deed without leaving a name is tantamount to not doing it at all. Every single Gold Coin the Zog Group spends on charity must be thoroughly filmed!’

And so, very quickly, the Zog Group’s Hope Refugee Camp was formally established.

Zog might not have spent the most money aiding Augustine, but he certainly made the biggest splash.

From the day the camp began accepting refugees, all sorts of videos, exclusive interviews, and documentaries started appearing across various media outlets.

Moreover, all of this content was extremely popular.

This wasn’t just because the film crew Zog dispatched was highly professional and produced excellent footage. It was also because that shattered Magic Crystal Stone had been repaired. The footage of the Augustine Safety Zone, recorded by the adventuring party at the risk of their own lives, was finally released to the public.

Villain was thrust into the eye of a public opinion storm.

Their previous targeting of civilians was atrocious enough, but compared to methodically purging a safety zone they themselves had designated, it was hard to say if they had any humanity left at all.

No one with even a shred of morality could accept such an atrocity.

Villain’s official spokesperson was still trying to refute the accusations, claiming that the resistance had exploited the safety zone they had graciously established, forcing them to attack.

It was the resistance, they argued, who should be held responsible for the tragedy for their disregard of civilian safety.

The outrageous statement thoroughly enraged the public.

Cherry-picking comments was no longer effective, so they wisely learned to disable the comments section entirely.

What was even more interesting was that some independent media outlets, adept at chasing trending topics, entered the Villain Kingdom and filmed a great deal of content about the local civilians’ opinions on the war.

However, the attitude displayed by the locals was something people from other nations found even harder to comprehend.

Every single person interviewed was steadfast in their belief that they were on the side of justice.

To be more precise, they even saw themselves as "noble."

According to them, Augustine’s resistance was the true culprit behind everything. By eliminating these groups, they were enabling the city-state to have a "better" future.

Augustine’s complete annexation by Villain was the most fitting and best possible outcome.

It was rare to see an invasion described in such a refreshingly shameless manner.

With the sheer volume of such content appearing, a quantitative change led to a qualitative one. Protests against Villain were no longer limited to verbal condemnation.

Although the major Kingdoms and the Church merely paid lip service to opposing Villain and took no substantive action, many private organizations had already begun to form armed support groups.

If unarmed volunteers on a peaceful mission were going to be attacked, then the only alternative was to send volunteers who were prepared for an attack.

Several major Mercenary Corps and Adventurer Corps issued statements, declaring their intent to dispatch combat teams into Augustine.

Ostensibly, it was for the sake of fundamental justice.

They were likely also motivated by the idea of making a name for themselves.

But there was nothing wrong with that; good deeds should be rewarded.

After all, you can’t expect the good guys to be the ones with guns pointed at their heads.

Among the many groups preparing to enter Augustine, one team sought out Zog.

"You’re saying you need a sponsor?" Zog asked.

"Yes. We primarily need sponsorship for weapons and equipment. A man like you, who performed such a great act of kindness by establishing the refugee camp, must also want this unjust war to end as soon as possible. If we could receive your help with weapons, I believe we could greatly accelerate our progress and reduce the sacrifices of our Warriors."

The leader of the Mercenary Corps said with great earnestness.

’Wait a minute,’ Zog thought. ’If you guys don’t even have your own weapons, maybe you shouldn’t be rushing off to ’support the weak.’’

"Uh, it’s like this," the mercenary leader continued, "we don’t lack basic weapons and equipment. It’s just that..."

’Ah, I get it,’ Zog thought. ’They’ve got their eyes on the products from my firearms division.’

Ever since the real-life Doomsday Warrior appeared at the exposition, the Zog Group’s various new weapons had become public knowledge.

There was a lot of discussion about them online, and opinions were divided on how these miraculous firearms would actually perform in combat.

Many people saw them as the future of weaponized magic, but plenty of others dismissed them as nothing more than oversized toys.

’Zog was looking for a platform to showcase them and, at the same time, begin sales.’

He had considered having the mercenary volunteers use these weapons to field-test them in the Augustine war, but he had no intention of simply sponsoring them.

’Nothing burns through money faster than war.’

’If Zog were to sponsor them, he could afford it, but it would be a painful expense.’

’A very painful one.’

’However, since public interest in the event was so high and outrage was at a fever pitch, perhaps he wouldn’t have to be the one footing the entire bill.’

So, Zog asked, "Does anyone in your Mercenary Corps know how to film?"

"Filming?"

"That’s right. Our newest miniature action cameras. They won’t get in your way; you can just mount them on your armor and forget about them. Of course, it would be even better if you have people who can compose their own shots. I can sponsor you an initial batch of weapons and a batch of action cameras. In return, you send me the footage you capture on the battlefield. As for whether I can supply more weapons after that... well, that will depend on what I can pull off."

Although the mercenary leader didn’t know what Zog was planning, a batch of free weapons was a good deal, so he readily agreed.

「A few weeks later...」

「Chrysanthemum Street.」

「Zog Magic Cinema.」

Outside the cinema was a massive screen, normally used for showing trailers and other promotional content.

What was showing today was a little different, and it had attracted a crowd of onlookers.

On the screen was what appeared to be first-person footage. The cameraman was holding a strangely shaped gun, hiding behind a low wall. His breathing was heavy and ragged.

A few seconds later, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed.

The subject of the video cautiously peeked out. In the distance, a massive Mechanical Armor was sweeping the area for any remaining enemies.

Just as it was about to reach his position, he burst out from behind the wall, raised the strange gun in his hands, aimed for the Mechanical Armor’s weak point, and pulled the trigger.

Immediately, smoke and dust filled the air. A flash of Magic enveloped the entire Mechanical Armor, and after a rapid series of explosions, it crashed heavily to the ground.

’Is this footage from Augustine City?’

The onlookers began to speculate.

’Do they have the power to fight back now?’

The final shot of the footage was a close-up of the fallen Mechanical Armor.

It looked completely disabled.

Then, the man in the video turned and fled, and the screen slowly faded to black.

’What happened to him? Is he still alive?’

Everyone was dying to know.

But then, an advertisement suddenly popped up on the screen.

"The *Yu-Gi-Oh!* Ancient Gear Structure Deck is now on sale! For a limited time, get the special ’Ancient Gear: Guns of Justice’ booster pack. For every box of this pack you purchase, a resistance fighter on the front lines will receive a new box of ammunition! For justice and faith, buy now...!"

And just like that, the first "crowdfunded" war in the history of the Feilin Continent had begun.