Chapter 309 - 239: Filming Complete (2)
He gathered Sam, Doudou, Xin 104, and Ren 82—everyone who had participated in filming the secret short video—for several tense and exciting rounds of Ferin Chronicles.
In other words, Otherworldly Three Kingdoms Kill.
Zog had a thoroughly enjoyable time crushing noobs.
On principle, Zog didn’t support crushing noobs, but he had to admit, it was just too much fun.
So Furin had actually guessed correctly. Zog was indeed staying up all night playing games—or at least, for most of the night.
"I was just worried that staying up so late is bad for your health. I’m not blaming you."
Furin added hastily.
"You don’t love me anymore, do you?"
"Huh?" Furin was caught off guard for a moment. ’So this is what it feels like to be on the receiving end of that question.’
"You hesitated. You really don’t love me."
Zog unleashed his combo.
A taste of her own medicine.
He was Murong Zog, indeed.
He didn’t give Furin another chance to speak. "I’m going to the study to continue editing," he said directly. "Don’t disturb me. And you’d better think long and hard about what you’ve done."
With that, he left the bedroom without a backward glance.
He left Furin sitting alone in her nest, completely bewildered and wondering how she had ended up being the one in the wrong.
After closing the door, Zog didn’t leave right away. Instead, he pressed his ear against it, listening like a villain for a long while to see if Furin had caught on.
He eavesdropped for a full ten minutes. After confirming Furin wasn’t going to do anything else, he finally made his way to the study.
’That was a close one. I almost didn’t manage to scare Furin. Good thing the "version" of life I experienced back when I was human is far more advanced than the one here on the Feilin Continent.’
’The women here haven’t yet been "updated" to the level of those indescribable extremists you find on Earth.’
’And they probably won’t get there anytime soon. Not as long as I’m alive, anyway.’
’Because I control the biggest media channels, and controlling the propaganda means controlling the narrative.’
’Having lived through the peak of the internet age, I know exactly how powerful it is to have a voice that can be heard.’
He went into his study, turned on the editing equipment, and prepared to look for some footage in the asset library.
To facilitate the production of various short videos and provide practice material for training new employees, the Zog Group’s camera operators had filmed a huge variety of clips.
Zog planned to find footage of Steam Engines, along with clips of a small group of people acting stealthily, to edit into the frame-up video.
To Zog’s surprise, there was an abundance of this type of footage, especially for Steam Engines.
It seemed a large number of the group’s camera operators were obsessed with all kinds of machinery.
Besides Steam Engines, there was plenty of footage of things like locomotives and steamships.
Zog browsed through them, picking out a few candidates. They all had a rather sinister style that matched the short video’s overall conspiracy-theory vibe and eerie atmosphere.
Just as he was about to edit them in, Zog suddenly stopped. He realized there was a risk in doing this.
’If I use the group’s shared asset library, the Church might be able to trace the source. Then I won’t be able to deny my involvement.’
After some thought, Zog sent an email to Xin 104 instead, attaching the video clips he had selected.
He instructed Xin 104 to take a few trustworthy goblins and secretly film several clips in the same style as the attached videos. He specified that no one other than the goblins involved was to know about it.
He added a special instruction: destroy the original raw footage after sending the videos over.
Zog would destroy the assets on his end after he finished editing as well, taking every precaution to leave no evidence.
With all that arranged, Zog suddenly found he had nothing left to do in the early hours of the morning.
So, he opened a chat window and found Doudou.
"You there?"
"?"
"Still up?"
"Spit it out."
"Get on!"
"Get on!"
And so, the two Ancient Dragons embarked on a delightful all-night gaming session.
It lasted until morning.
The gaming was over, and Zog was now sitting on a cushion in his study, completely zoned out.
The Illusion Mimicry of the game platform was still open in front of him, but no game was currently running.
Zog stared blankly.
It was the feeling of being completely drained.
’What time is it?’
’The sunlight outside is so harsh.’
’I’m definitely getting old. I really shouldn’t pull all-nighters; it’s terrible for you.’
’Besides, pulling all-nighters is terrible for climbing the ranks. Your mind gets all foggy.’
’I dropped a whole rank over the course of the night.’
’He and Doudou had gotten trapped in that vicious cycle of "just one win and we’ll log off," and it had gone on until now.’
’They still hadn’t gotten that win.’
A question suddenly popped into Zog’s head: ’Which gets you to bed faster, "I’ll sleep after one win" or "I’ll sleep after one loss"?’
Just then, the study door was gently pushed open.
Furin came in.
"Zog, are you asleep? I’m sorry about last night. I made you breakfast, would you like..."
Furin had come to apologize to Zog, holding a tray with his breakfast.
"Hmm?" Zog looked up weakly.
Their eyes met.
Before Zog could say anything, Furin’s gaze slowly drifted to the game platform’s Illusion Mimicry.
"Uh, I can explain..."
Zog was instantly wide awake and said weakly.
"Zog!"
Furin’s anger instantly shot to the max.
"You said you were going to edit a video!"
"Uh... I did do some editing, actually. Would you believe me?"
"Then where’s the video you edited?"
"Oh, well, about that..."
"Zog!" The Magic Elements around Furin began to fluctuate wildly, creating an aura of dangerous pressure.
"Calm down. If you break the house, we’ll have to pay to fix it."
Zog’s words had no effect.
Furin was already Casting.
"Wait! Today’s the shoot for the final scene of *Beyond Reach*! It’s crucial, I can’t miss it. See ya, have a great day!"
With that, Zog jumped out the window and fled.
In a flash, he was flying toward the coast.
Zog actually hadn’t been lying about that part; today really was the day they were filming the final scene for *Beyond Reach*.
It was time for Sir Gordo and Lady Roline’s characters to have their climactic meeting.
To be honest, at this stage of filming the Shadow of Evil, it didn’t really matter whether the director was on set or not.
The entire crew could handle all the preparations on their own, and there was no need to direct the actors. He just had to let the leads improvise; it made their emotions feel more genuine.
But Zog was eager to be there for this scene, not for any professional reason, but simply to watch the drama.
When Zog arrived on set, filming had already begun.
The chosen location was a well-known, upscale restaurant next to a plaza near the beach, a popular tourist destination in Twin Tower City.
There weren’t many extras inside.
The scene didn’t require anything specific from the extras—they just needed to sit at their tables and eat. So, it made more sense to just use the actual patrons. Every bit of money saved counted.
The camera focused on Morris as he pushed Sir Gordo’s wheelchair to a reserved table by the floor-to-ceiling windows.
As per the script, Sir Gordo’s wheelchair had been modified. It was motorized and controlled by a small joystick, so it didn’t need to be pushed.
And since the modifications were goblin-made, it was pretty hardcore.
As a wheelchair, it could reach speeds of up to sixty kilometers per hour—not even a carriage could keep up.
Still, Morris pushed Sir Gordo to the table.
Sir Gordo thought it was a little strange, but didn’t ask why.
’It saved him the trouble of using Mage’s Hand, at least.’
Morris straightened Sir Gordo’s wheelchair and whispered in his ear, "Kiss her well for me."
Then he pulled the Magic Energy Stone out of the wheelchair, cutting off all its power and rendering it immobile.
Then he walked out of the restaurant.
Sir Gordo remained where he was, gripped by anxiety and fear.
’He didn’t know what was happening.’
’Was Morris plotting something against him?’
’Impossible. He trusted the Tiefling caregiver completely.’
’And Morris trusted him just the same.’
’Then why was this happening? Were the cameras rolling? From what angle?’ Sir Gordo shook his head uneasily, trying to get the attention of the crew behind the cameras.
’He wanted to stop filming.’
’At this moment, he knew there was no escape.’
Just then, he heard footsteps behind him. They were surprisingly loud, as if a whole group of people was approaching.
He could hear that the footsteps stopped right beside him.
His heart pounded with even greater anxiety.
"Good morning, dear Mr. Gordo."
It was a familiar voice.
Sir Gordo turned to look and saw someone he never expected.
"Lady Roline? What are you doing here?"
Roline didn’t speak. Instead, she took out her phone and sent a message.
Immediately after, the phone Sir Gordo always kept hidden inside his jacket chimed—the unique notification tone he’d set for someone special.
"You’re..."
Roline nodded.
As Sir Gordo looked at her delicate face, the anxiety and fear in his eyes instantly transformed into excitement, elation, and boundless hope.
Tears welled up in his eyes.
’He realized what was happening. Did Morris arrange this?’
He turned to look out the window. Morris smiled, gave him a wave, then turned and walked away with a cool swagger.
Sir Gordo stared ahead in a daze, his chest heaving with emotion.
After a moment, a smile spread across Gordo’s face—a tearful, blissful smile that reached from his lips to his eyes.